Brooks says he and Toppin are compatible at the 4
- Thread starter Smashcat
- Start date
what about COLLINS? How does Collins improve and prepare for tough sec and ncaaT when he only gets mop up minutes or limited to 5 minutes in a blow-out game like mizzou?
Hopkins is out of the rotation--same for him. Needs minutes to improve.
rr
Hopkins is out of the rotation--same for him. Needs minutes to improve.
rr
Seems easy to see to me. One will be off or get into foul trouble and the other can easily hold the rope. Good problem to have.
He's too weak. Next year.
If Collins and Hopkins played more you would complain that we were not winning by enough points.
Take any team in the country. Look at what is considered the weakest of their five positions.
Do they have a tandem like Brooks and Toppin in that position, with Hopkins and even Collins on tap if something goes awry?
Pretty encouraging.
Do they have a tandem like Brooks and Toppin in that position, with Hopkins and even Collins on tap if something goes awry?
Pretty encouraging.
Yeah, we've gone from a team with little depth and experience last year to a team with nice depth and lots of experience quite quickly. I like it.
Is Collins a better PF than either Brooks/Toppin right now? If the answer is no, then why do we worry so much about it?
1. Brooks is and will be far superior shooter than Collins now and thru March.
2. Toppin will be better ball defender, rebounder and passer than Collins now and thru March.
The only thing Collins is better than either is probably shot blocking....but Brooks is no Kyle Wiltjer when it comes to shot blocking. So why would I care so much to groom Collins for minutes.
just an observation.
Playing time in blow-outs is where younguns LEARN. Should either Toppin/broks gets injured or contracts Cflu--then a back-up will certainly be needed. Toppin has been injury prone, and brooks missed half of last season due to injury.
Being prepared is important.
rr
Playing time in blow-outs is where younguns LEARN. Should either Toppin/broks gets injured or contracts Cflu--then a back-up will certainly be needed. Toppin has been injury prone, and brooks missed half of last season due to injury.
Being prepared is important.
rr
The problem is that there are only 80 game minutes per game to go around for 6 players in Oscar, Brooks, Toppin, Collins, Hopkins and Ware. Oscar in a perfect world is getting 30 minutes per game, Brooks and Toppin 20 each so that just leaves 10 minutes for the other 3. I know Hopkins is sometimes put at the 3, but not a lot of minutes left to go around.
At 1-3 we have 120 minutes, and TyTy, Wheeler, Grady and Mintz get most of those with Hopkins probably getting a very few at the 3. I am not sure how many minutes per game the starters are playing at this point...may be more than 30 each, not sure. If Sharpe was to play, you would still have 24 minutes per game and always have fresh guards at the 1-3. Obviously if Sharpe plays Mintz's minutes may go down. At this point I will believe he plays when I see it.
At 1-3 we have 120 minutes, and TyTy, Wheeler, Grady and Mintz get most of those with Hopkins probably getting a very few at the 3. I am not sure how many minutes per game the starters are playing at this point...may be more than 30 each, not sure. If Sharpe was to play, you would still have 24 minutes per game and always have fresh guards at the 1-3. Obviously if Sharpe plays Mintz's minutes may go down. At this point I will believe he plays when I see it.
I would rather the starters have more time on the court as a team to get experience, rather than playing the bench warmers. But that's just me.
Rotation is:
Wheeler-Mintz
TY TY-
Grady
Brooks-Toppin
Oscar-
Cal has once again got Toppin filling in for the bigs and Mintz for the guards.
Cal loves him a 7 man rotation.
Its who he is and who UK will be.
Wheeler-Mintz
TY TY-
Grady
Brooks-Toppin
Oscar-
Cal has once again got Toppin filling in for the bigs and Mintz for the guards.
Cal loves him a 7 man rotation.
Its who he is and who UK will be.
Only BBN fans would bitch and moan from a 27 point curb stomp of a conference opponent.
You really think they’d learn more last night than going up against our own guys in practice (who are better than anyone on Mizzou?).
They LEARN in practice. That’s where most of skill improvement takes place.
In game time is performance time. Especially now. This is not the time to learn.
Cal has been guilty of doing that before and that’s how we get rock fights. I for one am glad he’s not doing that at the moment.
Not sure Collins will be here next year.
