Photo by John Morgan Francis
While Kentucky Football has been a hot topic in the Bluegrass, you won’t find one hotter than John Calipari’s basketball team. The Wildcats are less than two weeks away from their season opener with the Duke Blue Devils in Indianapolis, leaving two exhibition contests to first be completed.
The first of the two games will be played on Friday, as Kentucky hosts the cross-town Transylvania Pioneers. The Pioneers finished 17-9 last season but will undoubtedly play their “Super Bowl” of the year before their season even begins.
The second-ranked Wildcats, though, have much higher expectations for this season and will once again have a heavy amount of chemistry to re-build.
However, an arsenal of retuning players is certainly an asset Calipari was without a season ago. Add in the highly talented freshman the coaching staff has once again put together and Kentucky’s ceiling seems to be without limit.
Freshman such as Ashton Hagans, EJ Montgomery and Tyler Herro are coming off start-like performances in UK’s annual Blue-White game last Sunday.
Veterans such as Nick Richards & PJ Washington also stuffed the stat sheet, while Reid Travis looks more comfortable every time he makes a trip down the floor.
Expect Kentucky to play very diverse groups, such as three-guard lineups, three-big lineups and a few interchangeable lineups revolving around a “traditional-five.”
Whatever opposing defenses throw at the Wildcats, Calipari has just about any answer based on pure talent. With games like Friday night’s to build live-game chemistry, the team’s potential will only increase.
Kentucky will tip-off with Transylvania at 7 P.M. EDT, while their second & final exhibition game is set for next Friday against the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Crimson Hawks.
