Dick Vitale's Preseason Top 40

[Roper92391]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/dickvitale/news/story?id=4361336

Kentucky #2! :)

Anty Katz's Top 25 has UK has #7:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=4262039

[RxRusty]

There are 5 SEC teams in Dickie V's top 40. Vandy is not listed but could be. I think the SEC is back.:thumbup:

[TrueblueCATfan]

I love it..we are ranked ahead of Duke and North Carolina

[Will Lavender]

There are 5 SEC teams in Dickie V's top 40. Vandy is not listed but could be. I think the SEC is back.:thumbup:

SEC is definitely back. Probably the toughest the conference has been since both LSU and Florida made the Final Four.

And I think #2 is way too high for this UK team.

[Bleeding_blue_80]

SEC is definitely back. Probably the toughest the conference has been since both LSU and Florida made the Final Four.

And I think #2 is way too high for this UK team.

absolutely agree. Maybe by January, certainly not November.

[freethrow]

I assume Dicky V is basing this top 40 on mid to late season play. I can't realistically put us at number 2 this early in the game. No doubt that we will be loaded with talent but our shooting is still a question mark to me right now. Let alone an entire new style of play for everyone and the fact that Dodson isn't confirmed to be heading to campus just yet. I will be pleasantly surprised if we are truly deserving of a number 2 ranking a few games into the season though. It is long overdue for us to be there. :)

[JWORLD]

I could care less about about the preseason rankings but i do think come March, don't be on Kentucky's schedule..........

[Roper92391]

I like Dickie V putting us that high...I love to see us *wayyy* up at the top!

[misterbluecat]

I agree with where Katz put us. I see us as a #7 or #8 to open the year.

[kynut]

I doubt a number two ranking until (1)I remember the full speed double behind the back crossover move that John Wall finished off with a behind the back pass for a layup and (2)take a good look at the size of our frontline especially how BIG and talented Cousins is and then (3)think about how good Patterson is going to be, especially at crunch time when we absolutely need a basket and he is posting up for a feed from Wall. Yes, we have a lot to learn and a short time to learn it, but the cream always comes to the top and we definitely have a lot of cream.

Top two or three sounds about right to me.

[bcbaxter10]

I agree with Will. #2 is too high, especially for unproven players. I'm sure we will ascend to that spot eventually, but I'm more in line with Katz's ranking of #7. I think based on talent alone, we are top 10/top 15.

[Blue_N_White]

I agree with Katz's ranking (#7) to START the season....but believe that Kentucky should be closer to Vitale's ranking (#2) by the time March Madness rolls around. Provided Dodson is a member of this year's squad, and everyone stays healthy. As kynut and others have alluded to....there's simply too much talent not to have high expectations......

[TrueblueCATfan]

well whether we are numer 2 or number 7 it is still better than the last 2 years when we weren't there at all

[kynut]

I agree with Katz's ranking (#7) to START the season....but believe that Kentucky should be closer to Vitale's ranking (#2) by the time March Madness rolls around. Provided Dodson is a member of this year's squad, and everyone stays healthy. As kynut and others have alluded to....there's simply too much talent not to have high expectations......

I am trying to be my usual conservative self but I just can't seem to do it. I look at this team and see the youth and the inexperience at the college level as well as the inexperience in the system we are going to run and I recognize we may have a weakness in our outside shooting. All of this would lead one to think we will need time to develop and improve. The only thing is.....while we are developing and improving the other teams are also developing and improving. It gets me thinking that the team that starts with an advantage in talent and athletic ability will be the team that also finishes with the advantage.

Looking at this situation in relative terms, the only teams that will start the year in better shape than we are those teams that can match our size, talent, speed, and athletic ability and also have experience at the college level and in their system. I just don't see many of those teams out there......maybe KU.....Maybe MSU (in terms of experience not talent).

My view of our strength relative to other teams is based on (1) our outstanding size in the frontline......we are big, big, big, and (in spite of what she may have told you) size does matter. And these big guys can run the floor. (2) We have a point guard unlike any other we have ever had......there is no doubt in my mind that Wall is the best (and that's saying a lot). (3) We are deep. We can run most teams to death with little or no drop-off in talent. If fatigue truly does make cowards of us all, then we are going to expose a lot of cowards this season.

Right there, in those three things, we have the makings of a great team. Forget our outside shooting.....we are good enough. Forget our lack of experience.....our talent is such that it won't matter. We will be very very good right from the first tip so we might as well all get on the bandwagon now. I'm already in my front row seat!

