Derek Willis: “We’re the most talented team every year, regardless of what anyone says."

[Smashcat]

CoachCal.com ‏@CoachCalDotCom 2h2 hours ago

Derek Willis: “We’re the most talented team every year, regardless of what anyone says." http://www.coachcal.com/35458/2015/10/cats-shrug-off-pressure-expectations-entering-new-season/… pic.twitter.com/GeGjzU9nzo

 

[FlCATFan]

I love the attitude that Derek shows here.

 

[ThroughBlue]

I hope he is working his butt off because a 6'9 body with his skill set and athleticism will make us that much more talented

 

[Bkocats]

several great quotes on that article, really -

“Win a national title. That’s our expectation every year,” senior forward Alex Poythress said. “That’s what we strive to do.”

“With the guys that we have coming in, we have great players,” Ulis said. “Once again, we reloaded. It’s not like seven players left and nobody came in. We have a lot of good players here. We’re going to be a different team, a lot different from last year – we were a lot bigger last year – but we’re going to have fun.”

“I don’t really think there’s any pressure,” Floreal said. “What happened last year is with last year’s team, and I was blessed to be a part of that, but we’re not last year’s team. We’re not living on any of last year’s legacy. We’re a totally different team trying to do something completely different. If it so happens that that happens, that’s great, but we’re just trying to be the best team that we can be in order to reach the goals we want to reach.”

“As a team, I expect to win a national title,” Ulis said. “That’s what I want to do, that’s what we all want to do as a team. I don’t know if we can do what we did last year, but if we can that’s great, if not then if we win the national title that’s even better. That’s what we want to do.”

love their attitudes

 

[brianpoe]

Derek Willis: “We’re the most talented team every year, regardless of what anyone says."


Cue CutNets hating on Cal for lack of titles... 3, 2, 1, ....

 

[Mike-D]

Derek Willis: “We’re the most talented team every year, regardless of what anyone says."


Cue CutNets hating on Cal for lack of titles... 3, 2, 1, ....

You read my mind

 

[dlh331]

KU was very similar to UK in 2010

2011 no way UK was most talented

2012 a strong case can be made for UNC

2013 no for UK

2014 UK was but 5 Frosh starters

2015 UK and Duke were most talented

2016 UK is

Darryl

 

[Mike-D]

KU was very similar to UK in 2010

2011 no way UK was most talented

2012 a strong case can be made for UNC

2013 no for UK

2014 UK was but 5 Frosh starters

2015 UK and Duke were most talented

2016 UK is

Darryl

No, we had all of the best teams, and we had ALL of the best players in college basketball EVERY year.

Signed,

CUT-NETS

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

Derek is my fav because he comes from my old stompin grounds in Shepherdsville.

 

[kyjeff1]

I'll say we had the most talent in 10/12/14/15 and now 16. That's incredible. I'm not going to go all cutnets on you but I do believe we should have had 3 titles out of those teams. I still shake my head at what happened with that 2010 team. My goodness that team was incredible. The talent was just unreal.

 

[ORCAT]

I'll say we had the most talent in 10/12/14/15 and now 16. That's incredible. I'm not going to go all cutnets on you but I do believe we should have had 3 titles out of those teams. I still shake my head at what happened with that 2010 team. My goodness that team was incredible. The talent was just unreal.

2010 is still the team that bothers me to this day. I loved that group of players and the talent on that team was amazing. One bad game happened and it was over. I wanted the title for those guys as much as I did for all UK fans, it was just a very special group of kids to me. Still nags at me that they didn't win it all, dang it.

 

[Mike-D]

I'll say we had the most talent in 10/12/14/15 and now 16. That's incredible. I'm not going to go all cutnets on you but I do believe we should have had 3 titles out of those teams. I still shake my head at what happened with that 2010 team. My goodness that team was incredible. The talent was just unreal.

Not sure why people think the 2014 11 loss team was the most talented team in college basketball that year. We weren't even the best team in our own conference. Florida beat us 3 times. We were an 8 seed in the tournament.

The most talented teams in college basketball don't lose 3 times to the same team, and end up as an 8 seed.

2010, 2012, and 2015 I can agree with. 2015 Duke was a lot closer to matching our talent 1-6 or 7 than people want to realize, though. They were also a better offensive team, and by the tournament they were playing their best defense of the year. 2012 UNC was also a great team. The bottom line is the best team doesn't win it all every year.

 

[catben]

I want every UK player to have this attitude every year!!! Hope to see Derek improve to the point that he gets some PT!!

 

[kyjeff1]

Just because we lost some games doesn't mean we weren't the most talented. The team just didn't jell and that's going to happen occasionally when you roll the dice with freshmen every year.

 

[Stonewall12]

Wait, Willis is still on the team?

