Cal's best starting five here

[EvilMD]

Which team would you pick?

* 2010 had Wall, Bledsoe, Miller, Patterson, and Cousins. Clearly the best if you go by the players they are today. But Wall and Bledsoe were turnover machines and Cousins was volatile.

* 2011 had Knight, Lamb, Liggins, Jones and Harrelson. Underrated, but they lost a lot of games.

* 2012 had Teague, Lamb, Miller/MKG, Jones and Davis. Hard to beat this lineup.

* 2014 had Harrison, Harrison, Young, Randle, Johnson. Basically repeated what the Fab Five did as freshmen, but less heralded.

* 2015 had Harrison, Harrison, Poythress/Lyles, Towns, Cauley-Stein. This team's strength was its depth. Not that that lineup is any slouch.

* 2016 should have Ulis, Briscoe, Murray, Lee, Labissiere. How will they stack up?

 

[UKSlim]

2010,imo.

 

[caneintally]

2010 didn't have a great shooter so I would say this year's .

 

[Aike]

12

 

[UKSlim]

4 legit NBA players on that 2010 starting 5...it's a no brainer,imo.

 

[BlueCat43]

As with all of these comparison threads you have to ask what are we ranking them based on...them then or them now? Talent or production? If I had to chose, I would say that Anthony Davis puts 2012 ahead of anyone. Then take into consideration that they are the only ones on the list with a title and I think you have to go with them.

 

[UKhoopCat]

Which team would you pick?

* 2010 had Wall, Bledsoe, Miller, Patterson, and Cousins. Clearly the best if you go by the players they are today. But Wall and Bledsoe were turnover machines and Cousins was volatile.

* 2011 had Knight, Lamb, Liggins, Jones and Harrelson. Underrated, but they lost a lot of games.

* 2012 had Teague, Lamb, Miller/MKG, Jones and Davis. Hard to beat this lineup.

* 2014 had Harrison, Harrison, Young, Randle, Johnson. Basically repeated what the Fab Five did as freshmen, but less heralded.

* 2015 had Harrison, Harrison, Poythress/Lyles, Towns, Cauley-Stein. This team's strength was its depth. Not that that lineup is any slouch.

* 2016 should have Ulis, Briscoe, Murray, Lee, Labissiere. How will they stack up?

I think it's safe to replace Lee with Poythress. I like this 2016 squad over the others because of perimeter offense.

 

[IL Wildcat]

It depends on what you're wanting. Are you asking for the best pro prospects as individuals? If so, it's 2009-10, hands down.
But if you're asking which was the best TEAM, it's 2011-12.

The best individual players don't always make the best team. That 2010 team had a fatal flaw, as we now know. They lacked a consistent shooter. Wall was a driver and slasher but couldn't hit a three. Bledsoe could be described in the same way, though he was a better shooter than Wall. Miller just lacked the confidence yet. He became a good shooter as a junior and senior, but as a sophomore he was very inconsistent in his shooting and in his overall play. Cousins and Patterson were both excellent. Cousins may be the best back to the basket center in UK history. Patterson was a veteran and had even added the ability to hit the 3 to his arsenal, even if it wasn't with great consistency. Give them a couple shooters on the perimeter and they would have thrived even more.

Now, looking at the 2011-12 team, I'd rather have Wall, but Teague had an excellent NCAA-tourney that year. He shot the ball with great confidence. His ball handling and decisions improved throughout the season. He was the weak link, imo. Doron Lamb may be the primary difference between these 2 teams and the reason I put the 11-12 TEAM above 09-10. He was a lights out shooter from 3, but he also ran that curl around the screen for the mid-range J or floater in the lane very well. That team also had Miller as a senior, and he provided great leadership and presented a match-up issue at the 3. They had MKG there too, who came off the bench in the last half of the year but was the ultimate glue guy and clutch player. Now you also had Jones and Davis in the frontcourt. Jones was a rare NBA talent who played a second season for UK. He could hit the 3, the mid-range, and he was strong enough to bang and finish. Now add in Davis, a once in a lifetime kind of talent, and it becomes academic, in my opinion.

The reason I would put 11-12 over 09-10 from the TEAM perspective is the balance they had. You couldn't beat them with a gimmick. That 2-3 zone or match-up zone that different ones tried just backfired. I put Lamb and Miller as the main difference. Their ability to stretch the D with their shooting is what enabled that team to win it all. When Teague started hitting the 3 late in the year, that team became unstoppable.

 

[Aike]

4 legit NBA players on that 2010 starting 5...it's a no brainer,imo.

Must not be a no brainer. One of those team featured our best player ever, the second pick in the draft, another mid-first rounder, a late first rounder, and our highest percentage 3 point shooter ever. They also won the championship together.

And you picked a different team.

What exactly is your definition of no brainer?

 

[IL Wildcat]

By the way, I think it's impossible to know for sure how this season's team will compare. Ulis is a guy who is a known commodity, and he can hit a three and has excellent court vision. (his court vision and passing ability rivals Wall and may be better) But he does have limitations, with his size and strength. If he's the primary shooter, he can be stopped because of his size. The big question becomes Murray, Briscoe, and Mulder. How good can these guys be? Can they shoot it well from 3 consistently? Enough to keep teams from just packing it into a zone to stop the interior play? If so, now we're talking. Is Murray as good as I think he is? He's proven himself against top competition in high pressure situations. Is Briscoe the bulldog I think he can be? Is Mulder the athlete and the consistent shooter I think can be? If these are all yes, then we can compare them with Lamb and Miller. Now, I'm glad to say we have Poythress and Lee back. How good is that surgically repaired knee going to be? We need the freak athlete Poythress, not one who is limited if we are to be great. Can Poythress compare with Patterson and Jones? That's a tall order in either case. I think he has more natural athleticism than either of those guys but he has yet to perform with the same consistency. If this team is to be great, Poythress needs to play to his best consistently. And then the question becomes- how about these 2 freshman centers? Assuming Skal is freed, can he be as good as he's been rated? I like what I've seen, but we've yet to see that against high D1 post players. We need Skal to be close to the level of Davis in terms of production if the team is to be great. And what of Humphries? Can he provide quality minutes at center and hit that mid-range J with consistency? If so, look out!

Those are a bunch of questions. I think I'd describe myself as cautiously optimistic.

 

[true blue1]

2012

 

[KMKAT]

EZ, 2012 with all 5 guys averaging double figures.

They beat both Indiana and Vandy, so they beat everyone on their schedule.

 

[RondoBaller21]

The only correct answer is 2012. They proved it by winning the title, whichn none of the others were able to do.

 

[RondoBaller21]

but put Meeks on the 2010 team and it would be close.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

but put Meeks on the 2010 team and it would be close.

Put Liggins or Knight on the '12 team. Both of them almost returned.

 

[EvilMD]

As with all of these comparison threads you have to ask what are we ranking them based on...them then or them now? Talent or production? If I had to chose, I would say that Anthony Davis puts 2012 ahead of anyone. Then take into consideration that they are the only ones on the list with a title and I think you have to go with them.

I kind of addressed that in my 2010 comments. Clearly the best team if you go by what they became, but very flawed that year.