Bol is a game changer, better than I thought

[brianpoe]

Haven't any of you seen Bol play?

He is on the perimeter more than Kyle Macy.

He loves to handle the ball, and not that great with it. He can shoot.

When in the paint he does have good timing blocking shots but is no Noel or Bamba. Also has a very weak trunk and legs.

I have only seen him dominate one big name center and that is our current recruit Brown.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

This. Just like Bamba with Texas. They know if they come to UK they will be coached and pushed. Go elsewhere, and they can shoot all the bad perimeter shots they want.

Surely that’s not the case with all of them.

There’s been 25 top 5 recruits since the Randle class. UK has landed two of them (3 if Zion commits to UK). Were the majority of the other 22 just selfish players who merely wanted to do whatever they wanted to do? I think not.


Alternatively, I contend that UK showed too much of a selective, “wait and see” approach with its recruiting process during the early parts of the Cal regime and maintained that approach until recently. Now, we see Joel Justice getting out earlier to form relationships – something Cal stressed as a necessity - and UK is apparently offering more players before their senior years of high school. The “wait and see” approach doesn’t work anymore, not with Duke’s massive inroads regarding the same guys UK is recruiting. UK seems to understand that developing early relationships is just as vital as selling a kid on the business aspect of a college choice. We see this with Bridges and Izzo, Bamba and Shaka, Jonathan Issac and Hamilton, etc.

 

[Ky_Bred_Cat]

Is it not possible that, early on, the Bol Camp led everyone to believe KY was the favorite only in an effort to secure a spot on the USA team and when that fell apart they simply moved on having no intention of him ever selecting KY?

 

[IndyCat1995]

I don't get upset about kids we miss. I want kids that want to be Kentucky Wildcats.

 

[kyups01]

Bol will get owned as soon as he sits foot on the floor in a college bball game. I never wanted him here, he's weak and slow as %&%$

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

I don't get upset about kids we miss. I want kids that want to be Kentucky Wildcats.

For the most part, I’ll take transcendent kids, regardless of their motivations for coming here. Did Jaylen Brown want to be a California Bear (i.e., pick the school for itself ahead of any other reason) when he picked them? Did Bamba love Texas and its history and cite those two factors as reasons he picked them? If he did, it was merely rhetoric. He picked Texas for Shaka and his sale's job. If Zion picks Clemson, will it be because he wanted to be a Tiger, or would it also include other elements? I think there’s more to it than a simple nod to the program. The nuance in the sale’s job matters, and kids pick programs for a variety of reasons, the school itself usually being further down the line than other reasons (coaching staff, proximity to family, etc.).

If a kid like Ben Simmons or Marvin Bagley picked UK simply from a business perspective, totally removed from the fan aspect, the love of the state or an appreciation for UK’s history, I wouldn’t care. I’d still take them in a second (assuming their eligible to play) and not think twice about it.

Just get the kids here. Let them dominate and help us win, and let them move on with their lives. Their affinity towards the program doesn’t matter as much as a mutual conjoining of interests – a player’s impact on winning for UK and UK helping a young man reach his dreams.


Also, I personally care about the kids we miss on. A kid like Bridges would have almost assuredly put UK over the top last year, or Jonathan Issac for that matter. Same goes for Justice Winslow/Stanley Johnson in ’14-15, Xavier Henry in ’09-10, etc.

 

[ConRay9]

Look, I'd be more willing to address your points if you'd be more willing to own up to your own bullshit. I like debating contrasting views, but not when the other guy engages in dishonesty and won't own up to it.

When you stated Cal had absolutely "NO say" in choosing that roster, and when you said we were still considered Bol's favorite at BBM, those were simply false statements, and I suspect you knew it, but thought nobody here would be knowledgeable enough to call you on it. The right way to respond to being called on it is to own your mistake, not to simply move on as if the false statements never happened.

As for why Cal might not've wanted him, or if Cal or someone else made the call to cut him, I simply do not know. And neither do you. I just know the facts, as they've been reported, do suggest that being cut may've been a significant factor here. And there's more logical real evidence backing that theory than the "wanted to be a 7'3" point guard" theory you've been pushing as an alternative.

