Gomez here...Well as you might have noticed, we took a few days off after the Canadian beat down, but we're checking in today to share a few thoughts about the trip.
First off all, like we mentioned, the Wildcats went up north and easily won three exhibition games at Windsor University. Brandon Knight, as expected was exceptionally strong and appears to be more than ready to replace John Wall as the Wildcats' starting point guard. He played under control, shot for a high percentage, and nailed his free throws. He also dished the ball to his teammates on a regular basis, proving himself unselfish when necessary.
Also of note was the outstanding play of our veterans, namely DeAndre Liggins and Darius Miller. Both of these guys appear more than able to step up into the leadership roles that this team clearly needs. They played hard on both ends of the floor and were vocal with their teammates when they needed to be. Since most of the roster will be made up of new players to the program, this veteran leadership will be key. It should be exciting to see how they continue to develop over the remainder of the off-season.
Overall, I think there's alot of reasons to be optimistic, especially when you keep in mind that Vargus and Kanter didn't make the trip, and Jones was unavailable for most of the trip due to injury. When those three guys rejoin the team, the Cats should prove to be even stronger, especially down low.
Again, its early, and the final product will look much different when the Wildcats take the floor on November 12 for the season opener against East Tennessee State. With that said, I think we saw enough during these games to give us some solid expectations as to what this Kentucky team can become before March. Losing 5 first round draft picks will certainly be difficult to replace, but so far, it seems this new batch of Cats are going to be ready for the challenge.
We'll be back later with more updates on what's going on with UK basketball and football this fine weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment