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  • DeCourcy on how he thinks 2012 UK could compare to 2015 UK

    By: LARRY VAUGHT



    Sporting News columnist Mike DeCourcy was the first to tell me how special he thought Kentucky’s eventual 2012 national championship team could be several months before that season even started.

    Now that Kentucky coach John Calipari will have his deepest and most experienced team in his six seasons at UK, I wondered how DeCourcy thought the 2014-15 team might compare to that 2012 championship team.

    “I think at this point I am still not sure on paper this team is better than the 2012 team,” said DeCourcy. “That team probably had more issues at point guard going into 2011-12 than this team will have. This team has two excellent options (Andrew Harrison and Tyler Ulis) and that team only had one (Marquis Teague) and it took time to figure out.

    “But Anthony Davis still is the best talent if you stack up everybody on both teams by far. That 2012 team also had Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb, a great shooter, and the all bought into Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Then don’t forget Darius Miller.

    “This year’s team will have more big bodies, but you can only play so many at a time before the defense gets sacrificed a little bit. I am not yet convinced this will be a superior team in terms of what rotation John uses. You talk about talented players, this team has more but what can John use and how will he use that talent.

    “Nobody who wins a championshp plays 11 or 12 guys. You go back to (Kentucky’s) 1996 (championshp season) and see how many guys played a lot once the games got real. When they were killing teams, a lot played but in the Final Four and tight games the rotation was tight. This team could be the same way.”
    Comments 9 Comments
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Very good analysis. Thanks, Larry.

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    1. CitizenBBN's Avatar
      CitizenBBN -
      DeCoursey and I must have had different 1996s. Just checked Jon's site, and he played 9-10 guys about every tourney game. OK that's not 11-12, but the rotation only got that deep in the regular season b/c we were winning by 30 most of the time so we cleared the bench a LOT that year.

      Now some only got 6-7 minutes, but I didn't count the 1-2 minute guys either and it's still 9-10, which is pretty much the amount of depth we're talking about on this team.

      UMass game for example (probably toughest game), we played the core guys but Shep got 10 minutes, Turner 6, Edwards 4. The "core" 7 plus these 3 is 10, and that 3 got 20 minutes total. I agree the minutes may have gotten somewhat tighter but that's largely b/c we weren't winning by 30 like we did in many regular season games as much as a "you don't win with 9-10 guys in your rotation" reasons.

      Rick may have tightened up some but he tightened up to 9-10 guys, not 6-7, which is what we're talking about when we talk about Cal's "tight rotation."
    1. Kacat's Avatar
      Kacat -
      We have a bunch of options at the 4/5 but not as many at the 3. It will be interesting to see how much the new guys play. Cal isn't going to have to teach the team from square one like he usually does but he still has 4 McD AAs he needs to get up to speed. Plus the summer trip is huge in helping develop chemistry. I think Cal will play a lot of guys but I agree come crunch time the rotation shortens.
    1. Edward100's Avatar
      Edward100 -
      That’s the way it should be. Play more players through the year to fine the right combo when the money is on the line.
    1. kingcat's Avatar
      kingcat -
      Looking back, I really enjoyed that Larry and after thinking on things a while I see this as a conservative opinion of UK's potential for next year.

      I'd rather compare this team against the greatest UK team to ever lace them up. The 1996 Wildcats who did not depend on freshmen to lead them. The depth of talent is very similar however ..as well as the lack of Anthony Davis

      One thing is certain, each team depended on differering strengths. 96 was a perimeter oriented team and did not dominate teams inside, although they also were admittedly not a bunch of midgets. Any team in history would struggle to match them in putting points on the board and facing that tenacious, smothering defense.

      Yet, this past season, despite a huge blow to our size and strength (WCS)..our overall size is still what took UK to the final game, which did so after defeating four elite teams. This team would tower over 96 in a way they never came near to facing.

      Camby's length was nearly enough to overcome the 96 Wildcat team a second time, but not quite. Even he would struggle to do much of anything against the team Cal can put on the floor..so would the college version of A.D.

      And even with the loss of Julius, the physical power of next years team would overwhelm even last years Cats imho. The experience factor adds tremendously....and the incoming class (which apart from that impacts our upcoming team in a huge way) will have them to emulate.

      Add to those things, Coach Calipari's understanding of what makes each player tick and the sounds they make when they are doing so, and the potential at least, is there for a season like we haven't seen in all of college basketball in many years.

      The game isn't played on paper as they say, so the story will yet be written.
      And when it comes to all things related to UK athletics, your the best there is Larry!
    1. Doc's Avatar
      Doc -
      I'd beg Mike to review the season and focus on Jones. He was far from stellar for much of the year. In fact Terrance had a major slump that many forget. Also, I'd take Aaron's shooting as on par with Doron's. Davis and MKG are the big difference. Do poythress and wcs step up?
    1. UKHistory's Avatar
      UKHistory -
      Doron seemed to be more consistent offensively. Doron got up for big games and really didn't have to hit the clutch shots Aaron did.

      In fact had Brandon Knight, who was heroic in 2011, passed off to Doron a little more, we may have beaten UConn then.

      Quote Originally Posted by Doc View Post
      I'd beg Mike to review the season and focus on Jones. He was far from stellar for much of the year. In fact Terrance had a major slump that many forget. Also, I'd take Aaron's shooting as on par with Doron's. Davis and MKG are the big difference. Do poythress and wcs step up?
    1. Padukacat's Avatar
      Padukacat -
      If we get the sophomore versions of poythress and WCS then i'd say theres no way we are as good as 2012, but if we see improvement from those two along with steady improvement of the twins then theres no doubt as a team we are better than 2012. It wasn't all roses in 2012, other than Davis who altered every teams game plan and Doron who hit everything he shot.
    1. Philly Cat's Avatar
      Philly Cat -
      Thanks, Larry.

      Three quick thoughts--

      1) Terrence Jones was awesome, for sure, but let's recall that he was arrested with Stacey Poole around the time of our first game, IIRC. At that point, he was still the "selfish motherkisser" that got called out by Coach Calipari, as far as we knew. Now, he came around. Did he ever! But it's not like that level of performance was a guarantee when he decided to come back.

      2) Totally agree with the talk about an expanded rotation. Rick used a bigger rotation than people (DeCourcey) remember, and it's important to note that "using" 9-10 guys doesn't mean playing them all 10+ minutes. (How could it?) But, it means that Marcus Lee should know, going into every game, that he's going to play like a crazy person for a 4-minute stretch... and then maybe a little garbage time on top of that. I think it's the only way to have that many talented guys co-exist: define their roles, and ask them to perfect that role.

      And "sitting on the bench but playing hard in practice" is not a role that a sophomore McD's All-American is likely to accept gracefully.

      3) How great is it that we can even entertain comparisons between this team and the 1996 team? Heady times, indeed.
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