Mulder should start at Bama in place of Briscoe, he had 8 rebounds in 14 minutes to lead us last night. He also made a 3, and hit both his FT's. He seems pretty strong to be able to battle down low as well.
Cal: “a wake-up call for our front line. It’s not about anybody else.”
- Thread starter Mojocat
- Start date
People imagining that they can see potential is how Vegas makes money. Prodigies wither. Golden boys tarnish. For every Mozart there are thousands of Moe Zarts.
Nobody is saying these players all have to "give their all". They could have won that game last night if we got even 50% out of our front line. Had it down to 4 simply because LSU is terrible and Johnny Jones can't coach. It was just that our effort wasn't even at 20% and I have no idea why that is the case. Doesn't make sense to me.
Mulder rebounded better for us last night than anyone else has all year. If he can bring that every night I agree he should be playing more.
It's just frustrating that it takes your 6'4" benchwarmer coming it to finally get some rebounds because your bigs won't hit the boards. If only our big guys would go after boards with the same fire that Briscoe and Mulder do.
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I think we're all confused as to why a lot of our guys fail to give a great effort, although I do think most nights Lee gives it everything he has, it's just that he isn't a great basketball player. He wouldn't need to be though if POY and Skal would give any effort. Lee WANT to win, and gives us a good rebounder and rim protector, but he can't go it alone.
I agree with others: POY simply doesn't enjoy the game, thus the reason we see him take most games off.
Skal? I would at least like to see Cal try him at the 4, facing the basket, but at this point I just don't think he's all he was made out to be, IMHO.
I too would like to see Mulder get more clock.
They kept getting trapped because there was no pick at the top of the key, it was illusory. Part of the lacking toughness thing. You have to be physical, and tough, and stake out a piece of ground and claim it as your own. There was none of that. Our guys ambled over in the general direction of where the pick was supposed to be set, stood there - and that was it....
We get that, its not hard to understand. But do you care to elaborate what potential you see from Skal?? Wow, he can make a jump shot. Big damn deal, so can a lot of guys not named Briscoe. Skal is terrible with the basketball in his hands, has ZERO motor, looks incredibly uncoordinated when trying to block a shot or while airballing a wide open finger roll like he did last night or going for a rebound. Skal is a bust and will be a huge bust in the pros as well. I see zero potential in the guy. When people celebrate the fact that he had 9 pts and 3 rebs while fouling out in 14 minutes of play vs Ole Miss, all I can do is laugh. Hes going to be 20 years old in March, so its not like we are dealing with a 17 year old kid.
I personally hope to god someone says they will take him in the top 10 because no way in hell I want him on this team next year taking away minutes from guys that will actually play hard. Skal will be a career D Leaguer.
Seeing a lot of "lack of effort" comments - worth making a distinction. There is lack of effort that you see from time to time in guys who are lazy, or disinterested, or just don't feel like playing that day, or whatever. Big kid at Miss State a few years ago comes immediately to mind. There have been others. That's not what I saw last night. I'd wager a fairly big amount Cal wouldn't have that kind of kid - wouldn't recruit him the first place, wouldn't play him if he did. What we saw last night was backing down. Other team is physical and tough. Crowd is loud and into it. Refs are impacted by that, you get some questionable calls. Everything is going against you. In those moments, you have to be tougher. Have to set the scree the right way. Have to fight through a screen the right way. It's easy to back down, take the easy path. That's what I saw. None of this "they simply didn't try" stuff I'm seeing and hearing......
Nobody on the team had the right to call out anybody else last night. Murray does some good things but he's got a lot of improvement to make before he declares himself a floor leader. To credit Ulis, he worked hard but it's difficult for even a very good point guard to have a good night when everybody else on the team is stinking it up as bad as they did last night. Lee puts out some effort but his bad decisions keeps him in foul trouble. I don't even know what to say about Poythress any longer. It's his last year and if he's not ready to make a contribution, it's time to give his minutes to someone who will be back next year and can benefit from the experience of game time this year.
I have a suggestion and some of you may scoff, but you shouldn't after last night's inept performance. Put Willis in for Briscoe. That would give us some more heighth and outside shooting. I also think a zone full-court press some of the time might not be a bad idea.
Maybe we are recruiting too nice of guys. Cal has always done well with tough kids. This seems nice young men maybe to a fault
Trust me , there is NO way his guardian/handler/parasite will encourage him to come back . Skal is his meal ticket and he wants to cash it ASAP . And Skal speaks glowingly about him , so I think he's still got the kids ear .
