28 points in 6 minutes. Will Cal continue to go with what works?

[Son_Of_Saul]

The lineup of Z, Edwards, Reeves, Rob, and Reed was exactly what we've been looking for - five guys who can all pass, shoot, and score.

Will Cal continue to use it, or will he feel compelled to play guys like Wagner and Bradshaw together?

I'm hoping he has finally found a lineup that is obviously his best, and continues to go to that.

Additionally, I hope he's finally done playing two-headed big man lineups at the same time.

What are your thoughts? Does he keep going back to that insanely gifted offensive lineup and bury teams, or does he continue toiling over these soul-crushing lineups where see see combinations of variations of Wagner, Bradshaw, and Onyenso at the same time?

 

[LineSkiCat14]

That lineup is really going to shell opponents.. but damn if it doesn't leave us wide open underneath. I think I'd prefer to see Ugo in there. But at the same time, I'm fine with Bradshaw going. That was a great performance from him last night.

 

[LmdCat]

He is way too stupid to do the obvious thing which is to play his most high-octane lineup.

 

[HenryMuto]

Of course not

 

[Cats192]

He is way too stupid to do the obvious thing which is to play his most high-octane lineup.

I think after the LSU debacle, he's felt desperate, and did the smart things.

Rob/Reed/Reeves played a decent amount together. At times this year, it feels like he actively wants to avoid it.

He played Edwards at the 4. He let Z cook.

I'm hopeful that Cal's going against what he wants to do because he feels like he has to win.

 

[Mike-McD]

No, he will start Mark Coury and Michael Porter next game. You can dump the mortgage on a prop bet.

 

[catlogic15]

Since the “nuclear 5” is getting press, and obviously the fans agree, Cal will play that combo sparingly just to spite the fans.
I didn’t used to think that was possible. I do now.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

No, he will start Mark Coury and Michael Porter next game. You can dump the mortgage on a prop bet.

Who is coury now? It used to be edwards so got to find a new coury

 

[Cats192]

The lineup of Z, Edwards, Reeves, Rob, and Reed was exactly what we've been looking for - five guys who can all pass, shoot, and score.

Will Cal continue to use it, or will he feel compelled to play guys like Wagner and Bradshaw together?

I'm hoping he has finally found a lineup that is obviously his best, and continues to go to that.

Additionally, I hope he's finally done playing two-headed big man lineups at the same time.

What are your thoughts? Does he keep going back to that insanely gifted offensive lineup and bury teams, or does he continue toiling over these soul-crushing lineups where see see combinations of variations of Wagner, Bradshaw, and Onyenso at the same time?

I'm hopeful.

Part of me worries it's going to be game by game. I think he knew we weren't keeping Bama in the 70's, so he embraced needing to go nuclear on offense. I think if we'd done the same thing vs Gonzaga--we win. NO ONE could stop Gonzaga on the inside.

We played a lineup that Cal hoped would help the defense slow them down. We needed a lineup that made the offense more explosive.

 

[Mike-McD]

I'm hopeful.

Part of me worries it's going to be game by game. I think he knew we weren't keeping Bama in the 70's, so he embraced needing to go nuclear on offense. I think if we'd done the same thing vs Gonzaga--we win. NO ONE could stop Gonzaga on the inside.

We played a lineup that Cal hoped would help the defense slow them down. We needed a lineup that made the offense more explosive.

Cal actually admitted that he knew we needed to outscore Alabama, and he decided to "let them score" layups and dunks as long as we didn't give up threes.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

He is certainly not stupid enough to not play Wagner.

Nor would any coach be.

And Wagner is not 100%.

We can win the next 3 without a 100% Wagner.

But we will need a 100% Wagner by the UT game.

Then a healthy Wagner in the NCAA is going to be a major problem for our opponents.

 

[Mike-McD]

He is certainly not stupid enough to not play Wagner.

Nor would any coach be.

And Wagner is not 100%.

We can win the next 3 without a 100% Wagner.

But we will need a 100% Wagner by the UT game.

Then a healthy Wagner in the NCAA is going to be a major problem for our opponents.

LOL what a crock of manure.

Wagner/Porter hasn't been hurt for weeks now. And he is 3 for his last 20. Not a coach in the country would start him at this point.

You are so obviously a Cal staff account. Are you his Klutch liaison?

 

[Rideordiewildcat]

The lineup of Z, Edwards, Reeves, Rob, and Reed was exactly what we've been looking for - five guys who can all pass, shoot, and score.

Will Cal continue to use it, or will he feel compelled to play guys like Wagner and Bradshaw together?

I'm hoping he has finally found a lineup that is obviously his best, and continues to go to that.

Additionally, I hope he's finally done playing two-headed big man lineups at the same time.

