Kentucky's kids had to share
Following a freshman season at Kentucky that ended with a loss to West Virginia in the East Regional final last year, Wildcat freshmen John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton graduated to the NBA along with junior Patrick Patterson. Coach John Calipari immediately reloaded with highly touted freshmen Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb, but as great as they might be, this Kentucky made it to the Final Four because older veterans Josh Harrelson, DeAndre Liggins and Darius Miller stepped up after four losses in February.
Jones said coach John Calipari came to him after an overtime loss to Arkansas before the current 10-game winning streak and asked him to "make sacrifices and get more people involved. He was trying to get us to do it all together. We all agreed to do that. Since then, it has been better for us as a team.
"Things didn't need to revolve around me and Brandon. Coach feels he can go to other players. It's just more chemistry. No one is caring about who is scoring points or who is getting credit. Everybody is just worried about winning."
Although Knight (pictured) and Jones, in particular, might have the option to be taken in the first round of the NBA draft in June, they haven't spent this season trying to improve their draft stock as openly as the last group of Kentucky freshmen did. The difference between the two teams has been notable to Liggins.
"Last year's freshmen were great freshmen, but I think personally there were too many egos," Liggins said. "Everybody wanted to be the man, I think. This year, everybody knows their role and what they have to do for us to win."
Reaching that point required some midseason struggle, Liggins admitted. "We were not sharing like we are now," he said. "Everyone was trying to get their shots, and everyone wanted their points. At the end of the day, it has to be a team game and a team effort. Since we have been playing that way, that is why we are in the Final Four."
Maybe Calipari should put together a video documenting to the two freshman classes and the lessons learned to use for freshman orientation each year when he brings in another top-five recruiting class to replace the last one.
