Some Interesting Stats About Kentucky

[frozena pizza]

Kentucky's front line goes 7-0 (Cauley-Stein), 6-10 (Towns), 6-11 (Lyles) ... some NBA teams don't have this kind of height.

Some?  Their starting five would be the tallest in the NBA.

http://kentuckysportsradio.com/basketball-2/kentuckys-current-starting-five-would-be-the-tallest-in-the-nba/

[frozena pizza]

Calipari has managed to turn Kentucky into a pre-draft, draft.  If you sign with Kentucky and start as Freshman it is another way of saying you are a one and done lottery pick.  I wonder if NBA teams favor freshman from Kentucky because they are from Kentucky. 

Is the same true for Kansas, Duke and others?  Yes, but they have not managed the get the reputation that Calipari/Kentucky has.

I think you would have a hard time finding empirical evidence to support the notion that going to Kentucky significantly enhances a player's NBA prospects.  Most if not all of the players that have gone through Kentucky under Calipari and become lottery picks were highly rated players out of high school and most likely would have been equally attractive to NBA scouts had they attended any other school.  In fact, if you look at UK's vaunted 2013 class when they had 5 of the top 9 players in the country according to ESPN ratings, only 2 were drafted in 2014 (Julius Randle #7 and James Young #17) in a draft class that included 9 one and dones in the first 18 picks.  It may be the case that UK has more one and done lottery picks than any other program, but I doubt the correlation is strong enough to make the case that UK is a major factor in any given player's trajectory.

[Silkk the Shaka]

I think you would have a hard time finding empirical evidence to support the notion that going to Kentucky significantly enhances a player's NBA prospects.  Most if not all of the players that have gone through Kentucky under Calipari and become lottery picks were highly rated players out of high school and most likely would have been equally attractive to NBA scouts had they attended any other school.  In fact, if you look at UK's vaunted 2013 class when they had 5 of the top 9 players in the country according to ESPN ratings, only 2 were drafted in 2014 (Julius Randle #7 and James Young #17) in a draft class that included 9 one and dones in the first 18 picks.  It may be the case that UK has more one and done lottery picks than any other program, but I doubt the correlation is strong enough to make the case that UK is a major factor in any given player's trajectory.

Agreed, but perception is reality in recruiting. If a player is convinced UK gives him a better chance to get to the league sooner, it gives them an edge.

[JakeBarnes]

Another interesting stat about Kentucky:

Ellensons on Kentucky: 0
Ellensons on Marquette: 2

And we might even steal Drake from them.

[Tugg Speedman]

Just wait till they have to take on Fischer, Ellenson and Heldt!

Seriously, you see all three on the floor at the same time?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Seriously, you see all three on the floor at the same time?

Dude, feel the teal...unless this is also teal in which case, well played!

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Just got back from the TAMU-Kentucky game. Kentucky did not impress me. We are not a good team to start with, but we also had our best player, Jalen Jones, out for the game. We went 2-15 from three and 16-30 from the line. Our starting center picked up his fourth foul with 9:30 left in the second half. Despite all that, Kentucky still needed double overtime to win. They were lucky that the Booker kid made his first four three pointers or the game would have ended in regulation.

They are a fantastic defensive team. But they will lose some time this season.

[real chili 83]

Just got back from the TAMU-Kentucky game. Kentucky did not impress me. We are not a good team to start with, but we also had our best player, Jalen Jones, out for the game. We went 2-15 from three and 16-30 from the line. Our starting center picked up his fourth foul with 9:30 left in the second half. Despite all that, Kentucky still needed double overtime to win. They were lucky that the Booker kid made his first four three pointers or the game would have ended in regulation.

They are a fantastic defensive team. But they will lose some time this season.

If you guys could have hit one more ft in the first OT.  Plenty of chances.

Sounded like there was a lot of UK fans there too.

[denverMU]

Can someone please explain how Kentucky has 16 players on their team? Every year it seams they have 15-16 players, the NCAA scholarship limit is 13, how do they seam to always have 3-4 extra players?

[Jay Bee]

Can someone please explain how Kentucky has 16 players on their team? Every year it seams they have 15-16 players, the NCAA scholarship limit is 13, how do they seam to always have 3-4 extra players?

Is this a serious question?

[GooooMarquette]

If you guys could have hit one more ft in the first OT.  Plenty of chances.

Sounded like there was a lot of UK fans there too.

UK travels as well as any team I've ever seen.  I was at Vanderbilt in '93 (Vandy won the SEC that year), and they sold out most every game.  Despite the fact that season ticket holders and Vandy students had most of the tix, the gym was at least 50% blue for the UK game.  Unreal.

Fortunately, Vandy still won.