i count only 11 – who is left off the list of the scholarship players?

i would add that i bet those last 4 you have averaging 5 minutes get their time in chunks – you know 10 mins one game and zero the next OR 15 one game and 0 the next two.

i doubt it happens often, but would love to see some extended time with patterson, orton and cousins in the front court and bledsoe/wall in the back……

He could flourish, but at the next level, he will be a guard, so his game will have to be more under control. I see him averaging 5 minutes at the SG postion from time to time. I just don’t see him beating out Bledsoe and getting much time at the point. Who knows, here is a guy with great size and was recruited highly who might just take to this type of offense. Time will tell.

He plays 9 or 10 guys at least 10+ minutes – Stevenson and Harris will be among them.

Wall, Bledsoe, Miller, and maybe Dotson should be able to bring the ball up the court under most circumstances without turning it over. Liggins is just an unknown at this time. To me, his decision making skills put him at the wing. IMO all of the guards will have to be ready to shoot effectively when the rebounders are in position. That is 80 minutes divided between four players. The majority of those 80 minutes, I suppose will go to who do the best job “initiating the offense”. I see Bledsoe and Wall getting the most of those 80 minutes and Miller and Dotson plaring guard and sharing most of the time at one wing with Harris (for defense on the opponent’s stud), Liggins, and Hood fighting for what time is left, if any.

At the other wing, I see Patterson, Cousins and Orton playing a great deal of the time with Stevenson picking up what time is left. At the 5 position I see Cousins and Orton sharing that position with Harrellson finishing up what time is left. If they make a lot of freshmen mistakes, I see Patterson playing some post.

If Forty, and Memphis are correct there will be some games that Harris, Stevenson, Hood and Harrellson do not play and other games they will play more than 5 minutes. I think this will depend of how well the freshmen play early in the season. If they are ready to go, then it will be tougher to get playing time. Personally, if we get good size leads, I hope we play all 12. There are no lousy players in this lineup.

I do however believe that Patterson and Miler will need to log a lot of minutes with this young team. Due to their high skill level, Wall, Bledsoe, Dotson, Cousins and Orton will also have to play a great deal. That’s five 5* players and two 4* players who will need to dominate the PT for this next year. In order for that to work, they will have to play multiple positions.

The big question is “Will the big stars be able to develop into a team in one year?” Without this happening, I don’t think we can beat more experienced teams and win the national chamionship. A great year, just not a national championship.

>rimshot<

Seriously though, I’ll be interested to see what kind of lineups we see. I’m really, really, REALLY hoping for a Patterson-Orton-Cousins-Stevenson-Harrellson lineup at some point.

One of my greatest regrets about a UK team is that the 2001-02 squad never played Stone, Estill, Camara, Parker, and Prince together at the same time.

our quickness.

I also haven’t got that flat screen for my man cave. You have stirred my BBN envy! This team is going to have such a positive effect on KY. Happy Days are here again!

Cal emphasizes it, and his teams are good at it. That favors the older, stronger and more experienced players. Harris will likely benefit most. Stevenson could be a very effective center coming from the weak side in the DDMO; his quick jumping, timing and wing span could serve him very well (if his catching improves). The odds are that at least one of the new players will disappoint.

At this point, I would guess that Patterson, Miller, Wall and Cousins will play 25-35 minutes per game. Bledsoe, Dotson, Stevenson, Harris and maybe Orton will get around 15 per game. Hood will get PT if he can defend and hit the trey. Harrellson could also be very effective at center in the DDMO as an offensive rebounder. Liggins will play only if one of the freshman guards can’t play for some reason or is really disappointing.

the seniors need to be wary. Obviously Orton is already going to school on Patterson’s work ethic. That fact impresses me. I expect Daniel to be a very, very strong center for us.I know rumors of great play in pickup games are the kiss of death, but I am also high on Bledsoe.

For the seniors to play a lot, IMO they will have to cut down on turnovers, increase their free throw percentage, take on leadership roles on the court and not be pushed around under the basket. Harris has the defensive skills to cause havoc against the opposition, but when Stevenson always goes for the block, he misses balls that could have been rebounded. I just think it will be difficult to push Cousins and Orton around in the paint. The both outweigh Stevenson by 50 pounds each.

Then again Perry and Ramon may really surprise me. All good teams need senior leadership and I do think we have a good team. We shall see.

If the newbies due to their outstanding athletic ability can learn to play team defense, this team will be tough. The entire team is long, athletic, and hungry for a national title. The players who have just arrived come with impressive offensive credentials, but the question will be can they use their God-given talents of speed, strength and leaping ability to defend against older and more experienced teams.

With the amazing depth we have next year, just because of the numbers, we will have several 4* and 5* players on the bench at different times during the game. When we lose a game, and we obviously will, the second guessing will begin . . “Why didn’t so in so get more PT?” or "We could have won that game if so in so played more! We heard it with Billy now we will hear it with Coach Cal.

I think Patterson will be pushed by the two young big men.
I think Dotson will push Miller.
I think Bledsoe will push Wall.
I think we could see a breakout season from either Hood or Liggins.

What a wonderful problem to have! Play the game at our tempo! Wear down the opponent with our OFFENSE by playing a lot of players at different positions and play as a 12 man team!

Maybe we will score like Loyola/Marymount or VCU, maybe not. IMO we will have to play great defense to win scoring only 50-60 points. I see us scoring more like 75-80 per game at a fast pace.

come March. If we lose 5-6 players next year to graduation and the NBA, Hood and Liggins will be needed in 2010.