No question that Kentucky is going to be really, really good this season. They've got the length, athleticism, and from how practices have went so far they work extremely hard. The team seems sort of flawless you would think with all the weapons that it possesses, but Matt Jones from Kentucky Sports Radio stated the other day that the weakness for the cats would be their three point shooting and doesn't think that they'll be able to shoot from outside the perimeter as well as last season. Jones' statement caused a uproar among the big blue nation with the statement. Many people think that this team is perfect and simply doesn't have a flaw but, a big but here...if you look at this team, and dissect it right to the core and try and find that flaw, three point shooting is it. I agree with what Matt had to say and here's my reason why.
Yeah, were returning Lamb who is arguably a top five shooter in the nation, and Miller returns who has improved tremendously over the past two seasons on his outside jumper, and you would think with the addition of Kyle Wiltjer who won the Mcdonalds All-American three point contest that we would have to be better than last seasons. Were simply not going to be as good with all those players returning and a new guy draining them as well for the simple fact, that we lost Brandon Knight and were a completely different team than last season.
Last season, we relied a whole lot on the three point line because we weren't able to score all over the floor. Knight and Harrelson were a deadly threat with Knight coming off a Harrelson screen and squaring up for a long distance J. Knight having the ball the majority of the time was key for us shooting the ball so well last year. Him being a deadly shooter only makes Lamb, Miller, and Jones a threat as well. This season in comparison will have Teague running the point who isn't as good of a three point shooter as Knight was/is. This team has more threats on the floor than last season. The addition of Davis, Kidd-Gilchrist, and the improvement of Jones will make this team very difficult to defend. After seeing this team at the big blue madness, and reading reports in practice this team don't have to rely on the three point line like last seasons' team did. This year will be very different, for the first time in three seasons with Cal at the helm, we will be able to see the dribble drive work at it's best.
There ya have it...different team who doesn't have to rely on the three point line like last seasons had to, and Teague running the show instead of Knight will make us not as good as last seasons. Not saying were going to be a horrible three point shooting team, but not as good as last seasons.
" How practices have went". What kind of grammar is that?
ReplyDeleteKnight was a good shooter. But wasn't a 'great shooter'. Knight would have been a better shooting guard. He ran the point okay, not good or great. If we compared point guards from Cal's seasons at Kentucky. John Wall is the better Point guard. We only had 2 REAL shooters last year. Harrelson could shoot. But didn't always. And Miller never really plays at his peak. This year, we have more shooters. Just because someone stated we don't have to rely on the three, doesn't mean we can't shoot. It obviously means we have a better offensive game.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both you and Nate on this. I think that this team, if they play as advertised, will be a great outside shooting team. They have to potential to put a lineup on the floor, in which all 5 guys have the ability to knock down the 3. To Nate's point, we most likely will not shoot as many three's as we did last year. Not because they can't, but because of the number of slashers on the floor. Teague, Kidd-Gilchris, Davis, and Jones will all go toward the basket first , shoot the 3 second.
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