March 16, 2011

[...] To go with the three freshman stars are a five man rotation of role players. Florida transfer Eloy Vargas is often wild and inconsistent, missing defensive rotations and greatly irritating Calipari, with little offensive talent to speak of and all the poise of Bambi in a hurricane. Yet his size and athleticism combination proves occasionally useful on both ends, particularly on the glass. Pressed into full-time service at centre, Harrellson has had a great season, earning an invite to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. He's a prolific rebounder and defensive post presence, who can make (if not create) shots around the basket, and he doesn't even take those bad straightaway threes any more. Incumbent shooting guard Jon Hood comes in and does absolutely nothing other than try to score, which occasionally he does. Liggins's evolution from a big, turnover prone point guard, in a vital, cohesive, little-things, do-it-all, rebounding, defending, smart passing, transition jumpshooting role playing small forward is almost complete. And Miller has developed into a shooter and defender, with good size, efficiency, and less mistakes than before. But despite the presence and decent production of these incumbents, Kentucky have had problems with cohesiveness and maturity. Maybe that's due to the lack of four year players.

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