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Men's Basketball

Where Does This Year’s Kentucky Team Rank Amongst Other Teams in the Cal Era?

Published

5 years ago

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It’s crazy, but there are only nine games left in this 2019-2020 campaign for the basketball Cats. I got to be honest, it feels like football season ended yesterday and Big Blue Madness is this weekend. This season still feels young, yet we’re nine games into the SEC slate and the SEC Tournament is just over a month away.

This is John Calipari’s tenth season at Kentucky and the funny thing is, it feels like last season John Wall, Boogie Cousins, and Eric Bledsoe were on Campus. How time flies when you’re having a good time.

With that said, with only nine games left in the season, let’s look back at where other Cal teams were at this point in the season.

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2009-2010: 21-1

Full of studs, this team was only two games removed from their upset loss at South Carolina that ruined the chances at a perfect season.

They’d go on to lose only one more game, win the SEC Tournament, and let’s not talk about the rest.

2010-2011: 16-6

This was the first of many teams that didn’t fully click until March. Complete opposite of the first season. They were constantly in the top ten, but fell as low as No. 22 late in the year.

At this point, they had just lost back-to-back road games to Ole Miss and Florida. We’d be losing our minds now and most likely were then.

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They’d go on to finished 22-8, win the SEC Tournament, and lose to a UCONN team led by Kemba Walker in the Final Four.

2011-2012: 21-1

Let’s take a minute to realize how good Cal’s first three seasons were. 2/3 years the Cats had one loss in 22 games and were in the Final Four in 2/3 years. That’s pretty damn good if you ask me.

If it wasn’t for Indiana, this team would’ve been undefeated. Oh well.

The Cats lost only two games all year and went on to dominate in March and bring home title No. 8.

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2012-2013: 16-6

Not all hope had been lost with this team. At least not yet. They had just won four straight, soon to be five. But, they were only two games away from losing Nerlens Noel for the season. Then things went straight downhill.

They went on to lose six of their last ten, including an NIT loss to Robert Morris for an awful end to a horrible season.

2013-2014: 17-5

Maybe Cal’s most frustrating team. Loaded with talent, but never figured it out until late. Kind of the story as of late, right?

They had just come off a blowout win at Rupp against Ole Miss with two more wins to come. A ten point home loss to No. 3 Florida was a bump in the road for this team as they would go on to lose four of their last seven.

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But, the season ended well. James Young slipped to give Florida a one point win in the SEC Championship game, Aaron Harrison hit some shots in March, and they’d…well….you know.

2014-2015: 22-0

Yeah, didn’t have to look this one up.

A historic season, maybe the best college basketball team ever, but unfortunately, Wisconsin got us back for the previous season.

I apologize if you still aren’t over that loss.

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2015-2016: 16-6

Probably Cal’s second worst team. They never really figured it out.

They were coming off two straight road losses to Kansas and Tennessee. They’d go on to win four in a row, lose two of their last five, win the SEC Championship, then got bounced in the second round by the Hoosiers.

Let’s be honest with ourselves though, it was impossible to follow up the previous season.

2016-2017: 18-4

This team was right in the middle of a really bad stretch.

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They had just lost back-to-back games to Tennessee and Kansas and almost lost at home to Georgia. The rough stretch ended with a 22 point loss on the road to Florida.

They’d go on to win 14 in a row, before falling to North Carolina at the buzzer in the Elite Eight.

2017-2018: 17-5

This is probably Cal’s second worst team. Same record, but everyone else was good that year. They were ranked No. 21 and were getting ready to go through hell.

They’d go on to lose five of their next nine, win the SEC Championship, and then got bounced by Kansas State in the Sweet 16.

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2018-2019: 19-3

I’ll be honest, I thought we were going to get a rematch with Duke in the title game. Not quite.

This team was really consistent, only losing five games in a good year for college basketball.

The year didn’t end well though. They’d go on to get beat by Tennessee in the SEC Tournament and lost to Auburn in the Elite Eight.

2019-2020: 17-5

This team is good. The even better thing is this year is a terrible year for college basketball, meaning you could beat anybody and lose to anybody. Fun, right?

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I think this team will go a long way in March. It’s going to be tough to win the SEC Tournament, but this team has the pieces to make a title run.

Rankings:

  1. 2014-15: 22-0
  2. 2011-12: 21-1
  3. 2009-10: 21-1
  4. 2018-19: 19-3
  5. 2016-17: 18-4
  6. 2013-14: 17-5
  7. 2019-20: 17-5
  8. 2017-18: 17-5
  9. 2010-11: 16-6
  10. 2015-16: 16-6
  11. 2012-13: 16-6

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Men's Basketball

Kentucky vs. Jackson State: TV/Streaming Info, Keys to the Game, and Betting Odds/Predictions

Published

9 hours ago

on

November 22, 2024

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Kentucky players encouraging each other at Rupp Arena.
Chet White | UK Athletics

The Kentucky Wildcats are back in action Friday to face the Jackson State Tigers in the second game of the BBN Invitational.

To put it simply, Jackson State is bad, very bad. Sitting at 0-5 and ranked 321st in KenPom, the Tigers will likely be the worst opponent Kentucky will play all season.

