UK opener pits talent against experience

Kentucky’s opener Friday night sets up as a classic contest between talent and experience. Kentucky has the more highly-rated players even with John Wall, who is projected as the first pick in the 2010 NBA draft, sitting out the game. Morehead State has the know-how of battle-tested veterans.
Morehead State Coach Donnie Tyndall called experience “our one advantage in the game.”
One of his players, Ty Proffitt, noted that Kentucky had “off the charts talent.”
In an early-season game, experience versus talent has the feel of a rock-paper-scissors  game. Multiple scenarios and outcomes seems possible.
Maze Stallworth, one of the perimeter shooters that Morehead State uses to balance highly-regarded Kenneth Faried around the basket, suggested one benefit produced by experience.
“We’re not going to show any fear,” he said. “. . . That’s our thing. We don’t want to show any fear.”
ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas saw a clear preference in the talent-versus-experience question.
“I would rather have experience and good talent than super talent that is inexperienced early in the season,” he wrote in an e-mail. “I think that Kentucky has a good enough mix against Morehead State, even though Kenneth Faried is the real deal. He could be taken in the second round of the NBA Draft.
“If Kentucky didn’t have such truly outstanding guard talents, I would be concerned. But, the talent that Kentucky has should overwhelm Morehead State over the course of 40 minutes.
“The early minutes are really important. Kentucky may not be able to blow past them early, but should be able to ‘methodically blow out’ Morehead over the course of the game.”
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