Kentucky Wildcat's 5 for Monday: Z-O-N-E is not a dirty word edition

I know that some UK fans are not going to like this but John Calipari has been talking about playing more zone defense in the future.  Calipari had these comments after the win over Indiana:

"We have got to work on zone defense,” he said. “We are going to have to throw zone in. We are going to get into foul trouble. I can’t leave guys in the game like I did today. I just said I’m going to have to do it and we’ll have to figure it out. You have to go zone when you get in foul trouble.”"

And I tend to agree.  With the lack of depth this team has and the willingness of the other team to go at Jones/Harrellson off the bat to put the frontcourt in disarray and foul trouble … well desperate times call for desperate measures and yes, that means the Wildcat’s playing a zone.  Get used to the wins and don’t complain about it.

DeAndre Daniels was on campus this weekend and from all indications, he and his Dad loved the visit and the campus.  And the buzz continues to grow that Daniels is leaning towards enrolling at a school for the spring semester and that he may opt to play basketball immediately as soon as January.  Lots of ifs, ands, and buts there … and the biggest hurdle is to get the actual commitment from Daniels over Kansas … but the addition of Daniels to this team in January will make Kentucky a legitimate Final Four threat … and if we add Kanter as well?  My head will explode!

LJ Rose, the number two PG in the 2012 class was also on campus for an unofficial visit this weekend.   And it appears that Rose has been Calipari’s number one target for this class all along.  The number one PG Rodney Purvis in 2012 committed to the Dirty Birds over the weekend and cited a lack of interest from Kentucky and John Calipari.   Well, one thing that Calipari knows is point guards so if he is chasing Rose over Purvis, Rose has the be the top choice, right?

It is looking more and more like Rick Minter will be the new defensive co-ordinator  co defensive co-ordinator for Joker Phillips next season.  There were lots of rumors swirling around that Randy Shannon may be UK bound but that appears to be just that, a rumour.  It’s been a busy weekend for hiring coaches in the SEC as Gus Malzahn has accepted the Vanderbilt position and  Will Muschamp will be the new head coach at Florida.  Minter could be announced as early as Tuesday and John Clay has more information on Minter. 

As we all know, Kentucky is off to a 7-2 start on the season, but do they have what it takes to compete for a national title this year?  Glenn Logan over at A Sea of Blue looks at the improving Wildcats and wonders if they have what it takes. 

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