My answer to the OP is that CCC does not value:
1. Basketball Players - CCC recruits athletes not necessarily basketball players. With some exceptions, he does not recruit a player without that player being a superb athlete. His emphasis primarily is on athletic ability with basketball skills being the secondary consideration. I think this should be reversed (skills>athletic ability). Best scenario would be a skilled basketball player that has that athletic ability (Davis, Towns, Booker, Ulis). You can afford to take a player or two that has a dominant skill (shooter, rebounder, shot blocker) but has average or below average quickness, jumping ability et. Ugonna is a good example as he is primarily a shot blocker and rebounder. Gets his points by getting rebounds and getting down the floor. He may, given time, turn into an offensive threat but his skills are invaluable to this team.
2. Experience - He feels talented high school recruits are superior to less talented experienced players. As you stated, UF did not have the talent that UK had on the floor last night. I would say that their top player would be the 7th/8th man on our roster. Walter Clayton is a Junior and while primarily a shooter dominated our freshmen trying to guard him. Is he a better talent that either Reed, Rob, or DJ? Who have been our best players so far this season? Antonio (3*) and Tre (21st rated center out of high school), both 23 years old. They have played at least 4 more years of competitive college basketball when compared to our freshmen!
3. Transfer Portal - Again, our 2 best players are from the transfer portal. There is tape that can be viewed of them playing against other Div 1 players versus our freshman high school tapes where they were possibly the best and tallest player on the court. Example that comes to mind is Daimion Collins now at LSU riding the bench. Point and rebound stats were off the charts in high school but he was 6 inches taller than anyone else and little competition. Potential yes, but not anything concrete that translated to him being successful in college. I believe that with today's rules, your high school recruiting should not be as important as plucking players from the portal.
4. Coaching - Quite frankly he is not an X's and O's type of coach. Of course, I have never been to a practice but watching him over the years on the bench, he just does not seem to have a high basketball IQ. Motivator, psychologist - maybe and could be successful if he has the knowledgeable basketball people on his staff that can teach and is willing to listen to them. He has had rosters full of athletes most years, yet he seldom uses this advantage. Play a style like Pitino did at UK and Nolan R. did at Arkansas. Press full court the whole game and run, run, run. Most teams do not have the depth or athletes to survive this pressure for 40 minutes. They get fatigued and make mistakes while your players are fresh as they have gotten adequate rest throughout the game. Tubby was great at calling a timeout and drawing up a play that most times was successful and CCC just does not do that. "Go make a play" is his mantra.
5. Complementary Players - You need shooters, rebounders, playmakers, passers etch to have a balanced team. I think this years team has the best compilation of players with various skills that UK has had since 2015, they are just young and most will be in the NBA/G league before age 20 so we will never know what they might have become. Our guards (Rob, DJ, and Reed) are talented. They just make freshmen mistakes. You can't teach experience. Our (3) 7' guys complement each other. Ugo (rebounder/shot blocker), Aaron (skilled athlete that just needs experience and weight, and Z who has guard like skills. And the forwards (Justin, Adou, Tre, Burks) have the talent but have not played much together this year. Could be formidable next year, minus Tre, if they come back.
6. Continuity - It is a revolving door of players under CCC. Most teams lose 3-4 players each year with graduation but UK loses twice that much with the occasional senior and 4/5 freshmen bolting every year. Lack of continuity leads to a mistakes and less team play. This is the main reason that the Top programs are getting beat on a more regular basis by the mid majors who have predominantly Jr/Sr rosters.
My $.02
