Photo: UkAthletics.com
The upcoming Kentucky Basketball team will be the deepest it has been since John Calipari took the head position in Lexington.
Cal spoke with Andy katz about his upcoming squad and the strengths his team will have.
“We’re going to be much stronger physically at all positions,” said Calipari, who is still in the running for 6-foot-7 small forward Andrew Wiggins, the No. 1 player in the 2013 class. “Our post presence will be there with Dakari Johnson and Marcus Lee. He’s a lot like Nerlens in terms of blocking shots and going after balls. He’s bouncy with great energy, but he’s not as big. Willie is coming back with one thought in mind: He wants to do something on the basketball court and in the tournament. He’s got something to prove to himself. He’s got a great frame of mind. He understands he’s got to do it and do something different.”
Calipari said he’s thinking about going with two taller players at the 3 and 4: Cauley-Stein and the 6-10 Johnson. The coach said he also has the option of putting Randle at the 3 and Cauley-Stein at the 4. Poythress will need to be a leader and a strong man. Wiltjer has to pick his spots and take advantage of the mismatches he can provide.
“There will be a lot of teams ahead of us, but we’ll be deeper and the bench will be a great friend of mine,” said Calipari, who with such a loaded squad will be able to hold playing time over players’ heads throughout the season. “I’ll be able to play like we played at Memphis. We’ll be pressing and getting after people because we have more people. We’re going to have competition.”
Let’s hope this team makes it a little farther than the Memphis team.
