Kentucky (21-13) plays at Creighton on Monday in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament after having played in the NCAA Tournament for 17 straight years. Last season - coach Billy Gillispie's first at Kentucky - the Cats made the NCAA and lost in the first round.
So is he optimistic about the future of UK basketball?
"If you look at the team and what they are doing today, it is very hard to be optimistic about the upcoming years. Are the guys having fun and is everybody on the same page? Some might say no, but I don't know," Perry said.
"We have a coach who has been successful as far as making the Sweet Sixteen and being coach of the year. The question is can he take us to the next level, or will he even be back next year. Who knows that based on what we hear?"
Perry, who does a radio call-in show for WLXG AM (1300), knows he has a different perspective than others because he is a former player.
"But one thing I don't have, either, is the perspective of playing for coach Gillispie, so I have no idea what his game plans are or what he is telling the team. I don't understand that. The things I see on the court are different. I have my opinions on that. Am I right? I don't know. Am I wrong? I don't know," Perry said.
"There are obvious things that are not right, or don't look right to me. But if Kentucky was winning, would there be questions about not playing a zone defense. Were people complaining when we did win last year and didn't play zone"?
"When we lose, it is easy to complain about something that might have changed the outcome of a game, but we are not the coach or anything. Who knows what is right? All I know is that something is not right with this team."
Perry has been critical of Gillispie at times this year, something that has not always set well with fans.
"Anybody who has played basketball or knows basketball has an opinion and that is fair. Are they right? That is not for me to decide," Perry said.
"I can see on their faces at times that they are not having fun. But when you are losing, it is not fun. You want to win at Kentucky. When you lose it is a bad feeling. It is frustrating, especially in close games when put out effort and lose. It's not a good sight. Their effort has not really gone away. But they are not winning and that's not fun."
