“We’re going to go out there to prove that we’re not a soft team.”
In the Kentucky Wildcats’ three losses this season, they have been out-physicalled.
Those defeats to Clemson, Ohio State, and Georgia saw the Wildcats outrebounded, exposed on the defensive end, and never allowed to find a rhythm on the offensive end.
That has led to a game plan format for opponents and a narrative that this Wildcat team is the dreaded term ‘soft.’
Don’t tell that too senior forward Ansley Almonor, as Kentucky has really taken this claim to heart and is looking to silence that narrative.
“We’ve been hearing the chatter about us being a soft team,” Almonor said Monday while previewing Texas A&M. “We all come from different stories and backgrounds, but none of us are soft. That’s something that we took to heart.
“We’re going to go out there to prove that we’re not a soft team, and we’re going to prove that as the season goes along.”
A win over a tough, gritty Mississippi State team was the first step in doing that, but there’s still work to be done.
“A lot of people kind of try to say that we were soft from the past few games,” Williams said after the Cats’ win over Mississippi State. “Coming into this game, we tried to change the narrative.”
Over the next two weeks, the Wildcats have opportunities to continue to change that narrative, playing three top-15 teams in Texas A&M, Alabama, and Tennessee.
Time to put up or shut up.