But deep down, they all know, there's the Big Blue barrier. The numbers Kentucky has put up in the SEC tournament are mind-boggling:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
(ENLARGE)
Atlanta's Randolph Morris has gotten a schooling on the physical nature of the SEC as a freshman center for the Wildcats.
? An .861 winning percentage.
? A 33-1 record in the semifinals
? 25 tournament titles (more than the rest of the SEC teams combined).
Those numbers are even more exaggerated at the Georgia Dome, where the tournament will be held this week for the seventh time. The Wildcats are 16-2 under the Teflon Tent, with four championships.
"They're just the team to beat," said Alabama coach Mark Gottfried, whose team could meet the Wildcats in Sunday's title game. "They've proven it time and time again. They're sitting on that top box and somebody has to knock 'em off."
The question is how to do it. Many have tried; few have succeeded. Here are five suggestions:
1. YA GOTTA BELIEVE
No SEC coach has had more success against Kentucky than Georgia's Dennis Felton. He had beaten them three times in a row ? once at Western Kentucky and twice with the Bulldogs last season ? before dropping the last three.
Felton said psychology plays a big part in being able to compete with Kentucky.
"Mental dynamics are so much a part of the game," said Felton, whose 8-19 squad trailed Kentucky by five with two minutes to play at Rupp. "It starts with a group of guys believing that they ought to win. When other teams find themselves against Kentucky, which has a tradition of feeling like it ought to win, that opponent has to match that conviction ? 'No, we ought to win.'
"When you look at the traditional powerhouses across the country, they usually bring that psychological edge over their opponents, like 'this is our birthright, not yours.' . . . You have to not believe the notion that it's Kentucky's to have; you must strongly believe that it is yours to have."
CONTROL RONDO, HAYES
The most recent team to handle Kentucky is Florida, which beat the Wildcats 53-52 in Gainesville in the last game of the regular season. It was just the fourth loss of the season for the Wildcats.
Gators coach Billy Donovan said his team made an adjustment after losing 66-63 at Kentucky earlier in the year.
"[Freshman guard Rajon] Rondo caused us a lot of problems the first time living in the lane," Donovan said. "We backed off him, tried to keep him from driving, and came out on [Patrick] Sparks and [Kelenna] Azubuike and tried not to give them a clean shot."
The ploy worked. Rondo had just three points and didn't attempt a free throw. Sparks and Azubuike combined to miss 13 shots.
"I think that's what defenses have started doing against us," Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. "They are actually trying to play three on five and coming out on Sparks and Kelenna."
3. BOX 'EM OUT
If Kentucky has an Achilles' heel, it's rebounding, a cornerstone of Smith's teachings. The Wildcats were out-boarded in six of the last seven games. Earlier, North Carolina grabbed 51 to Kentucky's 31 in a 91-78 win.
On paper, it'd appear size isn't a problem for the Wildcats. They start 6-foot-10 freshman Randolph Morris (right) at center and bring 7-footer Lukasz Obrzut and 7-3 Shagari Alleyne off the bench.
But Smith points out that they are somewhat undersized at power forward with the 6-6 Hayes as the starter and 6-6 Bobby Perry backing him up. Teams with formidable frontlines, such as Alabama and LSU, simply swallow them up.
4. HANG ON TO THE BALL
More than anything, Kentucky makes its living on getting easy baskets in transition off its defense. Protecting the basketball is paramount against the Wildcats.
They lead the league in turnover margin, forcing their opponents into 18.4 miscues a game for a gaudy plus-5.37 margin. But it goes beyond Kentucky's opponents losing scoring opportunities.
Fact is, the Wildcats are a poor shooting team. They're ninth in the league in 3-point shooting (.344) and Sparks, their most potent outside shooter, can be streaky.
5. BETTER HAVE PLAYERS
Kentucky almost always has an edge is in the talent department ? particularly, depth of talent. Kentucky signed three McDonald's All-Americans this year alone. That ties a school record, for what it's worth.
"It always comes back to recruiting," ESPN analyst Dick Vitale said. "Kentucky is always going to have the best players in the country ? the McDonald's All-Americans, the state players of the year. And they're always going to have the best coaches on the sideline coaching them."
Georgia's Felton, for one, is not sure the Wildcats have the corner on that market this season.
"The other team that can match Kentucky's talent is Florida, in terms of depth of talent," Felton said. "Some other teams that can do it at least five positions are Alabama and LSU. They're both really, really talented."
Nobody can boast the depth of Kentucky. The Wildcats have 13 players who have appeared in 19 or more of their 27 games
"Yeah, I think we're better suited to handle a three-day tournament like the SEC with our depth," Smith said.
