I have been a big supporter of Alex' since the day he started playing for UK. Telling fans to layoff of him and give him time, but it appears now that he is going undrafted. He will have to be considered a bust because I think he was top 10 out of high school. I just wished he would get his heart and mind to match his athletic ability. He is so nervous and timid.
AP is going to be a beast
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Coming back from a torn ACL is more mental than physical at this stage of his recovery. I wouldn't go "bust" right now but he has certainly not met most expectations being his SR year.
If UK wants to make a deep run in March, AP has to be a big part of it. He is certainly falling short so far of Cal wanting him to be a 'beast' and to lead the nation in rebounding.
Didn't he major in accounting? If so he'll have a full time job taking care of Cats in the NBA.. Win win for him..
He's one of those guys who will give you glimpses of greatness and then follow it up with a disappearing act. I've come to accept he's just not a consistent player, and I do agree that mentally he seems to psyche himself out; even before the ACL injury. I just want to see him out there making the hustle plays, that's what we need. When hes out there muscling in the rebounds and jamming put backs the team just feeds from it. We don't need him taking 3s or long jumpers.
Bust is a strong word. I'd go with disappointment mainly because he's still been semi- productive in whatever role he's been in. Granted, his role kept getting shorter as the yrs went along as he lacks a great deal of skill, but he still did his job. We don't make the title game 2 yrs ago w/o him. Boxscores don't show it.
He's not getting drafted this yr, which is obvious. But he's still been low-key effective in this short season.
Our best 3 big man combo all include him . Pretty good considering he doesn't seem to have the same level of freakish athleticism.
He's not getting drafted this yr, which is obvious. But he's still been low-key effective in this short season.
Our best 3 big man combo all include him . Pretty good considering he doesn't seem to have the same level of freakish athleticism.
As I said I have always supported him. You could even find threads on here where I have, but in reality he will go down as a bust as far as NBA draft (not saying he won't go on to be an Engineer or something). He was a top 10 player out of HS or real close to it, and now possibly not going drafted. If this was another player at another school there wouldn't be, " Give the young man a break."
all he needs to be a is a 10 and 5 player and make defensive plays. thats all he needs to be. everyone else needs to do their part too
Tenacity is a good word. He's tenacious in the classroom, that's for sure. He'll be successful in life, which is all that counts at the end of the day.
Come on people.......Whats with this crap? We are about mid ways through the season and Poythress is a bust?
We got a lot more games to play.....He's done some great things already this season on the court.
We got a lot more games to play.....He's done some great things already this season on the court.
Yeah, if Poythress was really good, he'd heal faster. Probably faked the ACL injury anyway. I bet its just a hang nail. He should be better even if he just hopped around on one leg.
Well?!?!?!
Makes more sense than this stupid thread. Of all the idiotic crap I've seen posted after just one loss, I swear. Get a clue.
Well?!?!?!
Makes more sense than this stupid thread. Of all the idiotic crap I've seen posted after just one loss, I swear. Get a clue.
I'm not sure why the surprise. Alex is basically the same player this year as he's always been. JMO
He was better the beginning of last year...
A lot of times an athlete never plays as well after a significant injury or a long recovery.
A lot of times an athlete never plays as well after a significant injury or a long recovery.
Its pretty clear the OP's context for this thread is in regards to him being favorably drafted. Its fair to say his draft trajectory has moved from first round to second round and could be headed towards undrafted. That's a bust.
Ranking s aren't always the whole truth always 5-10 guys over/under ranked. TArzanowski was ahead of AP and the class as a whole is one of the weaker in years.Noel as a serviceable big man has made the most impact in the NBA, no studs at all the
Too much weight is given high school rankings, regardless of school played for... He was also projected top 5 draft pick after his freshman year Duke performance where all he did was athletic (garbage) plays and hit a few open 3 pointers. He hasn't been able to develop any sort of dribble in his time here and that would have stopped him actually getting drafted in the one year removed rule world.
He
's far from a bust. He's still the most athletic player on this team. Just because someone goes undrafted, doesn't make them a bust. He's coming off an ACL. Geez. Some of you people are frigging nuts.
Let's hope he gets over his mental hurdle (ACL) because until he was hurt last year he was playing really well
We are like 8 games into a 40 game season, we're not even close to midway through the season.
Alex's athletic ability never grew with his body structure. He seems to look a tad clumsy with the ball still... Love'm to death but his brain was meant to make him the money in his career..
The OP may have phrased it harshly, but there's no arguing against Poythress as a disappointment compared to his recruiting ranking. I mean, this was known well before his injury though...so that it's kind of stupid rehash is right now.
I predict starting with the U of L game and forward that Alex will be a beast for UK.
From the U of L game forward Im predicting 10ppg and 7 rebs per gm.
From the U of L game forward Im predicting 10ppg and 7 rebs per gm.
He's averaging only 21.6 minutes per game. It's difficult to put up gaudy per game totals when you spend almost half of it on the bench.
Per 40 minutes, he's sitting at 15 points (131 offensive rating) and 12.5 rebounds. He's productive in the limited minutes he gets.
Per 40 minutes, he's sitting at 15 points (131 offensive rating) and 12.5 rebounds. He's productive in the limited minutes he gets.
You could also argue that Alex's "lack of MPG" in his career isn't necessarily due to a lack of opportunity. Other than last year, where he only played 6 games on a stacked team, he's been on teams with plenty of PT available at the 3 and 4 spots.
Here is a serious question....he could in theory apply for a medical redshirt and come back next year. Although I believe he is completing his MBA right now which only take 2 semesters full time. If he comes back is he going to start working on a PhD??? I mean a PhD is a serious serious time commitment. I'm curious if the NCAA rules would allow him to start working on a second masters degree instead of any kind of doctorate???
I have to agree - and part of the problem, I think, is that he knows it. It might just be possible he never really intended to play pro ball - or, if he did, not for long. He's quite intelligent and will make good money with his degree
He has his degree and is working on his master's. I think his future looks bright.
he is at 8 and 7 right now playing just 21 mpg. if he was playing 30 minutes he wouldnt be getting those numbers easy
Confidence has always been his biggest problem. Got out there the other night, missed three or four open shots--including a very easy one that may've culminated in Lee's concussion--and I think he just drifted out of the game.
He's still a highly important player on this team because he destroys guys defensively. He'll get dunked on as he did, but if you try and take him one-on-one that's a battle you're going to lose 9 times out of 10. Those types of players are highly necessary.
Offensively though he's the biggest enigma I've seen at UK in my 35 years of watching.
He's still a highly important player on this team because he destroys guys defensively. He'll get dunked on as he did, but if you try and take him one-on-one that's a battle you're going to lose 9 times out of 10. Those types of players are highly necessary.
Offensively though he's the biggest enigma I've seen at UK in my 35 years of watching.
The main problem for AP is his hands. He's clumsy catching, rebounding and passing. If he had good hands he'd be a monster with his athletic ability. His clumsiness has a lot to do with his lack of confidence/aggression.
Poy can still be a serviceable NBA player. The problem Poythress has is that he is an NBA small forward, but he doesn't have the basketball skill to play small forward. He has the athletic ability, but his dribbling and shooting are not good enough for him to be a real threat at small forward. I believe that Cal tried to develop him as a small forward to prepare him for the NBA. Had he been prepared as a power forward UK would have been a lot better off and it probably would have fit Poy's basketball skill better. However, it may not have been best for Poythress long term.
Cal has attempted to get the best of both worlds out of Poy on offense by putting him at the short corner. This allows Poythress to step back and shoot some threes and play like a small forward at times, but also allows him to get the ball on the short corner and take the ball to the basket with one or no dribbles. Playing there also allows UK to take advantage of Poy's best asset, his athletic rebounding ability. Having Poy rebound from the short corner gives UK a lot of offensive putback/dunk opportunities.
I think the best way to utilize Poy at the short corner is to play pick and roll with a big man. Skal and Ulis would be good here. Skal picks for Ulis and rolls and there is a shot opportunity for Skal (much like UCLA got with the big white kid). If Ulis sees the hole then he can drive, which will often mean that the man guarding Poy will have to step up to stop Ulis. This leaves an open lob to Poy, or a little dump pass to Poy on a short cut. Either way it leads to a dunk for Poy, which is his best shot (haha). Where UK will struggle with this, and in turn Poy, is when opposing teams play zone. That is when Poy will have to actually hit a few jumpers from that short corner. If he can do that then he can loosen up that zone and help the offense out a lot. So far this year Poy has struggled shooting, so I hope that improves.
Cal has attempted to get the best of both worlds out of Poy on offense by putting him at the short corner. This allows Poythress to step back and shoot some threes and play like a small forward at times, but also allows him to get the ball on the short corner and take the ball to the basket with one or no dribbles. Playing there also allows UK to take advantage of Poy's best asset, his athletic rebounding ability. Having Poy rebound from the short corner gives UK a lot of offensive putback/dunk opportunities.
I think the best way to utilize Poy at the short corner is to play pick and roll with a big man. Skal and Ulis would be good here. Skal picks for Ulis and rolls and there is a shot opportunity for Skal (much like UCLA got with the big white kid). If Ulis sees the hole then he can drive, which will often mean that the man guarding Poy will have to step up to stop Ulis. This leaves an open lob to Poy, or a little dump pass to Poy on a short cut. Either way it leads to a dunk for Poy, which is his best shot (haha). Where UK will struggle with this, and in turn Poy, is when opposing teams play zone. That is when Poy will have to actually hit a few jumpers from that short corner. If he can do that then he can loosen up that zone and help the offense out a lot. So far this year Poy has struggled shooting, so I hope that improves.
Not sure that is true, I saw him play in high school and came away thinking that he would make us forget Mashburn. Don't laugh because he was that good in the game that I saw. I do think its just so mental right now, when he shoots a 3, he is aiming his shot instead of just letting his ability take over and shoot with ease instead of tension. The good part is if the light does come on soon it will be great for this team because without him I'm not sure our front court can make it far into the NCAA.
