{"id":41921,"date":"2022-08-11T05:17:04","date_gmt":"2022-08-11T05:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/kentucky-basketball-crushes-dominican-republic-4-takeaways-and-postgame-cheers\/"},"modified":"2022-08-11T05:17:04","modified_gmt":"2022-08-11T05:17:04","slug":"kentucky-basketball-crushes-dominican-republic-4-takeaways-and-postgame-cheers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/kentucky-basketball-crushes-dominican-republic-4-takeaways-and-postgame-cheers\/","title":{"rendered":"Kentucky Basketball crushes Dominican Republic: 4 takeaways and postgame cheers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p id=\"5455Iy\">Kentucky basketball is back!  Well, kind of.<\/p>\n<p id=\"uvuYKv\">The Kentucky Wildcats dominated the Dominican Republic National Select Team by a score of 108-56 on Wednesday night in their first of four games down in the Big Blue Bahamas.<\/p>\n<p id=\"aSCw5N\">The Cats came out ready to put on a show as they dominated from start to finish.  Despite playing expectedly sloppy and a little out of control, Kentucky was able to take a 43-25 lead into the half.<\/p>\n<aside id=\"nhCCD2\">\n<\/aside>\n<p id=\"E2P7Wr\">After the break, Kentucky looked much more comfortable and really pulled away.  Everybody got involved, and it was an incredibly impressive showing all around.<\/p>\n<p id=\"wTkRI0\">Even walk-on Brennan Canada came in and knocked down a pair of threes in the closing minutes.  You&#8217;d be hard-pressed to find an exhibition game that was more fun to watch than this, and that&#8217;s saying something given the amount that have been played under John Calipari.<\/p>\n<p id=\"45Hfwo\">Next up, Kentucky will take on Monterrey Tech (Mexico) on Thursday night.  Be sure to tune in!<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"9ynBJV\"><strong>The first starting five<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p id=\"39ad6C\">John Calipari revealed his first starting five of the year.  The Cats went with Sahvir Wheeler, Antonio Reeves, Jacob Toppin, Daimion Collins, and Oscar Tshiebwe.  Notice there are no freshmen in that starting lineup, which is definitely strange for the BBN to see.<\/p>\n<p id=\"5Z8has\">Kentucky has a very veteran team this year as they only brought in two five-star freshman in Cason Wallace and Chris Livingston and one three-star freshman in Adou Thiero (plus 5-star reclass freshman Ugonna Kingsley, who hasn&#8217;t yet joined the team). <\/p>\n<p id=\"uazoWB\">This probably had more to do with having veterans out there against an older team rather than who Calipari will actually start this season.  While those five are certainly five of UK&#8217;s top six players, UK can&#8217;t be starting three bigs in real games.<\/p>\n<p id=\"BhYpDO\">Regardless, it gave us a sneak peek into what those guys have shown so far this summer to warrant consideration in the first five.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"eaiR1z\"><strong>Injury updates<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p id=\"7b7ovG\">As we all know, CJ Fredrick has been rehabbing after suffering a foot injury at Iowa prior to transferring to Lexington and suffering a torn hamstring last offseason.  This was the first time we&#8217;ve seen Fredrick in action in the blue and white, but he certainly looked ready to go.  While Fredrick played limited minutes, he did look healthy, and he even started the second half of the game.<\/p>\n<p id=\"6fwEpv\">Thiero, on the other hand, is a bit of a seemingly a mystery recruit, who was brought in based on his father&#8217;s relationship with Calipari.  However, Cal obviously saw his immense potential to grow literally and figuratively.  Thiero was limited due to growing pains.  Yes, you read that right.  The former 6&#8217;4 point guard recruit has now reportedly grown to 6&#8217;6 or 6&#8217;7 with the possibility of growing to 6&#8217;9.  I have a feeling this young man has n&#8217;t even scratched the surface of his potential.<\/p>\n<p id=\"ag8iQ8\">Finally, we have a new addition to the injury report as Wheeler went down with what appeared to be a knee injury in the first half of the game.  The senior point guard appeared to bump knees with an opposing player and limped back to the locker room.  Wheeler returned to the game, but it could be something to monitor.<\/p>\n<aside id=\"wSnJuS\">\n<\/aside>\n<h3 id=\"bD5z7S\"><strong>Collins looking to take the next step<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p id=\"bJ6Ajn\">Collins definitely looks like he&#8217;s ready to take that sophomore leap.  The sophomore forward showed flashes last season, but his skinny frame and raw offensive game limited his playing time.<\/p>\n<p id=\"PUXgJK\">This year, Collins is apparently expecting to block every shot that comes his way, dunk on anyone who gets in his way, and expand his range.  Collins &#8216;defensive prowess will be super important to this team, but his ability to score could make it impossible to keep him off the floor.<\/p>\n<p id=\"ZmJiEZ\">Early in the game, Collins caught the ball on the wing, dribbled to the elbow, and pulled up for a pretty midrange jump shot.  Collins also displayed his elite athleticism posterizing not one, but two Dominic Republic defenders.  I mean, just look at this.<\/p>\n<p id=\"dNZien\">And this.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"TTntkA\"><strong>Long, athletic and versatile<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p id=\"aSxbbQ\">The best way to describe this team is long, athletic and versatile.  This team won&#8217;t shoot the lights out, but they will likely be one of Cal&#8217;s best defensive teams in years.<\/p>\n<p id=\"rMbFZJ\">The Cats have Wheeler as the pest out front.  Reeves is 6&#8217;6 with the ability to both shoot and potentially defend at a high level\u2014a DeAndre Liggins-type.  Toppin has grown to probably 6&#8217;10, and we all know his freakish athletic ability, which will result in a lot of chase down blocks and the occasional 360-degree fastbreak dunk like he did in this one.<\/p>\n<p id=\"LNXepy\">Collins is a human pogo stick and Livingston is 6&#8217;7 with a knack for the ball.  