Coached by Mo Williams, one of LeBron James’ old teammates with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Tigers have only finished above .500 twice in the last decade. This season, Jackson State is predicted to finish fourth in the SWAC.

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Mark Pope recently said he wanted to build a standard, regardless of opponent and, and that will be tested on Friday.

Let’s take a look at the matchup.

More 3-Point Attempts

Admittedly nitpicking, one of the things that Mark Pope was not happy with in Kentucky’s win over Lipscomb was the amount of three-point attempts. While they shot nearly 50 percent from deep, going 12-25, Pope wants to see the number of attempts closer to 35.

The Tigers have allowed their opponents to shoot 47.8 percent from deep, the second-worst mark in the country. Pope and the staff will certainly generate a game plan to take advantage of this. Expect to see 30+ attempts.

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Ball Movement

Despite beating Lipscomb by 29 points, the Wildcats had a season-low in assists with just ten. For context, Kentucky had averaged more than 23 assists per game entering the matchup.

“That’s not us. That’s not who we are,” Pope said after the game.

While there wasn’t a lot of selfishness, the ball just wasn’t ‘flying’ as it has been early this season. This is a priority for the staff and this mature group, and they will aim for 25+ assists.

Keep JSU off the Free-Throw Line

Jackson State ranks in the top 100 nationally in one area: Free throws made per game. So, Kentucky, defend without fouling.

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Kentucky’s offense makes headlines, but the defense has played very well to start the season, holding all four opponents to under 73 points. Let’s see if they can get down in a stance and defend well for 40 minutes vs. a team that stresses contact and drawing fouls.

Opposing Players to Watch

C Shannon Grant 6-11, 290 lbs

  • 7.5 PPG
  • 4.8
  • Preseason All-SWAC First Team selection

G Jayme Mitchell Jr 6-5, 190 lbs

  • 15.0 PPG
  • 3.8 RPG
  • 44.4% 3P

F Romelle Mansel 6-9, 220 lbs

  • 10.8 PPG
  • 5.8 RPG
  • 31.7% FG (second most FG attempts on the team)

Kentucky Wildcats Basketball vs. Jackson State Tigers

Time: 7 PM ET on November 22nd
Location: Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY
TV Channel: This game will not be on TV and is streaming only,
Online Stream: SEC Network+, ESPN+, and the ESPN app.
Radio: Tom Leach and Jack Givens have the radio call on the UK Sports Radio Network.
Replay: WatchESPN and SEC Network (check local listings).
Rosters: UK | JSU
Stats to Know: UK | JSU
KenPom: UK | JSU
Team Sheet: UK | JSU

Odds: FanDuel Sportsbook has yet to release the odds for the game, so check Thursday afternoon for an official spread. Multiple projections give Kentucky a 99% chance of winning: Bart Torvik (99%), EvanMiya (99.9%), and ESPN (99.0%). The exception is KenPom (92%).

Predictions: KenPom (93-63), Haslametrics (96-63), Bart Torvik (95-61), and EvanMiya (96-59) all are going with a 30+ point victory, Kentucky!

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Men's Basketball

Kentucky Basketball Players Say They Think About Winning National Championship “Every Second”

Published

4 days ago

on

November 18, 2024

By

Kentucky basketball players celebrate after their big over Duke.
IMAGN

The expectations at Kentucky are the highest of any school in the country, and there is good reason why. The winningest college program ever. Eight national titles, under five different coaches. Seventeen Final Four appearances. You get it, a lot of success.

Fans want the players to have those same expectations. Despite not having the elite talent or preseason hype of great Kentucky teams past, this year’s team still has their eyes set on doing something “people will remember forever”, winning a national championship.

Asked on social media, if hanging banner #9 was all the players thought about “every second”, Ansley Almonor had a response.

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“We do.”

It takes a lot to win a national championship, including some luck, but this team is certainly going to be loved for their desire to live out their dream of playing at Kentucky and their unselfishness. Those two things can take them a long way this season .

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Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart Seemingly Takes Shot at John Calipari, “Anybody Can Recruit”

Published

6 days ago

on

November 16, 2024

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Mitch Barnhart sitting next to basketball coach John Calipari.
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John Calipari and Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart had their differences over fifteen years, but success can hide a lot of things. Not that they hated each other, but they each had vastly different personalities. As that success weaned towards the end of Calipari’s tenure, those issues started to be noticed publically.

If you need evidence of that, despite their efforts to dispute it, there is the infamous press conference where Barnhart talked about “entitled” coaches, shortly after Calipari publicly called for a new practice facility. Then, there were multiple times when Calipari expressed that the administration was not on the same page and that he was facing “headwinds”.

That said, Calipari is now at Arkansas, but those differences and some disdain remain. During an interview on the Kentucky Football pregame show, Barnhart seemingly took a shot at Calipari when asked about Mark Pope’s recruiting philosophy and prioritizing fit.

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“I tell people all the time, ‘Anybody can recruit, not everybody can evaluate,’” Barnhart said. “You can recruit. You can be phenomenal at bringing people to your program. But if it does not fit you, it’s really not helpful.”

Of course, Calipari is one of the best, if not the best, recruiters in college basketball history. At times, he prioritized talent and athleticism over fit.

Quite the coincidence.

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