(Calipari leads the Cats in his 1st game as UK's head coach/AP:Ed Reinke)
Super-sensational freshman John Wall won’t be in action on Friday night, but that doesn’t mean the Kentucky Wildcats won’t be rolling come Friday in their first regular season game of the John Calipari era.
Morehead State stands to become the first victim of the Wildcats in their season-long journey to a Final Four, but the Eagles of Morehead State wouldn’t let you think that. They come in with a distinction of having made the NCAA Tournament last season something UK cannot say they did. Kentucky must take this into account no matter how highly people think of them early on in the season.
Kentucky players like Patrick Patterson will be one of the go-to players all season and Friday will be much of the same. The much smaller Eagles will have difficulty guarding Patterson, along with fellow teammates DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton. Even with Wall sitting out, another freshmen point guard will be more than serviceable for the Wildcats. Eric Bledsoe is the other highly touted guard prospect Calipari was able to bring in and with Wall out, fans will get to see Bledsoe shine much like Wall did in his first exhibition game.
With that said, let’s take a look into Kentucky’s first regular season game of the 2009-2010 seasons:
Advantages
-Size: Kentucky boasts one of the largest front courts in the nation. With two of those players coming from the 2009 recruiting class (Cousins, Orton) along with Patterson and current senior Perry Stevenson, UK should look to dominate the paint for the entire forty minutes of play. Eagles center Kenneth Faried, who averaged 13.3 reb/game last season, could pose problems if UK isn’t careful but with a guy like Patterson, he won’t let the paint slip out of his control.
-Talent: The talent level of the Wildcats is clearly superior. Patterson and sophomore Darius Miller along with a #1 recruiting class to boot, leaves the Cats will a lot of hype and game. The players, on the other hand must back up all of these notable distinctions. Bench players for the Cats could become integral if the freshman struggle with the experience of Morehead State. They bring back four starters from last year’s tournament team. That’s where guys like Perry Stevenson and Ramon Harris can step in and give a helping hand.
-Atmosphere: Yup, the first game of the regular season is at Rupp and the atmosphere is going to be insane. Trust me. One of the loudest games last season was in a home opening stunner against VMI, where the Cats lost inexplicably for the second straight season against a less-talented team, Gardner-Webb being the first. The fans at Rupp Arena that night did everything they could to will their team back into the game and much of the time it worked, with the Cats coming up just short. If there is any indication of an upset at hand, Rupp Arena will without a doubt be the loudest game you’ve been to. That scenario doesn’t appear evident, but with it being the first game of Calipari’s career at UK the atmosphere is going to be out of this world.
Disadvantages
-Complacency: Kentucky comes into a season ranked in the Top-5 for the first time in what seems to be ages. The players on the team must not forget that this is college basketball and any team, on any night can take a surefire win away from you. Let’s not make Friday night one of those times. For the past two years fans as well as the opposition have witnessed two straight opening home losses for the Wildcats (Gardner-Webb/VMI).
-Experience: Morehead State gave #1 seed Louisville all they could handle for a half in last year’s opening round of the NCAA tournament. They wound up losing but that isn’t a deterrent for this year’s team. The Eagles bring back four starters from last year’s team, which gives them far more experience than the Wildcats who could start three freshmen, possibly four for the entire year. The Big Blue Nation is hoping one of the team’s advantages (talent) with overpower the Eagles experience for a win.
Overall, Kentucky stands to win their first game of the season and continue their run at the first team to 2,000 wins. Every game is important but December 5th looms large as a date with UNC in Lexington awaits college basketball’s attention. Should be fun.
Comments