Tomorrow night, Kentucky will face the Badgers of Wisconsin for a chance to play in the National Championship game Monday night. It will not be an easy game, but none of Kentucky's games up to this point has been so why should tomorrow night be any different?
Kentucky played three (Wichita State, Louisville, Michigan) of the best NCAA Tournament games in recent memory whether you're a Kentucky fan or not. Don't believe me? According to TV ratings, the most watched second round game was, Kentucky vs. Wichita State. The most watched Sweet Sixteen game was, Kentucky vs. Louisville. The most watched Elite Eight game was, you guessed it, Kentucky vs. Michigan. So yeah, I'd say it's safe to say that those games were some of the best in recent NCAA Tournament history.
Tomorrow nights game won't be any cakewalk as Wisconsin is an extremely good and well coached team. The have a lot of players who can hurt you in many different ways. The one that will stand out to you will be the 7'0" junior, Frank Kaminsky. This kid is just a freak of an athlete. He can score extremely well around the basket, but the most impressive aspect of his game is the fact that he shoots the three-point shot at a near 38% clip. Now, I know what you're thinking, "he's 7'0" so he must not have attempted very many threes, that's why his percentage is so high". Well, you're wrong, he has attempted 98 shots from beyond the arch and has connected on 37 of them, so this guy is a match-up nightmare especially since Willie Cauley-Stein is unavailable. Dakari Johnson is too slow to guard Kaminsky out on the perimeter so you can expect a lot of switching when he tries to pull Dakari out of the paint.
Instead of going through and breaking down each individual player, here's a look at Wisconsin's stats for the season so you can get some kind of idea as to what the Cats will face in tomorrow nights game...
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Now that you've had a chance to read over the stats, lets discuss what the Cats will have to do to move on to Monday night.
As always, they will have to guard the three. This game being played in a dome such as this one, a lot of times shooting can be horrible because of poor depth perception. When a shooter is looking at the basket in a dome with nothing in the back ground all they see is the basket and then nothing but air behind it, so it makes it tough for shooters to find their range. However, Wisconsin shoot 37% from three as a team so you still have to respect their ability to knock down the outside shot.
Next, turnovers. Kentucky will have to value the ball on each and every possession. The Badgers aren't the type of team who normally apply a lot of pressure, but you can't give them ample opportunities to score on unforced turnovers.
Free-throws. The Cats will have to take full advantage of every opportunity they get at the line. Those are free points and they may need every one they can get when it comes down to crunch time. On the other hand, Kentucky will have to try and avoid foul trouble, specifically Dakari Johnson. If he gets two fouls early, things could get nasty as there will be absolutely no one to guard the inside players of the Badgers if he is on the bench with foul trouble. Also, Wisconsin shoots 74% from the free-throw line as a team, so they will need to limit their attempts from the line.
The most important thing to watch in tomorrow nights game will be rebounding. Wisconsin hasn't been a very good rebounding team this season and it's something Kentucky has excelled at all year long. If Kentucky can dominate the rebounding department, especially on the offensive end things get a whole lot easier for the Cats. If the battle on the boards is close or if Wisconsin has very many second chance points, then it will be nail biting time once again.
It's still hard to believe that this team has accomplished what it has in the post season. A month or so ago, writers and some fans alike were ready to call this season a bust and move on. Now, a month later we are talking about their match-up in the Final Four. Who would've thought? Well, it's obvious that Calipari or the players never gave up on this season, not once. No matter how ugly things got, the players and coaching staff both stayed positive and just kept saying how close they were to putting together something special. Well, they did. Regardless the outcome of tomorrow nights, this has been on helluva season, one that had many ups and downs, but one that fans will remember and will talk about for years to come. Once again, sit back and enjoy the rest of the ride, you never know when the Cats will be in this position again.
GO CATS AND BELIEVE IN THE TWEAK!!!!!
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