COLUMN: Nutt delivers stronger messages after Southeast men's latest loss

Dickey Nutt delivered multiple messages to his team Saturday night.

He delivered one by removing senior star Jarekious Bradley from the starting lineup. He delivered another by benching disgruntled senior Nino Johnson for long periods of time. He delivered others during timeouts and after the game as well.

Simplified the messages seemed to combine to drive home one message over and over again -- the message that talent guarantees you nothing. Not from him, not from the team and not even from the game of basketball.

Nutt, who typically displays the same temperament after all games regardless of results, flashed signs of almost all of the cornerstone emotions for coaches following the Redhawks' loss to Eastern Kentucky on Saturday night.

He was resolute and optimistic in the ways that has sometimes alienated fans who see him as recycling excuses and mediocre results, but he was also frustrated, determined and a little angry at times.

The Redhawks lost to defending OVC Tournament champion EKU. Nutt could have come into this postgame press conference and talked about fighting hard and getting better and the difficulty of play in the OVC night in and night out. I think he would've done that in past season.

Saturday night Nutt acknowledged EKU as a tough opponent and couldn't resist briefly lamenting the unlucky breaks that went against his team but otherwise mostly pounded away his team's problems.

"It's no secret that we're not playing very well and people are beating us pretty good, but I do feel like we have enough good guys on our team," Nutt said. "In fact, it's probably the most talented team that I've ever coached. But I will say this, sometimes that's overrated. Sometimes it takes certainly much, much more, and that's what we're going to get out of our team. We're going to look and we're going to work hard and we're going to evaluate our situation. We're going to find just who wants to do the little things that we want to get done."

I'm not sure I buy that this is Nutt's most talented team, but he can say that if he likes. Either way, that message on its own doesn't mean much. I've heard an alarming number of coaches talk about reevaluating their team and the players they put on the court mid-season only to see them run the same starting five back out there again and again.

But Nutt's message -- that one about talent not guaranteeing players anything -- was backed up with some actions Saturday night.

First he left Bradley on the bench to start the game after he was ejected after two technical fouls on Thursday night.

"I didn't start Jarekious Bradley tonight for a reason. ... We had a couple technical fouls last game. That can't be tolerated. That will not be tolerated. Now he's remorseful. He hated that it happened and all that. ... The first one he was locked in with another guy, and those things happen. But when you dispute a call against you, that cannot happen. So I let him know. I let him know that night. ... You've got to channel your frustrations, so we held him out for about half a half, and he understood. My guys understand that."

Johnson, a captain, started but played just 12 minutes and was despondent after the loss.

"Not to be on the court, not to help my team, it hurts," Johnson said. "I'm not one of those guys that's like a major like crier or I kind of wear my heart on my sleeve. I feel like I could've changed the game around, at least gave my all on the court. It's something that I'm not doing right and my teammates, coaches helping me with that."

Johnson later added that he "never let them see me sweat until today and the last game because I felt like I'm not getting the proper minutes I should be getting, but that's from the coach's say-so."

Nutt made it clear more than once that Johnson's struggles were far from the team's only concern, but his say-so is that Johnson, who had two points and two rebounds, hasn't produced enough to earn the playing time he feels he deserves.

"I'm glad he is upset," Nutt said of Johnson. "It's like anything else. It's about productivity. You've got to produce. Nino has done a super job for us. He's a 3.5 student, he's on his way to getting a degree, he's in his fourth season, he's done a lot of good things for us.

"He's not the only one, it's everybody. I want you more consistent. I want you as consistent as you can be. I need you to play harder, I need you to rebound harder, I need you to score harder -- everything about it. It just so happened that tonight I just didn't feel like he was playing as hard."

Nutt said there would be more opportunities for younger players in future games. Of course, it's not an ideal time to start experimenting with the team 1-3 in the OVC but sticking with the status quo is hardly more appealing.

"Here's my problem," Nutt said. "My problem is we're not doing the little things. When I tell you run on and off the floor, it's how fast can I run off that floor. Those are the little things. And what happens is you're frustrated because you haven't played so well. Now all the sudden you compound that by not doing what you're supposed to do. And those are the little things, and you say, 'Well coach, that's pretty elementary.' No it's not. No it's not. It's big. ... That's what I'm talking about right now. We don't get it, and it doesn't matter how you're picked. We're always picked up high, but guess what? Talent's not everything. It takes more than talent to win basketball games and put together a successful program, and we've got to take a serious, hard look at that. We've got to take a hard look."

Nutt did a good job of delivering that message on Saturday night. The challenge now is delivering the results. If Johnson's reactions after the game are any indication, there is a wide disconnect between what Nutt wants and what he's getting. That's on him, and he's said repeatedly that he accepts that.

"I'm the first to look at myself every day," Nutt said. "What can I do better? Can I put them in a better position? I second-guess myself always. That's why you have a staff, but it's productivity. It's starts with me. The buck stops with me. I understand I have to produce. We're in a high-pressure situation or job. Same thing with the players. Play, man, play. Play as hard as you can play."

With just 12 games left on the schedule, we'll learn soon enough if any of the players are listening to the messages he delivered Saturday night.