[outdoorsman43]

I only love UK basketball and Ravens football.
The rest im a fair weather fan of, ill admit it. When it comes to those two things though, I am cut and dry.

If were going player by player then I will give my honest opinion with no bias.

You know my thoughts on Goodwin. I believe he is highly overrated and even if he stayed four years, im not sure he would ever develop into half the player that Lamb or Bledso was. They were consistent, and im not sure Goodwin is capable of that, and i wont need to as he'll leave after this year.

Poythress, I admit, was given a no win situation being compared to Gilchrist and Liggins. Those two players were absolute hustlers and Poythress just hasn't shown the same heart.I dont know if hes got it in him or not, but once again we will never know as he'll leave after this year even though he should be atleast a 3 year player.

Noel is NBA bound and rightfully so. His defensive presence battles that of Davis, but he is no where near Davis when it comes to the offensive end, and i can see why, Davis was a guard in a 6'10 body, but Noel will never be able to make a free throw. Eventually that will be his downfall in the NBA.

Cauley-Stein has more potential than any other player on this roster. He may be the best "athlete" on the team. With his draft stock rising, he's likely to leave after this year, but IMO, he would be better suited to stay for his Soph year and become a top 5 pick. With the #1 Center in the nation coming in next year, it could also worry him, however, IMO, both would benefit from having each other.

Harrow just doesnt have the physical strengths to run the point guard on a Calipari offense. I think we all thought he would be something special as he was built up to point, then we heard his voice, and we got worried. A kid who cannot take a simple yelling is not meant to be for any good college team. Knight, Wall, and Teague all took the criticism as contructive and got better from it, while Harrow left for a couple weeks because of it, even though they said it was family issues.

Hood and Polson knew what they were doing when they signed up to play at UK. Home state boys who would wear the jersey but never see playing time. Well they lucked out with the bust of this year, especially Polson, and i cant fault him. There was no hype around him, hes not that good, but hes stepped into an impossible role and done what he could.

I dont know what the deal with Twany Beckham is, and i really dont care. I find it hard to believe someone can be hurt for 7 years, but hes pushing it. I dont expect to ever see him play in a game.

Wiltjer is a player, as ive stated before, gets on my last nerve. The softness, the scoring and then giving up an easy basket, and he never shows any enthusiasm. Witjer might develop into a decent player by his senior year, but not right now. He can score, but until he can stop the guy hes guarding, hes scoring is meaningless, especially when hes cold.

Mays is okay. Nothing special, but on a higher level than our bench. Hes been more consistent then when the season started, and if UK is going to win some games to make it to the tourney, we need him to be highly consistent and as a senior, lead this team to win some very important games.

The rest of the team is a wash. Just bodies to fill a roster and practice with and truth be told, if more players come back than we expect, then some of these guys could be cut, like it would matter.


I've been given the argument all to often that these are just freshmen and give them time and wait for them to develop but this is a CALIPARI team, thats what he plays, FROSH! We dont have time for them to develop, there the starters and in most cases will only stay for one year.

I expect UK to win 2 more regular season games, and then 1-2 SEC tourney games. With that, it will be extremely hard to make the tourney, however, its possible.

With the class for next year, im extremely excited, not to mention the fact that im still satisfied with last year. It will be great.

For your player evaluations:

As for Nerlens, Jon Hood, Twanny Beckham, and Willie, I can agree with what you say about those guys, although I strongly disagree with your statement that Noel's downfall in the NBA will be him not being able to make a free throw (see Shaq, Dwight Howard, Ben Wallace, Rajon Rondo, Blake Griffin, Andris Beindris, etc.). For the rest, I disagree with nearly all of it.

- Goodwin is a much different player and has a much different skill set than Doron Lamb, or Eric Bledsoe for that matter. Archie has tons of ability, but can't seem to break his habits of taking it to the rim and being flat out selfish with the ball. As for the overrated comment, if you mean overrated in last year's recruiting class, I'm not sure if he was or not. Like I said, he possesses tons of talent. Also, the 2012 recruiting class wasn't exactly the strongest.

