Even coming off a loss to Georgia on Tuesday, I maintain that this season has gotten me more excited about Kentucky Basketball than any since 2017. I enjoyed watching them lose to Georgia more than watching them slog through beating South Carolina the last five years. Mark Pope, no matter how this season ends up, has revitalized a program that was stuck in the mud at the end of the John Calipari era.

But, 15 games into this season, I think this Kentucky team has one of the worst flaws that any college basketball team can have. And it has me very concerned about what the rest of the season is going to look like.

THEY ARE TOO EASY TO GAME-PLAN FOR

Almost none of us are basketball experts. I don’t know what a slip screen is or the proper way to run a motion offense. Most fans overestimate how much they really understand the game of basketball at an elite level. With that said, basketball novices could have probably watched the first 15 games of this season and know exactly what a game plan should look like. And that really feels like a fatal flaw for Mark Pope’s squad.

The biggest issue I see is that Kentucky doesn’t seem to have alternatives beyond what they do best. They don’t have a second option. When the shots are not dropping from the outside, Kentucky just doesn’t really have another option. They don’t have any reliable post options. They don’t have any guys who are reliable at getting to the hoop and finishing. This team, on offense, lives and dies by the jump shot.

But let’s be honest; that doesn’t mean an opponent can just say “stop the three” and beat the Cats. Sometimes it doesn’t matter. Those flaws didn’t matter against Florida, where Kentucky was knocking down shots no matter what the Gators did. And if Kentucky is hitting their shots, they will win most of the time. But the defensive gameplan for opponents should only be a couple of bullet points:

1. No open looks for Koby Brea. None. Harass him at all times.
2. No need to double on the big guys in the post. Remain true to guards on the perimeter.
3. Take your chances with Lamont Butler’s jump shot.

All you need to do is make it as difficult as you can on the perimeter, usually using physicality, and if the shots aren’t falling, you’re golden. It’s too easy.

NOT MUCH BETTER ON DEFENSE

Things don’t get much better on the defensive end for the Cats. I would argue how to attack the Cats on defense is just about as easy as how to guard them on offense. Kentucky has too many flaws here too. Almost no lockdown defenders. Lamont Butler is a dog and whoever he is guarding is going to struggle. Beyond that, you have either average or below-average defenders at each position. If Brea, Travis Perry, or Ansley Almonor is in the game, attack them aggressively. Any decent ballhandler should be able to get around them.

Then you have the problems on the backline. We have too many bad perimeter defenders with no serious backup on the backline. So if I were an opposing coach, I would attack the weakest defenders and then assure my guys they can go right into the big guys with not much fear. It’s a double whammy for the Cats and not something that Coach Pope could really adjust for.

And then you emphasize crashing the offensive boards because we have to be the worst defensive rebounding team in major college basketball. This is a flaw that is hard to see Kentucky fixing at some point this season. You have three big men who don’t seem that interested in the physical play that is required to rebound the ball well.

So we have cracks defending the perimeter, defending the basket, and rebounding the ball. Those are issues that can be exploited by almost any team worth anything and not something easily fixed by Mark Pope, despite what he has said. It really is quite the issue for him for the remainder of this season.

THIS DOESN’T MEAN LOTS OF LOSSES

These flaws are significant but that doesn’t mean the Cats still can’t win lots of games. Because despite the fact that pretty much every team’s game plan against the Cats will be the same for the rest of the year, opponents still have to execute those game plans. They still have to hope Kentucky doesn’t get hot from the perimeter. They still have to have enough skill to finish around the basket and rebound the ball. It is never as easy as just having a game plan and then beating Kentucky. Obviously, 12 opponents have tried and failed. And there have been some great opponents in there.

But I have quite the pit in my stomach that Kentucky is too easy to figure out right now. And if things go south this season during SEC play or the NCAA Tournament, I think we know what the reason will be.