[RaleighCat]

We will be very very good right from the first tip so we might as well all get on the bandwagon now. I'm already in my front row seat!

That's what I see as well. This collection of talent doesn't come around very often and we're going to be very good very quickly.

[kynut]

That's what I see as well. This collection of talent doesn't come around very often and we're going to be very good very quickly.

Take a seat brother.....first class, front row!

[Blue_N_White]

I am trying to be my usual conservative self but I just can't seem to do it. I look at this team and see the youth and the inexperience at the college level as well as the inexperience in the system we are going to run and I recognize we may have a weakness in our outside shooting. All of this would lead one to think we will need time to develop and improve. The only thing is.....while we are developing and improving the other teams are also developing and improving. It gets me thinking that the team that starts with an advantage in talent and athletic ability will be the team that also finishes with the advantage.

Looking at this situation in relative terms, the only teams that will start the year in better shape than we are those teams that can match our size, talent, speed, and athletic ability and also have experience at the college level and in their system. I just don't see many of those teams out there......maybe KU.....Maybe MSU (in terms of experience not talent).

My view of our strength relative to other teams is based on (1) our outstanding size in the frontline......we are big, big, big, and (in spite of what she may have told you) size does matter. And these big guys can run the floor. (2) We have a point guard unlike any other we have ever had......there is no doubt in my mind that Wall is the best (and that's saying a lot). (3) We are deep. We can run most teams to death with little or no drop-off in talent. If fatigue truly does make cowards of us all, then we are going to expose a lot of cowards this season.

Right there, in those three things, we have the makings of a great team. Forget our outside shooting.....we are good enough. Forget our lack of experience.....our talent is such that it won't matter. We will be very very good right from the first tip so we might as well all get on the bandwagon now. I'm already in my front row seat!

I agree with everything you just said.

My perspective. On "youth and experience". Michigan's Fab Five. 'Nuff said. In a day and age where kids can play one year in college and then be playing professional ball the following....TALENT trumps experience. Veteran leadership is good....but talent is the trump card in all of this. And this year's UK squad will have as much TALENT as we've seen since the Pitino days.

Oh....as for MSU....they not only have the experience, but they also have talent. I watch them play, and think "these guys can PLAY BALL!" They shoot, they rebound, they pass and play good defense. They're fundamentally sound (as you would expect a Tom Izzo coached team to be). Yeah, maybe they're not a team of "highlight reel" bunch of athletes....but make no mistake, those guys can flat out play basketball. And they're athletic enough.

I had not heard anything on Dodson possibly not playing this year....until a couple of comments by posters in a couple of different threads here. But I'm going to assume he'll play. AND be a HUGE part of this team! I think he's one guy that will enter the season under-appreciated a bit....but will show his true worth and be a valuable member come tourney time. His outside shooting is going to be a definite plus (to help keep defenses honest). I'm also hoping Miller has improved on his perimter shooting as well. Once THAT part of his game improves and he can consistently knock down the mid range J and 3 ball, he has all the other skills to be a very valuable member of this year's team as well.....

[Roper92391]

I really hope Dodson plays!

[Soldier1969]

I doubt a number two ranking until (1)I remember the full speed double behind the back crossover move that John Wall finished off with a behind the back pass for a layup and (2)take a good look at the size of our frontline especially how BIG and talented Cousins is and then (3)think about how good Patterson is going to be, especially at crunch time when we absolutely need a basket and he is posting up for a feed from Wall. Yes, we have a lot to learn and a short time to learn it, but the cream always comes to the top and we definitely have a lot of cream.

Top two or three sounds about right to me.

A ranking of # 2 is spot on! Look at the freshman class combined with a mature leader - yes, we are ranked accordingly.

[Roper92391]

Bingo.

[Joe Hardy]

I am trying to be my usual conservative self but I just can't seem to do it. I look at this team and see the youth and the inexperience at the college level as well as the inexperience in the system we are going to run and I recognize we may have a weakness in our outside shooting. All of this would lead one to think we will need time to develop and improve. The only thing is.....while we are developing and improving the other teams are also developing and improving. It gets me thinking that the team that starts with an advantage in talent and athletic ability will be the team that also finishes with the advantage.

Looking at this situation in relative terms, the only teams that will start the year in better shape than we are those teams that can match our size, talent, speed, and athletic ability and also have experience at the college level and in their system. I just don't see many of those teams out there......maybe KU.....Maybe MSU (in terms of experience not talent).