Of course, UK has Big O, who was the only player in college basketball to average at least 1.6 blocks and 1.6 steals per game last season, not to mention his rebounding ability.  Lance Ware is the enforcer and Thiero is a 6&#8217;7 point guard whose potential is off the charts.<\/p>\n<p id=\"oUxlzT\">While he isn&#8217;t the most athletic, Fredrick is very sound defensively to go with his elite shooting ability.  And finally, Wallace is an absolute dog and lockdown defender, who looks like he should be starting over Wheeler already.<\/p>\n<p id=\"JYaw3C\">Kentucky will struggle at times on the offensive end, but they won&#8217;t make it easy for opposing teams to get baskets.<\/p>\n<p id=\"w7GYQD\">Let&#8217;s see what the rest of this Bahamas tour has in store for the Cats.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kentucky basketball is back! Well, kind of. The Kentucky Wildcats dominated the Dominican Republic National Select Team by a score of 108-56 on Wednesday night in their first of four games down in the Big Blue Bahamas. The Cats came out ready to put on a show as they dominated from start to finish. Despite &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/kentucky-basketball-crushes-dominican-republic-4-takeaways-and-postgame-cheers\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Kentucky Basketball crushes Dominican Republic: 4 takeaways and postgame cheers<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42185,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/takeaways-from-kentuckys-game-1-in-the-bahamas-vs-dominican-republic-select\/","url_meta":{"origin":41921,"position":0},"title":"Takeaways from Kentucky&#8217;s Game 1 in the Bahamas vs.  Dominican Republic Select","date":"August 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Your University of Kentucky Wildcats put a 100-piece on the scoreboard in their first of four preseason exhibition games at Baha Mar Resort in the Bahamas, opening up against a team from the Dominican Republic that never stood a chance from the jump. The DR did hold one lead in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/on3static.com\/uploads\/dev\/assets\/cms\/2022\/08\/10212806\/DR-128364-1024x683.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":43166,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/takeaways-from-kentuckys-game-2-in-the-bahamas-vs-tec-de-monterrey\/","url_meta":{"origin":41921,"position":1},"title":"Takeaways from Kentucky&#8217;s Game 2 in the Bahamas vs.  Tec De Monterrey","date":"August 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes two teams don't belong on the same basketball floor together and, respectfully, that was the case Thursday night when the University of Kentucky hosted Tec De Monterrey of Monterrey, Mexico, in a friendly preseason competition on the lovely island of New Providence in the Bahamas. For Kentucky, it was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/on3static.com\/uploads\/dev\/assets\/cms\/2022\/08\/11214810\/ware-fan.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":42046,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/that-guy-sitting-next-to-john-calipari-had-a-midgame-wardrobe-change\/","url_meta":{"origin":41921,"position":2},"title":"That guy sitting next to John Calipari had a midgame wardrobe change","date":"August 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Kentucky's 108-56 win over the Dominican Republic National Select Team was really fun, to say the least. Daimion Collins put guys on posters, Adou Thiero introduced himself to the Big Blue Nation, and the Cats' athleticism was off the charts. All that said, there was one question we kept getting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/on3static.com\/uploads\/dev\/assets\/cms\/2022\/08\/10205233\/FZ1zfE1WAAA2w6F.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":46608,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/if-john-calipari-wants-to-declare-kentucky-a-basketball-school-its-time-for-him-to-back-it-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":41921,"position":3},"title":"If John Calipari wants to declare Kentucky &#8216;a basketball school,&#8217; it&#8217;s time for him to back it up","date":"August 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"John Calipari isn't wrong that the University of Kentucky is a basketball school. That's what he told the Athletic last week and any suggestion, let alone any huffing and puffing, to the contrary is ridiculous.That's not a shot at Mark Stoops' football program, which this week is ranked in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44469,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/i-stay-in-my-lane\/","url_meta":{"origin":41921,"position":4},"title":"&#8216;I stay in my lane&#8217;","date":"August 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A passionate Mark Stoops defended the Kentucky football program on Saturday after comments earlier in the week from men's basketball coach John Calipari in which he called the university a \"basketball school.\"Stoops responded immediately on Thursday, tweeting, \"Basketball school? I thought we competed in the SEC?\"He spoke publicly for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43271,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/john-calipari-says-kentucky-is-a-basketball-school-but-football-coach-mark-stoops-questions-if-thats-true\/","url_meta":{"origin":41921,"position":5},"title":"John Calipari says Kentucky &#8216;is a basketball school&#8217; but football coach Mark Stoops questions if that&#8217;s true","date":"August 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari woke up Thursday and decided to publicly make the case for his program to get a new practice facility. So he talked with The Athletic's Kyle Tucker, explained how he had to stop a recent workout because the roof was leaking in the 15-year-old Joe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/thumbor\/H28V535TjIOYfJuvWkaSUxV-36U=\/0x212:1088x782\/fit-in\/1200x630\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/23937093\/FZ1naD7XwAY3feH.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41921"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41921\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}