You really wonder about Cals head anymore. Another wtf decision but I’m suppose to support the head coach right.
Cal experimenting with Thiero at the 4
- Thread starter Jamal Mercer
- Start date
I like the idea. At least he's going to try something. You could press with this line up, shooting should be better, spacing should be better and open up some lanes for driving. Defense should be quicker for half court traps, and for full court presssing. Rebouding will be the key along with defending the four spot. And we have Oscar for rebounding. Bring in Ogonna to spell Oscar to add some shot blocking. Now if Cals telling the truth about this and actually gives it enough time to work is another question. Hope it's not like in the past and we are playing a zone defense and it looks like it's working and the other team hit's a three and his knee jerk reaction is back to back to man, give it time.
I genuinely think he can play the 1 , but why would he for THIS UK team?
I am not sure that there’s a difference between who you list of Thiero and Livingston as the “3” or the “4” , if they are sharing the court.
It’s more when they aren’t sharing The court
I do wonder if Cal is saying Livingston is the 3 for “draft” reasons.
He came out and said “maybe we make him a 4”. Did Livingston’s camp get involved and say he needs “promoted” as a 3?
Just a thought?
Cannot wait to hear everyone’s thoughts.
I would not have said this even 3 weeks ago. I think Toppin should get a portion of his minutes as a “5” . The opposing defenses are ignoring him and clogging the lane. At the 5, with spacing from 3.5 to 4 shooters on the court (open Sahvir hits solidly, he’s the .5 ) , Toppin might find opportunities (and confidence).
Well Bryce Hopkins did force him to play him more after that LSU game... believe nothing he says.
Not long ago, Cal was saying that he believed in “positionless basketball.” So, does it really matter if Thiero is a 3 or 4? Same for Livingston. Just play them. Label them 3 or 4. Don’t care. Just as long as they are out there playing on the perimeter. In a 4 out system, it doesn’t matter who is the 3 and who is the 4 on offense. Both have guard skills. Both are 6’6-6’7 and athletic. Both are fairly strong. Both can rebound and defend on the perimeter. Just let them play. Who cares about what “position” they play. Why is Cal even worried about that. Once again, he plays “positionless basketball” right? Or was that just another catch phrase?
We wouldn’t win but that would be entertaining to watch! Lol
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He should have been trying something like this the first 11 game's of the season. Playing a really good Missouri on the road is going to be tough.
Agree with ya. I just hope he lets Livingston and Thiero play through 1 missed shot before he jerks them.
In the last game, Thiero missed one shot and got benched. He didn't even get a sweat worked up.
My confusion is for the last couple of years he’s preached positionless basketball, random basketball and still assigns numbers to the kids which is the exact opposite of what he’s saying.
At this point just run the 4 big lineup that he wants to do anyway and 1 guard to dribble down and shoot the first three available.
It would be more interesting to watch that the stuff he’s trying to do anyhow.
At this point just run the 4 big lineup that he wants to do anyway and 1 guard to dribble down and shoot the first three available.
It would be more interesting to watch that the stuff he’s trying to do anyhow.
I"m no expert but from what little we have seen of Thiero he looks like a player. He rebound's in traffic makes shots in traffic, shoots the three pretty well, drives and handles well through contact. Just one of those guys that seem's like he's all over the court. Haven"t seen enough of him on defense, but if he's guarding a 4 he should be able to use his quickness to his advantage. If we are full court pressing and we should be with this line up for steal's and turnovers his size should be to our advantage.
Well, in my opinion Toppin has played himself into backup minutes at the 4 and Ware, Collins, and Onyenso(sp) should only see minutes backing up Oscar at the 5. That leaves Reeves, Livingston, and Thiero at the forwards. If Livingston and Thiero are in at forward at the same time I don't care which guards the 3/4 since both are about the same size. And Thiero might be 6'9" by next game...
Sure it was double OT and today is a position of need for us but Hopkins had 29/23/2 with 3 steals in his last game vs Marquette.
Yeah. He transferred to Providence.
Well, Toppin just hasn’t performed. You can associate his benching with his diminishing NBA potential, but the reality is he just doesn’t help the team win games. He’s one of the weakest links on a fairly weak team.
I'll come right out and say it: I doubt any of this matters as long as Cal is coaching. I've lost all confidence in the guy. He won't figure this out. Nothing I've seen in the last several years makes me believe he can do it.
Exactly.
Experiment with lineups at home against Cupcake U in early November, not on the road against an SEC opponent in late December.
The rotation should already be set in stone, for the most part, by now. A third of the season is in the books. The conference season has started.
Just more evidence that Cal has lost his fire. There is no sense of urgency on his part. His methods are maddening.
