I ruined this young man . To say that on national tv last night really impressed me.
Cal on Skal last night.
- Thread starter preacher_tom
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He takes responsibility after every loss. He stepped up and took it on the chin after the Wisconsin lost in the Final Four and has admitted he could have done some things differently more than once since then. He's said he coached a bad game after every loss this season(though he did, rightly, call out the officiating after the auburn loss as well).
I was harsh on Cal towards the end of the 2014 regular season. After we lost to South Carolina I wondered aloud if he just didn't have it anymore.
I'm happy to admit he's made me feel extremely foolish about that and now as a UK basketball fan I only feel spoiled by the man.
Gonna be a dark day when he decides to retire.
I was harsh on Cal towards the end of the 2014 regular season. After we lost to South Carolina I wondered aloud if he just didn't have it anymore.
I'm happy to admit he's made me feel extremely foolish about that and now as a UK basketball fan I only feel spoiled by the man.
Gonna be a dark day when he decides to retire.
Cal has developed a healthy balance between sinful pride and humility. That is an acquired trait that doesn't come easy.
actually, he said he screwed him up -
but yeah it impressed me too
If he had listened to all these coaches on Rafters, he would have figured that out six weeks ago.
Must admit, I was definitely thinking "it took you this long to figure out that Skal isn't a back to the basket center?"
Glad he has realized the adjustment to make with Skal and it appears to be working. Kudos to Cal for the adjustment. Like I have said, Cal is stubborn. Im sure he knew weeks ago that making Skal put his back to the basket wasn't working but he was hellbent on making it work.
Coach K thought he was wrong once.I'm sure K would admit he had a bad game also, IF he ever had one!
But he quickly realized he was incorrect on that thought.
Nah he just talks about how "amazing" it is that he didn't get the foul called.I'm sure K would admit he had a bad game also, IF he ever had one!
However, Cal is trying to prepare Skal for the next level. He didn't say that in the interview because he was more interested in putting it out there that he was trying to force something on Skal that he's not capable of right now but Skal is going to need to figure it out at some point because he is going to be playing with his back to the basket a lot in the NBA.
I don't know. He's pretty pure from about 15 and in. I could see him being mainly a face up kind of guy playing very similar to KG's face up game.
One of the things that Cal does better than most college coaches is the very thing you criticize him about. Everyone, including Cal, realized from the get go that Skal was more comfortable playing facing the basket. KAT was the same way. Randle was used to having the ball in his hands and creating like a PG coming out of high school. Cal looks at those guys and says, "Okay we know you can do this really well already. I need you to do this, It's going to make you a more rounded player in college and in the NBA". KAT came around and eventually became a force and the #1 pick in the draft. Randle struggled a little learning to play off the ball but got better over the course of his one year. Skal mentally, physically, and development wise was not ready to play strictly inside and it was affecting his overall game. Skal literally looked like he was just learning to play.
Allowing Skal to go back to facing the basket and shooting jumpers proves to me that Skal is gone after this season. I think Cal knows he's leaving and rather than being stubborn and making Skal learn to play the way he wants I think he knows he needs to get what he can from Skal for the rest of this season. It will help with his confidence. It will help putting another weapon on the floor off the bench. It will help raise his draft stock, but more importantly it is going to help the team.
Just Cal being Cal. Trying to take pressure off the kid when everyone knows it's not his fault Skal can't play.
A 6'11' kid that weighs 190 pounds will never be a back to the basket guy in the NBA. So, that point is moot. Any top coach will take whatever type of player a guy is and improve on that, not try to make a square peg fit in a round hole. Cal finally admitted that last night, which I am happy to see.
He did the exact same thing with Andrew Harrison heading into the 2014 Tourney.
Cal knows what Skal can do better than anyone on this board. What Cal didn't know was how Skal would respond to coaching.
Cal is shifting gears for the sake of the player and the sake of the team. Despite bizarre "fan" theories to the contrary, Cal's ultimate goal is to win it all.
Cal knows what Skal can do better than anyone on this board. What Cal didn't know was how Skal would respond to coaching.
Cal is shifting gears for the sake of the player and the sake of the team. Despite bizarre "fan" theories to the contrary, Cal's ultimate goal is to win it all.
That kid is dead on from 15'. He's definitely spent some time on that but he is going to need to survive in the paint regardless .
