No question John Calipari’s first team at Kentucky enters the season with a lot of hype and expectation and one of the deepest teams the Wildcats have had in recent memory.
 In two public scrimmages, it’s becoming clearer which players will likely start and who will come off the bench. Although it’s still too early to make a bold prediction on whom will start against Morehead State on Nov. 13, several players have already established themselves as regular contributors.

Patrick Patterson, John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, Darnell Dodson, Darius Miller, DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton, Jon Hood, Josh Harrellson appear to be the team’s top nine players, but don’t count out contributions from Ramon Harris, Perry Stevenson, DeAndre Liggins and Mark Krebs.  That’s how deep this team appears to be this season.

Stevenson was perhaps the biggest surprise for the Wildcats in an exhibition win over Campbellsville College earlier this week. Stevenson scored 11 points in six minutes of action. Those points came when the game was already decided late in the second half.
Stevenson’s contributions drew praise from Calipari following the contest. Stevenson had been lacking in practice, which limited his playing time, but once given the opportunity, Stevenson took advantage of his time on the court and gave Calipari and his coaching staff one more reason to insert his name into the rotation.

“I was really happy with Perry Stevenson,” the Kentucky coach said. “I didn't play him in the first half because he didn't deserve to get in from practices and all that, but instead of pouting or anything he just goes in and now he earns his space, all of a sudden he gets in that rotation.
“We could have just tried to post the ball every time and thrown it inside but we're trying to get the feel for how we're playing. We just have a long way to go.”
Kentucky junior Patrick Patterson said contributions from players off the bench will make the team that much stronger and give the Wildcats a much-needed presence off the bench.

“As you saw anyone can step up if anybody is having a bad game but anyone on the bench like Perry came in only for a couple minutes and had 11 points and a couple rebounds,” he said. “We have a lot of production on the team this year.”
Depth will have a say in the team’s success this season.