Mocking An Opponent - Even A Bad One - Is A Stupid Thing To Do

Basketball is a funny game. It’s a small group - only five on the floor and about 13 altogether. You have to really work as a group to succeed and emotion is a huge part of it.

Sometimes you can provoke a team and...well...things can happen.

So in general, even if your team is wildly favored as Kentucky will be over Georgia Tech this coming season, saying stuff like this... “Kentucky will beat the brakes of Georgia Tech. This team struggled to score 50 points a game last season and they brought back the whole team, so I don’t know what they think is going to change. A 14-18 power conference team with zero NBA prospects, a meme for a head coach, and no Ben Lammers (that call-back is for the real college basketball aficionados). I’ve seen this show before, it’s Kevin Stallings-era Vanderbilt. Blowout. We can shut the book on this one already. Wake me up in 2021 when the game is in Atlanta and there is a theoretical chance the game stays within a 40-point margin“...is a very bad idea.

Don’t get us wrong, he’s probably right. No one in their right mind would favor Georgia Tech at Kentucky.

However, we can promise you this article will find its way to every single Yellow Jacket and whatever chance they have in this game, however small it is, this writer just gave it to them.

And how could Tech win at UK?

Well here are a few things to keep in mind. First, Josh Pastner has an intimate knowledge of what makes John Calipari - and his offense -tick. Second, Kentucky would win a running game with no question. A low-scoring game in the 40s? That’s less certain and would likely be a tight game in the last few minutes. And while Pastner has many flaws as a coach, the one thing he does do well is coach defense. And as Tony Bennett has taught us all, if you keep the game slow and take care of the ball, you’re going to have a chance.

Even if it’s a very small one.