It’s matters if said lineup includes wheeler and Oscar, that’s 2 non shooters, 2 okay not great shooters, and one good shooter. The stubbornness will continue to hurt Kentucky. Go Wallace reeves Fredrick(or whoever is playing well at the time) Livingston and Oscar and ride with lineup.
and he ain't even hitting the wall, let alone the board.
Agreed.
About the best we can hope for is:
PG Wallace
SG Fredrick/Reeves
SF Livingston
PF Thiero
C Tshiebwe
For some weird reason he doesn’t want to play Livingston at the 4, so it sounds like Thiero is our only hope of getting anyone in at that spot to stretch the defense.
Oh sure let's play him at the 4 in a hostile SEC road game when he hasn't seen the floor in a month. That way if he doesn't have a double/double Cal can bury him on the bench for another month
Very true. I addressed this in an earlier post. The time for experimenting is over, but apparently, Cal disagrees.
At this point, all we can hope for is that Thiero gets in there and performs so well that Cal can’t bury him.
It’s a very slim hope, though.
In the end, Toppin will remain the primary 4 man. This is all for show, most likely.
Your new here so you you probably don’t know but we are all coaches.
I'm just waiting around for him to do something that makes sense so I can give him credit for it
I could see both at the 3, or both at the 4, super big or super small lineups. But if it’s one or the other it seems backwards. Still believe that Chris is the perfect college 4 but apparently Cal can’t figure that one out.
This would be a move in the right direction to get the most skilled ball players on the court together.
I'm personally not real big on position "numbers" just get the best all around or most talented players on the court together and let them grow and learn to play off each other.
I wish this would have been done 5-6 games ago.
I'm personally not real big on position "numbers" just get the best all around or most talented players on the court together and let them grow and learn to play off each other.
I wish this would have been done 5-6 games ago.
1. The utter refusal to even mention Livingston at the 4 …even point it out specifically in media…feels like Chris came here to play the SF and that is how we’ll proceed (ie NBA focus va college)
2. But regardless if you play Thiero at the 4 …fine. But if you play a rock fight tempo and don’t push tempo does it really make a big difference? You need a game wjtb pace, get into legs of opponent to make it impactful
If we are just going to play in the 60s then half court will have the lack of size, rebound, rim protection etc must as much a problem as it solves wjtb floor spacing improvement
2. But regardless if you play Thiero at the 4 …fine. But if you play a rock fight tempo and don’t push tempo does it really make a big difference? You need a game wjtb pace, get into legs of opponent to make it impactful
If we are just going to play in the 60s then half court will have the lack of size, rebound, rim protection etc must as much a problem as it solves wjtb floor spacing improvement
I’ll wait until I actually see it in games to believe it. There’s been a persistent pattern throughout his 14 years here where Cal makes statements indicating he’s gonna start playing a guy more or try something new …but then it never actually happens.
Wouldn’t be surprised if this “Thiero at the 4” thing turns out to be the same sort of empty bluster. Cal likes to talk …but he doesn’t necessarily like to do as he talks.
Wouldn’t be surprised if this “Thiero at the 4” thing turns out to be the same sort of empty bluster. Cal likes to talk …but he doesn’t necessarily like to do as he talks.
I have no issues with Therio, but if Cal is count on him to save the season, then UK is in trouble!
It’s just Cal’s stubborn defiance of the “basketball bennies” insistence that he should be at the 4. He’s gonna show us by not even entertaining the idea.
Cal did the same thing with Hopkins last year, and Poythress in his first couple years at UK. And it turned out those guys were quite happy to play the 4 when they finally got a chance. It was Cal’s issue, not theirs.
Unfortunately, this is where I am at also.
![[roll]](http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/img/emoticons/classic/roll.r191677.gif "roll [roll]")
Why does CL at the 3 bother many of you.? He has 3 skills as a 3.5 tweener. And thus far Theiro has shown to be the better rebounder.
As for Wheeler, did many of you miss the last game, when it got sort of close we went with Wallace, NOT Wheeler. So maybe, hopefully, he is moving in that direction of playing Wheeler only 15-20mpg. I would say 15 if CJ can make shots.
I see this as a "twerk". That's a good thing, seeing as how none of "tweaks" ever work.
All of this will settle down once Thiero gets his first or 2nd foul.
He will once again disappear.
He will once again disappear.
Everyone on here was clamoring for him all year. Then he won the LSU game and Cal finally looked like he was gonna play him and then buried him under the bench. Head scratching decision.
The bigger question is why didn’t any of this happen while we were playing the likes of Yale and Florida A&M.
You’re just setting up people to fail in a hostile environment at Mizzou. Hopefully he gives Thiero a little bit of a leash before he subs him out for Ware.
You’re just setting up people to fail in a hostile environment at Mizzou. Hopefully he gives Thiero a little bit of a leash before he subs him out for Ware.
Fine by me, I mean, I'd put Livingston at the 4 and Ado at the 3, but as long as those dudes are on the court, I'm good with it.
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