Luke Winn's Power Rankings 12/22

– “But December 22nd was Christmas Eve- Eve, and that was like four days ago…” Let me stop you right there. I was on my honeymoon when the latest Power Rankings came out and I didn’t see them. So it is news to me. And it is news to my mother, who assures me that she reads my posts.

And yes, I got married. To a girl.

– The college hoops nerd-world stops turning for a few moments when Luke Winn’s ‘Power Rankings’ post goes up each week. The latest ‘Rankings’ went up last Thursday. The rankings themselves are nothing special, his list of the top teams are similar to those of the AP and coaches polls. After all, it should come as no surprise that he ranked Kentucky at #3. His analysis is bar none and as Matthew Hays pointed out on Dec. 16th, he has taken a liking to our Anthony Davis. In the last edition of the ‘Rankings,’ he looked at UK’s defense with and without Davis on the floor.

– Winn continued that trend this week, updating the stats to account for the Chattanooga and Samford contests:

Winn also added:

On the season, UK is only 0.04 PPP better on defense with Davis than without. If I were coaching, I would want Davis on the floor as much as possible. And obviously, his plus-minus splits are great in two of the ‘Cats three big games (Kansas and Indiana). But instead of getting upset about the overall numbers not matching your preconceived notions, try to consider them in a positive way: Sometimes when Davis is on the bench, UK still manages to play effective D. Which means it has multiple guys capable of being impact defenders (see: Kidd-Gilchrist, Michael; and Vargas, Eloy). And that’s a good thing.

Go Cats.