My view of our strength relative to other teams is based on (1) our outstanding size in the frontline......we are big, big, big, and (in spite of what she may have told you) size does matter. And these big guys can run the floor. (2) We have a point guard unlike any other we have ever had......there is no doubt in my mind that Wall is the best (and that's saying a lot). (3) We are deep. We can run most teams to death with little or no drop-off in talent. If fatigue truly does make cowards of us all, then we are going to expose a lot of cowards this season.

Right there, in those three things, we have the makings of a great team. Forget our outside shooting.....we are good enough. Forget our lack of experience.....our talent is such that it won't matter. We will be very very good right from the first tip so we might as well all get on the bandwagon now. I'm already in my front row seat!

That's what I see as well. This collection of talent doesn't come around very often and we're going to be very good very quickly.

I agree with everything you just said.

My perspective. On "youth and experience". Michigan's Fab Five. 'Nuff said. In a day and age where kids can play one year in college and then be playing professional ball the following....TALENT trumps experience. Veteran leadership is good....but talent is the trump card in all of this. And this year's UK squad will have as much TALENT as we've seen since the Pitino days.

Oh....as for MSU....they not only have the experience, but they also have talent. I watch them play, and think "these guys can PLAY BALL!" They shoot, they rebound, they pass and play good defense. They're fundamentally sound (as you would expect a Tom Izzo coached team to be). Yeah, maybe they're not a team of "highlight reel" bunch of athletes....but make no mistake, those guys can flat out play basketball. And they're athletic enough.

I had not heard anything on Dodson possibly not playing this year....until a couple of comments by posters in a couple of different threads here. But I'm going to assume he'll play. AND be a HUGE part of this team! I think he's one guy that will enter the season under-appreciated a bit....but will show his true worth and be a valuable member come tourney time. His outside shooting is going to be a definite plus (to help keep defenses honest). I'm also hoping Miller has improved on his perimter shooting as well. Once THAT part of his game improves and he can consistently knock down the mid range J and 3 ball, he has all the other skills to be a very valuable member of this year's team as well.....

A ranking of # 2 is spot on! Look at the freshman class combined with a mature leader - yes, we are ranked accordingly.thank you guys for proving to me that modesty is not the new black. thought I was in the twilight zone there for a sec. I love how we have talked for years about how everybody else has been getting sick recruiting classes compared to ours, but when we get one.......oh they have to learn the new system...no experience...yada yada.

Think about this- the Fab Five were not added to a nucleus even close to that of Patterson and Miller, and yet still went on to the championship game. Our class is easily capable of being as good as, if not better than that Michigan class.

Don't sell yourself short UK fans- but if you do then let's hear the teams that you think will be better than us (after KU).

[Will Lavender]

Don't sell yourself short UK fans- but if you do then let's hear the teams that you think will be better than us (after KU).

UK fans sell themselves short? Heck every single year most of the board predicts UK to win it all and render complete and utter destruction on the college basketball world. :icon_mrgreen:

But there's no question we're going to be very good. #2 in the preseason good? Not without Jodie, IMO. With Jodie I thought we had a chance to be #1 easily; without him I think we're a top 10 or 15 team with a chance to be a top 5 team if things fall right. No question we'll be an on-paper Final Four contender for the first time in six or seven years, and that's big.

The biggest issue obviously will be finding someone who can hit jumpshots--because Cal's teams historically take A LOT of long jumpshots.

[kynut]

UK fans sell themselves short? Heck every single year most of the board predicts UK to win it all and render complete and utter destruction on the college basketball world. :icon_mrgreen:

But there's no question we're going to be very good. #2 in the preseason good? Not without Jodie, IMO. With Jodie I thought we had a chance to be #1 easily; without him I think we're a top 10 or 15 team with a chance to be a top 5 team if things fall right. No question we'll be an on-paper Final Four contender for the first time in six or seven years, and that's big.

The biggest issue obviously will be finding someone who can hit jumpshots--because Cal's teams historically take A LOT of long jumpshots.

Pay attention Grasshopper........your old mentor has been trying to tell you we are going to take the ball inside and then farther inside and then even farther inside. We have four giant-economy-size inside players and my bet is still that we are going to force the ball in to them. We have not one, but two, point guards who can do that. I know Cal's history shows a lot of jump shooting from his past teams, but this is not one of his typical teams of old. He has never, I repeat NEVER, had the inside talent that he has this year and I'm betting the farm that he will use this talent.....in the paint ........and the jump shooting will be just enough to keep a defense halfway honest. We lost a strength when Jodie left for sure, so I'm betting Cal turns to his best remaining strength.......and that's inside the paint.