I said it yesterday in another thread, what I feel is going to happen is we are going to get the real good Skal for a few games at the end of the season then never see him in a UK uniform again. That is the major flaw with this system.
You think he's going to stay 190lbs? I know he will never be a 290 pounder with the frame he has but he is going to pack on the lbs eventually.
*Can't play in the style of your old school post player.
Unless you think a 6'11" player who can hit jumpers consistently and has shotblocking ability can't play.
While I don't necessarily agree with this quote, this was Cal being Cal. Cal will do whatever it takes to take the pressure off the kids, regardless of the situation, and in fact has done that ever since he got to UK. This is no different from taking the blame for the loss against Wisconsin, which while people will talk about coaching moves, the truth of the matter is, the twins who made plays in close games ever since the last couple of weeks of the regular season their freshman year, simply didn't make plays, for the first time, they actually clammed up. Not Cal's fault. Skal's play, also not Cal's fault, nor did he screw him up. Skal has been taking jumpers all season, it's just that the last few games they started to fall for him. Look, he had a few blocks last night, but 0, count them, 0 rebounds. That's not on Cal either, as Skal just needs to go get them.
For people who think he hasn't been shooting jumpers all season, need to go back and watch him play the other games. In fact, he shot enough jumpers that a buddy of mine made the comment that he wasn't too sure that Skal could shoot either. Cal wasn't the reason Skal fumbled over himself during the first half of the season, you know, Skal facing the basket versus back to the basket isn't why he is now catching balls that used to hit him in the face. It isn't the reason that he can all the sudden catch a lob, something he really struggled with in the beginning. This comment by Cal is just what the above poster said, Cal being Cal.
Skal would be more valuable to this team if he could play with his back to the basket, Cal has finally decided it is not going to happen so he is playing him where he can get something out of him.. MHO of course
By playing Skal away from the basket this frees up space underneath for Willis and Poy to grab rebounds and when you put Skal at the free throw line and Willis on the peremiter it spreads the opponents big men out giving Ulis, Briscoe and Murray operating space for those mid range jumpers they have been nailing.
Well Skal does have a Beautiful sky hook so he is capable of operating with his back to the basket but he's just not comfortable doing it.
If he can develop that and add that to his midrange shooting and sudden defensive presence in the paint he would be scary good.
SKal is still looked at as the 6th pick after all these bad games. The nba scouts know what Skals game is. Coach Cal really was screwing up Skal. Let the guy shoot. Nobody has that high release point like Skal does. Nobody has that type of shooting motion. Its a unique thing and NBA guys love unique.
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Skal showed that sky hook and some other post moves against lesser talent in some of the earlier games but too many times he puts the ball where the defense can get to it and that doesn't work against good competition. He has just been stripped too many times and he has lost his confidence in that part of his game. He will eventually develop that part of his game again but I doubt it will be at UK. MHO of course/
Skal will be a lottery pick,the message Cal just sent about screwing him up will assure that.he did play him out of position and you can see the kids happier now on the court.
Cal didn't just now figure this out. It's just that he knew: Skal's future and this team's present is less promising without him developing in the paint.
Skal can play he just isn't a post player. He's not an effective player playing with his back to the basket. Most players with Skal's length are most effective playing around the rim. Davis and Towns both could play facing the basket, but were able to play with their back to the basket and became dominate players. Cal had a choice to make, either let Skal do what he does best, or continue to force the proverbial (square peg in round hole) and try to make him a back to basket player.
He had a similar decision to make regarding Willis. Continue to play him at the 3 or move him to the 4 where he could get match up advantages. Cal had talked before he moved Willis that he would like to play him at the stretch 4. Thought it could make us a better team.
Some will say that Cal should have figured this out way before he did. This is what makes Cal unique IMO. He is able to basically turn his roster over every year, and in what usually takes coaches at least 2 years to do he is able to do it in one. Then by February he has his teams playing at a high level with a chance to make a run in March.
I think skal will be a force the remainder of the season. Jus think, We got 12 extra points last night that we wouldnt have had
I was telling my wife after Skal's confidence is up... thats when you put him in the post and get him to use a back to the basket play or two ... and sure enough he got that and 1 and fought hard for that move and basket. a few more games like this and he might have enough confidence in his low post game to be a more complete offensive player.
Wish he would of grabbed a few of those rebounds though
Wish he would of grabbed a few of those rebounds though
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