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Kentucky Basketball: Kentucky Wildcats 2015-16 Season Preview

By James Fitzgerald

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Kentucky Wildcats

2014-2015 Record: 38-1 (18-0 SEC)
Postseason: NCAA Tournament – Final Four Lost to Wisconsin 71-64

The majority of hoop junkies wanted to see the Kentucky Wildcats finish their run at an undefeated championship for future nostalgia.

Everyone would have been able to talk about where they were when they saw the Kentucky Wildcats go undefeated from beginning to end.

But the Wisconsin Badgers spoiled those possibilities by defeating the Wildcats in the Final Four 71-64. The opportunity to see college basketball history was spoiled, and now hoop fans are going to have to wait and see if that comet is ever going to become visible again.

The vast majority of players from the Wildcats run at history have all moved on to the pros.

But as usual,  the Wildcats’ head coach simply reloads with a top recruiting class and gets ready for another run at the crown.

Kentucky is loaded with top freshman talent along with some players who played some in last season’s platoon system.

The combination of talent is going to make the Kentucky Wildcats an odds-on favorite to win the National Title.

Newcomers

G – Isaiah Briscoe (No.12 247composite)
F – Skal Labissiere (No.2 247 composite)
G – Charles Matthews (Saint Rita/ Chicago,IL)
G – Mychal Mulder (Vicennes (IN) University/Windsor,ON)
G – Jamal Murray (No. 10 247composite)

Key Non-Conference Games

Nov. 17 at Duke – This is easily a preview of what the National Championship game could look like at the end of the year.

Kentucky and Duke are both going to be  ranked Top Five nationally going into this contest and both schools boast the top two recruiting classes in the nation.

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Being able to watch Jamal Murray, Skal Labissiere, and Isaiah Briscoe go up against the freshman class that Duke will boast with Brandon Ingram, Luke Kennard, Derryck Thornton and Chase Jeter will be a treat.

There is a pretty good chance this game will be televised on ESPN, in fact we are pretty positive it will be.

Dec. 26th vs Louisville – This interstate rivalry is going to have a bunch of storylines going into it this season.

For what it is worth, Louisville getting caught up in a sex scandal involving prostitutes and possible recruits only makes this rivalry more intriguing.

From the outside looking in, hoop fans see to national powers clashing that people suspect would do anything to lure in top recruits from across America.

Fans have always felt some level of skepticism when it comes to Rick Pitino and John Calipari. Now that there is a little bit more tinge to Rick Pitino, this game is going to be well hyped and attract plenty of attention.

Aside from all the scandal, Louisville is going to have a pretty good team on the floor.

Damian Lee and Trey Lewis are solid transfers for Rick Pitino to go along with a decent recruiting class.

Nov 30, 2014; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard forward Alex Poythress (22) dunks the ball against the Providence Friars during the second half at Rupp Arena. Kentucky defeated Providence 58-38. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Key Players

Skal Labissiere -Labissiere is one of the top freshman players in the land and he is going to be a highly sought after player come NBA draft time.

He is going to have some huge shoes to fill with the departure of Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein from last year’s team, but the 6-foot-11, 215 pound forward is capable of getting it done.

He is going to get it done a little bit differently from Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns in the low post. In fact he is going to have a tad bit more finesse along the lines of what Anthony Davis brought to the floor for Coach Calipari.

If he is able to get buckets and defend the paint like Davis, Kentucky is going to be more than capable of making a run at the national title.

Alex Poythress – Alex Poythress is important to the Wildcats’ fortunes because they are going to need his senior leadership. But more importantly the Wildcats are going to need Poythress to be healthy so he can make a major contribution.

There have been talks that Poythress could be utilized as a stretch-forward from the power forward position this season.

If he is able to contribute from that spot and stay healthy, Poythress can be a huge boost to the Kentucky Wildcats cause.

Tyler Ulis – Now there is a chance that Ulis will not be the starting point guard going into the 2015-16 season because of the playmaking ability of freshman recruit Isaiah Briscoe, but either way you slice it, Ulis is an important piece to the Wildcats’ puzzle.

He is going to be counted on to set the tempo for the Wildcats’ who should be playing at a faster pace this season.

Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky Wildcats /

Kentucky Wildcats

If Ulis sets the pace and keeps his mistakes to a minimum, this team is going to be lethal.

Season Outlook

We are not really expecting the Wildcats to go undefeated this upcoming season though a run at an undefeated season is not out of the question.

Kentucky was 18-0 last season in the SEC Regular season and went 3-0 in the conference tournament so it is going to be interesting to see how long their conference win streak can go.

Winning 21 straight in conference and 38 straight overall last season shows how talented last season’s squad was.

This season is going to be a tad bit different for Kentucky however so we are going to expect for them to lose a game during their nonconference slate and possibly a couple more during conference play.

But the lumps this unit takes is only going to be the learning experiences that they are going to need in order to make their March run to the Final Four.

Next: Should the NCAA and NBA Change Draft Eligibility Rules

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