Where did this UK team come from?

By By Austin Bishop/EMG regional sports director
March 14, 2004
Scanning the Southeastern sports scene on a Sunday while wondering whatever happened to Greg Grimm …
ATLANTA Following Kentucky's convincing 78-63 win over a suprisingly good South Carolina team in the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament semifinals on Saturday afternoon one question begs to be asked.
Just how good is this UK basketball team?
The answer is good. Real good.
Don't believe me? Well, how about this?
But are the Wildcats among the best in the country, deserving of a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament?
There are no Sam Bowies, Kyle Maceys, Rex Champmans, Kenny Walkers or Antoine Walkers on this team. Not even one.
If there is a star, perhaps it is Gerald Fitch or Erik Daniels. But in reality, no one player really carries the Kentucky Wildcats.
This is a team that has gotten noticeably better as the season has gone on.
That is usually an indicator of a couple things the players enjoy playing together as a unit and the coach is doing an outstanding job. Both of those assumptions would be correct ones.
Believe it or not, despite his success, Tubby Smith is one of the most underrated coaches in the country. Not just the SEC, but the country.
After all, you don't get a whole lot of credit for having a good team at Kentucky.
Questions only arise when your team is not good, or it doesn't make the Sweet 16 or even the Final Four. Which at UK is the same thing as not being good.
One of the raps against Kentucky earlier this season, just as it was against Mississippi State, is that the Wildcats aren't very deep.
Again, just like the Bulldogs, Kentucky is a lot deeper than most folks think.
As the season has worn on, Daniels and fellow seniors Cliff Hawkins and Fitch, as well as junior forward Chuck Hayes, have lived up to expectations.
But others have stepped up as well.
When Fitch was out with an injury during a key stretch, senior Antwain Barbour came off the bench to become a key starter for the Wildcats.
Kelenna Azubuike and Sheray Thomas have also gone from being unkown even to the UK faithful, to being a part of the rotation. Josh Carrier, Bobby Perry, Lukasz Obrzut and Bernard Cote have also provided some key minutes at key times this season.
This team is pretty deep.
Don't believe it? Well let me explain it.
During it's current eight-game winning streak the Wildcats have wins at LSU and South Carolina, a home victory over Florida and SEC Tournament victories over Georgia a team it had previously lost to twice and South Carolina, which has 22 wins.
The closest game during that stretch was a six-point win over LSU in Baton Rouge.
And it just doesn't extend to SEC play. The Wildcats also have wins over non-conference foes such as Michigan State, North Carolina, Indiana and UCLA.
This is truly a team that has snuck up on a lot of folks. But it didn't sneak up on Smith.
While admitting that he wished his Wildcats had more of a presence on the inside and lacks the experience off the bench last year's Elite Eight team had, he also sees some things he likes. A lot.
It will be interesting to see what kind of respect the Wildcats receive from the NCAA Tournament Committee when the seedings and pairings are announced later today.
I expect it will be more than they do from the average fans who just didn't see this year's big blue machine sneaking up on them.