Back in October Pitino made it very clear that he would definitely not, under any circumstances play Samuels and Jennings concurrently. Then he prefaced with: for a couple months. Coaches always say they don't emphasize one game over others the way that fans do but I wouldn't put it past Pitino to save his best lineup as a surprise until the Kentucky game. Here's the pros and cons of such a move as I see them:
Pros:
- Calipari can't scout our style of play when we play our best five
- They have better players at all five spots, we need something to mix things up
- Pitino really wants a win over Kentucky to prove he's still got it and he knows people will forgive early season losses because he's gotten us used to them
Cons:
- Not playing together in game situations (assuming they've been working on it in practice) makes it difficult to have chemistry. Why sacrifice two months of experience for a single game gimmick?
- Kentucky still tops us in every match up even with Jennings and Samuels together in the lineup together.
- Can one game really be worth two months of deception and evasive answers on call in shows?
What do you think?
No
It's a good lineup but he wasn't sandbagging. See Cincinnati game. Case closed.
sounds like pitino
the KY game has always been really important to him former players say