How Good Are These Wildcats?

(LEXINGTON, Ky.) — Kenny Brooks has been coaching basketball for 25 years. He's won hundreds of games, developed All-Americans, and taken teams deep into March. And after watching his Kentucky Wildcats beat Morehead State 85-42 on Monday night, he still doesn't know how good his team is.

Neither do I.

That's the trouble with these early-season mismatches. Kentucky could have won by 60, and we'd still be asking the same questions. The Wildcats are big. They're talented. They've got more 6-foot-5 players than some teams have basketballs.

But are they any good?

Ask me again when somebody punches back.

"I compare this team a lot to last year's team to see where we are," Brooks admitted afterward. "Last year's team, I knew quicker. This year's team is probably going to take me a few more games to figure it out."

Fair enough. Last year's Wildcats had established veterans who knew their roles. This year's team has a bunch of new faces, an assortment of intriguing possibilities, and a head coach who hasn't quite figured out what to do with all of them.

Brooks even admitted that at times Monday night, he found himself thinking more about his substitutions than his next play. I've heard coaches complain about not having enough good players. I'm not sure I've ever heard one actually admit to having too many.

But that's essentially the predicament Brooks finds himself in.

Take Kentucky's frontcourt. Clara Strack is already a known commodity. Now surround her with other talented bigs who can run, pass, shoot, and defend. Brooks has three players in the 6-foot-5 neighborhood who aren't content simply to stand under the basket and wait for somebody to throw them the ball.

He talked afterward about their ability to handle the basketball, make pocket passes, and see over defenders. He believes that once they learn to play together, Kentucky might be capable of producing a brand of basketball that fans haven't seen much of before. That’s a pretty scary thought.

Of course, it's November. Everybody looks like a Final Four contender until somebody starts losing.

The freshmen provided some encouraging signs, too, with Savvy Swords grabbing nine offensive rebounds and Maddyn Greenway taking a charge with 26 seconds remaining in a 43-point blowout.

Kentucky forced 20 turnovers, showed some defensive intensity, and got a solid performance from its starting point guard, Diana Collins, whom Brooks admitted he'd been upset with following a recent scrimmage.

Kentucky went 5-for-23 from three-point range. There were defensive breakdowns, missed assignments, and stretches when the offense looked like a bunch of talented individuals still trying to figure out whose turn it was.

Against Morehead State, none of that mattered. Against South Carolina, LSU, or Texas, it certainly will.

On the other bench, Jackie Alexander was making her head-coaching debut with 12 new players and five new coaches. Her reward was facing a Kentucky team whose size made her players look like they'd wandered into the land of the giants.

But I liked Alexander's attitude. A military veteran, she emphasized toughness, discipline, and being part of something bigger than yourself. As a veteran myself, I appreciated that perspective.

When I asked about the widening resource gap between Kentucky and Morehead State in the NIL era, she didn't complain.

"You can look at what you don't have or you can look at what you do have," she told me.

Not a bad philosophy for basketball. Or life for that matter.

I've watched enough basketball over the years to know that November blowouts can be deceiving. It's easy to look good when you're bigger, faster, and stronger than everybody on the other side. The real test comes when the shots aren't falling, the other team isn't intimidated, and the comfortable leads disappear.

That's when we'll find out whether Brooks has assembled a collection of talented players or a genuinely good basketball team.

Kenny Brooks has 25 years of experience and still needs more time to figure this team out.

I figure I can afford to give him a few more games.

Dr. John Huang is a retired orthodontist, military veteran, and award-winning author. He currently serves as a columnist for Nolan Group Media and invites readers to follow him on social media @KYHuangs. His latest book is Whining for Posterity, available on Amazon.