[WolfRobParticipant]

Both Harrison’s
Pothyress
Randle
WCS

Dakari > first big off bench
James Young
Marcus lee or Kyle Wiltjer depending on matchup

[ReactionParticipant]

Agreed.. I think Dakari could replace WCS though in the starting line up late in the season if he plays really well

[qDizzle32Participant]

John Calipari already has 8 incoming recruits coming to Lexington next year, 6 of them being ranked in the Top 20 of the ESPN100. Andrew Wiggins could potentially give them a 7th player in the Top 20. As a huge Kentucky fan myself, I am projecting Wiggins to go to either UNC or FSU, not ruling out Kansas but as much as I’d love to have Wiggins in a Kentucky uni, I don’t see him going there now. But who should start next season for the Wildcats? As of right now on their roster they have 8 former McDonald’s All-Americans and one player who could have very well been one. Ryan Harrow leaving was definitely the right decision for him which at least gets rid of one spot. Kyle Wiltjer transferring would also be a good decision but there are no signs of it which probably means he wants to stay in Kentucky despite the playing time he’ll be getting opposed to if he went somewhere else.

So here’s what their roster consists of:
Frontcourt:
Willie Cauley-Stein
Julius Randle
Dakari Johnson
Marcus Lee
Kyle Wiltjer
Derek Willis

Wings:
James Young
Alex Poythress
Aaron Harrison
Jon Hood

PG’s:
Andrew Harrison
Jarrod Polson
Dominique Hawkins

Who should be the starting 5 in your opinion?

[Taylor Gang MikeParticipant]

agreed^

[ph90702]

Hey. They can actually play 10 guys this year.

[ncballer]

PG Harrison
SG Harrison
SF Young
PF Randle
C WCS

[SpacegrassParticipant]

Still not 100% sure Poythress can play the SF position full time in college? I would play him at the SF in the right situations and let him get some time at the PF as well. He is a bit of a defensive liability playing the SF position is Poythress because most teams will have him matched up with a smaller/faster player.

I personally think the best UK lineup will be…

Harrison-PG
Harrison-SG
Young-SF
Randle or Poythress-PF
WCS-C

[qDizzle32Participant]

As far of their style of playing, I like Dakari Johnson better than WCS but I’m thinking WCS would be the favorite to start assuming he’s gained a lot more confidence from last season. Same goes to Alex Poythress expecting him to be more confident this season after him struggling last year. Julius Randle will probably be their leading scorer next year so I can’t imagine him not starting. James Young is probably my favorite out of all the incoming freshmen, not saying he’s the best but I love his game. A lot of people might not be thinking Young as of right now because he played limited action in both the MDAAG and the JBC since he was injured but I believe that he will be a stud, he can lights out shoot and he can even get to the basket. I love both of the Harrisons, Andrew will definitely be running the point for most of next year and I like Aaron’s ability to score. As good as Marcus Lee is, he won’t be starting next year but he will be a great player down the road. Kyle Wiltjer is the only remaining player from the championship team who got playing time that year, last year I expected a lot of improvement coming from him which I didn’t see. The only reason why his stats were higher than his Freshmen season was because he got more minutes. I’m just not sure if UK was the right choice for Kyle. I’m not sure about who should be the backup point guard, Jarrod Polson who sat the bench his first two years got decent minutes last year playing behind Harrow, he will never go pro but he had a few good games last year but I’m not sure if he should be the backup point or if Aaron should move over to the point when his brother comes out. But I haven’t seen Aaron play the point enough to know if he is able to handle that or not.

Here’s my projected lineup

Willie Cauley-Stein
Julius Randle
Alex Poythress
James Young
Andrew Harrison

The 6th and 7th men will for sure be Dakari Johnson and Aaron Harrison. Then the second post player would either be Wiltjer or Lee depending on the matchup. Marcus Lee might be able to play some SF if neither Young or Poythress is in at the time. The starting lineup could very well change a number of times next year.

[IknoBall12Participant]

Are going to be competitive as hell! It’s gonna really benefit the players also because they can’t have a day off and afford to slack or they could lose their starting job

[Meteorunner14Participant]

I agree WolfRob, but it comes on one condition: Poythress has to play aggressive and earn it. If the same guy from this year shows up, then James Young could very well beat him out for the starting job.

