USA Today has the Kentucky Wildcats at No. 2 in their preseason rankings for 2014-15.
While Kentucky has nine McDonald’s All-Americans and at least ten NBA prospects, USA Today believes John Calipari will have his hands full with chemistry problems and issues over playing time.
Here is an excerpt:
TEAM STRENGTH/WEAKNESS: This could be the best frontcourt in the history of college basketball. That’s a bold statement, but like so much with this team, it’s based on potential … and depth — Cauley-Stein, Johnson, Lee, Towns and Lyles. When it comes to a weakness, there is such a thing as too much talent. Calipari has meshed lots of talent before, but this is his biggest project to date. He’s initiated a platoon offense to provide adequate playing time. Essentially, it’s a first team, second team kind of substitution pattern. Based on the blue-white scrimmage here’s a look at the possible platoons for his 12-deep rotation:
- Ulis, Booker, Poythress, Lee, Johnson, Hawkins.
- Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Cauley-Stein, Lyles, Towns, Derek Willis.
So that should sort out how this team plans to establish chemistry, but what about egos? Sacrificing for the good of the team is what Calipari keeps preaching, after all. Cauley-Stein, via the Courier-Journal, said, “If we win, I’m cool,” Cauley-Stein said. “And I think that’s where everybody else has to get to. And if everybody else gets to that, it’s a whole different ballgame. If people are worrying about their stats — ‘Oh, I need such-and-such’ — that’s when you get to the point of: ‘Are you really trying to win or are you just trying to get your stats up?’ I think for the most part, everybody is trying to win.”
