Kentucky Basketball: Biggest Adjustments Wildcats Must Make in 2015-16

Stop me if you've heard this before, but there will be plenty of new adjustments for the 2015-16 version of Kentucky basketball compared to the most recent Final Four team. That's what happens when seven of your top 10 players declare for the NBA draft.

This isn't anything new in Lexington, though, and luckily for Big Blue Nation, they still have the best coach when it comes to roster turnover in John Calipari. His success has been proven during his time as Kentucky's head coach, which should give Wildcats fans hope no matter who is on the roster.

We'll take a look at the biggest adjustments the newest Kentucky team will face during the 2015-16 season. Whether it's a defensive mindset or certain rotation, this list will have you covered. 

A Traditional Point Guard Leading the Charge

Timothy D. Easley/Associated Press

Saying Tyler Ulis will be an adjustment to what Kentucky fans are used to is not a knock by any means. It just sums up Ulis' game. 

The previous point guards under Calipari—John Wall, Brandon Knight, Marquis Teague, Ryan Harrow and Andrew Harrison—were not traditional point guards; they looked to score more than pass first. Again, that's not a bad thing; it's just the way the guards played. On top of that, those guards all had size and strength, despite what many people think about Harrow. 

I'm not quite sure anyone in the world would describe the 5'8" Ulis as big, let alone think of him as a scoring point guard. Ulis can get points without a doubt, but he looks to get his teammates the ball in open space. 

The offense will run through Ulis, but it will be an adjustment for Kentucky fans to watch a small point guard in charge. 

The Lack of Platooning

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Yes, there's still plenty of top recruits that need to announce where they will be attending college, but we won't see the Wildcats platoon next season. There's no way this team will be nearly as deep as the 2014-15 version of Kentucky basketball.

Expect a couple of players, most notably Tyler Ulis, to play a ton of minutes, similar to the 2010-11 team that made the Final Four. On that team, Brandon Knight played 36 minutes per game. Don't be surprised to see Ulis play those type of minutes if Isaiah Briscoe is the only other true point guard on the roster. 

The one area Calipari will be able to platoon is with the post players, as he already has at least three players that can play either the four or five spot. It will be vital for this team to stay conditioned, as they will be playing more than the 20-25 minutes per game many Wildcats played this past season. 

A True Uptempo Pace

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It's kind of tough to believe that Kentucky has ranked in the top 100 of Adjusted Tempo per KenPom just once since John Calipari became the head coach. The only time they ranked that high was the very first year with John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe. 

That will be the beauty of this year's team with Ulis, Briscoe, Marcus Lee and Alex Poythress on the floor. Expect Calipari to want his team to push the floor offensively, especially with a gifted point guard like Ulis. On top of that, the defense that Kentucky plays should allow the Wildcats to run the floor, thanks to the shot-blocking ability by Lee and Poythress, while Ulis forces turnovers with his pressure. 

The biggest misconception since Calipari took over for Billy Gillispie has been that his teams just want to run and speed the game up. The opposite has been the truth over the last six years, mostly because Kentucky could defend anyone in the country and was fine with playing games in the half court.