comparing this year's team/talent to last year

[bucsrule8872]

I am curious about our shooting. I would think we will shoot the ball better from the perimeter this season, but who knows?

Murray looks like he could be the best clutch shooter we have seen under Cal (which is saying a lot).

Ulis should be just as accurate or better than last year and should get more shots.

Hopefully Mulder's shooting translates to D-1.

Briscoe is not known as a great shooter, but seems to be capable.

Matthews is not suppose to be a great shooter, but might surprise.

Poythress has not shot the ball well from 3 since his Freshman year, but seems capable of shooting the 3 ball.

Labissiere seems to have a nice jumper, but I don't see him being out on the perimeter based on what Cal likes to do with his bigs. If he didn't let Davis or Towns shoot many 3's, I can't see him letting any other big men.

Ditto for Lee and Humphries.

 

[jarms24]

The Harrison's legacy is always going to be open to debate. It's a question of measurables vs unmeasurables. The twins had one huge measurable in their favor- being 2 huge parts of 2 FF teams, including one that won 38 straight games- but they also had a lot arguing against them. It's right there in black and white that they combined to shoot 247/637 last year (.388), and 95/281 from 3 (.330). The rest of the team shot .502 overall and .359 from 3. The combined stats from their freshmen year were slightly better, but still along the same lines.

So the question is always going to be whether the twins were beneficiaries of playing with great talent, or whether they were helping their teams in ways that weren't necessarily showing up in the stats. In it's simplest form-how much was their size influencing the game, on offense and defense, compared to the obvious fact that they were inefficient shooters who simply missed a lot?

I don't know the answer. I'm not going to dismiss the twins like some do, because they combined to play over 1/4 th of the minutes for a team that won 38 games in a row. That's no small thing. However, I'm also not going to completely ignore their obvious deficiencies. What I suspect is going to happen this year is that UK will, at times, look like a much better offensive team than last year. Ulis and Murray are better shooters than either twin, I suspect Mulder is too, and Briscoe is at least as good as Andrew. At the same time, there are going to be a lot of times where UK is just going to seem far less intimidating because the twins are no longer here.

Excellent post!

 

[bigblueinsanity]

Our top 5 players will be better. Last year we had 1 elite player (KAT). This year we will have 2, maybe even 3 elite players in the starting 5 .

But a pretty severe drop off in players 5-10 from last year.

 

[Jazzycat]

UK had a lot of experience returning last year....guys that had been to two final fours. That makes a big difference....Ullis, Poythress, Lee and Dawkins are left from that team who have been to the FF. The incoming guys are unknowns at this point. UK will not have the dominant size down low that they had last year with Johnson, CS and Towns. Hopefully, what they lack in size will pay dividends in quickness and strength to finish at the hoop.

 

[KnowsAllTellsAll]

A couple of ways I would defend Kentucky's perimeter players (KU vs Kentucky).

Graham (6'2) vs Ulis (5'7). This is one where you just ask Graham to front Ulis and try to use his height advantage to prevent entry passes and deny shooting opportunities for Ulis. Graham is a very good defender, Ulis will have quickness on his side, so staying in front of him is easier said than donel Try to make Ulis a penetrator which was not a strength of his his freshman year (and of course, a part of his game which could be remedied with off season practice).

Mason (5'10) vs Briscoe (6'3). Mason is an average defender, but is a pit bull strength wise (albeit at 185, is giving up 20 pounds on Briscoe). Again, give Briscoe some space on defense tempting him to take an outside jump shot, where he is simply average. By giving him space you take away his strength which is penetrating and going to the free throw line. I think the strength advantage Briscoe had in high school is immediately gone moving up against college players. That's why I'm not sold on him being a one and done. He is also ball dominant and that won't fly with Calipari who, like most great coaches, wants to keep that ball moving.

Selden (6'6 230 lbs) vs Murray (6'4 201 lbs) - Selden also is an average defender, but has an experience and size advantage. I'm a homer and think Selden will have the better season next season, but will freshman Murray be the player we saw in the Nike Hoops Summit and Pan Am (?) games or will he be the player before that (weaknesses were shooting and ball handling and playing aggressively at all times). Personally, I think he'll be the former and I am going to call this match up a pick-em.

 

[jarms24]

A couple of ways I would defend Kentucky's perimeter players (KU vs Kentucky).

Didn't you just say in another thread to 55 that you weren't a KU fan?

 

[bucsrule8872]

A couple of ways I would defend Kentucky's perimeter players (KU vs Kentucky).

Graham (6'2) vs Ulis (5'7). This is one where you just ask Graham to front Ulis and try to use his height advantage to prevent entry passes and deny shooting opportunities for Ulis. Graham is a very good defender, Ulis will have quickness on his side, so staying in front of him is easier said than donel Try to make Ulis a penetrator which was not a strength of his his freshman year (and of course, a part of his game which could be remedied with off season practice).

Mason (5'10) vs Briscoe (6'3). Mason is an average defender, but is a pit bull strength wise (albeit at 185, is giving up 20 pounds on Briscoe). Again, give Briscoe some space on defense tempting him to take an outside jump shot, where he is simply average. By giving him space you take away his strength which is penetrating and going to the free throw line. I think the strength advantage Briscoe had in high school is immediately gone moving up against college players. That's why I'm not sold on him being a one and done. He is also ball dominant and that won't fly with Calipari who, like most great coaches, wants to keep that ball moving.

Selden (6'6 230 lbs) vs Murray (6'4 201 lbs) - Selden also is an average defender, but has an experience and size advantage. I'm a homer and think Selden will have the better season next season, but will freshman Murray be the player we saw in the Nike Hoops Summit and Pan Am (?) games or will he be the player before that (weaknesses were shooting and ball handling and playing aggressively at all times). Personally, I think he'll be the former and I am going to call this match up a pick-em.

