In honor of Big Blue Madness just days away I’ve decided to write player biographies this week. I will probably try to write all the biographies Tuesday and Wednesday and have them come out Tuesday-Friday, but for now I am just going to tell you why you should be excited about the 2011-2012 NCAA Basketball season.
I was so happy that night and so sad 1 week later
When the Cats went into Houston most fans expected to be celebrating our 8th title two nights later. Unfortunately we couldn’t hit a shot to save our life (live by the 3 point line, die by the 3 point line) and we ended up losing by 1 point. (It should’ve been 4, but no one on UCONN played defense on BKnight just so they didn’t foul him during his last meaningless shot. )
Six months later we are going into the season with our highest preseason ranking in years. UNC is the favorite to win it all this year with a more talented and unproven Kentucky team inches behind. UCONN will also be in the running to ruin our title dreams again, with 4 of their starting 5 returning from last year’s title team, and an even more talented player than Kemba Walker as a centerpiece to their frontline, Andre Drummond. This year’s NCAA will have the great teams that the league lacked last year, providing a more predictable but more competitive season.
The SEC has UK, Vandy, Florida and Alabama all in the preseason top 25, making the SEC a deep league. Florida is supposed to have one of the best backcourts in the country with Erving Walker and Kenny Boyton. Vandy has a nice trio behind Jeffery Taylor, John Jenkins and Wooden Watch player Festus Ezeli. And Alabama has Anthony Grant; A young but proven coach who beat Kentucky last year. Mississippi State will also have a solid team behind Dee Bost and Renardo Sidney. If Sidney stops beating his teammates in the stands he may be able to make an impact in the SEC.
Last year I went into the season thinking we would be in the top 10 with Enes, the top 25 without him. I never dreamed we would make the Final Four without Enes, but I also never thought we would lose to Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Arkansas on the road. (that last one to Arkansas was on my Birthday. Our last loss before UCONN). This year our schedule will be more difficult since we are playing Kansas, UNC and Louisville before we even start conference games and so much of our early games rely on how fast our backcourt matures. I still remember reading BKnight’s lips in Chapel Hill when he looked over at Calipari and said “I didn’t know what to do.” Teague is going to have the same growing pains Knight had, and a team loaded with freshmen always hits roadblocks early on. The difference between this year’s teams and last year’s team is going to be the upper echelon star power, our extended depth, our offensive weapons, and our experience.
The Star Power: Teague, Davis and Gilchrist would all be ranked higher in a recruiting class than Knight and Jones. These players are on the same talent level as Wall and Cousins, and Davis and Gilchrist both have a better motivation than Cousins. Knight and Jones are good, but even in a weak draft neither player could’ve cracked the top 8 last year. In 2012 Kentucky could potentially see 5 players in the lottery, with Davis going #1. (Followed by Teague, Lamb, Jones and Kidd-Gilchrist) Yes, this team has the same talent level as the 2010 team, but imagine an even more talented and assertive PPatt, Terrence Jones, and a shooter as good as Jodie Meeks, Doron Lamb, and that is this year’s team. (And no, Lamb will not score as many points as Jodie, but he could if we ran every play through him and gave him permission to shoot from anywhere on the court. But if we did that we would probably lose in the second round of the NIT)
Our depth: Last year we played 6 players on a regular basis, and had Vargas come into games when we needed him. Our frontline was Jones and Harrelson. Our back court was Knight, Miller, Liggins and Lamb. This year we are going to have an additional big man AND Vargas, and our back court will have a back up wing AND transfer Twany Beckam at point guard. I have no idea whether Beckam will get any minutes, but he at least can bring the ball up the court. Harrellson only played 28 minutes vs. UCONN because of foul trouble. If any of our big men get into foul trouble this year we will have a viable 3rd option AND Vargas. We will probably play 7 deep, but could go 8 or 9 if we need to. (Does anyone know if Stacey Poole is out of Cal’s doghouse? I wouldn’t play him unless we run the ball every second, but it’s an option)
Offensive Weapons: last year we had a streaky Lamb and Knight, an X-Factor in Miller and a ball hog in Jones. Harrellson learned how to catch the ball and dunk it by the end of the year, but he never really had offensive moves. Teague, Davis and Jones will all be able to create their own shots this year, something we needed badly last year. With Jones double teamed every game he struggled in the paint, but this year’s talent should open up our entire team. We’ll have the same shooting from Lamb and Miller, and we’ll even have the offensive arsenal of Wiltjer in our frontcourt, lighting it up from the three point line and in the paint. Gilchrist is going to be a Liggins 2.0. Gilchrist has the same defensive motor as Liggins, but is a competent offensive player as well. If this team buys into defense like last year’s team did, we won’t just have to *hope* our 3 point shooting is there.
Experience: for the past two years we have had almost no experience. In 2010 we had PPatt and Miller as the only players with significant playing time who returned, but Miller was barely a factor in 2009 or 2010. In 2011 we had Miller, Liggins (barely played in 2010) and Harrellson (barely played in 2010). This year we are returning three significant players (Miller, Lamb, and Jones) who can anchor our team and provide leadership from the beginning. They will be overshadowed by the more talented freshman, but they will be the driving force of the team. They know Cal’s offense, his defense, and will give the team a boost in the beginning of the season while everyone else is learning the system.
Fun Fact I Made Up But Am Pretty Sure It Is True: no one has started more games at Kentucky since Calipari came than Miller. If he starts every game this year he will have started more games than PPatt.
Stay tuned this week. More to come later
Wouldn’t your time be better served profiling teams that actually will win the national championship – such as the University of North Carolina Tar Heels?
I watched the game last night. and heres what I told Louis about it:
I think Jones can take Henson. He tried to beat him last year with finesse moves, ie trying to shoot over him or around him. but its obvious from last night the way to beat henson is to go through him. And that is what Jones is doing to teams this year. Although henson showed some good offensive moves to open up the 2nd half. Henson cannot read marshall that well. there was one play were i thought “if henson would’ve cut there he would’ve had an easy basket.” instead he settled for a 15 ft jumper. and made it. but he could’ve gotten to the rim. Zeller i was pretty dissappointed in. His post moves in the first half went away from the basket. and he needs to just power through. Although he was playing a heffer from MSU and probably struggled against his size. But… he needs to give it to someone else in my opionion (in that situation at least). Barnes was, amazing. marshall did well. Bullock sucked. Hairston and mcadoo deserved more minutes. but Mcadoo had 4 fouls in 17 mins. so thats a negative. Kid isn’t altheltic enough to play great Defense i guess? however hes supposed to have an aresenal of offfensive old-school moves.
but carolina still got dominated on the boards. MSU wore down due to UNC’s depth. but MSU out rebounded them by 11. AND UNC is supposed to have the best frontcourt in the nation. They are offensively gifted. I’ll give them that.
Luckily Kentucky is going to be physical this year as well. and have the same amoutn of depth. And they all buy in on defense. and most are as athletic as UNC. Barnes will have someone playing up to his level. But they are also all freshman so I have no idea how they will play vs. unc. or KU for that matter.