re: Whats our starting 5 next year w/ Malik Newman?

The 3 would be by far our best players so they will start

Blakeney 6'6 SG what a shooter
Newman 6'3 PG but can shoot lights out
Simmons 6'9 F The best player ever/high school
Victor 6'8 F
Epps 6'9 F

Backups

Quarterman 6'6 G/F
Hornsby 6'4 SG
Patterson 6'1 SG
Gray 6'1 PG
Malone 7'0 C
Robinson 7'1 C
Bridgewater 6'5 F

I went with Epps over TQ because we need another tall player to match up but he comes off the bench and plays as much or more than Epps/Victor. Epps is an ex high jumper and will get some of the blocks / rebounds we will lose from Mickey's output.

Very good athletic starting five with 4 McDonalds All Americans, the best 2 shooters that I have seen come out of high school in a long time and Ben Simmons who is High School player of the year and better than Kobe, Lebron, MJ, and Magic out of high school.

Actually the 7 listed back ups have talent and experience enough to replace some of the starters to where they can compete at high levels. You wonder that with Mickey and Martin we probably have the best team in the NCAA next year and would have been a lock for Elite 8 / Final 4 but they are not here. Even without them this team looks good on paper, and if the big 3 newcomers play like the past Kentucky freshmen, we will have a team that goes 24-6 and makes a long run into the tournament. What will make us a lose a few games that we are more talented is fatigue from the freshmen as they are not used to the grind of college, flights/hotel, overall traveling... But when they have their legs hardly any teams will be able to stay with their overall talent, shooting ability, etc...

It amazes me that people don't remember the lessons of the past. Anyone remember Quarterman and Martin's freshman year? No matter how great most freshmen require at least half the season to get adjusted to college ball.

The main thing is that they are all known for their great offense and are not prepared to play big boy defense. They are also used to being bigger, faster, stronger than other players. In college that all changes, especially when we hit the SEC.

No way Hornsby and Quarterman sit on the bench for freshmen. They will get equal or nearly so starting time and playing time. Gray for all of his faults is still the only true penetrate and kick point guard we have and the quickest player we will have.

If he ever settled down and cut the turnovers and stupid plays out, he would be hard to keep out of the starting lineup.