2011: The Forgotten Kentucky Final Four Team
By Terry Brown
With the 2015-16 University of Kentucky Men’s Basketball season upon us, the Big Blue Nation is primed and ready for another deep tournament run. The 2015 team will be remembered for the 38-1 run to the Final Four. The 2014 team will be remembered for the “tweak” and the murder’s row they faced in the NCAA Tournament to get to the Final Four and the runner-up finish. The 2012 team, of course, won the school’s 8th national title. The 2010 team, Cal’s first, has been immortalized by Aaron Torres’ new book, One and Fun: A Behind the Scenes Look at John Calipari and the 2010 Kentucky Wildcats. Even the 2013 team, the Wildcats that missed the NCAA Tournament and lost to Robert Morris in the NIT is remembered for being a cautionary tale for roster construction. The team that seems to get overlooked? The 2010-11 Wildcats.
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Coming off the heels of Calipari’s first team, the 2010 squad led by John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins, and its loss in the Elite Eight to West Virginia, the 2011 team didn’t exactly figure to be the team to end the Wildcats’ Final Four drought. Especially with Turkish recruit Enes Kanter ruled ineligible by the NCAA. The team didn’t have loud personalities like the teams preceding it and following it. It took this team a long time to find its stride. There was the 17 point loss to Connecticut in Maui. But it was the tough rough losses that became maddening: 7 points at Georgia, by 4 at Vanderbilt, by 2 at North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida and by 1 at Arkansas. After that loss to the Razorbacks on February 23, the Cats wouldn’t lose again until April at the Final Four.
The one thing that head coach John Calipari doesn’t get a lot of credit for is how he takes his players and adjusts his gameplan to fit the strengths of his team. And the 2011 was no different. Perhaps the biggest adjustment that Cal made was utilizing the pick and roll with freshman point guard Brandon Knight and senior big man Josh Harrellson. Knight, a highly recruited high school phenom, and Harrellson, a forgotten recruit under the previous staff, formed the backbone of what would become a highly efficient offensive team.
Like the more heralded 2014 team, this squad saved its best for the post season. Led by SEC Tournament MVP Darius Miller the Cats ran roughshod over Ole Miss, Alabama and Florida to capture the title. Despite winning the conference title, Kentucky was set as a #4 seed in the East Regional with top seed and Final Four favorite Ohio State and #2 North Carolina, a team that had bested them in the regular season. This path didn’t look like it would lead to the program’s first Final Four since 1998. Then a funny thing happened, the Cats had to play.
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It took a last second shot from Brandon Knight to get the Cats past Princeton 59-57 in their first NCAA Tournament game. That game is a clear reminded about how close great runs come to not happening. Next up was West Virginia and the opportunity for Kentucky to get a measure of revenge against the Mountaineers for derailing their NCAA run a year prior. The Cats defeated WVU and head coach Bob Huggins 71-63. That win setup a showdown with top ranked and tournament favorite Ohio State.
The Buckeyes had media darling Aaron Craft at point guard and All American Jared Sullinger in the post. Thad Matta’s team had the look of a national champion after dominating the Big 10. There are two plays that standout to the BBN when it comes to this game. First, there’s the “Jorts Play.” As Josh Harrellson was falling out of bounds as he was gathering a rebound, he pivoted and fired the ball off the chest of Sullinger. Kentucky ball. The tone was set, the Wildcats would not be intimidated. The second play, obviously, was Knight’s game winner over every college basketball analyst’s favorite defense stopper, Craft. I’ve cheered loud for made Kentucky baskets, but I’m not sure I cheered louder or longer for any shot like I did when Knight’s floater went through the net.
Next up, in the Elite Eight, was the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Wildcats hadn’t reached the Final
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Four since 1998. They had been stopped in the Eight in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2010. For everyone in Blue and White it was an insufferable absence, Kentucky’s longest Final Four drought since the NCAA Tournament started in 1939. From the tip, it was clear that the Wildcats had learned from a season of coming up just short in critical, late game situations. This game didn’t even reach that point. The Cats led 38-30 at the half and closed it out with a DeAndre Liggins jumper late in the second half to maintain a comfortable lead. The Cats went on to win 76-69 and punched their ticket to the Final Four in Houston.
Yes, the Cats fell to UConn in the National Semifinal. But it was this team that really put Kentucky back in the national spotlight. Against North Carolina, the balanced offense was on display. Knight let the way with 22 points, Liggins and Harrellson each had 12, and Terrence Jones and Darius Miller both scored 11. And Jones, a player that many thought was a prima donna, grabbed 8 rebounds against the Tar Heels and 15 against the Huskies.
On the way to the Final Four, the Wildcats picked up lots of hardware:
Brandon Knight: NCAA East Regional Most Outstanding Player, All SEC First Team, All SEC Freshman Team
Terrence Jones: SEC Freshman of the Year, All SEC First Team, All SEC Freshman Team
Darius Miller: SEC Tournament MVP
Doron Lamb: All SEC Freshman Team
Josh Harrellson: NCAA All Regional Team, All SEC Tournament Team
DeAndre Liggins: NCAA All Regional Team
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So, when you’re sitting around, talking with your buddies about all the great Kentucky teams, don’t forget about the 2010-11 team. It was a team of young guys (Knight, Lamb, Jones) and players that were nearly forgotten about (Liggins and Harrellson) and a Kentucky high school hero (Miller) that came together to end the Final Four drought. And with Lamb, Jones and Miller returning in 2012, they were able to use that experience to bring home the national title. Not bad for a team that somehow gets forgotten about.