Kentucky, North Carolina, and a New York State of Mind (Part 1)

This season has been a season of change for both North Carolina and Kentucky. Two of the nation's most historic programs have found themselves in the rebuilding process after displaying two of the most talented teams in the country last year. However, for these two programs, being in the rebuilding process has never been quite as confusing as it is this year, especially for Kentucky.

After capping off one of the best seasons in history with a championship win in New Orleans, the Kentucky Wildcats lost a total of six players to the NBA Draft. Not to worry, Kentucky is a so-called "basketball factory", right? The top recruiting class comes in to Lexington, ends with a top five regular season ranking, then leaves to go to the NBA. John Calipari has become an expert at achieving with new talent year in and year out, no matter if he's doing it legally or not. Regardless, he hasn't been caught and his players do become above-average NBA players.

This year's team is different from any other Kentucky team that Calipari has coached, however. Very different indeed. Yes, it still boasts the nation's top recruits but as I've watched the Cats play this year I've noticed that this team is immature compared to his past few teams. Not immature in whining in complaining but immature as in lack of leadership and having a sense of urgency. Yes, I realize that point guards such as Derrick Rose and John Wall don't exactly come along every year, but by the same token, it doesn't take skill to be a leader on the floor. So far, Archie Goodwin has proved to be a skilled point guard, yes, but it doesn't seem that he takes control of the offense as well as Rose and Wall and even Brandon Knight did. Success starts at the point guard position and if you don't have someone that's going to take charge late in the game then it's going to be tough to win in crunch time.

This particular situation was shown in Kenucky's loss to Alabama the other night. When it came down to the end, no one for Kentucky looked as if they wanted to step up and be "the man". Part of that can be contributed to the fact that, with players leaving every year, Kentucky rarely has a true leader. Last year's team had Darius Miller who was the only senior and a true veteran. This year, who does Kentucky have to look to for leadership? Kyle Wiltjer? He's one of the few returning players but how can you put that kind of pressure on a kid who only averaged eleven minutes per game last year?

Again, classes like those that consisted of Derrick Rose and John Wall don't come around very often. Those two point guards are guys that are winners, they're willing to step up late in games and take charge and they make their teammates better. I just haven't yet seen an attempt to step up by any of these UK freshman. They sit at sixth place in the SEC with a 3-2 conference record and have not yet beaten a ranked team. Joe Lunardi's latest Bracketology had the Wildcats seeded tenth which now has people wondering if Kentucky can even make the Big Dance. It will take a big push and it doesn't get any easier as they still have four games against ranked opponents. It's hard to believe, but New York City and the NIT might just be calling Kentucky's name this year.