I mean , I'm not disagreeing with you, but do you guys just discount the draft projections of the experts that are paid to do it ? Last weeks updated projections had Skal still in the lottery and Briscoe still in the first round. I don't see it either but aren't these guys usually pretty accurate?
Why is Briscoe not in the conversation for less PT, sure he plays hard but other than a little defense he gives us nothing. He cannot shoot, he cannot hit free throws, he cannot create. Offense is 50% of the game so if you do not have any your minutes should be minimal. We must face the fact that this team like the 2013 team is just average and probably best case scenario is a Sweet 16 finish.
It's not about what we see . I see the same thing you do . But these "draft gurus " still have him projected in the lottery . Maybe they're wrong but they "should " know more than us . I don't get it either , unless he really impressed when Cal had his NBA day workouts.
Skal isnt going to be bench pressing 200 lbs by the end of the season. Hes not going to push anybody off the block and hes not going to gain 25 lbs of muscle by March. He is what he is right now; a physically overmatched finesse jump-shooter. Unfortunately the weight room and time are his only options. Time that we don't have (but the D league does). Alex and Marcus are athletes who play against basketball players and sometimes it really shows, especially when those basketball players are also great athletes...Willis isn't an interior player and is a couple of steps too slow for the perimeter. We've got 99 problems but too many skilled bigs ain't one.
You realize anyone can start a website with a mock draft and present themselves as a "draft guru?" Most of these mock drafts just represent some guys opinion, and that guy is NOT the one making the actual draft decisions, and I guarantee you he hasn't seen Skal play as much as we have this year, and thus doesn't yet realize just how awful he's been. The only "expert" opinion that matters that of NBA GMs, and they generally don't tip their hands to the schmoes running the online mock drafts.
I remember threads like this throughout the 2013 season that were absolutely baffled about why the mock drafts 1) still had Goodwin and Poythress as high lottery picks; and 2) still had Oladipo and Trey Burke projected as second rounders when they looked like the two best players in the country. Well, guess what happened in the mocks right after the season ended? Oladipo and Burke went soaring right up to the top of the lottery, and Archie and Poy dropped like lead balloons.
Guarantee you the same thing will happen with Skal this year. Come April, when the draft evaluation process really begins, he's gonna take a huge free fall in all those mocks. Just watch.
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Guys having bad games offensively doesn't bother me much cause that happens to every player. But our big guys not playing hard, not rebounding, and not playing defense like last night is sickening to watch. It sucks were forced to play those guys cause we have no one else on the bench.
The problem with this is Briscoe is USUALLY a better rebounder and he USUALLY scores more points. However, he is always a better defender and it's not even close. Briscoe can fix his free throw shooting much easier than Willis can fix his defensive issues.
I think early we all bought into the player that we thought skal was supposed to be. Heading into conference play his stock as been slipping. I think the longer conference play goes on, assuming he doesnt progress(he may and i hope he does), i think his stock will continue to slip. He will still get drafted relatively high bc of his potential, but i think his stock will fall bc people will realize he might not be the impact player people thought he was. I dont think you can call a player a bust in 2 months but what about after the season if he hasnt progressed. Maybe you start to limit his potential slightly and his draft status falls.
Briscoe is a whole nother story
What if they don't win a road game until mid-February? I'm not sure this board can take that kind of pain.
Western, it's nice to see a little honesty on this board. Many of the posters who were predicting a couple of losses and a run to #9, are now saying that they knew we would lose 8 to 10 and struggle. Kudos to you.
Spot on. No D1 coach will play a kid that doesn't give effort. Anyone who has played college ball knows it.
Cal will never do it. Unless Skal and Lee both go down with season ending injuries.
He's 6 for 17 on the year and hasn't hit a shot since December 12th.
Maybe he has a good touch around the basket, but I don't know how you would know.
I think Mulder earned his shot at more playing time last night and we should begin to see him more in the rotation.
Skal is not a back to the basket type player. I think he would produce more and play with more confidence at the four facing the basket. Not sure Cal will do that with Skal however.
Willis is all about offense, he has no defensive skills although he isn't the only one on the team that has trouble staying in front of his guy.
Skal is not a back to the basket type player. I think he would produce more and play with more confidence at the four facing the basket. Not sure Cal will do that with Skal however.
Willis is all about offense, he has no defensive skills although he isn't the only one on the team that has trouble staying in front of his guy.
Skal was hyped by everyone from fans, recruiting analysts and Cal. Marshall Plumlee looks like Shaq in comparison. And as much as we all gripe about Briscoe, Murray, Willis, etc., the main reason this team struggles is the post is non existent.
But he'll be a draft pick so there's that.