The 2013 class is 10 times better than the 2012 class we see playing basketball this year. Other than Marcus Smart, Ben McLemore, and Anthony Bennett who is really playing on an elite level? Shabazz Muhammad and Kyle Anderson are awfully quiet out there in LA. Glenn Robinson III and that Sulaimon kid from Duke are blending in on veteran laden teams and only producing in spurts. I like the way the Adams kid from Pittsburgh plays and T.J. Warren of NC State. Other than those names (unless I'm forgetting some), I haven't heard anything from the rest of the top 25-50 players in that 2012 class.

My point is, Archie Goodwin isn't exactly "overrated" if you want to look at it that way. He just hasn't transitioned as well as others. He improved with his performance last night. I'm not saying he has broken a barrier, but it is a start.

- Poythress wasn't compared to Kidd-Gilchrist or Liggins. At least I haven't hear any of those comparisons. We all saw how capable he was in the first five or six games of the season flying around dunking over Mason Plumlee multiple times. What happened to that guy? His confidence level has obviously dropped tremendously almost to the point where it cannot be retrieved. We all see it. Not only is his confidence low, but he has been terribly out of shape (Cal has said that several times). It's hard to see how after playing through this long season, so I don't quite understand that. It seems like it's been years ago since we saw what Alex can do. He put together something like four or five straight 20-point performances at the beginning of the year. We need that beast to return and I think he will.

- As for Harrow, we should all understand that this is not John Wall, Brandon Knight, or Marcus Teague. He can't shoot like Brandon, cant speed past anyone like John Wall, and isn't a pitbull like Marquis Teague. What Ryan is though, is a kid that can run a team. His confidence level seems sensitive (much like Poythress), but we have saw how well this team plays (yes, we have played well this season at times) when Harrow makes good decisions. Him asking Coach Cal for his starting spot back and the way he played last night is enough for me to believe the kid won't quit now.

- Kyle Wiltjer is frustrating at times. I understand that. And I have moved past that. With him on the floor, there will be baskets scored by his man. There just will. His offensive arsenal is too powerful to keep on the bench, though. When the offensive flows through him, we are at our very best. He does show emotion and enthusiasm (you must not have saw that Ole Miss game). His defense was better last night because of effort. I believe he will bring that intensity the rest of the season.

- Julius Mays is okay? :please: Gut, anyone that has watched our team knows that Julius is the most valuable player (second to Nerlens before the injury). He never makes mistakes. He gives full effort on every possession. He doesn't force bad shots. He rebounds. He's been shooting something over 55% from 3-point land in his last 10 games or so. He's flat out tough. Just because he isn't as athletic or big as we're used to doesn't mean he is just worth "okay" to this team. He might be "okay" on last year's team or next year's team, but this isn't last year's team or next year's team! This is this year's team. On this year's team, he is worth his weight in gold. Watch the games and you can see that.

- Polson has given some valuable minutes to the team this season. He's not a scoring threat. He's not a defensive threat. He's just a guy that doesn't make many mistakes. He gives effort and he is a trustworthy ball handler. He is valuable to this team. Not last year's team, but this year's team! Please understand that.

You may be right in your prediction on how UK finishes out the season. I don't care if you are. All the "wishy washy" fans just have me worked up about "I hate this team", "Cal can't coach", "I'm ready for next year"...blah blah blah. I'm not saying you're saying Cal can't coach, Gut (I know how you feel about him). I'm just talking about all the whiny Cat fans in general. This isn't last year's team or next year's team. This is the team we have right now. Why not get behind them?

I'm not saying that you're not behind them when you think they won't make the tourney. I'm just saying to root, cheer, and appreciate this team. Whether we like it or not, this is the team we have right now.

I still like this team and believe they can make it to the tourney.

I predict them to win Saturday and keep going from there until Florida stops them in a close game. That would mean a 22-9 record going into the SEC Tournament. If Kentucky is the #2 or #3 seed in the tournament, they meet Florida to lose again in the SEC Title game. That would be enough to get them in the tournament in my opinion.

24-10 record with a 9-13 seed. I'll take it.

Go Big Blue!