What are your thoughts? Does he keep going back to that insanely gifted offensive lineup and bury teams, or does he continue toiling over these soul-crushing lineups where see see combinations of variations of Wagner, Bradshaw, and Onyenso at the same time?

Easy answer, Cal will not. Even Oats knows the best lineup for Kentucky. I would be shocked if the starting lineup changes at all. And he will keep pushing DJ out there for 20 plus minutes. Playing about the same as Dilly has.

Sadly, it will not Shock me if Z plays a couple minutes at best one mistake gets pulled. Cal had Ugo at the scorers table 3 minutes after putting Z in yesterday, but then Z rebounded scored and Cal called him back. Otherwise he probably would have only played 3 minutes yesterday.

 

[Rideordiewildcat]

He is certainly not stupid enough to not play Wagner.

Nor would any coach be.

And Wagner is not 100%.

We can win the next 3 without a 100% Wagner.

But we will need a 100% Wagner by the UT game.

Then a healthy Wagner in the NCAA is going to be a major problem for our opponents.

On a day where no one could do any wrong. We scored a 117 yet DJ went 1 of 7 again.

He may not be 100%, but we are out of runway. We have to go with what works and it worked yesterday. He was the only real weak link yesterday Even though he played the same minutes as Dillingham.

 

[Cats192]

He is certainly not stupid enough to not play Wagner.

Nor would any coach be.

And Wagner is not 100%.

We can win the next 3 without a 100% Wagner.

But we will need a 100% Wagner by the UT game.

Then a healthy Wagner in the NCAA is going to be a major problem for our opponents.

I'm the biggest Wagner defender on the board. I'd like to see his minutes cut down a little bit until he's 100% and able to be more effective on the court.

We definitely need him healthy for the tournament. Before he missed time with the ankle injury, he was our best player at beating his man off the dribble and getting to the rim.

 

[mcwildcats04]

I'm the biggest Wagner defender on the board. I'd like to see his minutes cut down a little bit until he's 100% and able to be more effective on the court.

We definitely need him healthy for the tournament. Before he missed time with the ankle injury, he was our best player at beating his man off the dribble and getting to the rim.

Yeah I'm in the same boat. Love Wagner but his play has clearly not been on the level of others lately. It's time to reduce his minutes some and shift more of those over to Sheppard/Dilly. When he's on defensively, he's still an important piece. Hope he just focuses more on that when he's in and less on the shooting (unless he starts to shoot better).

 

[DreadLox]

I always love the way sweeping conclusions and small sample sizes go together.

 

[CatsnRoses]

Hope so. That one Ugo performance against Florida was fools gold and has gotten him far too much clock this last month. Ugo's extremely limited with a really poor feel/awareness for the game.

Ivisic is raw and prone to foul trouble but the NCAAT is all about hitting your ceiling as a team. Every minute he gets is a chance to raise the team's collective ceiling. Every minute Ugo gets, that ceiling moves down just a bit.

 

[deep3]

My opinion the reason we looked like we did was squid calamari shortening his rotation and literally played guys that understand the game. Im not nearly as down on Wagner because of his defense but if we want to make a run OATES was spot on with his analogy

 

[Rockfly78]

I’d like to see the lineup again but I need to see it against a team like Tennessee. Bama is a dream matchup. There are different monsters in the sec that will try to punish a lineup like this. I’m curious to see how they stand up to a physical counterpart

 

[sluggercatfan]

The lineup of Z, Edwards, Reeves, Rob, and Reed was exactly what we've been looking for - five guys who can all pass, shoot, and score.

Will Cal continue to use it, or will he feel compelled to play guys like Wagner and Bradshaw together?

I'm hoping he has finally found a lineup that is obviously his best, and continues to go to that.

Additionally, I hope he's finally done playing two-headed big man lineups at the same time.

What are your thoughts? Does he keep going back to that insanely gifted offensive lineup and bury teams, or does he continue toiling over these soul-crushing lineups where see see combinations of variations of Wagner, Bradshaw, and Onyenso at the same time?

If Edwards has come into his own and JVC will let Z get comfortable where he can play where one mistake won't get him jerked , this team can be dangerous. We'll see I guess because you never know what the coach is going to pull out of his bag.

 

[bballcat4]

I’d like to see the lineup again but I need to see it against a team like Tennessee. Bama is a dream matchup. There are different monsters in the sec that will try to punish a lineup like this. I’m curious to see how they stand up to a physical counterpart

Agree 110%. I don’t know any UK fan (regardless of thoughts about Cal) that didn’t enjoy the offensive production of Z, Edwards, Rob, Reed, and Reeves.

