Not saying we don’t need the bigs, we do. But, at the beginning of the season we were running, we were passing, we were exciting. Since the bigs, we just have not been the same. I wish we would just start pressing full court, use our depth, and play fast paced. That would help us defensively by giving opponents less time on their possessions once they get the ball across mid court. We are not strong in half court defense, so giving your opponent less time to run their offense could work out better for us. We have the talent and depth. Let’s use it.
Did We Play Better Without the Bigs?
- Thread starter dbem1
- Start date
Tightening up lineup might be the way to go. With so many people hurt/out over the course of the season so far I feel like team has had trouble getting in sync like they were b4 SEC play. Regardless SEC play has been a total disaster so far. Went from FF looking team to NIT quality.
We definitely play better offensively, but need Ugonna on defense. He was the only guy playing inside defense and rebounding last night. But, we definitely seemed like a better team without the 7 footers. Maybe that was before Cal tried to make Bradshaw and Zivisic play with their backs to the basket.
We scored 80 plus in regulation with ugonna aging. Issue is the defense and always has been, even before we had big men.
St Joseph's and ku ring a bell?
St Joseph's and ku ring a bell?
Ehh, you can see what you think you see, the stats don't lie.
On December 8 (day before Bradshaw started playing): 11th in offensive efficiency, 36th in tempo
On January 9th: 8th in offensive efficiency, 18th in tempo
Today: 5th in offensive efficiency, 15th in tempo
People are so intent on crucifying Calipari that they don't evaluate how effing hard it would be to integrate 3 players of that sort IN THE EFFING MIDDLE OF THE SEASON. How do you play? What do you play? How do you get them experience? And on and on. IN THE EFFING MIDDLE OF THE SEASON.
But there's chum in the water and screaming is so much fun.
There hasn't been an intact roster for a single game.
But there's chum in the water and screaming is so much fun.
There hasn't been an intact roster for a single game.
Do we? If teams are gonna torch us inside, does it matter who tf is getting dunked on?
Well on tonight’s show he said we could go back to small ball when Tres is back and he said Thiero would be in there and Ugo would sit. I think he actually might do it as he’s not in love with and any of those 7 footers.
Actually, yes. That was a concern after so much time injured, not eligible, sick, etc. that it could mess with our chemistry. I like the smaller team on both ends of the court. Use the bigs sparingly if everyone else is healthy.
What was Cal's excuse the past three seasons?
That's a great argument.
What was the problem in 2020?
What was the problem in 2021?
What was the problem in 2022?
Cal got the benefit of the doubt in the past. Four straight seasons of excuses, maybe he's just doing a bad job.
He could be. If by "bad job" you mean "not winning everything."
The problem for this argument for the anti-Caliparis is that the gap between "abominable" and "disappointing" is so tiny: Calipari is the "worst" because the Antis didn't get what they wanted. That's a nonsense definition of "worst". But screaming tantrums are meat and drink for the Antis.
And you can't scream "I didn't get everything I wanted." That's a lot of syllables for a scream and it puts the screamer in a bad light.
Put it another way, Between the Fiddlin Five and his retirement, Rupp had 1 decent year when Joe Hall wasn't his assistant. Was Rupp the previous worst before Calipari took over?
No sir.
By bad job, I mean:
9-16 season. Then the next season, a 1st round loss to St. Peter's despite having the NPOY. Then the next season, a 2nd round loss to KSU despite the return of that NPOY. Then the next season, taking the team with the most NBA talent in college hoops and finishing with 7+ losses.
That's what a bad job means.
I disagree that losing a single-elimination tournament game is a bad job. But, "bad job" isn't even in the same universe as the mass of anti-Calipari comments. Most are off the charts foul. And not in the "comically hyperbolic." The mass are in the "deranged" realm. As in "Shouldn't rivals tip off the authorities" deranged.
Again
You're doing this thing where you act like we're evaluating a multitude of items individually. It's not losing to St. Peter's. It's not 2nd round loss to KSU. It's not 9-16. It's not 7 losses with this team. It's all of it together.
If the only thing that happened was 9-16, fans would be ok. If St. Peters and 9-16 happened, and then we got back to winning, fans would be ok. If 9-16, St. Peter's, and K State happened, but we were winning this year--fans would be ok.
But we've had 4 straight years littered with failure. So now, the fans aren't deranged or hyperbolic. The coach has failed over and over for 4 years. We've evaluated for that long. This isn't a 1 day or 1 event reaction. And if you really think it is, you're not paying attention.
Fans are deranged and hyperbolic. Fact in evidence: basketball is a game that doesn't affect anyone's life outside of the game. We could lose every game by 10000 points and it wouldn't make the fan comments as evidenced on this board not deranged. Every day all over the world, games are played. When they're over, they're over.
Complains about fans being hyperbolic. Immediately resorts to Hyperbole.
I can't take you seriously. Have a good day.
He’s not worth going back and forth with, very much “smartest man in the room” vibes.
You might be getting to it, but what about Ugo? I don’t think any of our big are bad per se, but none are truly elite. They’re all raw and their potential isn’t going be seen this season.
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Forget about the pro Cal/anti Cal crowds. Just look at the results. Do you personally think Calipari should keep his job based upon how he is performing?
Not my job. It's Mitch Barnhart's decision.
I watched the Gonzaga game the other day. The team played well. Up 4 or 5 after being run out of the gym in the 1st half? I have a feeling you don't agree.
I'm not the guy to ask. I wish that all collegiate sports would go away. Europe produces excellent ball with club sports, regional teams, minor leagues, and such. With NIL the players aren't really even playing for their nominal schools. They're playing for their sponsors. Soon we'll have The Rice Krispie Snaps vs. The Revlon Blush. And it will be more honest.
Respectfully, that is an absolute cop out. You can't have an opinion because it is not ultimately your decision? Is that how you approach everything else in life?
I will ask another way...do you want John Calipari to keep his job as head coach? There. Now you can answer as a fan instead of as a hypothetical AD.
That's the thing, perhaps these bigs could be good one day, but we will never see that at UK because they're pushed out or leave to the NBA. We don't field teams where players stay and progress anymore. We hope that a group of freshmen are going to be top tier elite which rarely happens. Cousins and KAT aren't walking through that door.
We were playing scrubs for the most part in the early portion of the season.
Our best team is probably going small but you guys saw the Kansas game where Dickinson had his way down low with us.
Our best team is probably going small but you guys saw the Kansas game where Dickinson had his way down low with us.
He did, but it was only a 5 pt loss. If we played again with all the bigs, I’m not sure it stays that close. And I say that as someone who was hoping we’d play them in the tournament with a healthy set of bigs.
Yes we did. But we also haven't played hardly any games with that roster AND the bigs. Almost as soon as big #2 became available (Onyenso), then Theiro got hurt. And when Theiro returned, Wagner missed due to injury. We did have them all last game, although still wonder if Wagner is 90%+.
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