Gilchrist & Davis Named Midseason All-Americans

Mike DeCourcy from Sporting News… *Waiting for the applause to die down* Mike DeCourcy at Sporting News posted his midseason All-American selections and Kentucky fans have reason to celebrate. DeCourcy named MKG to the first team and Davis to the third. From what I understand, this is more of a prediction of how the AA selections would shakeout if the season ended today, not his simply his opinion on who the best players in the country are. Translation: I respect DeCourcy too much to question why Davis isn’t higher.

On Gilchrist:

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, SF, Kentucky, freshman. Is it possible the most complete college player has 16 games of experience? It’s not definite, but it’s possible. Kidd-Gilchrist already is the Wildcats’ top perimeter defender, a player coach John Calipari will assign to defend any of four positions. He is the team’s second-leading scorer although UK rarely runs a play for him. He is devastating in transition and scramble situations. His ability to make impactful, winning plays is uncommon for such a young player.

On Davis:

Anthony Davis, C, Kentucky, freshman. The presumptive No. 1-overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, Davis has blocked shots, rebounded and finished above the rim. He has done everything coach John Calipari has asked of him. UK just hasn’t asked as much of him as of Kidd-Gilchrist.

And I don’t want to rain on your All-American Parade, but Andy Glocker from Sports Illustrated doesn’t think Kentucky beats Syracuse:

5. Is Syracuse the best team in the country? There’s a lot of reason to believe it is, although it’s hard to know, since Syracuse has not played a significant road game yet (NC State?). Plus, due to the vagaries of the Big East schedule and teams being down, there are only two potential “big” spots on the slate: Feb. 13 at (regressing) Louisville and Feb. 25 at UConn. That’s not to say they can’t lose elsewhere on the road, but they should be fairly well favored in every other spot. That said, I would take the Orange over Kentucky right now on a neutral floor (zone would really bother the Cats’ offense) and would probably take them over North Carolina, too. Are they better than my preseason national champ pick, Ohio State, when the Buckeyes are fully healthy? Let’s just say I’d be down for that matchup on the final weekend of the season.

 Some say Glockner looks like a poor man’s Rodney Ruxin, but that’s just mean spirited. Grow up.