Originally posted by Son_Of_Saul:
Diallo 6'9"
Lee 6'9"
Skal 6'11"
Poythress 6'8"
Has UK ever had a better foursome of athletic bigs who can block and switch everything? I think this might the primary reason Calipari is so excited about next season's chances.
The potential is there for Poythress to play the 3 (which we desperately needed this season in the Wisconsin game). Outstanding perimeter, post, and transition defense, arguably the best pure athlete in the NCAA, very strong, very fast, gets out in transition. If he's been working on his ball handling and jump shot (which (I'm very confident in), he could be a very tough match-up at the SF position at 6'8, 240 pounds.
Labissiere and Diallo at the 5 and 4 respectively would be terrific shot blocking and athleticism in the post. Both get out in transition, and both can shoot a jumper. Skal is silky smooth all the way out to the college 3 point line, and from the sounds of it, he's developed all around. Skill, height (Grew to legit 7'0), weight (Gained 18 pounds since the last hoop summit, he's up to about 220 now), and so on. Skal will be terrific for UK to spread the floor offensively, and apparently, he's very smooth in the post as well. A lot of talk that he will pass Jaylen Brown and Ben Simmons all the way to the top player of the class.
Diallo is tenacious. He and Skal are the top 2 shot blockers in the class (Diallo being the better shot blocker of the two), but Diallo has exceptional ball handling skills for a big, shoot a mid-range shot, and
very good in transition. Also an exceptional rebounder.
Getting those 3 on the court at the same time could make UK very tough on both ends of the floor. I hope to see improvement from Marcus Lee as well. If he gets a little less raw offensively, he can be a force.
