Kentucky Wildcat Basketball: John Calipari's SEC success may be determined by the "other guys"

We all know that John Calipari is a master of recruiting since he arrived at the University of Kentucky.  In just under two years on the job, he has delivered three top rated recruiting classes to Lexington.  The ironic thing is that his success this season may be dictated by players that he did not even recruit at Kentucky.  We are talking of course, about the “Billy G holdovers” of Darius Miller, DeAndre Liggins, Josh Harrellson, and Jon Hood.

We already know what the talented freshman can do.  Terrence Jones, Brandon Knight, and Doron Lamb all seem to have a lock on the SEC Freshman of the Week award.  And while opposing teams may focus on the freshman, the players that were there when John Calipari arrived may be the key to a SEC title.

Darius Miller has stepped it up over the past four games and is averaging 13.8 points a game over that stretch.  Miller has scored in double digits in five of the last six games, as opposed to hitting that mark just four times in the first thirteen games.  Miller is a tough defender and has been one of the most efficient scorers, as he is second on the team in FG percentage and for all purposes, first in FT% and 3-point  %.  Miller trails Polson in FT shooting and Harrellson in 3-pointers (Harrellson is just 2-4).  We have seen a more determined and confident Miller over the past few games, and hopefully his “disappearing act” that has plagued him for his career at Kentucky may be a thing of the past.  One area that Miller can improve is getting to the FT line more.  He is a good FT shooter, but has just 30 FT’s on the season and nine games where he did not reach the stripe.  An even more assertive Miller needs to be able to drive to the basket more and get those cheap fouls to get the easy points at the line.

DeAndre Liggins has been through as much adversity and drama than and Kentucky player not named Alex Legion.  Liggins found himself the star of Billy Gillispie’s recruiting class, and then almost immediately in the doghouse.  Admittedly, Liggins would not be a Wildcat had John Calipari not come to Lexington, and he is finally thriving under Cal’s tutelage.  Although his scoring has been inconsistent, Liggins has become the equivalent of a shutdown cornerback for John Calipari’s defense.  He contained South Carolina’s Bruce Ellington so thoroughly that Ellington lost his cool and fired a basketball at Liggins in frustration.  Calipari praised DeAndre after the Gamecock game even though Liggins did not score a point.  It’s obvious that Liggins has become the heart and soul of this team as he is sure to lead in hustle plays every game, but he still tends to play out of control on offense at times.  Liggins is capable of the big game though but it would be nce to have more consistent scoring.  To make a difference the rest of the way he just needs to reel in his offensive game a bit and take better shot and keep doing what he is doing on defense.

Like the other players, Josh Harrellson has run the gamut of emotions at Kentucky.  After being used sparingly in his first two years in Lexington, Jorts was forced into the role of a dynamic cog in the Wildcat machine with the Enes Kanter situation.  In 19 games this year, Harrellson has played 76 minutes more than his previous 56 games as a Wildcat.  And for the most part, he has lived up to expectations as he is the unlikely leader in rebounds in the SEC with 9.2 boards a game and is seventh in the SEC in blocks with 1.74 per game.   And at times, he has shown a scoring touch with five games in double digits.  Harrellson is actually a very effective scorer, hitting 58.2% of his shots.  He simply needs to score more.  Harrellson needs to develop more of a killer instinct on the boards and take a few more shots a game.  If Harrellson can average 10 a game the rest of the way, that will go a long way in solidifying the Wildcats frontcourt.

While Jon Hood never got to experience playing for Billy Gillispie, he was committed as a Wildcat when Calipari arrived.  He only saw 74 minutes of playing time last season, and this season has been counted on to break out and become that elusive and necessary seventh player.  To be fair, he has not gotten much more playing time than last season and when he has gotten playing time, he seems to be a player that has potential.  It is confusing at times why Hood is not given an opportunity to get significantly more minutes.  I do know that Calipari is the type of coach that believes that playing time is earned in practice and unfortunately I am not privy to the Wildcat’s practices.  The season can be salvaged for Hood, however.  He is definitely a better shot than the 25.8% he is showing this season.  I know that DeAndre Liggins has been working with him, but Hood needs a tremendous dose of confidence and needs to make the most of the minutes he is given.  If he can put together a 2-3 game string of solid play, he may be able to ease his way into that seventh spot.

So who would have thought that this is where we would be on January 26.  Instead of waiting on the freshmen to develop, we are hoping and praying the the forgotten ones, the remnants of the Billy Clyde era can be the difference between an NCAA appearance and a deep tournament run.

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