You're right dude, I've just been making bullshit up. I've said this multiple times. I've gone by periscopes from two different guys. Cal had conversations with Bol and his family. His family wanted him to be a primary ball handler. That may not be point guard, but someone who handled the ball frequently on the perimeter. If you're going to say it's bullshit, then Matt Jones and TJ Walker are just making shit up, I'm just relaying what I heard from them on periscope.

Fine, maybe on paper we weren't the favorites to land him going into BBM. The info I was reading still suggested Cal had the opportunity to turn it into our favor, but the conversations did not go well at BBM. Oregon wasn't beating us, UK just wasn't making the moves the Bol family liked. I wasn't making shit up though, look at the crystal ball predictions.

https://247sports.com/PlayerInstitution/Bol-Bol-at-Findlay-Prep-209301/CurrentExpertPredictions

The MAJORITY of picks registered in AFTER BBM. And only ONE pick for Oregon BEFORE BBM. There's some objective facts for you.

You originally said Cal cut him. Like another poster put on here, it was done by committee. I'm not saying that didn't play a role, but UK still had a great opportunity to land him going into BBM. That wasn't what broke the recruitment.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.as...visited-kentucky-basketball-coach-kenny-payne

This article suggests they still had questions about Team USA. Yet we were the favorites to land him, just a week before BBM, according to this article. As you can see I'm not just making any of this up...

 

[mrschwump]

Cal didnt have the total say in who was on the team plus no one in this thread knows anything that is truely factual.

Very true however Calipari was the HC, if he really wanted the guy on that team he would've gotten him.

 

[BoulderCat]

Whatever happened with Bol Bol Im freaking sad and disappointed about it. Same with not getting any of the Big 3 this year....Bagley, Auyton, Bamba.

Im upset we are not getting the Davis types who block shots. The Cousins types who score easily. The Towns types who do everything well.

It needs to get fixed. Cal should get any big he wants. He gets 7fts guys drafted who averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds [orton].
Cal doesnt deserve to have the best bigs playing for some other coach. I feel bad for him.

I agree. I don't quite understand why Cal isn't getting the cream of the crop except he's always said he does not guarantee a starting spot or PT. It has to be earned. I think these kids these days are trying to tell him what's what. All they want is easy money. We aren't giving it.

 

[Rupp'sRunt]

I think we can all agree or should that Matt jones gets his info the Same way all of us do. Reading quotes and articles and trying to read in between the lines

lol whenever I say this the MJ lovers come out of the woodwork. MJ has 0 recruiting sources, believe dat

 

[AzubuikeandFitch]

You've been smoking some seriously wacky weed if you actually believe this.

For cripes sake, Cal was the HEAD COACH, and the guy who ran the training camp and tryouts in Colorado Springs from which the roster was chosen. Although it may be true that others also had a say, it's utterly ludicrous to believe Cal had no say.
...

Players were voted upon by a committee. They were allowed to select one player with international ties or something of that effect. In the end, Josh Okogie from GA Tech was the choice.

 

[Poetax]

Very true however Calipari was the HC, if he really wanted the guy on that team he would've gotten him.

Maybe in your opinion but I disagree this wasn’t the UK team he was coaching.

 

[Big Cat fan]

We did however miss big on him. I said all along he's underrated and he will one day be one of the greatest players to play.

By far the best in the 2018 class. We dropped the ball on this.

 

[brianpoe]

We did however miss big on him. I said all along he's underrated and he will one day be one of the greatest players to play.

By far the best in the 2018 class. We dropped the ball on this.

You have obviously never seen him play live or have seen something not many have. There was a reason he was left off the USA team.

He has ability, just like every other top 10 kid. But he is not close to the best in this class and I would wager a ton he is never considered to be one of the best to ever play.

If he were in this year's class he wouldn't be a top 5 center.

Ayton
Bamba
Carter
Robinson
Bagley (maybe a PF), but even Richards would move him out of the paint.

He must make huge strides to reach your predictions.