Calipari flipped the lineup, but it’s not the right one for Kentucky basketball

ESPN’s Seth Greenberg laid out the best lineup for the Kentucky basketball team. Will Coach Cal figure it out for himself?

During halftime of the Kentucky basketball game Wednesday night, ESPN’s Seth Greenberg outlined his starting five for Kentucky. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Knox, PJ Washington, Jarred Vanderbilt and Wenyen Gabriel. Bulls eye! Greenberg, while not my favorite college basketball analysis, nailed it. Will John Calipari make the necessary change?

The starting five outlined in the previous paragraph is exactly the horses that Coach Cal should ride going forward. With Gilgeous-Alexander, you have a talented floor general. He’s not the greatest outside shooter, but is he a threat to take a three-pointer or two throughout a game. SGA gets to rack and usually makes the right pass to the right player.

Knox has to be on the floor for 35-plus minutes per game for the Kentucky basketball team to have any shot. Knox, at 6’9″, can shoot over almost any guard. He has the size to back down smaller defenders on the low block, and he’s quicker than most big guys on the perimeter. A starting backcourt of Gilgeous-Alexander and Knox is exactly what the Cats need.

Up front Calipari should go smaller, but tougher. Nick Richards, while solid from time to time, has shown that he is not reliable when he’s in the game. A few rebounds, a putback dunk and the occasional blocked shot is about as much as Big Blue Nation has come to expect from Richards.

Vanderbilt can’t shoot, but he can rebound, block shots, run the floor and handle the ball. Honestly, Vanderbilt’s handles are better than Quade Green’s. Vanderbilt is a point-forward in its truest form. Add the power of PJ and the energy and shooting ability of Gabriel and that’s Kentucky basketball’s best five players.

Calipari may have made a change in the starting the lineup versus Auburn on Wednesday night. Let’s see if Coach Cal makes another few ‘tweaks’ before March.