Nice analysis, though a bit biased.

But Ulis is listed at 5'9, not 5'7. And Selden is listed at 6'5, not 6'6.

Just FYI.

 

[KnowsAllTellsAll]

Didn't you just say in another thread to 55 that you weren't a KU fan?

I have actually stated in more than a few threads that I am a KU fan.

 

[KnowsAllTellsAll]

Nice analysis, though a bit biased.

But Ulis is listed at 5'9, not 5'7. And Selden is listed at 6'5, not 6'6.

Just FYI.

Thanks.

I did post I was a homer But tried to be objective.

 

[At least 23 Ws in 22 of past 35 seasons_UK 1980-81]

A couple of ways I would defend Kentucky's perimeter players (KU vs Kentucky).

Graham (6'2) vs Ulis (5'7). This is one where you just ask Graham to front Ulis and try to use his height advantage to prevent entry passes and deny shooting opportunities for Ulis. Graham is a very good defender, Ulis will have quickness on his side, so staying in front of him is easier said than done. Try to make Ulis a penetrator which was not a strength of his his freshman year (and of course, a part of his game which could be remedied with off season practice).

Very early into last season's UK-KU match-up, Graham and one of the Harrisons dove for a loose ball and Graham immediately left the game, holding his head, never to return, which left KU without its most natural PG.

(When Self signed Graham, he said he was the first, starter-caliber "true PG" he'd signed in quite a few years; Mason is and Tharpe was a 2-guard playing PG.)

In last season's match-up, Ulis, Poythress and Lee all scored 4 pts each, Willis 5, and Floreal 1 (18 of the team's 72 pts = exactly 25%). Those five also combined for 12 boards (with Lee having 7, Poy 3, and Ulis 2 = 12 of team's 44 rbs = 27%).

(Note: KU will return 62% of the team rebounds from that game. Cliff Alexander had 8 boards.)

 

[jarms24]

I have actually stated in more than a few threads that I am a KU fan.

Gotcha, went back and looked and you were saying you weren't a fan of Helm's banners. My mistake.

 

[Trouthound]

I think comparing your team this year to last years (while completely natural) is a little unfair to your new fellas.

Last year's Kentucky team was special. I hated them, of course, but anyone who doesn't recognize how good that team was needs to start watching soccer because they clearly don't know basketball.

I still believe depth will be an issue for UK, but could be a hidden strength as well. Your starting five +2 are gonna see a TON of minutes together on the floor. That is valuable and will grow those freshmen up quickly. And they play a BRUTAL non-con, which if it does not kill them, will make them stronger.

You should waltz through the weak (but getting stronger) SEC. And the hawks will win number 12.

Still think the Hawks are better this year. Would love to beat you by 35, but think we win by 8 in Allen.

Sincerely hope you stay healthy. Injuries would really hurt a very talented, but not terribly deep team. And I don't worry about POY. Players bounce back from that injury nowadays. May be even better.

 

[rolaid]

NCAA tourney is about guard play ..... This year's backcourt will be better with out the 37% shooting twins

 

[ia.ukfan]

House keeping item, ia.ukfan, make your comments outside the quote bracket so they work properly.

Now to your comment, athleticism is more than just speed and jumping. Strength, reaction times, hand eye, etc are all factors of athleticism. For example, WCS was very fast for his size but his reaction times and hand eye coordination were also well above the line. That combination made him a one of a kind defender. The Harrisons and Towns had all three abilities in great quantity. These qualities made them standout in the SEC.

I stand by my comment that the the 2015 team was hands down more athletic. Will 2016 exceed their accomplishments as a basketball team? That's quite possible as the 2016 team is quite skilled. However the bar is very very high. Takes athletics, skill and teamwork to jump over 38 - 1. Let's give them a chance to prove themselves.

Let's also not set the standard so high that some thing less becomes failure.

sorry about that. I've never had that happen.

I feel you though. Overall we've got some high class problems. It's great to have the opportunity to argue if our next squad will be as good as the last, considering the last went 38-1. Great time to be a UK fan!

 

[bucsrule8872]

Since KU was mentioned, I think UK matches up very well with KU, especially size-wise:

Projected Starters
G Ulis(5'9) vs. Mason(5'11)
G Briscoe(6'3) vs. Graham(6'2)
G Murray(6'4) vs. Selden(6'5)
F Poythress(6'8) vs. Ellis(6'8)
F Labissiere(6'11) vs. Diallo(6'9)

Key Reserves
G Mulder(6'4) vs. Greene(6'7)
G Matthews(6'6) vs. Mykhailiuk(6'8)
F Lee(6'9) vs. Bragg(6'9)
F Humphries(7'0) vs. Traylor(6'8)

I don't think either coach will go more than 9 deep in this late January contest. Both coaches will have tightened up their rotation by then, getting ready for the postseason.

KU has a little more size on the perimeter. UK is slightly bigger up front (even if Mickelson finally delivers, KU is still a few inches smaller at the 5 spot).

I don't think size will play a huge role, but I think it's interesting to note.

I think UK's team will be quicker and more athletic across the board.

KU has more depth inside, but I don't think it will matter much as both coaches will play their top 8-9 guys and I doubt Self goes deep down into his bench in this game.

The experience factor won't mean much that late in the season. Our key Freshmen will have twenty something games under their belts by then including big games against Duke, UofL, @UCLA, and OSU. Plus a conference road game against LSU that should test them.

I still think KU finally beats us with it being at the Phog. It should be a great game, though.