Putting the Pieces Together

Now that the St. Louis Cardinals have been unceremoniously eliminated from the playoffs and golf season is over, my focus is now directed solely toward the Cats. As most UK fans can relate, the Cats are always at the forefront of my interest, but now that attention is as undivided as I can remember. Cats fans have a lot to be excited about for the upcoming season and beyond.

More than anything I am curious to see what shape this team takes. Who is going to start? Who is going to finish? How many minutes will the new guys get? How will Harris and Stevenson adjust to a more limited role? Will Coach Cal always go with the slicked back look?

Of course the newness of this team prevents us from answering most of these questions, but that can't stop our rabid fan base from speculating anyway. I have read comments from our coach placing praise on just about everyone of our players, including Mark Krebs. No offense to Krebs, but the praise placed on him by our coach make it hard to read anything into this praise of the other players.

Not having any factual evidence will never stop me from speculating on what lineups we should and should not see. With that being said, here is how I see the lineup shaking out.

C: Cousins (20-25 minutes)
PF: Pat (25-30 minutes)
SF: Miller (20-25 minutes)
SG: Dodson (15-20 minutes)
PG: Wall (25-30 minutes)

Bench:
Bledsoe (20-25 minutes)
Orton (15-20 minutes)
Liggins (15-20 minutes)

Hood, Harris, Stevenson, Harrelson, and Krebs role's are unclear at this point. I can see opportunities for all five to get some playing time, and I can also see the Top 8 being good enough to keep them off the court for any significant periods. There are too many possibilities to count with the different units CAL will have at his disposal. One look I like from our reserve corps would be going with a versatile unit that looks something like this.

C:Orton/Stevenson
PF: Miller/Harris
SF/SG: Hood/Dodson/Liggins
PG:Bledsoe

I can't see Perry Stevenson effectively playing with another one of our bigs besides Patterson in this offense. The Center position is the only position on the court in the DDM that you can hide to a degree. Perry Stevenson could potentially be an anemic version of what Joey Dorsey was for Memphis a few years ago.

I could also see Ramon carving a niche for himself as a smaller PF in a unit designed to run, as well as Darius Miller serving a similar role if we decide to go smaller with our starters. The parts on this team are very interchangeable. Calipari will be able to mix and match to counter pretty much anything anything an opponent could throw at us. We could see three Point Guard's together with Liggins, Wall, and Bledsoe playing alongside two bigs. We could also see Patterson at the wing alongside two other bigs. Patterson has supposedly improved his shooting and athleticism and might be allowed to showcase his game on the wing at some point.

The main drawback with this talented group is the limited time we will have to find out how these parts go together as several of these players likely won't be with us next year. The only other team in the BBNR Top Ten with near the roster turnover would be UNC. The only other team that can compare to this one in recent memory is the Thad Five team a few years back from Ohio State lead by Greg Oden and Mike Conley. It is extremely rare for a team to be ranked so highly with as many questions as the Cats have going into this season. Here is to hoping that Coach Cal can put the pieces together in time for a run in March similar to the one enjoyed by that Ohio State group.