Kentucky Basketball 2011: Does It Have More Pro Talent Than the '09 Squad?

In 2009, the Kentucky Wildcats made history by having five players selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. It was an unprecedented achievement and clearly a special class.

In 2011, just two years later, will history be made again? 

John Calipari has a talent-laden team at Kentucky this year. The Wildcats have one of the best players in the country at every position on the court. In addition, the team has a starter on a Final Four team come off the bench. 

John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, Patrick Patterson, DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton, meet your competition.

Marquis Teague, Doron Lamb, Terrence Jones, Anthony Davis, Darius Miller and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are challenging you.

Which team had the most pro-talent? Let's find out.

We'll take this position by position. Not everyone matches up exactly, but it's the easiest way to compare the two teams.

Let the games begin!

This section almost isn’t fair to write. On one side there is Marquis Teague, a player with great potential who is still finding his stride as a point guard.

Then there is John Wall, the savior of Kentucky Wildcats basketball who hit the game winning shot in his very first game wearing a UK jersey.

As I said, not fair.

Wall clearly outshines Teague, and the race isn’t even close.

Watching Wall play in college was breathtaking. He seemed able to score at will and take any defender one-on-one. When he ran the fast break, it was a thing of beauty. 

Teague has shown flashes of greatness. He is a slashing guard who can find ways to get into the lane. However, his passing is not where it should be and his command of the offense is lacking.

At the end of this season, though, it could be a different story.

Let me clarify: Wall is better than Teague. And barring a monumental turnaround, Wall will still be far and away the better pro-prospect come June. But Teague should improve and will at least make this race more respectable in the coming months.

Doron Lamb and Eric Bledsoe play different positions, but in college with the Kentucky Wildcats, they had similar roles. 

Lamb is a shooting guard who is forced to play some point because of a thin roster. Bledsoe was a point guard who, thanks to John Wall’s prowess, was often relegated to shooting guard.

Lamb is a great shooter. He is shooting over 50 percent from the three-point line this season, but he also has the ability to drive to the basket. 

Bledsoe is not as strong of a shooter, but he is a better penetrator and distributor. He has benefited in his career by playing alongside athletic forwards like Blake Griffin and, at Kentucky, Patrick Patterson.

Overall, Lamb is the better pro-prospect. Bledsoe is stuck in a point-guard heavy NBA and will never be able to break into the elite. He is holding his own quite well and plays excellent defense, but he is not on the level of someone like Chris Paul or Deron Williams. 

Lamb has size and skill that translates well to the next level. Teams always need shooters, especially ones that can create their own shot like Lamb.

He will be a reliable option for a kick-out three but can also drive into the lane and lead a fast-break.

From a pure skill standpoint, these two players are fairly similar. 

Terrence Jones is more explosive and can handle the ball much better than Patrick Patterson. He can play inside and out and is always a threat to go off for 20-plus points. 

Patterson is much more skilled in the post. He has a better arsenal of moves and can defend and rebound much better from the power forward position. 

Where the distinction between the Kentucky Wildcats’ two great forwards becomes clear is in attitude and consistency.

Jones disappears. He often does not get up for big games, and seemingly any little thing will break his concentration.

Patterson is the ideal teammate. In college, he stuck with his team through two down years in which his skills were obvious, but the team struggled. He then accepted a lesser role on a team full of stars in order for everyone to succeed.

Patterson works hard every game and, because of that, his stats are fairly easy to anticipate. He rarely has monster scoring games, but he never completely disappears the way Jones does. 

Overall, Patrick Patterson is a much more desirable teammate. He produces consistently and creates good chemistry in the locker room.

Jones definitely has a bigger upside, but in an ego-driven NBA where coaches have much less influence on their players’ character, he is a risk that might not be worth taking.

This is another interesting matchup. First things first: both players are great centers. 

DeMarcus Cousins can body up with almost anyone in the NBA. He has refined his post moves and is fairly nimble for such a big guy.

Anthony Davis clearly shows the guard skills that he honed for most of his life before an incredible growth spurt in college transformed him into a center.

He is a good shooter and has great hands, making him a perfect fit for the Kentucky Wildcats’ dribble drive offense.

While both players are incredibly talented, each has a few drawbacks.