 

[brianpoe]

I'll say we had the most talent in 10/12/14/15 and now 16. That's incredible. I'm not going to go all cutnets on you but I do believe we should have had 3 titles out of those teams. I still shake my head at what happened with that 2010 team. My goodness that team was incredible. The talent was just unreal.

2010 is still the team that bothers me to this day. I loved that group of players and the talent on that team was amazing. One bad game happened and it was over. I wanted the title for those guys as much as I did for all UK fans, it was just a very special group of kids to me. Still nags at me that they didn't win it all, dang it.

I love Cal but I definitely put 2010 and 2015 on him.

Call a timeout. I have been so impressed with how well respond after TO's with Cal.

It cannot be that hard to say STOP shooting 3's attack the basket, I dont care how collapsed the zone is. PPat and Cousins can handle it, just drive.

Draw up a play to get the ball inside to Towns. 4 minutes and a 6 point lead is not the time to drain the clock.

Proper use of TO's and I think we have those other two titles.

Wouldnt trade the guy though.

 

[Smashcat]

several great quotes on that article, really -

“Win a national title. That’s our expectation every year,” senior forward Alex Poythress said. “That’s what we strive to do.”

“With the guys that we have coming in, we have great players,” Ulis said. “Once again, we reloaded. It’s not like seven players left and nobody came in. We have a lot of good players here. We’re going to be a different team, a lot different from last year – we were a lot bigger last year – but we’re going to have fun.”

“I don’t really think there’s any pressure,” Floreal said. “What happened last year is with last year’s team, and I was blessed to be a part of that, but we’re not last year’s team. We’re not living on any of last year’s legacy. We’re a totally different team trying to do something completely different. If it so happens that that happens, that’s great, but we’re just trying to be the best team that we can be in order to reach the goals we want to reach.”

“As a team, I expect to win a national title,” Ulis said. “That’s what I want to do, that’s what we all want to do as a team. I don’t know if we can do what we did last year, but if we can that’s great, if not then if we win the national title that’s even better. That’s what we want to do.”

love their attitudes

 

[kyjeff1]

I love Cal but I definitely put 2010 and 2015 on him.

Call a timeout. I have been so impressed with how well respond after TO's with Cal.

It cannot be that hard to say STOP shooting 3's attack the basket, I dont care how collapsed the zone is. PPat and Cousins can handle it, just drive.

Draw up a play to get the ball inside to Towns. 4 minutes and a 6 point lead is not the time to drain the clock.

Proper use of TO's and I think we have those other two titles.

Wouldnt trade the guy though.

As much as I hate to admit it I agree with this. Don't think I am hating on Cal, I'm in no way doing that but those losses were a direct result of bad coaching decisions but I would still never trade him for snyone, he has more than proven himself. Worth every penny he's paid.

 

[brianpoe]

As much as I hate to admit it I agree with this. Don't think I am hating on Cal, I'm in no way doing that but those losses were a direct result of bad coaching decisions but I would still never trade him for snyone, he has more than proven himself. Worth every penny he's paid.

I didn't think you hated on him at all. You made valid points, much better than you do when it comes to talking Kansas!

 

[kyjeff1]

I didn't think you hated on him at all. You made valid points, much better than you do when it comes to talking Kansas!

Nice one BP.

 

[brianpoe]

Nice one BP.

I have liked you a long time brother, just giving you a bit of a hard time over there.

 

[SilentsAreGolden]

KU was very similar to UK in 2010

2012 a strong case can be made for UNC

Darryl

You lost all credibility with that one.

 

[kyjeff1]

I have liked you a long time brother, just giving you a bit of a hard time over there.

Same here Brian, I probably went too far in the other thread, probably should have rephrased some things. Probably should have just let it go. I got a little hot when I shouldn't have. I still hate seeing so many KU threads. It is what it is.

 

[kyjeff1]

You lost all credibility with that one.

Yeah I thought that was odd too. KU had a really good team but on par with UK-2010? Eeeeeeee, no.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

Not always most skilled. Shooting too often an Achilles Heel.

 

[ymmot31]

Willis injured his finger in practice today, will miss about two weeks. Not serious.

 

[BBUK]

Nice one BP.

You guys need to get a room. Geez...

 

[Sithlyone]

I think some in this thread have confused Wins and Talent. A good amount of things can happen in the course of a game to cause a team to lose, Talent is only one of those factors. Bad shooting night, bad game plan, Poor execution of said game plan, Injuries, Kid catching a cold, outside distractions and lack of focus among other things. Talent can only overcome so much at any given time. Also lets not forget that the other team is trying to win as well and sometimes their coach knows how to maximize their advantages and minimize their deficiencies.

This explains why a more talented team doesn't always win a game, let alone the National championship.

