Give John Calipari credit for one thing: He sure knows how to relate to the unrealistic expectations of the Kentucky basketball fan base.Dealing with his first two-game losing streak at UK and the first of his coaching career since 2005 season, Calipari called the current situation a “crisis” nearly 10 times during Monday’s pre-Tennessee media availability.Although the rest of the basketball world would consider a two-game losing streak a slight exaggeration, Calipari and the Kentucky faithful are on the same page in that losing is generally viewed as unacceptable.”When you lose in this sport it’s a crisis,” Calipari said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s one half-court bank shot, it is a crisis. And if you play for me, you’ll understand it’s a crisis.”That wasn’t Calipari’s way of calling the Tennessee matchup Tuesday night a must-win game – although it terms of the Southeastern Conference standings, it basically is. It was his way, however, of saying Kentucky basketball (16-6, 4-4 SEC) has some serious problems it has to solve before it gets too late in the season.”The bottom line is we’ve got to get better,” Calipari said. “It’s not just winning. We have to get better. And we have to shore up these areas so when March rolls around we’re ready to go because we’re not ready right now.” Chief among Calipari’s concerns is the reoccurrence of previous issues he’s addressed with the team and they’ve worked on. “The thing that bothered me after Florida were the things that happened at Alabama and Mississippi, they happened again,” Caliapri said. “Now I have a problem.”But the issues may not be what many of you think. They aren’t execution or a lack of will to win at the end of games, according to Calipari. It’s the middle stretches of games where the Cats are falling behind and digging themselves in a hole.”That’s where the game is lost,” Calipari said.In almost every defeat Kentucky has been able to climb back, but in every loss, at least recently, whether it’s been from fatigue or not, the Cats haven’t been able to completely close out the comebacks. UK is now 0-4 in the games decided by five points or less.”I’ve never lost two games back to back,” freshman guard Doron Lamb said in admitting it’s the most frustrated he’s been in his basketball career. “It hurts.”A year after losing just three total games, UK has already lost four in conference with two games each against Tennessee and Vanderbilt still remaining. That may look like a snapshot of a team currently in a perilous situation, but Calipari, despite all the talk about a crisis, isn’t painting a picture of panic. He thinks the current “rut” could be an opportunity for his freshman-laden squad.”A crisis brings about change,” Calipari said. “Meetings, individual meetings, they’re a waste of time. Team meetings, they’re a waste of time. Crisis will bring about change unless you really don’t care. And if you don’t care, everybody’s going to see it. I think these guys care.”Sophomore guard Jon Hood shared in the team’s frustration for losing but doesn’t think the Cats are too far away from turning things around.”I don’t think we’ve hit complete bottom,” Hood said. “We’re by no means where we were last year, but a couple of shots here and there and we’re talking about this a different way.”The problem for the Cats is the road back to SEC contention won’t be nearly as easy as the one that led UK down the stray path it’s currently on. After playing Tennessee (15-8, 5-3 SEC) on Tuesday, UK will travel to Vanderbilt, a place Kentucky dropped four straight games before last year’s two-point win.The Cats have the fortune of closing the regular season with four of six at Rupp Arena, but UK’s final three games include the powers of the SEC: Florida (Feb. 26), Vanderbilt (March 1) and Tennessee (March 6).And if that wasn’t arduous enough, Tennessee will be back to full strength Tuesday for the first time since before the conference season.Head coach Bruce Pearl will make his highly anticipated return after serving a league-mandated eight-game suspension. And although Pearl says junior guard and leading UT scorer Scotty Hopson is questionable after missing the last two games with a left ankle sprain, Calipari expects him to play.”We’re playing to get better,” Calipari said. “That’s what we’re doing, and along the way you’ll win games. I’m not talking to them as far as we have to win this next game. We don’t. It’s going to be a hard game. What we have to show is we’re going to get better, because if we get better, at the end of the day this is all going to play out lovely. If we don’t get better – you don’t change and we don’t get better – it will be ugly.”That would truly be a crisis.