UK Basketball:Where Is The Spark?
By Paul Jordan
Anything really stick out to anyone with the photo above? Any one really glaring detail sink in right away? How about the fact that there are more suits than uniforms? How about the fact that not everyone in the picture is yet cleared to play basketball? I see 10 bodies in uniform, 9 of which are eligible, and I have to confess it scares the living daylights out of me. Anyone think that coaches are going to try and put us in foul trouble a lot? Anyone worry that those big men are going to need more help inside? Lots of questions are there not? Well, let us delve into the answers just a bit and see if there is any way to alleviate some of my well placed anxiety. And maybe yours as well.
Let’s face facts about a couple of things right off. We are not very big, and we are not very many. That is usually a recipe for disaster in the SEC. It takes a lot of fouls and a lot of bodies to get through an SEC schedule, because rarely can a team get through without someone getting at lest a slight injury. And with us playing the toughest OOC schedule in the country on top of that, it is no wonder that Coach Cal is concerned about that Maui trip. He should be. But let’s assume for the sake of discussion that Cal has that covered. He has some very versatile players that can do many different things, and they all love to play in this DDMO, because it tends to negate some height issues against opponents, because it is a lot of one on one breaking down your man type of play which allows the ball handler to work their man out of position before they shoot. Cal has also said he intends to run more pick and roll with this group to free the shooters. So let’s say we have the height problem solved. What about those bodies?
Well, Cal is holding a walk-on camp that might produce another man or two. There have to be at least a couple of serviceable guys on campus that can break down a second rate defender on campus at UK don’t there? Let’s hope so. If nothing else, maybe we find a Gimel Martinez or Andre Riddick who can come in, take a couple of fouls and give a guy a breather (that is no knock on these guys, they were some of my favorites because they knew the value of a well placed elbow). So, we have 9-10 guys that are all pretty versatile, love to play hard-nosed defense and shoot the ball. We will be OK, right?
Let’s look at those guys. We have 4 returning players from last year. None of whom saw any real floor time whatsoever. Of those four, Miller and Liggins should be the leaders of this team, if for no other reason, than they know what to do and when. Miller and Liggins have both already shown flashes of brilliance in our tour of the Great White North, so that is at least something. But in all honesty, that is really the limit of our experience. Josh Harrellson, while being a hard worker, has never really been able to show a prime time game on the floor, because he either has been too slow to keep up with last year’s talented squad, or he was not doing all of the things Coach Cal wanted him to do when he was on the floor. But the real mystery of the four is Jon Hood. Are we going to see the ultra-talented, shot making boy wonder from Kentucky High School history, or are we going to see the pine-riding non-factor from last year? Big Blue Madness showed that Hood has the skills to play, making both inside and outside shots, and moving really well both with and without the ball. So, that leaves this incredibly talented group of newcomers to step up and make this team a real contender.
Doron Lamb, Stacey Poole, Jr.,Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones, Eloy Vargas, and the as of yet not qualified Enes Kanter are going to be the unknown factors this year. In this group we have it all. We have shooters, defenders, play-makers, intimidators, shot blockers,speedsters, and break-you-down-off-the-ball players that any coach in the country would give a kidney for their services. But can they come together with the existing guys, learn the system, and make themselves into a real team?
Last year’s squad carried a chip on their shoulders that weighed about 270 lbs. His name was Demarcus Cousins. John Wall may have run the team, but DeMarcus was the glue that held it together, and the match that lit the candle. You needed a big stop? There was Cousins. You need someone to go out and force a turnover? Get DeMarcus. You needed someone to say the right things to the press? There was DeMarcus in his funny glasses and a hat, taking the pressure off of everyone else and turning the situation on itself. People wanted to pick on someone? They decided to try DeMarcus. Which they usually learned was one of the bigger mistakes that they would make in life. Need the big shot in the big game? Hello Big Cuz. He was the catalyst that every team needs to gel and come together. Nothing will bond a group of guys quicker than if someone starts talking trash about one of them, or trying to make one of them look bad. And no one is better at making it a rallying cry than Coach Calipari.
So what is this year’s spark? Who is it gonna be? Is the Free Enes movement going to be enough to make this group of talented young men into a team? Do we have another DeMarcus in this group who is going to take the team on their shoulders and say, “follow me”? Something has to happen to make this team come together, and I really don’t know what it is going to be yet. But we need a really big spark plug, because that one that we are replacing could have fired up a generator that could run a country.
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