By LARRY VAUGHT

ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla expects Kentucky to “get beat on a number of occasions” this year.

However, that doesn’t mean he’s not impressed with John Calipari’s team.

“They will get beat on a number of occasions because someone is more experienced but by March 1 they will be capable of getting to the Final Four and will be a very, very good team,” said Fraschilla Wednesday during an ESPN teleconference call.

Fraschilla, a former coach, says the adjustment period for UK’s talented freshmen may not be as great as some think.

“The adjustment to college may not be as great as it used to be for the great player. Particularly these three guys (John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe) have played against the best talent in basketball the last two or three years in AAU or summer tournaments. Guys they go against may be guys they already feel they have dominated in tournaments,” Fraschilla said. “The adjustment usually is the work ethic because people have stroked their egos and playing the more experienced teams like Vanderbilt.”

While Fraschilla has Kentucky in his top nine to 11 preseason teams, he says none of them are close to his top two teams — Kansas and Texas.

“There may not be the one totally dominant team, but I am very impressed with the depth at Kansas and Texas,” he said. “I have seen Kentucky practice and they may not be as deep as those two teams, but their starting five or six certainly is in the same ballpark because of the great recruiting class.”

He said Wall, UK’s freshman point guard, impressed him immensely.

“The guy that jumped out at me in terms of work ethic is John Wall. When (former UK player and current staff member) Tony Delk tells you somebody has a good attitude, take it to the bank,” Fraschilla said. “He said as good a player as he is, he wants to get better.”

The ESPN analyst has the same feeling about junior Patrick Patterson, who turned down a chance to go to the NBA to play in Calipari’s dribble-drive offense.

“Patrick has already proven to be great college player with what he has accomplished in two years. I think it will be interesting but exciting for him to play with a higher level of talent than he did the first years with Wall, Bledsoe and Cousins,” Fraschilla said. “He will also have to adjust his game. There will not be three guys hanging over him when he posts up in the lane. The style of play will open up the lane and he will get a lot of easy baskets off the offense and will bet a chance to play away from the basket

“Patrick, more so than any player at Kentucky, will have to adjust his game but I think adjusting to playing away from the basket some and not being triple teamed will benefit him. He will be excited to be in this style of play.”

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