KENTUCKY BASKETBALL OUTLOOK, 1973-74
Kentucky's 1973 Southeastern Conference champions return four starters, including SEC Player of the Year Kevin Grevey, and six other lettermen, but filling the shoes of Jim Andrews, a 6-foot-1 1 two-time All-SEC center, is a major concern of coach Joe B. Hall, who won 1973 SEC Coach of the Year honors in his rookie year.
Larry Stamper, a 6-6 part-time starter at forward, is the only other loss from the team, which ran up a 20-8 overall and 14-4 SEC record and advanced to the finals of the NCAA Mideast Regional.
Expected to man the center post vacated by Andrews are Bob Guyette, a 6-8, 220 lb. junior who played forward last year, and Steve Lochmueller, a 6-7, 220 lb. junior battler who saw relief duty in 26 games.
Guyette started nine games early last year, and performed well in clutch situations, but he is happy to return to the position he has played throughout his career. He averaged 5.9 points and 4.7 rebounds while playing only 16 minutes per game in 27 contests.
Lochmueller, a competitive, physical type player, had a great effort against Alabama when he scored 18 points in a crucial late-season game. The strongboy, who can hook consistently with either hand, averaged 3.3 points and hit 53.1 per cent from the field. He led the team with 86.8 per cent from the charity line.
With either man, though, the Wildcats will face an imposing height deficiency.
"We will be a small team this year," Hall said. "We'll have to rely on speed, outside shooting and a pressure defense to carry us through a tough schedule."
Much of the scoring load will fall on the muscular shoulders of Grevey, a southpaw whose scoring binge in the last six games of the season lifted the Wildcats off the ropes to the conference championship.
Grevey averaged over 30 points a game during that stretch, including a 40-point effort against Georgia, the high individual performance of the year in the SEC. Despite shooting mainly from the outside, Grevey's percentage zoomed to 53.5 at season's end.
For his pressure performance, Grevey won first team All-SEC and SEC Sophomore-of-the-Year honors and led voting on both Alabama's and Tennessee's All-Opponent teams. The 6-5 junior was second leading Wildcat scorer with an 18.7 average.
Other starters are Jimmy Dan Conner, a 6-4 junior forward-guard who showed flashes of brilliance (1 1.2), Ronnie Lyons, a 5-10 senior who excels as a playmaker (9.2), and Mike Flynn, a 6-3 junior guard, who regained a starting slot the last 14 games and won defensive honors as well as scoring at a 13-point clip during that stretch.
"We should get a good offensive punch from Grevey, who played great the last part of the season," Hall said. "But we feel we'll still be a balanced scoring team. Lyons, who had a somewhat off-season last year, and Conner showed they have scoring ability, and so does Flynn, who emerged as a top defensive player."
The Wildcats should benefit from an experienced bench with all players seeing a considerable amount of playing time. Back from reserve roles, in addition to Guyette and Lochmueller, are seniors Ray Edleman (started one game), a 6-2 guard, and Rich Drewitz, a 6-7 forward, and junior Jerry Hale, a 6-0 guard, and G. J. Smith, a 6-7 forward who missed much of the season with a knee injury.
Up from the freshman team are sophomores Reggie Warford, a 6-1 guard who led the frosh with 17.5 points; David Miller, a 6-6 forward who averaged 15.5 points and 12.8 rebounds, and Roger Wood, a 6-IOV2 center, who, although ailing much of the season, averaged 12.8 points and 8.8 rebounds.
Incoming freshmen are Robert Mayhall, 6-8; Ernie Whitus, 6-7; Gary Utz, 6-2; Larry Johnson, 6-2; Merion Haskins, 6-3; and Joey Holland, 6-2.
Offensively, Hall will employ the single post and fast break as basics, but will include the stack and high-low post also. The basic defense will be man-to-man, with the 1-3-1 and pressure defense also utilized.
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