If you play defense like Cal wants too you better have shot blocking. He puts guards in bad position wanting to pressure a long way from the basket and you better have someone to cover up when they get beat. Lost two national titles to Uconn and let Auburn beat us because we couldn't stay in front of their guards.
Cal on how he plans to use Oscar
- Thread starter RunninRichie
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Good analysis.....when they don't miss shots, the shots go in. When they are healthy, they play better than when they aren't.
Excellent stuff there. Really excellent.
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That’s why I’m hoping this year is petty injury free.
We will have four upperclassman starters. No injuries. No bad juju. This will season will be the final word on Cal’s legacy.
agree for the most part
i do not think this season will be the final word though
we have a real chance of having a monster class in 2023
So we are letting bricks fly with Wallace, who was called the best shooter in the class during the all star games, and Livingston who made 4-9 3s in 2 all star games, and generally shot the ball well from there over the last year???
Not sure why people seem to think Wallace and Livingston are non threats from 3? Neither are likely to be early year Grady, who was making near 50% of his 3s, but then again, Grady was a career 35% 3 pt shooter before he got to UK.
And just for the record, Cal is somewhat right in what he said. He has had 2 top 5 offensive teams not make it out of the first weekend. Yet, he has never had a top5 defensive team not make at least the elite eight.
Probably why he makes millions doing what he does and you make what you do whatever you do...
I think Wallace and Livingston will be huge keys to the season.
These guys can be elite level defenders.
If they can be efficient on offense as well, then this team becomes very tough to beat.
Wheeler, Wallace, Livingston, Toppin, and Tshiebwe should give us an amazing defensive/rebounding lineup.
But the offense is the question.
And the biggest question mark about the offense has always been (at least since Cal arrived) three point shooting.
I want to see Wheeler shooting over 30% from 3. Wallace, Livingston, and Toppin need to be hitting mid to high 30’s. Then Fredrick and Reeves need to torch the nets (40+%) off the bench. Collins needs to be about the same as Toppin or better.
If they can be just a mediocre shooting team, where even if it’s not a strength, it is at least not our Achilles’ Heel, then the defense should carry them.
I love the defensive potential of this team.
But I’m really worried about offense and shooting.
I'm not sure about 4 upperclassmen starters. Many seem to think Wallace and Livingston get starting nods.
Regardless, Wheeler, Tshiebwe, Toppin, Fredrick, and Reeves should be key contributors. Ware will also be a key reserve. All of those guys are Juniors or Seniors.
Experience should not be an issue with this team.
In my opinion, people put way too much emphasis on 3 pt shooting. In the NBA, that works well because you have the best of the best going against each other, and with a 7 game series, you can afford an off night or 2 and still win the series. But in college, at the end of the year, it is a 1 game and your done scenario. When you look at the NBA, their emphasis on 3 point shooting is why a team can beat a team by 30 one night, and then lose by 30 to the same team the next night.
In college, it is rare for players to get in the zone like a Steph Curry. So we really don't have to try to overcome that. If we look at last year, when we were for a period of time the best team in the country, all of our perimeter scoring was coming from 3 guys, Grady Washington, and Mintz. Those guys were 42%, 35% and 34% respectively. We need 1-2 guys that are pretty high level shooters, and we have that in CJ and Reeves, and then a couple of decent to good shooters, which we have in Wallace and Livingston. The target is around 20-24 3s a game. CJ and Reeves need to be around half of our attempts, Wallace and Livingston need to be about 3 or so each, and then let the rest spread out the remaining few attempts.
We have to have a couple of guys that can make them, and we really need to get in the 20-24 attempts per game area. Doing that and reaching our potential on Defense will make this team not only a contender, but probably the runaway favorite. It's why even though we as fans talk about what all is missing from the team, most national people are putting us in the top 3 preseason, a couple even put us at #1 (and those were post Sharpe decision).
Maybe he shouldn’t be. Your comment could be said for every coach, athlete or politician in the country. Would that make it right? So the guy is paid millions, that makes him right about everything got it. You’re a genius.
I make more money than you that makes me smarter than you.
Money is the measure of a man's value? Jeffrey Epstein says hi.
Yeah....cause rich folks can't be wrong because they're rich....great analogy there rex
So the problem you have with Cal's offense is that we had injuries happen, which resulted in lowered shooting.
Genius!!!
Good grief. Not at all what I said and you know it but you're not honest enough to have a real discussion.
It's why guys leave and flourish because they have freedom of movement and spacing. His stall ball also is terrible offense.
