Earlier this morning Bleacher report put out their top 5 most talented teams to ever play at Kentucky. The most talented may not be the team you think, then again for some of you it very well might be. Ok here it is:
#5
1947-48
"Under the direction of the legendary Adolph Rupp, the 1947-48 team won the first NCAA tournament in school history. That feat would be repeated the next year with most of the same players."
#4
1995-96
"Rick Pitino’s most talented Kentucky squad featured nine future NBA players, including Antoine Walker and Tony Delk. After avenging their nonconference loss to UMass in the Final Four, the Wildcats went on to beat Syracuse 76-67 at Continental Airlines Arena to win the national championship."
#3
2009-10
"Led by No. 1 overall pick John Wall, the Wildcats advanced to the Elite Eight, with a record of 35-3, before falling to West Virginia at the Carrier Dome. The team with five first-round picks in the 2010 NBA draft was stopped by the duo of Joe Mazzulla and Da’Sean Butler, who were two of four West Virginia starters in double digits."
#2
2011-12
"Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist were picked first and second, respectively, in the 2012 NBA draft by the New Orleans Pelicans and Charlotte Bobcats, while Terrence Jones was picked up at No. 18 by Houston. Marquis Teague, Doron Lamb and Darius Miller were also selected in that draft."
#1
2014-15
"Every star from the 2014-15 roster, except for Tyler Ulis, declared for the 2015 NBA draft. Six players ended up being drafted, including four in the top 13."
Jamal Murray Analysis
– Rafael Uehara over at upsidemotor.com has a good analysis of incoming freshman for Kentucky Jamal Murray. Murray’s good play at the Pan Am opened a lot of eyes and more than likely Uehara’s eyes as well. He goes on to analyze these three categories, shot creation, finishing and shooting and on ball defense. Here is a couple of thoughts Uehara has on Jamal Murray:
Shot Creation
"Murray’s top skill is his ability to get into the lane and create a shot for himself or others. He didn’t play any sort of secondary role, running side pick-and-rolls off a live dribble with the defense already scrambled. Murray was relied upon to create against a set defense in the half-court and proved able to do so consistently against that level of competition."
Finishing and Shooting
"Murray strongly favors driving left and can finish with some explosiveness on straight line drives but doesn’t often attack the basket with force. He has, however, flashed the ability to hang in the air to finish against length and through contact. He’s shown the makings of a tear-drop floater when help defense keeps him from getting to the rim, too. When he attacked with his dominant hand, Murray was less decisive on his drives and has trouble sustaining his momentum forward through contact, often opting for step-back pull-ups."
On Ball Defense
"Individually, Murray looked quite good in the Hoop Summit. He was able to contain dribble penetration through contact by players his own age and possesses a 6-7 wingspan to help him disrupt passing lanes and make an impact contesting shots, though this is mostly potential at this point as he hasn’t proven to be an impact player on defense just yet."