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The battle to get most of the backup guard minutes should be interesting with Matthews looking good and the positives we are hearing about Mulder as well.
I wonder if Cal plays them both close to equal minutes or if he goes with the one that plays the best for most of the minutes by the end of the season?
Cal said he wants to play 6-7 guys most of the minutes. We know who the top six should be. Will he work down to seven (Matthews or Mulder) of does he extend the rotation to eight (Matthews and Mulder)?
Personally, I want to see them both play so well that it forces Cal to play them both 10 minutes or more per game.
It should be fun to watch, regardless.
I wonder if Cal plays them both close to equal minutes or if he goes with the one that plays the best for most of the minutes by the end of the season?
Cal said he wants to play 6-7 guys most of the minutes. We know who the top six should be. Will he work down to seven (Matthews or Mulder) of does he extend the rotation to eight (Matthews and Mulder)?
Personally, I want to see them both play so well that it forces Cal to play them both 10 minutes or more per game.
It should be fun to watch, regardless.
His injury warrants a little wariness, give him time to work it out and get his mental game right and he'll give us a solid 2-3 years.
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anon_9qtxg60vqzy0y
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Groin injury, but that was like a year ago or something. It's been a while.
Solid no. 2-3 is probably it.
I agree...it will be an interesting battle between those 2 guys for backup sg/sf minutes behind Briscoe/Murray. But if we need shooting first...Mulder may have that edge.
It wouldn't shock me to see Matthews actually start. As crazy as that sounds, cal doesn't just give guys the starting spot. They gotta earn it. Skal and poy I would written in with a pen now.
We should have learned by now that it's difficult to predict how long guys are going to stay, especially those ranked outside the top 5 in high school.
I didn't expect Bledsoe or Booker to leave and I didn't expect the twins to return.
Have no idea about CM.
I didn't expect Bledsoe or Booker to leave and I didn't expect the twins to return.
Have no idea about CM.
Yeah, Skal and Poy should start for sure. I am sure Ulis will as well. I still have a hard time seeing Murray not starting, so Briscoe vs. Matthews would be the only real debate. I just feel Briscoe is going to get starter minutes regardless...but that is just IMO.
Of course if Mulder can shoot as well as they say and is as athletic as they say...he will get some run. UK has 5 guys that are pretty darn good at the 1, 2, and 3 positions. Maybe Cal can go small for a few minutes a game and run Matthews at the 4 to get all of them the minutes they deserve.
No way in hell. Who would even at the.
4thguard? Hawkins, his neck is took thick and distract the team. The linemost on here think it will be 3 guard line up.
Ulis
Briscoe
Murray
Poy
Skal.
As I mentioned, I'm not sold on this being cals staring line up
Cal loves defensive guys and from all I've seen and heard Matthews is very solid on defense. That alone could get him a look at that #6 spot on the team and get him some minutes on the floor. Way too early to determine how things will shake out with the roster but I have to say I liked what I saw the few times I was able to see Matthews play on TV this year. Also have read some good compliments about him from others outside the UK program and fan base that make it sound like we do have an underrated player in Matthews.
If Matthews and Mulder both prove to contribute, an 8-man rotation would be fine I think. If Skal and Poy get 28-30 minutes each, that leaves 20-24 mint yes for Lee. And if Ulis, Briscoe, and Murray get 28-30 apiece that gives Matthews and Murray 15-18 minutes each. That keeps everyone happy, keeps them fresh in games, and allows us to utilize everyone's strengths enough that opposing teams will have trouble with every lineup.
6 if NOT enough. At a minimum you need a front court guy off the bench, and a backcourt guy off the bench, unless you have a couple guys who can do both. Darius Miller at 6'8 was a good example of that, if he needed to he could guard a PF or a G.
I expect it to be 7 or 8.
Hopefully he comes out playing great and surprises some people this year. Then maybe he'll stay 2-3 years and be a big time player for us, but hopefully he gets recruited over and comes off the bench his whole career, and I don't mean anything bad by that. Just hopefully we're stacked and we have an experienced wing like him coming off the bench.
Guys we'll have an 8man rotation. Mulder, Mathews, and Lee. One of those guys may get a few more minutes than another but all 3 of them will get their share of minutes off the bench. 2 guys I cant wait to see are Mathews and Lee. Cant wait to see how Lee's improved his game.
I am surprised that some people are just now saying Matthews is going to be special at UK. I am one along with others that have been saying that he is going to surprise a lot of fans this year. The kid can ball ! Just how long he stays is up to him. I will be surprise if he stays 3 years.
I've said a few times on this board that Matthews will be one of the 15 best freshman in college this season. I think he starts for us, I really do. I was laughed at when I compared him to Jimmy Butler, even though it's pretty spot on. People just couldn't comprehend it when I said he could be a first round draft pick after THIS season. It could happen, this time last year everyone assumed Booker was a 2-3 year guy. The comparisons to Klay Thompson started and his stock skyrocketed.
