by Paul Jordan
Last years edition of Kentucky sent three frontcourt players to the NBA Draft. Expect the 2010-2011 edition of the Kentucky Wildcats to have more of a backcourt presence and like a master maestro, John Calipari will play to the strength of his team. Calipari recently had this to say about the makeup of his team:
"“At times we might play four guards and a big. We can do that because our guards are big. You can get away with it if you have big guards. “I think we will play a little more like we played at Memphis with the dribble-drive (offense) and more spacing on the court. But until I get the team together, it’s just conjecture what I see from this point.”"
But on July 1, the BBN will take all of the conjecture about their basketball team that they can get. Calipari also seemed to indicate that Doron Lamb would serve as the primary backup at point for Brandon Knight and for Wildcat fans to expect more of a Wall/Bledsoe partnership. In the end however, whoever actually lines up at the one is almost irrelevant as Calipari foresees a team of playmakers on the floor:
"“I may play him (Lamb) like we did John (Wall) and Eric (Bledsoe). The greatest thing about the dribble-drive is that the position does not matter. The four perimeter positions are all the same. It doesn’t matter if you are right, left or behind the ball. They are all the same. The more you can play with playmakers, and Darius (Miller) is a good playmaker, the better you are. If all three (Knight, Lamb and Miller) are on the floor, that is powerful,” Calipari said. “Then you have a guard forward in (freshman forward) Terrence Jones, who could be a playmaking guard. That really makes you go.”"
Calipari does admit that the years team will not have the luxury of a Patrick Patterson returning to this years team, which will make this year’s team a very young edition. But as long as the current NBA rules remain the same requiring players to be a year out of high school, inexperience will always be a foe of the Wildcats:
"“The lesson at the end of the day is you can win a lot of games and win leagues, but those last three games (in the NCAA tournament) with a young team and the anxiety of never being in a Final four, not knowing how it will play out or going 0-for-20 … ? If they had been with me three seasons, there would likely have been a game or two where we started 0-for-20 and won. With a young team, you do what gives you the best chance to win. “Players give us a chance to win national titles. We are about kids getting better and I have to learn how to finish off a season with a really young team. Only the 1948 team won more games (than last year’s team). We did everything short of (winning) those last couple of games. But if the rules don’t change, we will have a young team about every year I coach.”"
Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans