Can we talk about how ****ing brilliant this was by Pope? Completely negated Ziegler’s defensive prowess and made it much easier to get the ball into the halfcourt. What a hell of an adjustment with no true point guards available!
Amari Williams bringing the ball up the floor..
- Thread starter CatsFan4Evr.
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When the offense runs largely through your big guys it makes it easier to do something like that because they're accustomed to it.
Not to mention, it almost caused Milicic to foul out b/c he couldn't guard Amari doing it.
I think both Amari and Brandon are better ball handlers than they let on.
Brandon makes me nervous handling the ball out front, especially under pressure. But Amari was very good tonight handling it out front and bringing it up the floor.
Also, that takes energy. Physical and mental. Let's Jaxson and Oweh contribute more scoring. Excellent strategy by Pope and extraordinary execution by Amari
Amari wants to be a point guard when he grows up! I wanted to choke him when he backed off and let Ziegler score that layup!😂
Yes !! He was fabulous !!
15 rebounds and made it hard on the Vols in the paint on BOTH ends!!!
The dude loses the ball some, but boy was he HUGE tonight!! He played GREAT!!
Pope makes adjustments that Cal never would. And I love it.
Not gon lie, I was scared to death.
Amari played excellent today. Controlled the defensive board, scored what he needed to score and was big help playing a point forward. Outstanding job !
Giving credit where it’s due. Amari pulled down 15 boards and probably had 15 more slip out of his hands. He was an Oscar rebounding machine tonight.
He is a very unique player. He looks like he would be an intimidating bruiser type player but he handles the ball better up top than he does down low. His style is something you don't see very often. He played awesome tonight.
Dude gets WAY to much criticism. I'm truly happy for him tonight.
It was a great adjustment and helped us win this game.
Big men out top handling the ball like that not only gets their big away from the rim but it puts there big in an uncomfortable position to guard the ball in open space as well.
^Amari gets a lot of criticism because he has a hard time playing to his potential and our fans notice.
When he plays hard and is mentally engaged in the game BBN loves him.
Big men out top handling the ball like that not only gets their big away from the rim but it puts there big in an uncomfortable position to guard the ball in open space as well.
^Amari gets a lot of criticism because he has a hard time playing to his potential and our fans notice.
When he plays hard and is mentally engaged in the game BBN loves him.
Pope coaches to win a ball game. Does he even care about draft night?
It was maddening. Because we all know how good Amari is. He showed it against Duke. And again tonight.
Whenever Garrison or Williams get the ball at the top of the key with their back to the basket and try to dribble into the paint or the guards don't quickly come to them to get the ball, I start sweating a turnover is coming.
I'm not an Amari fan. His hands aren't good. He grew up in a football country. and by football I mean soccer. But he didn't lose the ball bringing it up court, which I was expecting.
After a few trips I was more confident in him bringing up the ball than when he has it in the lane. Good move by Pope and well done by Amari.
There are parts of his game that make me shake my head, but I need to back off, he has had some good games and is one of the few rebounders we have.
Amari is this boards whipping boy if Jax has a good game. Truth is, we lose a decent amount more up to this point without AW. He was a one of the biggest reasons we won last night. And that wont be the last time, either.
Crazy, here's an EXACT QUOTE from you yesterday...
"The way Pope insists on running the offense through Amari and how easily the offense is neutralized by pressuring Amari, UK has some losses that are coming if Pope doesn’t wake up. UK if Pope doesn’t change is far more likely to be a 7-9 seed than a 3-4 seed. Most likely changes made and a 5-6 seed,"
Just blows my mind the amount of posters that think they know more than high level collegiate basketball coaches.
It was a great coaching move .. I think Barnes missed an opportunity to counter Popes strategy by going 2-2-1 or 1-3-1 full court press , Or doing a run n jump on Amari . But Barnes never did force the ball out of AW's hands , thankfully !! Jax wants no part of it , you can tell by his body language and Brea even less . So we better get Lamont healthy quick ! TP isnt ready yet .
3 turnovers and 2 fouls in the first half, 0 and 0 in the second, plus all 10 points! Happy Birthday Amari!
Honestly I get really nervous when bigs handle the ball that much. It worked out last night though.
What kind of Ahole says they're not a fan of a Kentucky Wildcat. Welcome to the ignore list and F off.
It looks awkward, I get it. But in their defense, this is what Pope wants them to do. Certain radio hosts and terrible fans make it out like those guys have delusions of grandeur and are going off the range. Those radio hosts are too cowardly to call out the coach so they run to Twitter six times a game to complain about the players. People need to lay off Amari on this subject.
And in Popes defense, it's like the last resort wrinkle in the offense. 6 other things didn't work before they try it. It's basically Cals step back three as the clock expires, but it happens way less often and sometimes works.
Yep it also made Matt Jones look silly as he had been on a tirade of “never let Amari dribble the ball”
