Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: The Emergence of Bam Adebayo

The Kentucky Wildcats are a guard-oriented team, and I am OK with that for the most part.

I have no issues with the play of Malik Monk, De'Aaron Fox, or Isaiah Briscoe. These were the guys that carried the team early in the season, but now some consideration must be given to Bam Adebayo.

His post moves are getting better with each game, he is becoming more aggressive, and he isn't fouling. He has become a legitimate scoring threat, and his hustle has never been questioned.

One of the reasons why the ‘Cats dropped the game at Louisville was that the guards forgot about Bam. He was destroying Anas Mahmoud and whichever big Rick Pitino threw at him.

It is now apparent that John Calipari has emphasized getting the ball to Bam as often as possible. No guard is better than that right now than Briscoe. He was able to shred the Ole Miss Rebels defense and zone by driving in and dishing the ball right to Adebayo.

Bam, in turn, would slam it home, come back down the floor on offense, and do it again.

But it's not just Bam's dunking that is raising my eyebrows. He is splitting double teams, passing out of trouble to an open player, and moving on players that are physically inferior. He's playing his position with a high basketball IQ.

Also, there are times when he moves more like a guard or a small forward. His footwork is evolving, and there aren't many 6'10 260 pound players that can run the floor like he can. Or that can do this:

Folks, that's a full grown man-child doing a Euro-step.

His defense is improving as well, he is blocking shots, and he just held Tyler Davis from Texas A&M in check for most of the game.

Cal's most successful teams have had dominant big man: DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Willie Cauley-Stein were major contributors in Cal's three best teams. For this current team to thrive in a similar way, Bam has to be more of a focal point on this team.

When the shots aren't falling, or the guards are struggling to score, Bam Adebayo has become the perfect safety valve for the offense. There will be times when Malik Monk is firing on all cylinders, and the offense will flow through him, but the other times should be focused on Bam.