Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com thinks Kentucky is going to be one of the best defensive teams in the history of college basketball.
Here is an excerpt from his article.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — A few weeks back, sometime between Thanksgiving and Kentucky’s game against Providence, Willie Cauley-Stein, like the rest of his teammates, watched film of the Friars and was genuinely blown away by what he saw of LaDontae Henton.
“He was doing some crazy stuff,” Cauley-Stein said. ‘You’re like, ‘This dude’s cold.'”
And then …
“He came into the game [against us], and he’s just like … I don’t know … he wasn’t doing that stuff,” Cauley-Stein said. “And I’m like, ‘Why isn’t this dude doing the stuff he did on film?'”
Answer: Because of you, Willie. And because of Dakari Johnson. And Karl-Anthony Towns. And Alex Poythress. And the Harrison twins. And the blue and white platoons in general.
Henton, an elite scorer whose nickname is actually Buckets, had averaged 28.3 points while making 42 of the 67 shots he attempted (62.7 percent) in the four outings leading up to the game against Kentucky. Then, against the Wildcats, he finished with just three points on a 1-of-8 shooting performance (12.5 percent), meaning he neither made nor even attempted anything close to his normal number of shots.
Which brings me to Sunday.
That’s when Kentucky beat Eastern Kentucky 82-49.
Afterward, EKU coach Jeff Neubauer praised the Wildcats.
“Our team, I told them they were just guarded by the best defensive team in the modern era of college basketball,” Neubauer said. “And I’m not exaggerating a little bit when I say that.”
Turns out, he really wasn’t.
The data, to date, backs Neubauer up.
Read Kentucky is on pace to be one of history’s best defensive teams by clicking here.