We would love to rinse and repeat. Unfortunately, that’s not how basketball works. Match ups are big part of the game. How does our 5 match up and defend their 5, and how do our 5 match up offensively against their 5?

I don’t expect Edwards to be a consistent 18-20 point player. But, as long as he defends and rebounds, then a consistent 10-12 points a game make that lineup very, very good.

Z is a GREAT passer and opens up the offensive end unlike any of the other bigs can do. Ala was perfect matchup for him because they didn’t have a low post threat.

Two things Z has to do to get big time mins against a physical player is 1) Some semblance of interior defense. 2) Take advantage of his ball skills to put physical defender in a bad spot. We know he can shoot and physical teams will body him up. But, Z has some ball skills and most physical big men are not great defending the bounce (Ex - Oscar). I want to see Z take the opponent’s big man off the bounce and get them in foul trouble. MSU will be his chance to see how he responds to physical big man.

The good news is I like Ugo’s defense in the paint. But, he’s limited offensively.

I don’t expect any changes to the starting lineup and that doesn’t bother me. I do think Z enters early with Reed and Rob.

I’m excited to see how that lineup holds up on both ends against a different style of match up. (BTW - one that is playing well right now.)

 

[SemperFiCat]

I always love the way sweeping conclusions and small sample sizes go together.

They've played 27 games, friend. Almost an entire season. How much more of a sample size do you (or Cal) need? Or, how much more proof?

 

[SemperFiCat]

Personally, I want Thiero on the court as much as possible. We absolutely need his grit, energy and toughness. I like what I'm seeing out of Edwards lately, and last night was a big game for him. I don't anticipate him replicating that. Just being real. I since Thiero can't take Reeves' min, they would need to come from Edwards.

My five:
Rob
Shepp
Reeves
Thiero
Z or Ugo (depends on the opponent)

 

[ukfan1622]

I'd rather try to predict whether or not it rains 12 days from now; then I could look at past years and I wouldn't be making a completely wild guess.

 

[JonathanW]

You have to think he will play that group together some. How much? IDK
But he had better give that group a fair chance each game.

But....keep in mind, every opponent is different. What works vs one team may not work vs another (& vice versa). Also, how much of that was Edwards playing like he never has played before (in Blue).

 

[billCgmx]

What works today might not work tomorrow. That's the issue, there's no real consistency with these guys,

 

[cal=8]

The lineup of Z, Edwards, Reeves, Rob, and Reed was exactly what we've been looking for - five guys who can all pass, shoot, and score.

Will Cal continue to use it, or will he feel compelled to play guys like Wagner and Bradshaw together?

I'm hoping he has finally found a lineup that is obviously his best, and continues to go to that.

Additionally, I hope he's finally done playing two-headed big man lineups at the same time.

What are your thoughts? Does he keep going back to that insanely gifted offensive lineup and bury teams, or does he continue toiling over these soul-crushing lineups where see see combinations of variations of Wagner, Bradshaw, and Onyenso at the same time?

I think he'll keep the starting lineup. I believe he brings Rob off the bench because he's a little wild at times and Cal doesn't want him in foul trouble early. I think Bradshaw's minutes will take a pretty big hit moving forward.

I think Cal uses the Z, Edwards, Reeves, Rob and Reed lineup and will stay with it as long as it's working.

If we can score 26 points in 6 minutes who cares if we can't protect the paint. There will be times though when Cal will have to go with Ugonna. (it's all about match-ups)

Some may be disappointed Tues. because I have a feeling we'll need Ugonna down low to stop Miss St. in the paint. Unless the said 5 just go off which would be awesome!

My hope is that Big Z will continue to get better defensively because production on both ends of the floor at the 4 and 5 imo is the key to a run in March and hopefully April.

We're pretty damn good at the 1, 2 and 3 spots. Edwards playing better along with Theiro getting healthy elevates this team tremendously. Ugonna's performance last week and the way Z played last night make us elite and a contender for a NC.

And we're starting to show spurts of consistency !

 

[IbnSaran]

They might have problems with another team but how 'bout we give them 10 or 12 minutes to see how they do?

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

Would love to see those five start and just see how good of a start we get. Do not automatically sub until a player needs a blow.

 

[Montana81]

In the second half, from the 17:30 mark to 8:25 we went on a 40-16 run. 40 points in about 9 minutes of game time. Shades of 1996 vs LSU.

 

[Myth Buster51]

Calipari quipped afterward, “You say, ‘Why don’t they play like this every time?’ I don’t know. Why don’t you ask them?”

Still can’t spell X or O. The players might up their effort and intensity with March and the end of the regular season on the doorstep (happens a lot with guys who aren’t coming back the next season), but Calipari will never have any in-game coaching skills.

