Padgett: Kentucky’s size scared Kansas

Padgett: Kentucky’s size scared Kansas

April 3, 2012 · by Mike Norman · in ,

By: William Padgett III

Kansas was scared.

Every single time a KU player would get into the paint, Anthony Davis was in close vicinity and that player would never—not once—go up into Davis and try to draw a foul. They would attempt to scoop it over, under or around him and nearly every time they would miss.

Granted, the only reason I’m upset about Kentucky winning is the fact that I don’t believe they have worked for it. They have amazing talent and Calipari coached them in such a way that they came together and played to their strengths to win. They did everything they needed to in order to win the championship. It just makes for a bad showing of college basketball because many of these players won’t be “student” athletes much longer.

However, it makes me wonder what could have happened had Kansas gone strong to the basket and finished, or at least shot better than 17 for 51 inside the arc. Obviously, a different game would have been had.

But take nothing away from Kentucky, they played to win. Even with Anthony Davis having an incredibly quiet night on the offensive side of the ball, he stuffed the stat sheet like the POY should with 16 boards, 6 blocks and 5 assists. Doron Lamb led the scoring for UK, putting up 22 points on 7-12 shooting.  But their defense was the most impressive thing part of the night, not allowing any easy buckets for the Jayhawks.

But what does this mean for the future? UK now has 8 national championships, cementing them in second place all time. But of this team, not many will be around next year to try and repeat it. While Miller is their only senior, Davis, Terrance Jones, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are expected to leave early for the draft, and even Marquis Teague and Doron Lamb may be looking to the fortune that comes with playing at the next level.

I cannot express the amount of hate I have for teams made up of “one-and-dones”. Having a star player leave early for the draft is bad enough, but to have almost an entire team of them just makes for something left to be desired. Sure, it is a wonder that Calipari is able to bring all of these players together in the first place. He finally has his national championship that has so long eluded him. Now, the next step he needs to take is to get his amazing recruiting classes to stay for all four years. If he could do that, my respect for him would skyrocket. But for now, he will be known as “the speed bump before the NBA”.

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