Cal just did a poor job evaluating talent
- Thread starter rolaid
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Everyone else evaluated Skal the same, it's not his fault. If Skal plays even half way up to his evaluations we'd be fine.
Cal may be many things...but a poor evaluator of talent ain't one of them.
Can't judge Wynyard until he plays. However, I agree with you overall. Just one bad year out of several. I'm ok with that.
The threads today are unreal. All but Skal have not played nearly enough for you to say that. Hell Wynyard hasn't played 1 minute, but Cal did a poor job with him. The level of posting today is at an all-time low.
It's a poorly constructed team for sure. Too many backups playing starter roles.
Not sure what you expect when the team blows a 12-point second-half lead against one of the 10 worst teams in major college basketball. It tends to make people a little salty.
I think some people forget that most freshmen don't contribute in a meaningful way. None of Humphries, Wynyard, or Matthews were expected to be impact freshmen. Skal didn't pan out and we missed on several of our top recruiting targets. We run a high risk high reward system, and this year is a down year.
It was a weak year and the best players did not want to come hear...we had to take Humphries Mulder and got lucky to get Murray...he is a streak shooter but not much else. Skal is a bust and Briscoe can't shoot and Poythress is well just Poythress
Cal went after multiple talented prospects in the 2015 class. He settled for the players he could get.
to some of you screaming Hump and Wyns credit. i have watched cal coach many years , not 1 player has been successful playing under the rim in his offensive system. yes Jorts stepped up. but if EK had been eligible, Jorts would of been the old Jorts.
this is a good post. after I heard cal had not even seen Wyn play , I was worried. nothing against these guys at all. but if you can't play above the rim for cal , you will be over recruited.
this is a good post. after I heard cal had not even seen Wyn play , I was worried. nothing against these guys at all. but if you can't play above the rim for cal , you will be over recruited.
I don't get this argument. Every one of those guys except for Skal was supposed to of been a developmental/multi-year prospect. The mindset that we "don't have time for guys to develop" is exactly why we have very few role players at our disposal most years that can step up and contribute. If they aren't great as freshmen then they must be busts, so I guess just run them out of town on a rail ASAP.
A much better argument would be to ask why Lee and Poythress have failed to develop and step up for us when we need them on a consistent basis after 3+ years.
A much better argument would be to ask why Lee and Poythress have failed to develop and step up for us when we need them on a consistent basis after 3+ years.
What a dumb post. For cripes sake, it's WAY too early for anyone to judge whether he missed on Matthews, Wynyard and Humprhies, and it's just stupid of you to suggest otherwise
Those guys were not 5 star recruits expected to make an immediate impact, instead they were lower rated recruits we knew weren't gonna give us much their first year. No point in judging whether they were makes or misses until they've been here at least a couple years.
Skal, on the other hand, clearly does appear to be a huge miss. But it wasn't just Cal that misjudged him, instead it was essentially EVERYONE in the scouting community. Nobody out there imagined Skal would be this bad.
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Every kid isn't going to live up to their potential so what do you do? Coach them the best you can. Every coach makes mistakes what do you do? Cheer and hope they get better.
Read the post again ... We need players that can play now!!! We lost every significant player except Ulis. If Wynyard was any good he would be playing...if you don't mind losing to Auburn than enjoy watching 21' of below average develop. We can beat em again in 3 years.
Cal wanted Diallo and Zimmerman six months after he landed Skal.
That should tell you everything you need to know. Cal knew Skal wouldn't be enough. The consensus on Skal was wrong, not Cal's evaluation of Skal's immediate impact.
That should tell you everything you need to know. Cal knew Skal wouldn't be enough. The consensus on Skal was wrong, not Cal's evaluation of Skal's immediate impact.
I don't understand your point though. Who else could Cal have landed? He offered:
- Simmons
- Zimmerman
- Newman
- Blakeney
- Diallo
-Bragg
- Swannigan
- Ingram
- Brown
Who were these mysterious players he missed out on that he was supposed to get outside of Briscoe, Murray, Skal, and Matthews?
I tell you what I expect. Someone to have a better take than to say Auburn is one of the 10 worst teams in "major" college basketball. They are 164 Kenpom. There are over 350 teams.
The talent that you claimed he missed on is better than the players that just beat us.
Exactly, and for some reason our fan base keeps acting like a mass exodus of NBA guys isn't going to hurt us. Duke lost a ton of guys, too, and they're also struggling big time this year.
It's the way it can go if you lose great talent and follow it up with a mediocre freshman class or miss on first-tier targets. That's exactly what happened to Kentucky after last season.