Pretty sure that a role of glue-guy off the bench was what he was projected to be. He's only underrated if you didn't expect him to play at all.
Seven is ideal. But if your top six are head and shoulders above the others, a six man rotation can be effective. Bobby Cremins use to use almost exclusively six guys at GT and they were fairly successful.
Cal COULD play a six man rotation, IF he wanted to. If he ends up not trusting Matthews or Mulder, he might use that in tourney time.
He could start Ulis, Murray, Briscoe, Poythress, and Labissiere. He can bring Lee in for anybody. For example, If Ulis goes to the bench, then Murray and Briscoe are at the 1 and 2, Poy goes to the 3, Lee at the 4, and Labissiere at the 5.
It would break down something like this:
1 Ulis(35)/Murray(5)
2 Briscoe(35)/Murray(5)
3 Murray(25)/Poythress(15)
4 Poythress(20)/Lee(20)
5 Labissiere(30)/Lee(10)
While a six man rotation is possible, it's not probable.
I think this season we will see 8 playing double digit minutes. The top six will play 20+mpg. Then Matthews and Mulder play 10 or so a piece.
Cal used a 6-man rotation in 2012 and that worked out great. Eloy was the 7th man, but he really only got spot minutes for that team.
In 2011 Cal did the same thing, but only because he didn't have any other options after Kanter was denied eligibility.
I think this years' team has the talent to play as deep as they want. But you need your best players getting the most minutes. So I could see us sticking with a 7-man rotation with Lee and then either Matthews/Mulder as the key subs.
Not quite.
Starters:
Davis
Jones
MKG
Lamb
Teague
BENCH:
Miller
Wiltjer
Vargas
So at the very least, we ran a 7 man rotation, with 8 men appearing in most games.
I know its not exact, but I'd be shocked to see our 3 main guards all playing 35MPG.
More than likely it'll be around 30-32 MPG each, giving Matthews time to come in for 3-4 minute stretches throughout the game.
I, for one, will be disappointed if Matthews does not make the rotation, because I've been excited about him.
You are wrong. He was not rated much higher. Also I didn't even compare him to Booker as a player, so thats just nitpicking on your part. Booker is yet another reason you shouldn't pay much attention to HS rankings. He was a 17 yr 4 star out of HS and was drafted in the lotto a year later. I've never guaranteed that Matthews will be OAD, its just a prediction and I don't see why its out of the realm of possibility.
You did compare the possibility of Matthews being OAD with what happened to Booker. Booker was RSCI #23, Matthews is #50. That's a significant difference when you consider only 13 freshman were drafted last month. Also ESPN had Booker as a five star recruit.
It's not out of the realm of possibility but there's also no reason to set such lofty expectations on the kid. I'm sure he'll come in and work hard to help his team the best he can.
You can maybe make an argument that Wiltjer was "in the rotation." He averaged about 4 ppg in 9 mpg from the start of the SEC season on. I don't really count that as being a rotation player, but if you do then you have a more liberal definition than what I use.
Vargas could not be considered a rotation player under virtually any definition. He only got 3 mpg, and chipped in 7 points TOTAL during that stretch.
Guys its not that hard to figure this out! We'll roll with an 8man rotation this year. Mulder, Mathews, and Lee off the bench. Both Mulder and Mathews are going to be really good for us. Now onw of them may break away from the other but they're both going to get minutes. To me an 8man rotation is picture perfect anyways.
Well I just pointed it out because you said Vargas was our 7th man, when, as you just said, he was a very distant 8th.
But Wiltjer averaged double-digit minutes, and played in every single game for a national championship team that boasted 6 NBA draft picks, I'd say that counts as being "in-the-rotation", in every sense of the word.
Do you expect to see much improvement from Lee? If so what areas?
I just would like to see him improve his FT% by +10 or so.
I could see our rotation looking similar to the one in 2012, when it comes to the way minutes are split:
Ulis(Teague)- 32.6mpg
Labissiere(Davis)- 32mpg
Murray(Lamb)- 31.2mpg
Briscoe(Kidd-Gilchrist)- 31.1mpg
Poythress(Jones)- 29.3mpg
Lee(Miller)- 26.1mpg
Matthews(Wiltjer)- 11.6mpg
Mulder(Vargas)- 6mpg
Might see a little more for Matthews or Mulder and a little less for Lee depending on foul trouble.
Ulis(Teague)- 32.6mpg
Labissiere(Davis)- 32mpg
Murray(Lamb)- 31.2mpg
Briscoe(Kidd-Gilchrist)- 31.1mpg
Poythress(Jones)- 29.3mpg
Lee(Miller)- 26.1mpg
Matthews(Wiltjer)- 11.6mpg
Mulder(Vargas)- 6mpg
Might see a little more for Matthews or Mulder and a little less for Lee depending on foul trouble.
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