Not true, was just responding the way you did.
I agree, not sure who wouldn't agree (not named Calipari or Dean Smith), that the stall ball is horrible at the end of games.
I also agree the offense could be improved. But it's not as bad as some make it out to be, as evidenced by both our PPG last year and our offensive efficiency, both top 20 but was top 10 just 2 weeks earlier. Now you can't attribute all of that to the offense, in fact I would attribute more to the talent than the offense.
But to ignore the impact injuries to our best 2 shooters had on an offense is being shaded by an agenda.
Here’s our dilemma:
We have a PG on the floor 30+ minutes a game that is a weak jump shooter. He thrives getting to the rim, but he is predictable, because he almost always drives left. Against average teams, he can still get where he wants to go because he is one of the fastest guys in the country with the ball. But against good teams, they will not let him get by and get to his left very often. That is made even easier by the fact that he is a poor shooter, so teams can sag off him or play zone and keep him out of the lane.
This makes the rest of the team easier to guard. Teams can clog the middle and make it difficult for Tshiebwe to get the ball in the post. They can cut off the passing lanes that allow us to feed the post. They have more bodies to grab rebounds. They have more bodies to block Tshiebwe out.
Now that means two players are limited, meaning that the other three have to be contained. So if the other three guys are suspect shooters, you can also lay off them and clog the lane which keeps Wheeler from driving and Tshiebwe from having room inside.
Now if one is a shooter, teams can put a “chaser” on him and leave the other four around the paint. That helps our halfcourt offense a bit. If there are two shooters, then you have two “chasers” and that leaves just three around the hoop. With three shooters, then the defense has to spread out and play man to man on everyone except Wheeler, so they can double team the post. Other than that, they have to play us straight up.
Now if guys are threats to shoot and can drive and score, then you are in business. That really opens things up.
Most of the time last year we had two guys that could stretch the defense starting in Washington and Grady. We could bring Mintz in for either player and keep two on the floor. This still meant that teams could pack it in and keep three in the paint most of the time, which made it difficult for Tshiebwe to get touches, but his skill overcame that, so we were still pretty efficient and we were winning big time.
Now at the end of the season, two of our three shooters (Washington and Grady) were hobbled. Their efficiency went down and teams had an easier time defending us, so our team faltered in the halfcourt offense. And the rest is history, as they say.
So, in summary, to efficient in the halfcourt offense, we need at least two guys to stretch the defense, and three would really open things up. So a lot hinges on whether Wallace and Livingston are able to stretch the defense. And if Toppin can as well, we will be a really good halfcourt offensive team.
By the way, the reason Cal is constantly yelling, “Run” and “Go” is because he knows that if we can get down the floor before the defense is set, we will score. Cal’s teams are usually much better in the open court than in the halfcourt offense. This is another reason why teams want to slow it down and pack it in and play a lot of zone against us.
Now, I’m just a Junior Pro coach and I know how to defend a UK team. How many college coaches have figured this out?
How far you want yo go with this? If you're going to keep bringing up injuries, then let's look at that.
He played Grady way too many minutes creating the problem. He let a player sit there looking bored when he could play and help when injuries happened.
This all lays at his feet. Teams adjusted to Cal's offense and he had no counter for it. Kept doing the same things.
There were plenty of games where Collins and Hopkins could have gotten minutes and gotten experience and confidence. Grady and Brooks had plenty of experience, but that never happened.
The whole thing came unraveled and Cal had zero answers. SECT was a red flag and he never saw it.
These kids practice what 20 hours a week, and probably work on their own some too (say another 0-5 hours). Do you really think playing an extra 5-8 minutes, twice a week for a couple weeks is what caused Grady's PF? Really!!? 21 hours a week is ok, but 21.2 hours a week will cause an injury.
Who looked bored? Sharpe? The kid CHOOSE to not play. You play someone who doesn't want to play, you are just asking for trouble. First minor ankle roll and he probably acts like Joe Theisman on MNF. Probably doesn't dive for loose balls, or battle in the paint for a board. I agree it was a horrible situation. But also a tough situation. You insist he plays, and you probably forget about any more Canadian recruits, no more SGA's. Sort of a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.
I too would have liked to see Collins and Hopkins play more. But they also weren't 2's or 3's, which is where our injuries were. Hopkins could be a 3 if he lost some weight, but last year was too slow to guard most 3's. Maybe that weight gain was partly due to his back problems last fall, IDK, doesn't matter now. And Collins was too weak to play vs some teams, but still isn't a 3.
