You only get so many opportunities to put on a Kentucky uniform and run onto the Rupp Arena floor. Those opportunities should never be taken for granted. It is easy for those of us sitting at home to say that every game should be treated with the same respect.
However, human nature tends to take over during the course of a long season. Playing the Stonehill Skyhawks on Friday night simply isn’t as exciting, for anyone involved, as playing the #1 Kansas Jayhawks at the United Center in Chicago. That doesn’t mean you don’t prepare and compete hard, but it is admittedly different.