.................................................................
ASSOCIATED PRESS
(ENLARGE)
Atlanta's Randolph Morris has gotten a schooling on the physical nature of the SEC as a freshman center for the Wildcats.
? An .861 winning percentage.
? A 33-1 record in the semifinals
? 25 tournament titles (more than the rest of the SEC teams combined).
Those numbers are even more exaggerated at the Georgia Dome, where the tournament will be held this week for the seventh time. The Wildcats are 16-2 under the Teflon Tent, with four championships.
"They're just the team to beat," said Alabama coach Mark Gottfried, whose team could meet the Wildcats in Sunday's title game. "They've proven it time and time again. They're sitting on that top box and somebody has to knock 'em off."
The question is how to do it. Many have tried; few have succeeded. Here are five suggestions:
1. YA GOTTA BELIEVE
No SEC coach has had more success against Kentucky than Georgia's Dennis Felton. He had beaten them three times in a row ? once at Western Kentucky and twice with the Bulldogs last season ? before dropping the last three.
Felton said psychology plays a big part in being able to compete with Kentucky.
"Mental dynamics are so much a part of the game," said Felton, whose 8-19 squad trailed Kentucky by five with two minutes to play at Rupp. "It starts with a group of guys believing that they ought to win. When other teams find themselves against Kentucky, which has a tradition of feeling like it ought to win, that opponent has to match that conviction ? 'No, we ought to win.'
"When you look at the traditional powerhouses across the country, they usually bring that psychological edge over their opponents, like 'this is our birthright, not yours.' . . . You have to not believe the notion that it's Kentucky's to have; you must strongly believe that it is yours to have."
CONTROL RONDO, HAYES
The most recent team to handle Kentucky is Florida, which beat the Wildcats 53-52 in Gainesville in the last game of the regular season. It was just the fourth loss of the season for the Wildcats.
Gators coach Billy Donovan said his team made an adjustment after losing 66-63 at Kentucky earlier in the year.
"[Freshman guard Rajon] Rondo caused us a lot of problems the first time living in the lane," Donovan said. "We backed off him, tried to keep him from driving, and came out on [Patrick] Sparks and [Kelenna] Azubuike and tried not to give them a clean shot."
The ploy worked. Rondo had just three points and didn't attempt a free throw. Sparks and Azubuike combined to miss 13 shots.
"I think that's what defenses have started doing against us," Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. "They are actually trying to play three on five and coming out on Sparks and Kelenna."
3. BOX 'EM OUT
If Kentucky has an Achilles' heel, it's rebounding, a cornerstone of Smith's teachings. The Wildcats were out-boarded in six of the last seven games. Earlier, North Carolina grabbed 51 to Kentucky's 31 in a 91-78 win.
On paper, it'd appear size isn't a problem for the Wildcats. They start 6-foot-10 freshman Randolph Morris (right) at center and bring 7-footer Lukasz Obrzut and 7-3 Shagari Alleyne off the bench.
But Smith points out that they are somewhat undersized at power forward with the 6-6 Hayes as the starter and 6-6 Bobby Perry backing him up. Teams with formidable frontlines, such as Alabama and LSU, simply swallow them up.
4. HANG ON TO THE BALL
More than anything, Kentucky makes its living on getting easy baskets in transition off its defense. Protecting the basketball is paramount against the Wildcats.
They lead the league in turnover margin, forcing their opponents into 18.4 miscues a game for a gaudy plus-5.37 margin. But it goes beyond Kentucky's opponents losing scoring opportunities.
Fact is, the Wildcats are a poor shooting team. They're ninth in the league in 3-point shooting (.344) and Sparks, their most potent outside shooter, can be streaky.
5. BETTER HAVE PLAYERS
Kentucky almost always has an edge is in the talent department ? particularly, depth of talent. Kentucky signed three McDonald's All-Americans this year alone. That ties a school record, for what it's worth.
"It always comes back to recruiting," ESPN analyst Dick Vitale said. "Kentucky is always going to have the best players in the country ? the McDonald's All-Americans, the state players of the year. And they're always going to have the best coaches on the sideline coaching them."
Georgia's Felton, for one, is not sure the Wildcats have the corner on that market this season.
"The other team that can match Kentucky's talent is Florida, in terms of depth of talent," Felton said. "Some other teams that can do it at least five positions are Alabama and LSU. They're both really, really talented."
Nobody can boast the depth of Kentucky. The Wildcats have 13 players who have appeared in 19 or more of their 27 games
"Yeah, I think we're better suited to handle a three-day tournament like the SEC with our depth," Smith said.
.................................................................