I have:

PG Andrew Harrison
SG Aaron Harrison
SF Alex Poythress
PF Julius Randle
C Willie Cauley-Stein

Bench
6th – James Young
7th – Dakari Johnson
8th – Marcus Lee
9th – Kyle Wiltjer
10th – Jarrod Polson
11th – Jon Hood
12th – Dominique Hawkins
13th – Derek Willis

With this team I just don’t see offense being a problem at all. I think the key is defense, so look for Cauley-Stein to be favored over Johnson. So many different lineup options a well, but I think Julius Randle and Andrew Harrison are the two guarantees in the starting lineup, every other position will vary depending on performance and matchups.

Like this lineup would be scary athletically, size-wise and defensively.
PG Harrison 6’5″
SG Young 6’6″
SF Randle 6’9″
PF Lee 6’9″
C Cauley-Stein 7’0

[ReddinggsnParticipant]

I don’t think Marcus Lee will get a ton of PT right away. I think Wiltjer will probably take more minutes at first and into SEC play. It will depend on the defenses thrown at UK of course. Wiltjer will get more time against Zone defense, while Lee will play more in the Man to man scheme.

[ReddinggsnParticipant]

I personally think this will be the rotation

PG – Andrew Harrison
SG – Aaron Harrison
SF – Alex Poythress
PF – Julius Randle
C – Willie Cauley-Stein

The Bench will get some solid minutes with Young, Wiltjer, Johnson, Lee and Polson getting the majority of backup minutes. Young can certainly play himself into the starting rotation and Poythress can play himself out.

I think the Harrisons, Randle and Poythress will all declare next year and the rest will return. Cauley-Stein will be better this year, but I don’t think he will be ready for the NBA next year either.

[JordanC20Participant]

PG – Andrew Harrison you just have to start him he may be the best point guard that UK has had under Cal.

SG – Aaron Harrison not the scorer that James Young is but putting him in the starting line up with his brother will perhaps help the chemistry on this team.

SF – Alex Poythress for experience reasons..I expect him to come out next season a new player showing energy throughout games rather than bursts

PF – Julius Randle have to have him here he’s a monster that could probably average a double double in less than 25 minutes.

C – Dakari Johnson big body that can bring toughness to this team.

Willie Cauley-Stein first man off the bench bringing blocked shots and rebounds..I’d still give him more minutes than Johnson

Marcus Lee gives the same as Willie in a more limited role

Kyle Wiltjer brings in 3 point shooting and versatility sliding over to the 3 spot occasionally

James Young puts points up in a hurry he may be the guy UK goes to at end of game situations

Jarrod Polson a guy that can come in and bring solid point guard play nothing fancy but he
usually keeps his mistakes to a minimum

Jon Hood brings in experience he will be the guy that gives players advice throughout games and can give you a good amount of rebounds in limited play.

Dominique Hawkins is versatile can play the point but more of a scoring guard could be the guy UK turns to if the other guys happen to have off shooting days.

Derek Willis I don’t expect much from him this season but he will probably log about 5 minutes of play scoring a few points every now and then

[McDunkin]

 

"Jon Hood brings in experience he will be the guy that gives players advice throughout games and can give you a good amount of rebounds in limited play."

[bdiddy5115Participant]

Skill trumps size when comes to the wing positions in college, unless the size is skilled.

This refers to Poythress, who could be a matchup problem at the 3, but lacks the ball-skills or assertiveness to be a stud college 3 (unless something drastically changes). I like him getting the backup 4 minutes, and occasionally running the backup 3.

Young is the best shooter of the group, so even if he has some developing to do, I think he’d help the starting lineup considerably by spacing the floor (Aaron is a scorer who’s still streaky from outside).

Harrison
Harrison
Young
Randle
WCS
–
Poythress
Dakari
Wiltjer

Will probably be the rotation. 9/10 guys is just unrealistic, particularly under Cal.

[franfranParticipant]

PG: Andrew Harrison
SG: James Young
SF: Alex Poythress
PF: Julius Randle
C: Dakari Johnson
6ht Aaron Harrison
7th WCS
8th Wiltjer
9th Marcus Lee

[RigelzParticipant]

this could be a real NCAA dream team … pity that almost everyone will leave after the first year….

[Ghost01Participant]

I think it’s pretty hard to argue their starting 5:

PG Harrison
SG Harrison
SF Poythress
PF Randle
C WCS

They will have Young (who I actually like the best of the 3) rotating with Aaron and Poythress. With Dakari Johnson backing up WCS. Not sure why everyone thinks a center who can barely jump is going to be a superstar, but apparently everyone is really high on him. Don’t think he’ll be the player WCS is, especially at the beginning of the year.

[Author]

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