Mitchell Asking Cats to Create Their Own Turnaround
Matthew Mitchell knows what the reaction could be to a rough stretch for his basketball team.
He knows, but he’s not going to let it happen.
“It is so easy when you are in the midst of struggle to wait for something good to happen and I am just stressing to the team and all of us as coaches that we have to make some good things happen,” Mitchell said. “It is going to come through quality practice and a commitment to doing things the right way.”
A passive, self-piteous attitude in the face of six losses in a row might be natural, but it’s not productive. That, more than anything else, has been Mitchell’s core message to the Wildcats (8-7, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) ahead of a trip to face No. 19/19 Texas A&M (0-1 SEC) on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.
UK can’t afford to sit around in hopes that things will turn around soon. They aren’t going to unless the Cats do the turning around themselves, but that won’t take some grand gesture or complete change in habits. Rather, it’s about making the most of every day UK has to prepare.
“Confidence, I have tried to express to the team, comes through achievement,” Mitchell said. “When I do something well, I have confidence in it. So just trying to really emphasize the importance of practicing well.”
Mitchell has been pleased with what he’s seen to this point.
“Our performances in the games are really going to be dictated by our performance in practice,” Mitchell said. “We have really seen some people step up and work extremely hard in practice and improve.”
Looking back at UK’s recent losses, the Cats have been close late in all but two of them. In the others, UK was bested by still-unbeaten Louisville and still-unbeaten Tennessee, with the Cats actually outscoring the Lady Volunteers after a disappointing first quarter.
Bearing all that in mind, Mitchell isn’t burying his head in the sand in the midst of UK’s losing streak, but he also doesn’t see the sky falling.
“As you look back over the last few games, with really some better play in some key areas you have a shot in all of those,” Mitchell said. “The tendency for all of us is to look at all the bad stuff, but you have to understand, if we can just make a few adjustments here and there in practice and play just a little bit better we are not as far off as we may feel right now.”
Turning things around in College Station, Texas, won’t be easy though.
The perennially powerful Aggies are powerful once more, having played a rugged schedule. Their four losses are all to teams currently ranked No. 11 or better in the USA Today Coaches Poll, the last coming on the road against defending national champion South Carolina. A&M was up 11 late in the third quarter of that game before falling on a game-winning shot with 1.3 seconds left.
“The team faces a big challenge on the road tomorrow night in College Station,” Mitchell said. “Texas A&M has a really good team. They are talented and well-coached. So a huge, huge challenge ahead of us. Our team worked hard yesterday and will work hard today to try to improve and get better. We need to go down and work hard to earn a victory. It will be a big challenge tomorrow night. They are a really good team.”
The challenge starts with freshman Chennedy Carter. The dynamic guard is second in the SEC in both points per game (21.2) and assists per game (5.3) while shooting 42.6 percent from 3. Going up against the likes of Carter, UK can’t afford to sit back.
“You have to go down there and be extremely aggressive and get after them,” Mitchell said. “I think Texas A&M is really dynamic with their guards and then one of the best offensive rebounding teams out there. It is a battle, a real battle. You have to play really tough and compete tomorrow night. I am looking forward to seeing our team do that.”
