No Doubt Kentucky's 3-Headed Monster Is Best Backcourt in CBB After Duke Romp

CHICAGO — Ashley Judd lingered near the locker room.

World Wide Wes was in the front row in a gray blazer and dark-rimmed glasses.

And as Kentucky's John Calipari snaked through the bowels of the United Center, sports photographers morphed into paparazzi, forming a horseshoe around the coach and snapping pictures until he arrived on the court for Tuesday's game against Duke.

Seriously, did some of those guys work for TMZ?

In so many ways, Kentucky's first marquee game of the 2015-16 season was a repeat of what we've seen time and time again in the past: celebrities and NBA scouts in the stands, television cords strewn near the baseline and rabid fans overreacting to calls from the bleachers.

"Here we go again with the sideshow," grumbled one veteran, and somewhat cynical, scribe shortly before tipoff. "Same as it is every year."

Off the court? Absolutely.

But on it…um, not so much.

Just minutes into Kentucky's 74-63 thumping of the Blue Devils, it became obvious that Calipari's latest version of the Wildcats won't look like any group he's coached in the past.

"We're playing different," he said. "This is a different team."

James Crisp/Associated Press

And, dare we say, a better one?

Making such a bold prediction this early in the season may seem outlandish, but if Tuesday's game was any indication, Calipari's willingness and ability to change styles and adapt to his personnel could pay huge dividends during a season that has the potential to be one of his most successful yet.

Calipari's newest wrinkle? A three-guard lineup that, although not unorthodox in its concept, could still be one of the most maddening things for opponents to face in years.

Simply put, the players are that damn good.

Duke learned that lesson firsthand Tuesday, when Jamal Murray, Tyler Ulis and Isaiah Briscoe combined for 46 points, 12 assists and eight steals on a night when numbers didn't do justice to how thoroughly the unit dominated the Blue Devils on the perimeter on both ends of the court.

Murray and Briscoe are only freshmen, and Ulis, a sophomore, is in his first year as a starter. Collectively, though, the players form what is easily the best backcourt in college basketball this season. Sorry, Fred VanVleet, Ron Baker and Wichita State. This one is not even close.

Just ask Duke's Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski, who noted after Tuesday's game that Murray, Ulis and Briscoe all possess the skills of a point guard.

"They're not just strong, but they're strong with the ball," Krzyzewski said. "All three of those kids can initiate an offense. They can make plays and they can play without turning it over. It's a dimension that's different. Whenever you have a really good dimension that's also different, that's good."

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Indeed, plenty of college backcourts start two players with point guard skills, but rarely do you see lineups with three. Especially not ones with this much talent.

Murray is projected as a top-five pick in next summer's NBA draft; Briscoe is a potential first-rounder who boasts McDonald's All-American honors; and Ulis, who is more of a true point guard at 5'9", played an integral role off the bench last season and could lead the nation in assists. He had six of them Tuesday.

And zero turnovers.

"God was good to him," Krzyzewski said. "He didn't give him height, but he gave him a heart that's five times bigger than most people's. I admired his presence throughout the game and his face throughout the game. It was the look of a winner."

Kentucky fans saw glimpses of that last season, when Ulis, then a freshman, was the first guard off the bench for a squad that finished 38-1. Calipari said Ulis has improved significantly since then.

"You gotta have feel for the game, a feel for what is about to happen," Calipari said. "He's kind of like a baseball player that watched the ball and now he can see the seams. The game is happening slower for him."

Defensively, the Wildcats completely unnerved Duke's Grayson Allen, who entered the game averaging 27 points through two contests. He only scored six Tuesday on 2-of-11 shooting.

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

On offense, Kentucky's guards were foaming at the mouth when they got a look at Duke's faulty scheme to slow them down.

"We saw that they spread the court out," Ulis said. "That's what we like, since we're guards who can dribble the ball and penetrate the defense. We just kind of take turns."

Kentucky led by as many as 16 points late in the second half, when Murray attempted a behind-the-back pass to a teammate on a fast break. The pass got picked off, and Murray half-expected to hear about it from Calipari.

"But he never said anything," Murray said.

Perhaps that's because, by that point, Calipari was already thinking ahead about the success his new three-headed monster could generate.

"The whole idea today," Calipari said, "was to put it on the floor, move that ball and get some good spacing. We went to the dribble-drive."

Calipari smirked.

"I'm back to teaching that like I did at the other school," he said.

Anyone who has followed his career knows that was Calipari's way of taking a shot at Memphis, where he coached from 2000 to 2009. Last summer the university announced it was inducting Calipari into its Hall of Fame—but then reversed course when fans voiced disapproval.

Hurtful as that may have been, Calipari will always look back fondly on the success he had using the dribble-drive with the Tigers, including a 2007-08 campaign when Derrick Rose led them to the NCAA title game.

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press/Associated Press

Calipari's teams at Kentucky have been different. Sure, there have been plenty of standout Wildcats point guards, most notably perennial NBA All-Star John Wall.

But the No. 1 strength on almost all of his squads has been a dominant post player, whether it was DeMarcus Cousins anchoring his inaugural team in 2010, Anthony Davis helping capture the NCAA title in 2012 or Julius Randle, Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein sparking back-to-back Final Four berths the past two seasons.

"It's amazing," Calipari said. "Last year we had 7'0" (Towns), 7'0" (Cauley-Stein) and 6'10" (Trey Lyles). This year we're 5'9" (Ulis), 6'2" (Briscoe) and 6'5" (Murray)."

While Calipari was referencing the focal points of each of his past two teams, it's not as if this year's Wildcats don't feature a dominant big man. In fact, 6'11" freshman Skal Labissiere is regarded as the top NBA prospect not just on Kentucky's talented roster but in the entire nation, as DraftExpress.com projects him as the No. 1 pick in this summer's draft.

Labissiere, though, struggled Tuesday and finished with just seven points in 13 minutes.

"He just needs more time," Calipari said. "He's one of the best players in the country. He'll be fine."

So, too, will the Wildcats.

When Labissiere is performing up to expectations, Kentucky will be the best team in America.

And it still may be during those moments when he’s not.

Jason King covers college sports for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @JasonKingBR.