[Will Lavender]

Pay attention Grasshopper........your old mentor has been trying to tell you we are going to take the ball inside and then farther inside and then even farther inside. We have four giant-economy-size inside players and my bet is still that we are going to force the ball in to them. We have not one, but two, point guards who can do that. I know Cal's history shows a lot of jump shooting from his past teams, but this is not one of his typical teams of old. He has never, I repeat NEVER, had the inside talent that he has this year and I'm betting the farm that he will use this talent.....in the paint ........and the jump shooting will be just enough to keep a defense halfway honest. We lost a strength when Jodie left for sure, so I'm betting Cal turns to his best remaining strength.......and that's inside the paint.

I would argue that Dorsey, Taggart and Dozier were all very good big men, but I get your point.

Still don't see a college basketball team really playing at top 5 level if it can't hit outside shots. Last year's Memphis team had two proven interior players who will play in the NBA; they hit 32% of their outside shots, and even though they were a very good team, they did most of what they did on the defensive end. 32% is not very good, and I would hope we can do better than that this year.

But I'm not arguing that this team is going to struggle or anything. What we're debating is whether we're a #2 team in the preaseason or something like 8 or 10 (which is where I think they'll be). Good team either way with a potential to be great.

[kynut]

The key here is that we have four inside guys equal or better than Dorsey, Dozier and Taggert and we have them all together in one season! You could build a great team around any one of them......well maybe at least three of the four, but you get my point. I know forcing the ball into the inside is not the prime function of the DDMO, but I cannot see how we could possibly pass up this opportunity. What we are going to see is a refined DDMO that stresses inside play first when we are running half court sets, with the outside shots coming after the ball goes inside first, collapsing the defense. (Sorta sounds Tubbylike doesn't it?) Cousins on the high post and Patterson in the low post is an unstoppable combination......which one you gonna double? I cannot wait to see it!

[Joe Hardy]

What we're debating is whether we're a #2 team in the preaseason or something like 8 or 10 (which is where I think they'll be).

for me this kind of subject is always relative. It's like when we UK fans were saying last season "there's no way duke is a top 10 team".....

and some voter said well somebody has to be ranked in the top ten. if not duke then who else? Everybody always wants to say how teams shouldn't be ranked where they are, but hardly ever does anyone mention WHO should be in there place.

now Will, do you honestly see 7-9 teams out there who have more talent than us right now ?

I'll be honest, i don't know much about the Purdue's and Villanovas and such but Dicky V does. If he thinks we're the second most talented team, then I'm guessing there's something to that. It doesn't mean we're world beaters or shoe -ins for the title...just means that there aint too many teams (in this upcoming season) who will match up with us.

And yes I know that every year I and so many fans predict us to go all the way. But this year is different. this year is based on recruiting and returning talent instead of emotion. aint had a feeling like this since the summer of '95.

[Roper92391]

for me this kind of subject is always relative. It's like when we UK fans were saying last season "there's no way duke is a top 10 team".....

and some voter said well somebody has to be ranked in the top ten. if not duke then who else? Everybody always wants to say how teams shouldn't be ranked where they are, but hardly ever does anyone mention WHO should be in there place.

now Will, do you honestly see 7-9 teams out there who have more talent than us right now ?

I'll be honest, i don't know much about the Purdue's and Villanovas and such but Dicky V does. If he thinks we're the second most talented team, then I'm guessing there's something to that. It doesn't mean we're world beaters or shoe -ins for the title...just means that there aint too many teams (in this upcoming season) who will match up with us.

And yes I know that every year I and so many fans predict us to go all the way. But this year is different. this year is based on recruiting and returning talent instead of emotion. aint had a feeling like this since the summer of '95.

Exactly, I'm spot on with you here.

[Will Lavender]

now Will, do you honestly see 7-9 teams out there who have more talent than us right now ?

Not sure.

What I see for UK is three possible freshmen starters, a JUCO getting a lot of playing time, and two more freshmen coming off the bench. That's a ton of inexperience that's going to keep this team from playing like a top 5 team for a little bit.

Much like last year's Memphis team, who I think this team really reminds a person of. That team struggled early; I remember the "What's wrong with Memphis?" bits on SportsCenter and such. By February they were in the top 5 and had rolled off twenty in a row or something. That's how I see this UK team. It's going to take them awhile to really get going, I think.