Myron Medcalf previews tonight’s tilt between the Cats and Gators, (along with every other college basketball writer in the country.)
He chooses to pose questions in the article as opposed to suggesting answers.
[I][COLOR=#333333][FONT=verdana]Can Florida spread the floor and disrupt Kentucky’s stubborn defense? Can the Gators do anything to interrupt Kentucky’s “that’s-not-even-fair” offensive attack? [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333][FONT=verdana]I don’t know, but I think they’re Kentucky’s greatest threats in the SEC. If, if, if the Gators can hit 3s (36.5 percent, 167 attempts) and challenge every Kentucky run, perhaps they’ll have a shot at the upset in Lexington. [/FONT][/COLOR]
[URL=”http://sports.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/56792/bradley-beal”]Bradley Beal[/URL][COLOR=#333333][FONT=verdana] has been a star during Florida’s seven-game winning streak. Beal has averaged 17.3 ppg and 7.3 rpg in his last three outings. He alone, however, can’t overtake this terrific team. [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333][FONT=verdana]It’s tough to find many flaws with this Kentucky squad. The Wildcats have the SEC’s top scoring offense (71.9 ppg) and scoring defense (56.4 ppg allowed). In Ken Pomeroy’s ratings, they’re ranked fourth and seventh in adjusted offensive efficiency and adjusted defensive efficiency, respectively. [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333][FONT=verdana]They have the best player in America in [/FONT][/COLOR][URL=”http://sports.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/56353/anthony-davis”]Anthony Davis[/URL][COLOR=#333333][FONT=verdana] (13.9 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 4.8 bpg). [/FONT][/COLOR][URL=”http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7547377/anthony-davis-kentucky-wildcats-john-calipari-best-team-yet-ncb?addata=2009_insdr_xxx_sce_ncb_xxx”]And as John Gasaway suggests in this post[/URL][COLOR=#333333][FONT=verdana], this might be John Calipari’s best team. It’s definitely his best Kentucky team. Kentucky’s SEC opponents have only connected on 39.7 percent of their 2-point attempts and they’ve been outscored by the Wildcats by .28 points per possession. [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333][FONT=verdana]Some unknowns, however, remain about the Wildcats because they’ve played one of the SEC’s easiest conference slates to date. But that’s all going to change starting with the matchup against the Gators. [/FONT][/COLOR]
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One thing I’ve noticed that most of these national guys are not considering about tonight is that Kentucky has nearly as many 3 point shooters as Florida (4 guys north of 33%).
If UK defends the three and hits their shots, this could be a blow out, because Florida doesn’t really have an answer for the Wildcat’s interior game, which Medcalf refers to as a ‘that’s not even fair’ offensive attack. I look for the Cats to make the statement of their season tonight. And lets not forget the nation’s best 6th man, Rupp Arena, will be suited up and ready to go.
[URL=”http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/47517/saddle-up-get-ready-for-an-sec-war”]Source[/URL]