But he'll be a draft pick so there's that.
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Yes, they do, often to a kids detriment. If Skal goes this year, he will be a likely 2 and through. He can't play against average college players. He isn't suddenly going to be able to compete with the best men on the planet. Skal would do well to play college ball until he can at least be competitive.
I think you're thinking any big white guy is going to turn into Jorts. Look, what Jorts did in 2011 won't be duplicated by anyone on this team. Humphries had a wide open 10 footer that he missed wide right by 4'. Can't fix that by March. He's tall, he's beefy, he's caucasian and heck he might even wear blue jean shorts but that doesn't make him Josh Harrellson II.
I thought Cal was going to have a heart attack on the bench when he hesitated and then got the ball knocked away. lol
Yeah he was out of his range there but we have seen him have some touch around the basket in earlier games. The biggest change for him is probably the speed of the game and the quality of talent he is seeing.
Him and me both!! I screamed at the TV. As much as I want him to succeed as a UK fan, and that's a lot, I want him to succeed for himself to reach his goals and dreams he has set for himself. It's just so frustrating and actually sad to watch unflorished talent. We know he has the talent, we've all see it leading up to this point. He is very skilled and oozed talent in everything that I ever saw of him up until November but there is a block somewhere with him. Somewhere something is blocking him from reaching his potential for his age, as his potential will increase as he gets older. There may be multiple blocks with him. Whether it's a mental block, physical block, or both. Who knows but it's just sad to watch him dive deeper into a hole. I just hope he can somehow, some way get by those blocks and be the player that we all know he can become. To me, this is the glaring problem with this team and while some would say that there are many problems with this team, I think that Skal getting turned around would make this team a contender. We are sorely missing a player that he was supposed to be and it would just fix so many issues that we are having right now, IMO. So, here's to hoping that somehow, someway he can turn this around and explode on the scene and get back to being the best player in the class. He needs to fight!!!!!
Talent aside, if Alex and Skal had Simmons's attitude, our team would be insane with energy.
[QUOTE="Dirk2Bowie, post: 3197562, member: 7436"= Alex and Marcus are athletes who play against basketball players and sometimes it really shows, especially when those basketball players are also great athletes...[/QUOTE]
This is soooooo painfully true and it's what HAS TO STOP in future recruiting. Basic basketball fundamental's like shooting and dribbling are really important and have to stop being de-emphasized by the staff. It's been what 6 years now with this staff and they haven't displayed the ability to teach basic basketball fundamental's at all. James Young was the worst passer I've ever seen play at UK and did not improve at all throughout the year at that skill or dribbling. Speaking of dribbling Poythress after 2 full years of instruction with the staff still can't dribble more then twice without traveling. I have zero confidence that Briscoe, Hawkins, or Matthews will EVER develop into an average college basketball level shooter. I'm frustrated because these are all things any average high school basketball coach could improve with his players. (I will admit that fixing shooting is really hard thing which is why we need value shooting ability wayyyy more in recruiting) But over Cal's period of time here at UK I haven't seen hardly any player development with basketball fundamental's. If a player comes here with poor shooting, passing, or dribbling skills I am seeing ZERO improvement. We do develop players confidence like with Miller, Liggins, and Harrelson. And the staff coaches low post scoring pretty well with Cousins, Towns, Randle, Jones, and Davis all improving over their time here. But with basketball fundamentals i'm really not seeing anything.
This is soooooo painfully true and it's what HAS TO STOP in future recruiting. Basic basketball fundamental's like shooting and dribbling are really important and have to stop being de-emphasized by the staff. It's been what 6 years now with this staff and they haven't displayed the ability to teach basic basketball fundamental's at all. James Young was the worst passer I've ever seen play at UK and did not improve at all throughout the year at that skill or dribbling. Speaking of dribbling Poythress after 2 full years of instruction with the staff still can't dribble more then twice without traveling. I have zero confidence that Briscoe, Hawkins, or Matthews will EVER develop into an average college basketball level shooter. I'm frustrated because these are all things any average high school basketball coach could improve with his players. (I will admit that fixing shooting is really hard thing which is why we need value shooting ability wayyyy more in recruiting) But over Cal's period of time here at UK I haven't seen hardly any player development with basketball fundamental's. If a player comes here with poor shooting, passing, or dribbling skills I am seeing ZERO improvement. We do develop players confidence like with Miller, Liggins, and Harrelson. And the staff coaches low post scoring pretty well with Cousins, Towns, Randle, Jones, and Davis all improving over their time here. But with basketball fundamentals i'm really not seeing anything.
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