Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb.
Tyler Ulis and Jamal Murray.
I’m not sure the duo matches up perfectly, but in sports, we all love to draw comparisons. Right now, people are wondering whether or not they made a mistake in not taking Kentucky farther in their bracket. Other people are wondering whether or not they made a mistake in taking Kentucky so far in their bracket. The truth is that nobody knows what to expect from this Kentucky team.
We knew Tyler Ulis would need to step up his game for this year to be a successful Kentucky season. We thought it’d be a challenge, and Ulis answered the doubters by playing his way to SEC Player of the Year, SEC Defensive Player of the Year, and a plethora of other awards.
We knew Skal Labissiere was the number 2 prospect coming into the season, and we thought we may see the new and improved Anthony Davis. Labissiere went way out of his way to let us know that we aren’t always right. Listen, I know Labissiere is playing better as of late, but his season numbers are as follows: 15.6 mpg, 6.5 ppg, and 3.06 rpg. He has only started 16 of the 34 games he has played in this year. So, yeah, about that number 2 prospect thing.
Kentucky, look at the bright side. Maybe Labissiere won’t be one-and-done and he’ll be back more for next year. *Cough*
The duo of Walker and Lamb led the Huskies en route to their championship run. After the end of the disappointing regular season, the Huskies rattled off 11 straight wins to win the Big East (man, I miss the real Big East) and the National Championship tournaments. They beat some huge names along the way, including Georgetown, Syracuse, Louisville, Arizona and Kentucky.
Kentucky spent much of the first three-quarters of the season trying to establish an identity, and Tyler Ulis emerged into a SEC superstar. Kentucky did not beat the same names UCONN did in 2011, but they did win a great game against top-25 opponent Texas A&M. They now find themselves in a region many have deemed stacked and bordering unfair.
How stacked is the division?
The division includes North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Notre Dame and Xavier.
Not impressed?
The division’s 16-seed is Florida Gulf Coast University. Yes, that Florida Gulf Coast University that reached the Sweet 16 in 2013 as a 15-seed.
Yeah, I thought that’d win you over.
Do Jamal Murray and Tyler Ulis have what it takes to lead the Kentucky Wildcats on an equally improbable run of the 2011 UConn Huskies?
Tyler Ulis and Jamal Murray have combined for averages of 37.4 ppg, 9.3 apg, and have brought the defense as well averaging 2.45 spg. Combine this with the experience of Tyler Ulis and Alex Poythress, you may have the base of the most surprising Kentucky team to win a national championship.
For the record, Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb combined for 34.7 ppg, 6.1 apg, and 2.73 spg. In the end, it was defense that beat Butler in the National Championship.
I believe in my heart of hearts that this is a very dangerous Kentucky team. Kentucky has proven that when they have a facilitating star of a point guard, they can be near impossible to beat. I think the SEC Player of the Year shines, Labissiere has a surprisingly good tournament, and that Jamal Murray will hit the biggest shot of their tournament run en route to their 2016 National Championship run.