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Why do we need another player?

EvilMD

All-SEC
Dec 29, 2003
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We have Ulis and Hawkins at point. We have Briscoe and Mulder at shooting guard. We have Poythress, Matthews and Willis at small forward. We have Poythress, Lee and Willis at power forward. We have Labissiere at center and Lee at backup if need be. Plus Wynyard is coming in, right?

Murray is one of those talents you add no matter how many players you have, but it's not like we're NIT bound without him. I don't get the "We'll be fine IF we get so-and-so" crowd. Duke won it all with eight players.
 
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Well we have 9 scholarship players at the moment. If we don't sign anyone else, during practice a walk on will ALWAYS be a part of 5 on 5. During games, we are straight with what we have. I really want murray though. He will complete this team. But we will be fine either way
 
The 3 spot is the only spot I am really worried about.

Poythress is going to spend his time at the 4. Willis is only going to get spot duty and that will probably be at the 4.

I am not sure what Matthews and Mulder will bring to the table. Matthews dropped a lot in the rankings after his Junior year. Mulder is a JUCO, and I don't trust JUCO's their first year in D-1.

I think we will be fine, regardless, but adding Murray will put my mind at ease when it comes to the 3 spot.
 
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Well we have 9 scholarship players at the moment. If we don't sign anyone else, during practice a walk on will ALWAYS be a part of 5 on 5. During games, we are straight with what we have. I really want murray though. He will complete this team. But we will be fine either way
While that is true for 5-on-5, unless Calipari scrimmages this team a lot, coaches generally don't run 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 the majority of time in practices.
 
Well we have 9 scholarship players at the moment. If we don't sign anyone else, during practice a walk on will ALWAYS be a part of 5 on 5. During games, we are straight with what we have. I really want murray though. He will complete this team. But we will be fine either way

Technically, Floreal is on scholarship.

Right now, we have enough scholarship guys for 5 on 5.

G Ulis/Hawkins
G Briscoe/Floreal
G Matthews/Mulder
F Poythress/Willis
F Labissiere/Lee

Also, Cal generally doesn't put much stock into scrimmaging, so the point is somewhat moot.

I do agree that we could definitely use Murray.
 
I want our players to get better. I think having murray here and being a part of the scrimmage as to floreal, or even Willis or Hawkins for that matter will improve our scrimmages, will improve our players and our team. If we don't get murray, we will be fine. I think either mulder or matthews will be a pleasant surprise next season. I just don't know which one will step up yet. Hopefully both.
 
The one thing that scares me is if we have a game and Skal and Lee are in foul trouble. And you know there will be some away games this will happen. We don't have much bulk downlow either.
 
Because Murray gives UK one of the best starting 5's in the nation, if not the best one. If we do not get Murray we have a guy starting at the 3 who probably should not be starting this season at UK.

And for depth purposes if nothing else. And I think the OP meant to say we have "Ulis and Briscoe at PG" as when Ulis is out that is who will slide over to PG.
 
Technically, Floreal is on scholarship.

Right now, we have enough scholarship guys for 5 on 5.

G Ulis/Hawkins
G Briscoe/Floreal
G Matthews/Mulder
F Poythress/Willis
F Labissiere/Lee

Also, Cal generally doesn't put much stock into scrimmaging, so the point is somewhat moot.

I do agree that we could definitely use Murray.
Not knocking Floreal but he's not the type of player they will go against at game time.
 
We have Ulis and Hawkins at point. We have Briscoe and Mulder at shooting guard. We have Poythress, Matthews and Willis at small forward. We have Poythress, Lee and Willis at power forward. We have Labissiere at center and Lee at backup if need be. Plus Wynyard is coming in, right?

Murray is one of those talents you add no matter how many players you have, but it's not like we're NIT bound without him. I don't get the "We'll be fine IF we get so-and-so" crowd. Duke won it all with eight players.

You do realize that 2 of the guys you have listed are questionable players that could be depended on and another (Mathews) is a guy everyone is saying needs some work.
So that leaves us 6. I'm pretty sure Duke had as many All Americans as we did.

Just look at it like this having more recruits on the team is not done by committee on this message board. I'm sure Cal and the staff are familiar with the roster and who is capable of what.
Well they are going after bigs and guards so what does that tell me? It tells me that Cal is not confident everyone on the roster. If he isn't why should you?
Writing about how this player got this and how that player can handle that doesn't mean jack. It's all about production on the court and we have guys on the team who have yet to show that.

