By LARRY VAUGHT

For the first time this season, and maybe in his basketball career, John Wall is a little confused, disappointed and searching for answers.
The talented University of Kentucky freshman point guard, who will be the top pick in the June NBA Draft, has 20 turnovers in the last four games and has gone 18-for-46 from the field. He’s still averaged 15.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game — good numbers for almost any player — during his so-called slump.
However, Wall has faced more physical play from Southeastern Conference opponents as well as collapsing defenses designed to keep him from getting inside the lane to score. In Saturday’s 85-72 win over Vanderbilt, he had seven turnovers and was 4-for-12 from the field. Even more startling, Kentucky did not have a fast-break point despite Wall’s blazing speed and ability to break down defenders in the open court.
So it was no huge surprise after the game when he admitted he was a bit frustrated, especially after coach John Calipari had criticized his play in UK’s loss at South Carolina a few days earlier.
“I didn’t think I played that bad. I don’t know what to expect. He’s probably going to say I played bad today, too.  I just try not to listen to him and go out and play basketball and try and help my team win,” Wall said.
Say what? Try not to listen to the coach.
“I think every player probably tries to do that at times,” former UK All-American guard Kyle Macy said. “We all want to do it. It’s just that you usually don’t admit it. It’s just how you react to criticism.”
Wall has a vivacious smile and infectious personality that often is visible on the court. Yet he said after Saturday’s win that he was not having as much fun as he had been having.
“To be honest, I really haven’t been having fun for the last two weeks. It’s just being frustrated and things like that so, I just got to figure it out before we go further in league play,” Wall said.
He said there was not any one thing he was frustrated over, but rather a combination of things.
“Frustrated with everything,” he said.
However, don’t try reading too much into any of this. Wall is a superstar who knows he has not been playing his best. That frustrates the great ones.
He’s been on the cover of Sports Illustrated and Sporting News. He’s talked to President Barack Obama. He was playing in front of NBA superstar LeBron James Saturday. He had played in front of more than 80 family members and friends when UK lost at South Carolina.
Yet Wall seemed like the team player he’s been all season when he evaluated how UK played to beat Vanderbilt.
“We did the key things we should do as far as turnovers and getting rebounds. We got up on them and didn’t let them come back. We knew they wouldn’t go away easy and they were going to come back and fight hard, but we came up with a tough win,” Wall said.
Nothing wrong with that.
But it was a physical game and Wall often was bumped, hit and knocked down even if he did just shoot four free throws. He was a bit miffed at the way, though, fouls were called on the Cats.
“Every time you drive, you try not to touch them because you know they are probably going to call the foul. I think they called a lot of fouls in the first half, and no one really got into a rhythm,” he said.
Again, a fair evaluation.
Then Wall dropped the comment about not having fun and stories started spreading that he was unhappy.
Last Monday he seemed just the opposite — and said so.
“I love college basketball. This is the probably the most fun you are going to have playing basketball. High school is fun, but college is where it is at.  You could be here forever,” he said.
Obviously, he’s not going to be at UK next year with the money waiting for him, but it still showed he is having fun this year.
“I am not worried about it. I am just enjoying the college life. I am glad I am here. You never know if I can come back. I just love the college basketball life,” he said.
Believe him because I had watched the pure joy he had when the Cats were trouncing Arkansas. Coach John Calipari had Wall on the bench and the freshmen was UK’s biggest cheerleader. When Perry Stevenson scored, he ran 30 feet on the floor at a timeout to chest bump him.
“This is a team thing. This is a family. Coach Cal  when we first watched ‘Remember the Titans’ brought everybody together one through 13. He had to do that. Some of us were new, some of us were returning. We didn’t know each other. He brought all the chemistry together. When you put (Mark) Krebs and (Jon) Hood and people like that in the game, we want to see those guys make a basket. It’s fun,” he said.
Again, there’s the “f” word — and not the on that apparently got DeMarcus Cousins a technical foul against Vanderbilt — Wall was using in a positive way.
This is the first time Wall has said anything even slightly controversial since he signed with Kentucky and considering the scrutiny he’s under, that’s remarkable.
It’s hard for me to fault a player as talented as Wall for being a bit upset immediately after a game where he had seven turnovers and did not play his best. Competitors tend to be harder on themselves than anyone else — and Wall is a terrific competitor.
And remember, he’s a freshman. He doesn’t have Patrick Patterson’s off-court experience on how to say the right things at all times no matter what.
“Sometimes I make turnovers I should not make. DeMarcus makes some plays he should not make. We may do things we shouldn’t do, but he (Calipari) understands that we are still learning,” Wall said last week.
“This is our first season as college players. Like he said, when it gets to crunch time or when we need to make plays or stop, we act like veterans. But we are still freshmen. We are going to keep being freshmen until the end of the season.”
That means more learning experiences, more frustrating times and more tough games. What it doesn’t mean, though, is that Wall is anything but a team player and focused on anything other than playing his best to help UK chase that elusive national championship.

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