WEISS: UK Represents Fast Ticket To NBA

Vaught's Views: UK basketball observer says UK represents fast ticket to NBA

By LARRY VAUGHT
larry@amnews.com

August 12, 2010

No matter what time of year it is, Dick “Hoops” Weiss of the New York Daily News is always thinking about college basketball, and always willing to talk about it.

Weiss followed Kentucky basketball even closer during the Rick Pitino years because he wrote a book with Pitino and has been friends with him for years. However, he also counts current UK coach John Calipari as a friend.

Weiss knows Calipari has dramatically changed the perception of UK basketball the last 15 months with his 35-3 season and five first-round draft picks.

“I think people see Kentucky as a fast-track ticket to the NBA. You had five players taken in the first round this year and he has recruited at least three of the potential first 16 picks next year in Brandon Knight, Enes Kanter and Terrence Jones,” said Weiss.

“John’s biggest problem is getting people to be program players and not just leave after one year. I think to win the national championship, and there is going to come a time when they (Kentucky fans) are going to expect him to win a championship, you have to have some experience because experience does play a huge role at the end of tournaments.”

Not prepared for West Virginia

Weiss thought Kentucky was not prepared to play against West Virginia’s zone defense in its East Region loss when the Wildcats could not make a shot from 3-point range.

“Ironically, I think if they played (national champion) Duke they win by 10. Duke’s man-to-man could not have stopped what Kentucky did. They had no answers for DeMarcus Cousins or John Wall,” Weiss said.

“West Virginia and Syracuse were the only two teams in the country that I thought could have beat them last year and that was because of the zone defenses. (West Virginia coach) Bobby Huggins has had success against John before and certainly knew how to defend him. The wheels came off at the wrong time because I thought they were good enough to win it all last year.”

Predictions

What about next year? Could UK contend for a title after losing five first-round draft picks?

“They are going to be awful young but college basketball is changing. Duke will be a lot better with the addition of Kyrie Irving and Seth Curry, and Kyle Singler decided to come back. They will be the preseason No. 1,” Weiss said. “But a lot of times it is how many pros do you have on the roster. They have three freshmen who are pros. A lot will depend on whether they play like freshmen or pros.”

Weiss said it’s probably unfair to even think Knight, Kanter and Jones, part of Calipari’s second straight No. 1 recruiting class, can be as good as last year’s freshmen.

“I think Wall and Cousins, provided he stays focused, will be stars at next level. I don’t know that these kids are destined for stardom. I don’t think any of them will be the No. 1 pick in the draft like John was,” Weiss said.

“As effective as Kanter was in the Nike Global Challenge game, I don’t know that anybody had the physical traits of DeMarcus Cousins. To me, it was like looking at this decade’s version of Shaquille O’Neal last year. Cousins was enormous. And as we found out, he probably played at close to 300 pounds last year. He has certainly shown up well in NBA summer league. Those kids are great players and I just don’t see how these kids can match up to that level of play.”

Weiss knows Kentucky fans were thrilled with the way Calipari revived the program last year much like Pitino did almost 20 years ago. Weiss also knows UK fans can become impatient.

“I think you get three years and then the fans get anxious if you don’t go to the Final Four. John doesn’t want to ever be perceived as just a talent collector and not a great coach,” Weiss said. “I think it is very important for him to get to a Final Four as soon as possible because that is what they paid him to do.

“When you are getting paid $31 million, you don’t want to finish the season in the Sweet Sixteen or Elite Eight. You want to be playing the last weekend of the tournament, and John knows that.”

Copyright: AMNews.com 2010