Written by Myron Medcalf at ESPN.com
The national preseason hype centered on Duke’s Marvin Bagley IIIand Missouri’s Michael Porter Jr., a pair of freshmen who will fight for the No. 1 spot in next summer’s NBA draft.
DeAndre Ayton’s arrival at Arizona made Sean Miller’s first trip to the Final Four seem possible and perhaps likely come April. Grayson Allen and Miles Bridges had returned to torch the field anew. Kansas and Villanova entered the season stacked with the talent to reach the last weekend again.
John Calipari had assembled another flock of five-stars — per the norm — but Kevin Knox and P.J. Washington hadn’t been welcomed by the masses with the adoration that typically accompanies Kentucky freshman classes.
Tuesday’s Champions Classic offered the Wildcats a chance to prove they can dance with the best, even though they lack showstoppers like De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk, last season’s phone-a-friend heroes who always seemed to bail the squad out.
Instead, the Wildcats emerged as a young team with potential but no proven catalyst. No John Wall or Karl-Anthony Towns or Devin Booker. No give-him-the-ball-and-we’re-good player they could find in a tight game.
Kentucky’s 65-61 loss to Kansas featured a 3-for-13 effort from the 3-point line, a 12-for-18 clip from the free throw line and 18 turnovers.
This is probably not the 2012-13 Kentucky team that stumbled into the NIT and lost in the first round. But keep dreaming if you think this is anything close to the 2014-15 team that won 38 of 39 games.
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