Time and time again, John Calipari has told his team that if an opponent does something spectacular, then the Cats have had a heckuva start to the season.  Well, 19-0 was a heckuva start but last night's loss at South Carolina wasn't a case of the opponent doing something spectacular.  Instead, the Cats simply got out-worked.  Call it hubris, over-confidence or whatever but Kentucky did not match the Gamecocks' intensity.  Calipari told us after the game that his team had half as many "hustle points" as they usually get.  If you want to find one key stat, it was rebounding.  Only three teams had out-rebounded the Cats all season.  And this was a USC team that had lost its two best big men to injury and discipline issues and had only out-rebounded six of 19 foes.  With 20 offensive rebounds, USC was able to crush the Cats with second-chance points and it also kept UK out of transition.   And eventhough USC shot under 40 percent from the field, I would guess Calipari would tell you that the Cats' defense isn't where it needs to be.  UK's length makes it hard to make shots against them but the Cats will be playing championship-caliber defense when they start forcing more turnovers and be able to impose their will on the opponent down the stretch of a close game.  Was this a good loss?  Probably, but it depends on how quickly the players learn from it.  Vandy and Ole Miss are next up and eventhough the games are in Rupp, both are good enough to beat the Cats.  This is still a Kentucky team capable of making a title run.  It has players who care about the team as well as themselves and so I'm confident they'll figure it out.  The '78 national champs--with a lot more experience--lost big at unranked Alabama.  It happens.  It's how they respond to it that matters.

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