You do realize that Cal went after and didn't get a bunch of players that were higher ranked don't you? On second though, you probably don't.
We were lucky to get Murray. Muldar was taken to fill a need before we got Mutrray. Humpries was a late add as was Wynyard. Not sure they were misses yet.
The only real miss was Skal and EVERYONE, including the pros, mised on him. He's just not ready for this level. YET!
The only real miss was Skal and EVERYONE, including the pros, mised on him. He's just not ready for this level. YET!
You can't lose that many players and not take a step back the next season. UK's doing really good for following last seasons departures.
Cal made it clear he knew he was short on talent when he kept recruiting into August.
If we didn't get Murray, we might be under .500 right now and I am serious. And yet you have genuises saying he was the reason we lost.
Skal is a bad combination of too thin and too nice...anyone could see that from very early on in his recruitment...very talented yes...good potential yes...but a developmental project...
I do not have a problem with Cal recruiting Skal...I have a problem with Cal being borderline obsessed with the idea that he has to play Skal and get him to the league ASAP...it's cost us this year...
I also have a problem with Dakari and Aaron going...both needed to come back...barring disaster DJ would be having a banner year this year and his stock would increase...he would be the center piece of this squad and racking up boards and points and we would be able to have some sort of offense other than hoping and praying Ulis and Murray have 25 pts each...
Aaron might as well have come back to...could use a big guard to get in there and help on the boards...would be nice to have his shooting, leadership, calm demeanor, and clutch play making to finish out games as well...
Tyler is great...but I think leading a team and trying to follow last year's act is a lot to put on his shoulders...could have used some veterans like DJ and Aaron to help shoulder the load...
Lee and AP haven't ever showed that they could be those "dudes"...they've shown flashes but have never been able to find any kind of consistency...after it became very apparent Skal was not an AD, NN, WCS, or KAT Cal should have benched him and put him on the 2-3 year track and started playing Humphries just to have a big body in their and maybe by the time march rolled around Hump would be something...
I do not have a problem with Cal recruiting Skal...I have a problem with Cal being borderline obsessed with the idea that he has to play Skal and get him to the league ASAP...it's cost us this year...
I also have a problem with Dakari and Aaron going...both needed to come back...barring disaster DJ would be having a banner year this year and his stock would increase...he would be the center piece of this squad and racking up boards and points and we would be able to have some sort of offense other than hoping and praying Ulis and Murray have 25 pts each...
Aaron might as well have come back to...could use a big guard to get in there and help on the boards...would be nice to have his shooting, leadership, calm demeanor, and clutch play making to finish out games as well...
Tyler is great...but I think leading a team and trying to follow last year's act is a lot to put on his shoulders...could have used some veterans like DJ and Aaron to help shoulder the load...
Lee and AP haven't ever showed that they could be those "dudes"...they've shown flashes but have never been able to find any kind of consistency...after it became very apparent Skal was not an AD, NN, WCS, or KAT Cal should have benched him and put him on the 2-3 year track and started playing Humphries just to have a big body in their and maybe by the time march rolled around Hump would be something...
Simmons and Ingram would have been a nice addition. That whole entire class for the most part kept saying No. It is what is it.
Even you don't believe what you just typed, I'm sure. If you truly believe that there are 350 "major" college programs, then you shouldn't talk basketball. But you don't really believe that. By all means, though, if you consider at team ranked 164 - behind the likes of IPFW, Texas A&M Corpus Christie, Nebraska Omaha, Columbia, High Point, and too many other powerhouses to name - then carry on.
No, it's not the class. This is actually a pretty good class loaded with some real studs (See Ben Simmons, Jaylen Brown, Brandon Ingram, Caleb Swanigan, Ivan Rabb, Diamond Stone, Ellenson, etc.), those guys just didn't happen to pick us this time.
Instead, the problem is basically just Skal, not the whole group. This time it was our turn to get the big lemon.
I think this is definitely part of it. The entire class is down. It's not just UK's recruits that aren't as good as the evaluators said.
I think it's a weak class too. We still had the #1 or #2 class depending on which site you visit. It is what it is.
Wynyard and Humphries were never supposed to be big time recruits. We offered them to fill out a roster much like we did Hawkins. They weren't misses. Skal was projected to be the #2 player draft. A lot of coaches and NBA scouts missed on him. The problem with Skal is he didn't play high school ball. His "high school" experience was less than what I play against in pick up games at the park. Nobody could really evaluate him.
If Skal had been as advertised we would be a completely different team
We offered guys they just went elsewhere this time
That's not a misjudge in talent so much as a rare miss in recruiting
That's not a misjudge in talent so much as a rare miss in recruiting