I love Cal and want him to stay forever, however he has some room to grow in the game management department. My personal opinion is that he takes the NBA's approach of "letting them play" to liberally at times. Sometimes the kids just appear to need to be reeled in and settled down. That is my one and only complaint about him so please don't kill me for it. He's the coach and has gotten us this far, I don't think I could do a better job.

 

[Kybluedude]

Wait, Willis is still on the team?

Really? How stupid.

 

[kyjeff1]

You guys need to get a room. Geez...

Wow.

 

[brianpoe]

You guys need to get a room. Geez...

Feeling left out there pilgrim....?

 

[BBUK]

Feeling left out there pilgrim....?

You know it. Had to get my two cents in and I know I can't do it discussing basketball. Might as well try messing with you....just a little bit. Be Good

Note: That's probably one of the two or three movies of the 250 or so John made I haven't watched. (I have it but can't bring myself to watch it.)

 

[brianpoe]

You know it. Had to get my two cents in and I know I can't do it discussing basketball. Might as well try messing with you....just a little bit. Be Good

Note: That's probably one of the two or three movies of the 250 or so John made I haven't watched. (I have it but can't bring myself to watch it.)

You still the man BBUK, I put you up there with Don.

That is why I chose that photo - Ghengis Khan? Really Duke????

 

[BBUK]

You still the man BBUK, I put you up there with Don.

That is why I chose that photo - Ghengis Khan? Really Duke????

I'll try to earn that compliment. An amazing post. Thanks

Yes...there are I think three movies I haven't been able to bring myself to watch...why I don't know. May be keeping them for a special viewing.

Thanks a ton again. That meant something..

 

[Stonewall12]

Really? How stupid.

Right over your head.

 

[.S&C.]

KU was very similar to UK in 2010

2011 no way UK was most talented

2012 a strong case can be made for UNC

2013 no for UK

2014 UK was but 5 Frosh starters

2015 UK and Duke were most talented

2016 UK is

Darryl

This myth that UNC was as talented as UK in 2012 needs to die. The way you made it sound is complete UNC fan BS.

They were a really good team that year. But UK with Jones, MKG, not to mention a guy people might have heard of in Anthony Davis, UK was clearly better than UNC. Clearly.

This is something lots of UNC fans peddled around and it's simply not true. 2012 UK was one of the more dominant teams of the last decade. UNC was soft as charmine and wouldn't have won a title anyway.

 

[.S&C.]

I love Cal but I definitely put 2010 and 2015 on him.

Call a timeout. I have been so impressed with how well respond after TO's with Cal.

It cannot be that hard to say STOP shooting 3's attack the basket, I dont care how collapsed the zone is. PPat and Cousins can handle it, just drive.

Draw up a play to get the ball inside to Towns. 4 minutes and a 6 point lead is not the time to drain the clock.

Proper use of TO's and I think we have those other two titles.

Wouldnt trade the guy though.

Upon making extremely similar statements, I've been raped, saturated with honey, and hung from my balls on bear mountain.......

 

[BIGBLUE402]

This myth that UNC was as talented as UK in 2012 needs to die. They were a really good team that year. But UK with Jones, MKG, And not to mention a guy people might have heard of in Anthony Davis were better than UNC, clearly.

This is something lots of UNC fans peddled around and it's simply not true. 2012 UK was one of the more dominant teams of the last decade. UNC was soft as charmine and wouldn't have won a title anyway.

Agreed, how can you say a team is the most talented when they lost by 33 to a average fsu?!

Now if it was by 10 or maybe 15 okay but if 2012. UK played that game and had the worse game imaginable They wouldn't get ran out the gym like that UNC team did.

 

[.S&C.]

Agreed, how can you say a team is the most talented when they lost by 33 to a average fsu?!

Now if it was by 10 or maybe 15 okay but if 2012. UK played that game and had the worse game imaginable They wouldn't get ran out the gym like that UNC team did.

And I'm not taking anything away from UNC. They were the 2nd or 3rd best team that year in all probability. They weren't UK good.

I think people run wth this due to PG issues, injuries, and keeping the game close at rupp. However UK was a well oiled machine by March, and UNC was just a really good team. UK would've beat a healthy UNC just as easily when it mattered. I don't give a rats ass about freshman UK players in a November/December game, but HEY!!.......they won anyway.

One quality people overlook in regards to that UNC team is TOUGHNESS. UK had it, Unc**NEVER had it. It takes toughness to win a title.

We laugh at Billy G for using that word, but seriously that word makes or breaks your title dreams. UNC ended up nothing more in the end than a good elite eight team because they weren't tough enough to make it happen. They should never be said in the same breath as UK '12.

Pretty wild.

 

[Blueaz]

Right over your head.

Noting gets over his head, his reflexes are too fast