Like Noah, Calipari is recruiting "2 by 2"
By Staff
In a way, I can’t envy John Calipari. He is being forced to try and speculate on what pieces he needs to fill on next years team before practice for this season even starts. But that is the life of a college basketball coach and it is triple the job for the coach at the nation’s biggest program who is trying to revive his team from the land of the dead or the NIT Tournament.
Which all leads to rampant speculation from bloggers such as me who obsess over each and every word, article, and twitter that is available from Calipari. I find it very interesting some of the comments recently about the program on ZAGSBLOG.
There has been some talk about the number of scholarships available and what Cal’s plans are for them. Torrel Harris (recruit Tobias’s Harris’s dad) told ZAGSBLOG that Calipari has told him that he would have four scholarships available and is looking to sign at least one point guy, a wing guy like Tobias Harris, and a big guy.
Now granted, by my count, UK will have possibly 5-6 spots to fill for next year. Perry Steven and Ramon Harris will graduate, and Patrick Patterson, John Wall, and DeMarcus Cousins may bolt to the NBA. That will leave 5 spots and as of right now UK still has an open scholarship which may or may not be filled by walkon Mark Krebs. Even if Krebs takes that scholarship spot this year, he will be a senior so six spots will be open.
Now another speculation that is burning up the internet is Calipari’s statement that he would like “to play three point guards”. Gone are the days of 6″0 PG’s that stop at the key and try to just feed the ball inside. Calipari like big, fast guard that play big. Even though Eric Bledsoe is just 6’0 tall, he has a forty inch jump and plays more like a 6’5 guard. And Calipari’s “3 PG theory” makes a lot of sense. Your traditional offense has a PG, SG, and a SF. Usually the SG and SF are 6’3 to 6’6 or so, so what Calipari is advocating is not re-inventing the wheel. Simply replace the SG and SF with quick, athletic, big, PG’s and have in effect three playmakers on the court instead of just one.
So let’s look at Harrris’s statement of UK needing a PG, wing player, and a big man. Considering that UK will have 6 spots available, where else will UK go? I am thinking that Calipari needs to become the “Noah of the NCAA” and take his pick of the available recruits to build UK back from the ashes. Consider that we are just finishing more than 40 days and 40 nights of drenched basketball, here are my choices for Calipari’s “2 of everything” recruiting season:
2 PG’s
Brandon Knight
Josh Selby
2 WING PLAYERS
Doron Lamb
Tobias Harris
2 BIG MEN
CJ Leslie
Adreian Payne
What a wish list, and the fact is that this is very possible. I think the PG race is starting to become more defined. I see Joe Jackson at Memphis and Kyrie Irving a Hoosier. Having Bledsoe, Knight and Selby would more than meet Cal’s goal of a 3 PG lineup. Mind you, I don’t think Calipari means to have that 3 PG lineup as a regular starting lineup, but that combination could wreck havoc in a four to six minute blitz.
In the end, I would love to see UK kind of like a hockey team and Calipari on the sidelines doing various shift changes as the tempo dictates. Throw the 3 PG lineup at them for a while and then counter with a lineup of Orton, Leslie, Payne with Wall and Miller. Or a shooters lineup of Bledsoe, Hood, Miller, Harrelson, and Lamb? And keep in mind, we don’t know how well DeAndre Liggins will fit in with this bunch.
Face, the Cat’s are going to be scary good. And it all starts with signing these recruits, two by two…
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