Kentucky Basketball: 5 keys for a successful 2018-19 campaign
Closing lineup remains consistent and strong
Deploying a consistent starting lineup can yield excellent results for a team but a strong closing rotation can be even more important. Considering Kentucky’s gruesome schedule throughout this entire upcoming season, finding the best closing lineup will be extremely important. Sometimes this does not include the best five individual players but the five that perform best when on the floor together.
However, Kentucky’s incredible depth of talent makes finding the best lineup potentially difficult. With this being said, Coach Calipari clearly has his hands full heading into this year. Still, having “too much talent” is never a bad thing. It may take a few games to figure out which lineups work best against which playing styles but once this is set in stone, Kentucky could be extremely dangerous.
In my opinion, this is the most likely closing lineup thanks to the defense, shooting, and all-around play: Ashton Hagans, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, P.J. Washington, and Reid Travis. There are, of course, several of other options considering the depth of the team.
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If Kentucky basketball is able to cover all of these keys, then the team might just be the best in the nation. The Wildcats are already projected to be an elite team this year but if all goes according to plan, this could be the year that the team once again cuts down the nets as national champions.