Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
We all know preseason polls are just numbers, so pre-preseason polls are practically worthless in terms of predicting results. But who am I to withhold basketball news this time of year? Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News ranks his top 25 for the 2012-13 season, and the Wildcats checked in at No. 5 on his list.
1. Indiana Hoosiers
2. UCLA Bruins
3. Louisville Cardinals
4. Ohio State Buckeyes
5. Kentucky Wildcats
Why they’ll finish here: How about because they always do? “Always” being a relative term, of course. John Calipari has been at Kentucky three years, and each of those teams earned a No. 1 seed, reached the Final Four or both. This will be the least-experienced group he has coached with the Wildcats, but power forward Kyle Wiltjer and small forward Alex Poythress have star potential, and center Nerlens Noel will be an overwhelming defensive force on day one.
Why they might not: Calipari’s most obvious problem is having to rely on players less gifted than he’s usually had to accommodate at Kentucky, whether it’s transfer shooting guard Julius Mays or veterans Jon Hood and Twany Beckham. The Wildcats won the title with seven guys, but they can’t go just with five.
Key player: Point guard Ryan Harrow, a transfer from N.C. State, has much less ability than the playmakers Calipari is accustomed to employing. That’s a tough standard, of course. Harrow doesn’t have to be as good as Derrick Rose; he has to be good enough to run the Wildcats against Siva and Tennessee’s Trae Golden and the like.
Everything DeCourcy says seems to be accurate enough. It is true that Calipari has a little bit less than he usually does in terms of depth, but he has a tremendous track record of getting more out of his players than most expect. He also has a way of getting his players to play to the moment, and with guys like Alex Poythress, Archie Goodwin and Nerlens “gtta get #9” Noel, it doesn’t seem like they’ll need a whole lot of motivation from Cal.
Where he seems to stray is in the third paragraph. Ryan Harrow having “much less ability than the playmakers Calipari is accustomed to employing” seems a bit off base. Harrow is a stud, and has had an entire year of practice with a National Championship winning team. Harrow is going to come in and know the system and be able to run the show from the get-go. Not many other Calipari point guards can say that. If you want to argue Harrow has less size fine, but he more than makes up for that with his quickness and ability to score from anywhere. Not to mention what his knowledge of the offense and instinctual ability will do for him.
Outside of Kentucky, newcomer to the Southeastern Conference, Missouri checks in at No. 12 in the rankings, and Florida at No. 16. They are the only other SEC schools in the rankings. Rounding out the top ten are Michigan at No. 6, NC State at No. 7, Duke at No. 8, Syracuse at No. 9, and Arizona at No. 10.
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May 26th, 2012 at 4:18 pm
People thinking UCLA is a top 20 team, muchless #2 is hysterical. Trainwreck…west coast style.
May 26th, 2012 at 4:20 pm
1st
May 26th, 2012 at 4:23 pm
#1 – Agree, can’t wait to see how well B. Howland does with freshman one and dones.
May 26th, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Umm Kentucky wasn’t a one seed in Calipari’s second season. They were a 4 seed
May 26th, 2012 at 4:31 pm
1. Yep. Come tournament time, they won’t be found.
May 26th, 2012 at 4:36 pm
He said no. 1 seed, final four or both. Not necessarily both.
May 26th, 2012 at 5:06 pm
Seein’ IU ranked #1 makes me wish we were playing them even more!!! Too bad they were afraid to play us in Indana at Lucas Oil Stadium, 2 straight years Cal would have gave them too…what the hell???
May 26th, 2012 at 5:12 pm
I think Decourcy’s comments about Harrow were fair. Saying that Harrow is in the mold of Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, John Wall, Brandon Knight, or Marquis Teague is unfair. Each of Cal’s previous 5 PG’s were higher rated coming out of high school and talent wise were at the top each year. That doesn’t mean that Harrow in his 3rd year removed from high school can’t be an impact player next year, but saying that he will be just as good as the above group is very questionable too because he hasn’t proven it yet.
May 26th, 2012 at 5:14 pm
7 – I agree. I prefered the neutral site, but still wish the series would have continued. We would have had IU at Rupp Arena this year and while Baylor is good, it doesn’t replace the history and meaning of the UK-IU series.
May 26th, 2012 at 5:19 pm
The thing is, UK is just as talented as these other top ranked teams, and Harrow is probably the most talented point guard of any of those teams. Everyone still throws too much merit into experience. UNLV and UCLA might as well even be thrown into the mix.
May 26th, 2012 at 5:32 pm
#7&9 , Fork IU. I’m sick of hearring about these jack-ffs.
May 26th, 2012 at 5:35 pm
IU at #1 and UCLA at #2 is the laugh of the year!
May 26th, 2012 at 5:44 pm
Agree with number one. Ucla being number 2 is an absolute joke
May 26th, 2012 at 5:48 pm
And Ohio state in top five that’s funny they have two key players leaving
May 26th, 2012 at 6:33 pm
Im not an IU fan but they should be #1. Hell they have there entire roster back plus a pretty good recruiting class coming in. I hate IU just as much as anyone else but that team can flat out score. Now the question is can they win away from Assembly Hall? DOnt forget they get Maurince Creek back who hung 31 on UK 2 years ago. If he comes back healthy they will be tough. So take off your blue colored glasses UK fans, IU is legit as much as I hate to admit that
May 26th, 2012 at 6:50 pm
Yes UK can play the underdog card, IU, UL, have played for past couple of years!! They better watch out!
May 26th, 2012 at 8:15 pm
I don’t understand why Arizona is not ranked much higher?
May 26th, 2012 at 8:32 pm
Yes, I can’t believe that UCLA is getting ranked #2. You have to prove something before you get high rankings…Howland hasn’t proven that he has the magic touch with one and doners yet.
Indiana and L’ville I agree with, unfortunately. And I agree with our ranking.
May 26th, 2012 at 8:51 pm
I guess looking at preseason, that’s almost right. Louisville brings almost everyone back from a final 4 team. Indiana brings everyone back from a sweet 16 team. I’d put UK at 3 though. Ohio St will miss Sullinger big time. UCLA has a great class coming in but Larry Drew running the point is a train wreck waiting to happen. And Howland has to prove he can control a team again, especially a team full of freshmen. Not everyone can do what Cal does. Side note, they will have the fattest frontcourt in NCAA history with Josh Smith and Tony Parker. But I look for Indiana to be good and top 5 most of the year. I look for Louisville to lose to random mediocre teams like they always do. Ohio st will be pretty good but not top 5. UCLA will be similar to UCONN this yr n my opinion. As much talent as anyone but lack of a leader to keep the team under control, won’t lose as many games as UCONN though. UK should be top 5 most of the year and will have the most impactful player in the country in Noel.
May 26th, 2012 at 11:12 pm
good thing I hate all four of his top four teams. That would be a dreadful final four.
May 27th, 2012 at 7:17 am
How does this clown know. UK and UCLA have basically all new freshman
May 27th, 2012 at 9:31 am
21 – DeCourcy is no clown. He’s one of the best, and one of the few sportwriters whose opinion I trust. Not necessarily on preseason rankings, but generally.
May 27th, 2012 at 12:45 pm
I. Think all the ones who are down on Harrow are in for a surprise.l He was rated on par with Knight out of high school. He player in a system that didn’t fit his skil set at NC state.(just like Rondo under Tubby) He will be better than any point guard Cals had at UK since he’s been here. Wall, Rose, And others might be better pros but Harrow will be the best PG at UK. Rumors last year was he ateTeague up.