If Cal wants to go 100% after Murray I don't blame him as he is the best guard in this class if he comes out.
That's like being satisfied with Rosie Odonnell when Kate Upton is rubbing her boobs on ya and flirting with ya. I guess tell her pffft I have Rosie go take a hike she is all I need.
 
Is this for real? You realize thats pretty much all they did last year was scrimmage.

If I am not mistaken he said he scrimmaged more this past year than he ever has due to having so many great players.

He usually has 6-7 guys that are way better than the other guys so he doesn't get much out of scrimmaging.

He has also commented that he values spending more time on individual instruction because he usually has a lot of new guys that need the one on one time to learn the system. This past year, most of the team knew what they were doing and could help bring the new guys along, so not as much need for individual work.

But most of the time he prefers to work with individuals or small groups, based on what I have read/heard.
 
imo ball handling at the three and outside shooting from any position are the two things that go furthest to open up the floor. Murray does both. Moreover, we're neither very beefy inside nor very good from outside, so we really want the floor opened up. We should also be able to create from both the one and two this year (and with Murray maybe even sometimes the three) as long as.....the floor is opened up. Why I think we need another player.

(Still holding out hope Matthews will regardless be able to handle at three in high D1 plus defend well enough to not make that a tradeoff all in time to protect our seeding...but would feel better about our whole season not riding so hard on that plus a JUCO star, just long odds)
 
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You do realize that 2 of the guys you have listed are questionable players that could be depended on and another (Mathews) is a guy everyone is saying needs some work.
So that leaves us 6. I'm pretty sure Duke had as many All Americans as we did.

Just look at it like this having more recruits on the team is not done by committee on this message board. I'm sure Cal and the staff are familiar with the roster and who is capable of what.
Well they are going after bigs and guards so what does that tell me? It tells me that Cal is not confident everyone on the roster. If he isn't why should you?
Writing about how this player got this and how that player can handle that doesn't mean jack. It's all about production on the court and we have guys on the team who have yet to show that.

If Cal wants to go 100% after Murray I don't blame him as he is the best guard in this class if he comes out.
That's like being satisfied with Rosie Odonnell when Kate Upton is rubbing her boobs on ya and flirting with ya. I guess tell her pffft I have Rosie go take a hike she is all I need.

I realize all of that. I also realize we aren't chopped liver with what we have. That was my point. A lot, and I mean a lot, of people have been saying "we'll be okay IF we get..." Cal said we'd get one or two more players before we got Mulder, and that we'd be fine. What you're seeing is panic in the fan base because we don't have the greatest assembly of talent in basketball. We're going to have weaknesses we aren't used to having. Teams are going to exploit Ulis' size, Skal's inexperience, Lee and Poythress' ballhandling skills, etc. Cal is going to have to get guys to step up, like he did with Liggins and Jorts. Next season isn't about knockouts, it's about counterpunches. Think the Ohio State game in 2011. I trust in Cal and his staff. Last year they had 10 sports cars in the garage and they had to drive them all an equal amount of time. This year they'll get more familiar with the cars they have. When to accelerate. When to brake.
 
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We could use another player mainly for depth. We have four guards and three front court players. As long as nobody gets injured we are fine but we have had bad luck with injuries the past three seasons.
 
We could use another player mainly for depth. We have four guards and three front court players. As long as nobody gets injured we are fine but we have had bad luck with injuries the past three seasons.

This is what concerns me too, injuries, because our front court depth just doesn't really exist right now and, as someone above mentioned, we really don't have any beef in that front court. Add in the fact that we don't know, for sure, just what kind of shape Poythress will be in this season and that makes our front court that more suspect. We've seen guys with ACL injuries take quite awhile before they come back close to full strength and able to play like they are capable. Wynyard is no lock to join us in December and a real question mark as to how much he would be able to contribute being that far behind at that point anyway. Adding Murray does nothing for the front court but is a special player who would still make this team much better anyway. Wish we could get that big man who decommitted from UF to give us a look.
 
Agree with the OP to a point. We actually need a front court player more than another guard, but Murray is a special talent. Wynward coming in December would help both in practice and in games. What is the deal with that anyway ?
 
