Bilas, Vitale see competiton, not problem, with UK's roster

[LarryVaught1]

College basketball analyst Jay Bilas sees competition, not too much depth, on John Calipari’s roster next season at Kentucky.

“You can only have too much depth if it affects team chemistry. This is competition, so players should expect to compete for time,” said the ESPN analyst. “But, when you have too many really good players to play all to the level of their ability, real or perceived, it can cause problems. Some call it a good or high class problem, but it can be detrimental if you allow it to be.”

Another ESPN analyst, Dick Vitale, thinks the abundance of talent Calipari will have is a “great problem to have” for any team.

“It is a coach’s dream,” Vitale said. “John is a master dealing with athletes. He is able to motivate and inspire. This last year he finally got them to buy into the name (Kentucky) on the jersey.

“With the Harrisons, (Dakari) Johnson, (Alex) Poythress, the whole gang, I just do not think he’ll have a chemistry problem. Kids want playing time. There will be a kid or two make a wrong decision, but these kids figured out not to leave Kentucky. So John has a beautiful problem. I would always rather have too much talent than not enough. Any coach would and you sure won’t hear John complaining about all the great players he has.”

[CitizenBBN]

The good news is Cal recruits on the whole idea of playing good competition in practice and that being the path to the NBA. I'd say it's never truer than this year. So he doesn't have to suddenly change his tune with anyone, which is big for credibility to say the least.

[Kacat]

I think the quality of these young men is very understated. Kids like WCS, POY, Lee, Hawkins and DJ never complained once about lack of PT or sulked about coming off the bench. The kids coming in have all talked about team first and competing for the team. I don't a think it will be a problem at all.

[UKHistory]

Chemistry and defense are the two biggest question marks for this team. The biggest issue might come about if the freshmen do outplay the veterans who came back. That might be an issue.

But everyone needs to bring it. Because of the talent, I do hope we find a way to play more people. If we can extend some leads and get the new guys more meaningful minutes that would be a plus for us.

If folks recall, chemistry was a major discussion point prior to the start of 1995-96. It was not a real issue during the season but Pitino (his best coaching job?) found ways to make everyone happy enough to win.

[kingcat]

I believe Cal will adjust his sometimes conservative approach and we'll be putting a lot of points on the board. If we are a strong enough team, some thirty point leads will afford the reserve players time to make their contributions.

[BigBlue92]

This is a disaster for UK, just like all of the UofL fans said. Too many all-Americans, too little playing time, inevitable dissension, losses mounting, cats and dogs living together, total chaos.

We are screwed.

[cattails]

This is a disaster for UK, just like all of the UofL fans said. Too many all-Americans, too little playing time, inevitable dissension, losses mounting, cats and dogs living together, total chaos.

We are screwed.

Hopeless, be lucky to win 10 games.

[CitizenBBN]

This is a disaster for UK, just like all of the UofL fans said. Too many all-Americans, too little playing time, inevitable dissension, losses mounting, cats and dogs living together, total chaos.

We are screwed.

Like I said all year, we desperately need less depth and experience and to have to press-gang walk ons into minutes at key times if we really want to move forward as a program. With Cal not having to start at step one on offense and defense I fear we will be NIT bound again, as are all teams who return massive depth, experience and talent.

Woe to us.