Cousins’ attitude could use some work. On a team like Kentucky, Cousins was engaged, challenged and played up to his potential. He set a freshman record for double-doubles and led the Wildcats to the Elite Eight.

In the NBA, however, Cousins is continually a lock to become the next Eddy Curry—a player with limitless potential who let his weight and character stand in the way.

Anthony Davis has all the potential in the world. However, if he were to go up against an NBA center, his size alone—he looks like a very tall Gumby—would render him inefficient.

Davis wouldn’t be able to defend someone like Dwight Howard and on offense, it would be hard for him to maintain position on the block. His arsenal of post moves is not great either, as he has not been playing the position for very long 

Both of these players have tremendous upsides, but they have a bit of growing (both literally and figuratively) to do before they can become All-Star centers.

Daniel Orton and Darius Miller had very different careers with the Kentucky Wildcats. Orton stayed one year and never really won over the Wildcat faithful.

Miller is a senior—a rare commodity in John Calipari’s tenure—who endeared himself to the fans simply by being from Kentucky.

Much like the two centers, both Orton and Miller have great potential. However, in their time at Kentucky, it was never obvious if either would ever be able to reach it.

Orton clearly did not relish his role as a backup. He played just 13 minutes a game and averaged three points and three rebounds.

Despite his lack of production, Orton’s size and athleticism had NBA scouts drooling. 

Miller was the MVP of the SEC Tournament last season. He has great touch and a wide variety of go-to drives and moves under the basket. He rebounds quite well for a guard and is a good shooter. 

However, Miller is still learning how to be assertive. Surrounded by so much talent, he often defers to his teammates instead of looking for his shot.

Perhaps in the NBA, he could fit in perfectly as a role player who provides all of the intangibles and hustle teams salivate over. Or he could bottom out entirely. 

In this case, I would lean towards an athletic guard who has shown that he does have the skill to play at the next level as opposed to a big man who produced virtually nothing in his only season in college.

The outlier. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist doesn’t matchup well with any member of the Kentucky Wildcats’ 2009 team.

The player’s skill set he most closely resembles? John Wall.

It might sound like a stretch, but there are more similarities than meet the eye.

Both players slash to the basket and seem to be able to drive through opposing defenses at will. 

Both put up ridiculous shots that look like awful decisions, yet they have enough touch and skill that more often than not, they go in. 

Because Kidd-Gilchrist is a small forward and not a point guard, he has a slightly different expertise. His strengths are his rebounding and defense. 

He can jump over anyone and is strong enough to muscle the ball away from opposing centers and still make a good outlet pass. On offense, Kidd-Gilchrist can fly in from the wing and snag rebounds with enough quickness to put the ball back up before the defense gets set.

When playing defense, his length and quickness allow him to guard almost any player on the floor. His energy on either side of the ball is unrivaled. Kidd-Gilchrist loves the game and plays his hardest on every possession. 

Let’s recap our list. 

At point guard, John Wall clearly edges out Marquis Teague. One point for the ’09 squad. 

Doron Lamb takes the cake in the off-guard category—tie score.

I would take a solid, good chemistry guy like Patrick Patterson over Terrence Jones any day. Trust me. 

Jones looks great on paper and can have some amazing games, but I’m a Kentucky fan. It’s painful just sitting back and watching Jones score 25 points one night and disappear completely the next. 2-1 ’09 Wildcats.

Center is much tougher to call. I don’t like attitude problems, but at this point in time, Anthony Davis cannot matchup with anyone in the NBA. 

If he gains 40 pounds by the end of this season and manages to retain his quickness and ball-handling, he could be the NBA’s next great center.

If not? Let’s just keep stuffing him full of Twinkies and pretend I didn’t ask that. 

For competition’s sake, we’ll call the center position a tie.

Given what Daniel Orton has done so far in the NBA (a whole lot of nothing), I’m standing by my pick of Darius Miller in the sixth man/question mark category. That ties everything up, 2-2.

And then there’s Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. He is perhaps the player who could become the biggest NBA star. The next Dwayne Wade, anyone?

Even though it seemed impossible in 2009 after five Kentucky players were selected in the first round of the NBA Draft, this year’s team could be more talented.

Is Kentucky ready to break its own draft day record? The potential is there.

We’ll just have to wait and see.