 

[Mike-McD]

You have to think he will play that group together some. How much? IDK
But he had better give that group a fair chance each game.

But....keep in mind, every opponent is different. What works vs one team may not work vs another (& vice versa). Also, how much of that was Edwards playing like he never has played before (in Blue).

That lineup is good enough that other teams should be more concerned with adjusting to US than the other way around. Cal can't coach scared.

 

[susan2361]

Calipari quipped afterward, “You say, ‘Why don’t they play like this every time?’ I don’t know. Why don’t you ask them?”

Still can’t spell X or O. The players might up their effort and intensity with March and the end of the regular season on the doorstep (happens a lot with guys who aren’t coming back the next season), but Calipari will never have any in-game coaching skills.

I agree about his in-game coaching skills, or lack of. In regards to his quote about asking the players, it's to the point with Cal that every time he speaks, just the sound of his voice makes me sick.🤑🤢 I just ignore anything he says and assume he's not telling the whole truth about anything.

I hope he recognizes the "Nuclear Five" as a good group to play together. Every though I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I do wonder that he does things just to piss fans off, because we are vocal. Cal doesn't like anyone suggesting anything like Oats' comments (I'm sure Cal hated that!) His ego says he knows all about everything. I do hope he is at least hearing from his assistants and he can make adjustments as needed.🙂

 

[CincyUKFan]

Personally, I want Thiero on the court as much as possible. We absolutely need his grit, energy and toughness. I like what I'm seeing out of Edwards lately, and last night was a big game for him. I don't anticipate him replicating that. Just being real. I since Thiero can't take Reeves' min, they would need to come from Edwards.

My five:
Rob
Shepp
Reeves
Thiero
Z or Ugo (depends on the opponent)

I’m with you. Far too many folks in this fan base have short memories. Edwards has been awful most of the year. And he won’t do anything remotely close to that again. Thiero has been solid. He defends, rebounds, blocks shots, plays above the rim, hits free throws, and knows his role.

 

[lcp3557CATS]

Agree 110%. I don’t know any UK fan (regardless of thoughts about Cal) that didn’t enjoy the offensive production of Z, Edwards, Rob, Reed, and Reeves.

We would love to rinse and repeat. Unfortunately, that’s not how basketball works. Match ups are big part of the game. How does our 5 match up and defend their 5, and how do our 5 match up offensively against their 5?

I don’t expect Edwards to be a consistent 18-20 point player. But, as long as he defends and rebounds, then a consistent 10-12 points a game make that lineup very, very good.

Z is a GREAT passer and opens up the offensive end unlike any of the other bigs can do. Ala was perfect matchup for him because they didn’t have a low post threat.

Two things Z has to do to get big time mins against a physical player is 1) Some semblance of interior defense. 2) Take advantage of his ball skills to put physical defender in a bad spot. We know he can shoot and physical teams will body him up. But, Z has some ball skills and most physical big men are not great defending the bounce (Ex - Oscar). I want to see Z take the opponent’s big man off the bounce and get them in foul trouble. MSU will be his chance to see how he responds to physical big man.

The good news is I like Ugo’s defense in the paint. But, he’s limited offensively.

I don’t expect any changes to the starting lineup and that doesn’t bother me. I do think Z enters early with Reed and Rob.

I’m excited to see how that lineup holds up on both ends against a different style of match up. (BTW - one that is playing well right now.)

Z's D is deceptive. What looks like lost got 4 blocks and a few turnovers without touching the ball. Even though he looks slow he covers a lot of ground with length. He creates space in the offense when he picks. We scored easily with the motion, he created, with him in the game. It's not close, he is our best option big man going forward. His screen ball hand off creates such a problem for the defense. It opens driving lanes that creates multiple ways to score. Ugo can't create the same problem.

 

[Mike-D]

That lineup is really going to shell opponents.. but damn if it doesn't leave us wide open underneath. I think I'd prefer to see Ugo in there. But at the same time, I'm fine with Bradshaw going. That was a great performance from him last night.

Ugo provides more help against physical teams, but he clogs the lane on offense.

 

[TFCats11]

Reed, Rob, and Reeves, have to start and play 30+ minutes together here on out. Edwards, Thiero, and Mitchell need to split the 4 spot depending who is earning it, and Z/ Ugo need to man the 5, with Z playing wing during offensive sets, moving the 4 spot in for offensive rebounds and put backs.

Any coach with 2 brain cells on active duty knows this.

 

[ala_kat2]

I love Big Z’s offense and feel for the game. I fear that teams with strong inside players will expose his weaknesses on D. That’s when Cal will go with Onyenso. Maybe Z’s performance on Saturday against Alabama will get him more playing time.

 

[CatPhight]

Wagner and Bradshaw need to be last off the bench.

The End