Kentucky Wildcats – Buy
One season ago the Wildcats looked disinterested, they were playing a lot of individual one on one basketball and it led to a losing record. It was the first losing season the Wildcats have had since 1988-89. This season Kentucky has started much better and looks to be a contender for a final four and potentially much more. The Wildcats are going to be a second-weekend team but how far they want to ultimately reach their goals of making the national title game they are going to have to be at the top of their game.
There have been some games under head coach John Calipari that Kentucky has looked disengaged and have had a head-scratching loss. This has happened far too frequently under Coach Calipari the last few seasons. Something else that makes Kentucky a dangerous team is their ability to blow out opponents at times. If Kentucky plays like they are capable of they often leave no doubt on the final score. In their losses this season they have looked disengaged but, in their wins, they have looked like one of the best teams in the country at times.
Kentucky was one of the worst shooting teams in the SEC last year and that problem has been corrected. They are shooting 36% overall from deep and just a shade under 50% from the floor. They have one of the nation’s best bigs in Oscar Tshiebwe. Tshiebwe is a transfer from West Virginia where he was already a force in the post, he has taken his game to a new level and flat out dominates. He is currently averaging 15 points and 15 rebounds a game to go with 1.5 blocks per game.
The starting guards in TyTy Washington and Kellan Grady are both shooting over 40% from deep. The Wildcats don’t turn the ball over, and they play team defense. They are a good team and if they stay together and stay committed to each other they can absolutely win the National Title.