I agree (& don't like) that Cal does not make in-game adjustments, like a good coach should, on both offense and defense.
And you could see it before the SEC-T. It was there for 3 weeks. Grady not himself, Tyty not himself, Wheeler maybe seeing it and trying to do too much (more than he is capable of), and Mintz was forcing it a bit too.
Don't get me wrong, we had flaws. Every team did.
Plain and simple. You DO NOT let any player hold you hostage like Sharpe did. Period. You play or you leave, I don't care what future tecruits it might affect. What good did letting him sit and stare do? Where's the benefit of it? There is none.
Why not hold Grady out of some practices or have him limited? Haven't looked, but I'd say Grady was close to leader in minutes played. 5-6 less minutes or more in those cupcake games make a difference later.
How do you know Hopkins couldn’t be a 3? He was rarely used. If not Hopkins, use Allen to spell Grady. There were options instead of grinding him down. None of which Cal used.
Cal mismanaged the roster and as of now has just 10 scholarship players for next year. It's deja vu all over again.
I read all of that, and I think to myself, Grady, who was a career 35% 3 point shooter shot 42% last year, and the other 2 shot 34% and 35% respectively. Chances are the current roster will be as good or better than that.
Additionally, I'm not saying Cal has it in him, but if I had that roster, and you tried to sag off my guys, I would blister you. Pretty simple really, use the guys whose man is sagging off to both be in constant motion, and to set perimeter screens where his man isn't there to help. There is a reason they guard even guys who aren't good shooters on the perimeter in the NBA.
I know you’re joking but , I don’t believe a single thing that comes out of the mans mouth.
I am fine with that, as long as they both are solid from the perimeter.
The bigger question is do we get Wheeler from 2nd half of the season last year or 1st half as far as 3 point percentage. If he can give us a consistent 35% or so, that would help out that potential starting lineup a lot.
Toppin is also a wild card as he shot 4/8 from 3...if he shoots 40 three's next year how many does he make? Yes, I know 2 of the 4 were banks before anyone brings that up. It was a small sample size.
With what will be leaving after this year it better be a monster class, all major minutes are gone after this year. Oscar, Toppin, Wheeler, Reeves and most likely Wallace for sure, maybe Collins and Livingston.
I’d play a zone and ignore your screens. You better have at least one or two that can shoot. I’ll zone you and dare you to shoot and let you shoot yourself out of the game. Or maybe you shoot me out of the zone. It’s a Chess game.
I agree. We should not get in a habit of not attempting at least 20 3's in any game, making them well or not. Cal has a habit of getting his team to forget about the 3 if they are playing well. That lets the opposing team "off the hook" when planning defense. I may be wrong. Just my personal observations.
Like Notre Dame did to beat us last year. I will continue to emphasize that was a harbinger of what would come in March.
I think your starters/rotation spot on. Cal will go with the more athletic and better D team to the 16 minute or 12 minute mark to shut down other team and score off rebounds, fast break and put backs. I see the outside shooters coming on after other team is tired a bit.
I did a semi deep dive recently on the makeup of NC's over the last 30 years. There were only a couple of NC's that played 3 pt shooters primarily in only 2 positions.
The overwhelming majority played 3 or 4 positions that were threats from 3. It really didnt have to be great 3 pt shooting either. It was more about quantity of made 3's from each position to keep defenses stretched even if it was some mediocre %'s from some of the positions.
Making at least about 1 three pointer per game from at least 2 or 3 positions and then having one or two guys more who could hit multiple per game seemed to be key and a common trait of NC's.
That has not been our strategy lately!
That’s precisely why you implement a zone. Not only implement it but stick with it more than two or three possessions.
AD'S shot blocking, even just the threat it imposed on offenses, made the difference in '12. I've never seen one player at UK affect an entire offense the way he did.
LOL.
As always, you're determined to paint Wheeler as "the problem."
St. Peter's figured out Wheeler so good, he shot 4/8 from the field and 1/2 from 3.
Tyty shot 2/10 overall and 1/2 from 3--the same as Wheeler.
Grady shot 1/9 overall and 1/7 from 3--worse than Wheeler.
Call me crazy, but if someone's shooting cost us the game--it wasn't Wheeler's.
Are you my stalker? Not interested. Try ed. Confident you and he will get along swimmingly.
Mitch thinks that way too. That’s why he lets rich people drink and po’ folks cannot.
Yep....definitely a stalker. Let me help you, never will I care how or what you think of my posts.
If you get a chance, run the next time they take the restraints off for you to pee.
Mental midgets like you give me great joy.
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