Well we have 9 scholarship players at the moment. If we don't sign anyone else, during practice a walk on will ALWAYS be a part of 5 on 5. During games, we are straight with what we have. I really want murray though. He will complete this team. But we will be fine either way
This. You can't run competitive practices with 9 recruited players. One reason this year's team was so good was competitive practices. That advantage might be lost next year. Ideally, we need 1 more big and 1 more wing. Not saying we will get them, but it's the best thing that could happen if you want a contending team.
 
You know, I really hate the saying "we'll be fine". Fine for what? A sweet 16? E8? FF? Title? Define what "fine" is for you?
Me? I don't think we are "going to be fine" at all, I see a thin roster. Sure we have a good starting 5 but the second one of them gets in foul trouble we are in big trouble. Depending on Hawkins, Lee and Willis worries me and I bet it costs us a lot of games this year. Maybe they will be good by tournament time ala 2011 but they could also lose the first weekend and one thing would be a guarantee, this board and the BBN (including those saying "we'll be fine" won't be "FINE".
 
What I would like to know is why does Calipari put himself on self imposed probation by not filling all of his SS? They wouldn't have to all be all star one and dones. It might be good to have some complimentary players that would stick around for multiple years.

Heck after a year or two given a chance they might develop into good players like they do at other schools.
 
Three things teams need to win in March. A great PG that can run the team and distribute the ball, a great wing scorer that can get to the rim and has a reliable outside shot, and a big that can score from the block and protect the rim on D.

PG - UK has Ulis - Check!
Big - UK has Skal - Check!
Wing - ???
 
What I would like to know is why does Calipari put himself on self imposed probation by not filling all of his SS? They wouldn't have to all be all star one and dones. It might be good to have some complimentary players that would stick around for multiple years.

Heck after a year or two given a chance they might develop into good players like they do at other schools.

Cal needs to take a page from the BCG coaching manual and fill his 13 scholarships every year and also have 20 walkons.

If he would do that, then Cal could maybe have the kind of success that BCG had when he was here.

Man, I sure do miss that guy.

We didn't have shot at the Final Four, but at least every scholarship spot was filled.
 
Five All-Americans. One of the best guard combos in the country. The number one recruit in the country. How WILL we survive?
 
We will be good without Murray,better with him. Matthews/ Mulder are both 6'5" if my memory serves me correct, Cal and his staff know who can and cannot do what they need them to do. Willis could spend the summer with Ulis and Lee in the gym and be all that he can be this fall. So lets take some time today go to a Memorial Day service ,thank a vet and let Coach Cal do what he sees fit to do. And when doom is lurking in the darkess and there seems np way out,get on your knees,claps your hands together and PRAY. God bless those men and women who have served and are still serving,

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends, Because when they have done that ,they have gave
all they have.
 
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We need a wing and we also need someone who can score. That is my concern is who will do the scoring for us.
Murray would be great to get.
 
We need Murray because we only have one scorer in Skal on the entire team.

Briscoe can be a scorer as well. He is a true combo guard in that he can score or facilitate.

But you are right, we could use another scorer/shooter for sure.

Murray is the perfect fit with this team.
 
Cal needs to take a page from the BCG coaching manual and fill his 13 scholarships every year and also have 20 walkons.

If he would do that, then Cal could maybe have the kind of success that BCG had when he was here.

Man, I sure do miss that guy.

We didn't have shot at the Final Four, but at least every scholarship spot was filled.

LOL yup. And the other poster does not realize how tough it is to convince a bunch of 3 star players to come be UK's 10th-13th men on the scholarship pole, knowing they probably won't ever play in 4 years. His logic of "they develop into good players does not apply at a place like UK at present becuase UK usually gets so many stud frosh every recruiting season that they play a lot, along with the returning UK players.
 
What I would like to know is why does Calipari put himself on self imposed probation by not filling all of his SS? They wouldn't have to all be all star one and dones. It might be good to have some complimentary players that would stick around for multiple years.

This is a good question. But I think it is more difficult than it looks for Calipari to make educated guesses in November about who will stay and who will leave in April. If he guesses wrong and signs too many in November, he could run out of scholarships in a situation like last year when a couple of players decide to return at the last minute. Calipari is playing a dangerous game, but he has played it pretty well so far. OTOH, Calipari's worst season at Kentucky occurred with the Harrow Goodwin Noel team, when he got caught with a thin roster and couldn't create enough competition in practice. We might be back in that crack again. It's the downside of having so many underclassmen leaving early.
 
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