He WAS predicted as a lottery pick, but has slid down the draft board to 28th in some mocks, but, if Boston can get drafted after what he did last year, so can Collins.
He didn't come here to stay. He has some serious potential and the NBA knows that, they saw all they needed to see during our October player sales event (aka: pro day)
Is what it is, Cal has to roll with Brooks and Toppin, they are the best options we have at the 4 and I think Hopkins is a very good backup option.
He WAS predicted as a lottery pick, but has slid down the draft board to 28th in some mocks, but, if Boston can get drafted after what he did last year, so can Collins.
He didn't come here to stay. He has some serious potential and the NBA knows that, they saw all they needed to see during our October player sales event (aka: pro day)
Is what it is, Cal has to roll with Brooks and Toppin, they are the best options we have at the 4 and I think Hopkins is a very good backup option.
he gains about 20 pounds of muscle. it’s more than one year for that guy if you hadn’t figured it yet. hopkins will be good he’s just behind guys that have been there longer. this is not mysterious.
They will have to improve in practice going against better players and come back next year.
Collins and Hopkins will be key players next season. Both will be in the main rotation and both might start.
Clark
Wallace
Fredrick
Sharpe
Livingston
Hopkins
Toppin
Collins
I think that’s probably our eight man rotation next year. Might add a big man from the portal as well, if someone really good wants to be the next Tshiebwe.
There are only 40 minutes in a game, if you have 4 4's that is 10 minutes apiece. That's not happening. Toppin or Brooks will play the majority of the minutes and the other one will get the bulk of what's left
I'm not sure Collins will be back and Ihm also not sure Toppin and Brooks will be gone.
Collins not getting that much playing time this year I think will see him slide out of the 1st round and needs more weight on him so I think he will return.
He'll get more training and gain more weight in the NBA than he will at UK. If they show any interest in him, he’s gone.
I think the rotation will look like this moving forward, give or take a few minutes:
G Wheeler(30)/Mintz(10)
G Washington(30)/Mintz(10)
G Grady(30)/Mintz(5)/Hopkins(5)
F Brooks(20)/Toppin(20)
F Tshiebwe(30)/Collins(5)/Ware(5)
G Wheeler(30)/Mintz(10)
G Washington(30)/Mintz(10)
G Grady(30)/Mintz(5)/Hopkins(5)
F Brooks(20)/Toppin(20)
F Tshiebwe(30)/Collins(5)/Ware(5)
Last edited:
Collins could get some minutes at the five to provide a different look and rim protection but he’s so weak that it’s hard, you see the flashes in some games of what he can become but he also gets pushed over like it’s nothing. He will be a good one with strength training over a year.
Shift at least 15 of those 25 minutes away from Mintz and award them to Sharpe.
Probably right. I don’t love Mintz getting 25 minutes…I’d love to push him down to 10-15 and get Allen/Hopkins involved for their potential. If Sharpe comes in….then give that kid 25 minute and Mintz joins Allen at end of bench
I personally don’t think Sharpe plays unless we start losing games and Cal is desperate to give this team a boost. If we continue to play like we have been playing there’s no need to press Sharpe into service and risk disrupting the chemistry this team has. The only way we see Sharpe is if we start losing or suffer a major backcourt injury. Just my opinion.Shift at least 15 of those 25 minutes away from Mintz and award them to Sharpe.
Yeah, I love Collins' potential but the thing he needs most is weight and strength. He needs about 20lbs of muscle added to his frame. Against some of our lesser opponents with smaller and weaker front lines we were able to play Collins some extra minutes. But now that SEC play has begun, we're going to be facing bigger, stronger guys on a regular basis. Collins will struggle with these matchups. I actually think Hopkins stands a greater chance of contributing this season than Collins because he already has the body and strength to handle these matchups. Once his skills improve, he could get there.
The great thing UK has right now is players who are skilled and also have experience. This is a luxury we haven't had in years' past. In many prior seasons, a guy like Collins would be learning on the job and we'd have at least 2 more losses, maybe 3.
I would think they would have a hard time getting past Wheeler at point guard
On a Calipari-coached team, there's no such thing as getting minutes to improve. You're either one of the anointed seven in the rotation, or - for all practical purposes - you sit and rot on the bench.
Latest posts
-
-
-
-
The Ukraine war. (Yes, we'll mind our manners)- Latest: Spica Orbit
-
