Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: Regular Season Report Cards

Mar 9, 2013; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Willie Cauley-Stein (15) shoots the ball against Florida Gators center Patric Young (4) in the first half at Rupp Arena. Kentucky defeated Florida 61-57. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Willie Cauley-Stein

Best Game- vs. Vanderbilt (20 points, seven rebounds, three blocks)

Do-Over Game- at Tennessee (2 points, two rebounds, two blocks)

Grade- A-

Willie Cauley-Stein has been asked to fill some big shoes and he has done it. With Noel out for the season, the big man that was viewed as a project was thrust into the spot light. His first game as the starting center was a flop at Tennessee. After the game, he challenged his team and pledged that he would do his job as long as everybody else did theres. And he has lived up to his end of the bargain. Cauley-Stein has become one of the most dominant big men in the country and has filled the position of defensive stopper that Noel left unoccupied. Against Florida he went out with four fouls, only to be put back in with 11 minutes left on the clock in order to stop the Gators from going to the basket at will. And he did just that. Willie might be the player to shoulder the burden and carry his team deep in the tournaments. He gets the minus with the “A” because of poor fouls shooting.

Mar 9, 2013; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Kyle Wiltjer (33) shoots the ball against Florida Gators forward Casey Prather (24) in the first half at Rupp Arena. Kentucky defeated Florida 61-57. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Wiltjer

Best Game- at Ole Miss (26 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three blocks)

Do-Over Game- vs. Florida (zero points, 0-7 from the field, 0-3 from the three-point line)

Grade- C

When he is on, he is one of the best scorers in the SEC and one of the toughest players to stop. But when he isn’t hitting his shots, he becomes a liability on the court. Kyle Wiltjer is pretty much a one-dimensional player; he is an outside shooter that can post up on the blocks every once in a while. His defense leaves much for John Calipari to be desired and can be scored on at will. Wiltjer won the sixth man of the year award in the SEC due to the fact that he was able to come off of the bench and light it up every once in a while. If Kyle is doing that, then Kentucky can be very tough to beat. But recently he hasn’t been doing much of anything. He is still 41% from the field and 37% from the three point line for the season. If Wiltjer can get hot again like he did early in SEC play, then this can be a dangerous team.

The toughest thing for this team is getting everyone on the same page and playing their “A” game together. The difference between three or four more wins instead of losses if a stretch of mediocre play from a select group of players. I still don’t think we have seen one game this season in which every player was at his best. Hopefully we won’t see one game; hopefully we see multiple games in which they are all at their best.