Who like me still thinks we get at least one more player to this years roster, and who thinks its done?
Does anyone else actually still feel like we get one last recruit?
- Thread starter TyCatPrice14
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I think we will get one more player. I hope like hell it is Murray. I have nothing against Vick, and feel he would be a fine contribution to the team, but Murray gives UK another stud guard to go along with a starting 3 of Ulis and Briscoe. That is the best backcourt in the nation IMO.
I believe we will get Vick who has a very high up-side. I love Murray's game BUT AT 6'5" and wanting to be a point guard in the NBA I doubt he comes. Would love to have him he's a awesome prospect!
It seems to me that the longer this strings out the less likely it becomes,Cal appears to be working hard to add a player or two so he must feel there is a need to add to the class.Which do you feel is the greatest need ,a SF or a back-up big?
The way it's gone Murray will opt for South Idaho State and Vick will be a walk-on at Duke.
Big's have mostly been signed and might be hard to find a good one .A 6'5" point guard Id take or a 6'5" SF with tremendous up side. I'd take one or both. Run the floor shoot the 3 take it to the hole. Transition basketball we will be a very quick team! IMHO
It's not done, for sure. Cal has a news conference every year to announce the new signees, once they are all signed. He hasn't done that yet.
Someone mentioned that John Wall didn't commit until late May. We just saw Swanigan decommit and supposedly sign somewhere else. Mizzou just got a late signee. There may be others out there Cal knows about but we don't. Maybe one or more of the UF players wants to leave. High school years are not over either, and there may be more reclassifications before summer.
Someone mentioned that John Wall didn't commit until late May. We just saw Swanigan decommit and supposedly sign somewhere else. Mizzou just got a late signee. There may be others out there Cal knows about but we don't. Maybe one or more of the UF players wants to leave. High school years are not over either, and there may be more reclassifications before summer.
Neither.
The greatest need is a scorer/shooter on the perimeter. So Murray is the number one priority.
You don't have to play a traditional SF.
As for a backup big, we have one of the best in the country in Marcus Lee. He'll get starter minutes.
That doesn't leave many minutes for another guy. Those other few minutes can go to Willis.
If you believe that, then you believe all the uncommitted players are engaged in a conspiracy to avoid UK. Everyone just needs to get a grip.
Our biggest remaining need is another big who can play 4 or 5. Not even close. But that doesn't mean that there aren't other remaining needs.
I agree,of course you take Murray if you can get him,but a 4 or 5 gives the team more balance.Mulder,Matthews and Briscoe give us enough to live with at the 2 and 3,we are thin in more ways than one up front.
Disagree.
We have three 5-star players at the 4-5 spots. All three are going to need to get minutes.
Labissiere is going to get 25-30 minutes per game.
Poythress is going to get 25-30 minutes per game.
Lee will get 20-25 minutes per game.
That doesn't leave many minutes for a fourth player.
Willis needs to steps up and give us a few minutes at the 4.
Also, we have Wynyard possibly coming in second semester.
I don't see a backup big as being as important as adding another shooter/scorer.
Vick will be at UK imo, but you never know with this class. We also might need another big. What happens if Skal is ineligible?
So you are fine with a couple of 4-stars with no D-1 experience at the 3 spot, yet you think we need another big to go with our other three top 20 ranked 5-stars (two of which have Final Four experience)?
I can understand your concern about needing some muscle, but I think we are plenty big enough.
In 2012, we had Davis, Jones, and Wiltjer (Vargas rarely played). Labissiere is the same size as Davis. Poythress is about the same size as Jones. Lee is much stronger than a Freshman Wiltjer.
I think we are fine inside. We need an elite guard/wing that can shoot and score. That's why Cal is all over Murray.
All objective signs say Wynyard will not play until the following season. There isn't 1 objective reason to think Wynyard will play 2nd semester next year. No argument with Labissiere, Lee, Poythress. All 3 are good, but with strengths and weaknesses. Lee has no offensive game outside 3 feet from the basket, and Poythress is coming back from major knee surgery. Lee and Labissiere both weigh 220 pounds. It's a nice group of players, but not enough to hold up through a physical 35-40 game season. And Lee is not a 5, which means we will be in trouble against top opponents if Labissiere gets into foul trouble. You have listed your assumptions about minutes as if they are a fact, but we don't actually know yet who will play which minutes. You also don't take into account the possibility of injuries. Although Willis is a darling of some on this board, I have little confidence in him based on his body of work at UK so far. Some will say Willis will be fine if given a chance to play. But that is wishful thinking, not based on actual performance. The real reason Willis hasn't had a chance to play is because he has not practiced well. Both Willis and Calipari have acknowledged this. So I disagree with you. We need 1 more big. We could also use another perimeter scorer. I have no doubt that adding 1 of each would make our team much better. Whether or not Calipari can get them, I don't know. But there is still a chance that he could sign either, or both.
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Well what happens if Alex gets hurt again or another big gets hurt? We can't rely on Willis
Yeah because Cal has a terrible track record with 6'5 point guards and also with having two eventual max contract point guards on the same college team.
I think the staff is searching the transfers/jucos/grad students near and far as we speak. Look for one or two more to come on board and if one of them happens to be the Vick kid, be very happy.
If Cal can get Murray to reclassify (when he doesn't need to), go to college (when he doesn't have to), come to UK and play and defend essentially the 3 spot (which he has never had to), with two other elite pg's already on board then Cal deserves all the money that the University and state can throw at him. With that being said, if anyone can pull it off... Cal can but I'm not optimistic.
Can't worry about injuries. If Anthony Davis went down in 2012, we lose early in the tourney despite having Wiltjer or Vargas or anybody. So you lose a star like Labissiere, it's going to be tough no matter who is behind them.
Any disagreement about that?
Another big would be great, but not as important as signing a scorer/shooter on the wing.
Murray takes us to another level.
Any big we sign just adds depth.
As for Wynyard, who knows what he will do, but he graduates in December and goes on summer break (yes, in New Zealand the seasons are backwards from ours because it's the Southern Hemisphere).
Most players report in the summer to get ready for the season. Unless his parents want him to stay home for one last summer (possible) then he will likely report to get a head start on the next year.
Whether he plays or not remains to be seen. Personally, I think he sits even if he comes, but if someone gets hurt, he might end up playing if they can get him ready.
And personally, I don't see Willis doing a lot, but we probably don't need him to do much.
So bottom line for me is that we could use a backup big, but we really need another shooter/scorer (Murray or bust) on the perimeter to put us over the top.
That's a good take actually. Could we use another big? Sure. It would be nice to add some depth. But I think Lee will be a fine backup at the 4/5 if no one gets hurt. A scoring wing, especially Murray, would be more immediately useful.
I said it in another post that this team will be a hybrid of the 2010 and 2012 team. It could have 2 point guards playing side by side like 2010 and similar players at the 4/5 as the 2012 team. The only real weak spot is at the 3 as of right now. The 3 was pretty weak in 2010 and was mostly an energy guy/defender in 2012. I'd love to have another MKG but don't see that happening this year. We just need one more big guard and we can run a 3 guard offense. Villanova has done pretty well playing like that but always seems to lack an elite level big man like we will have. I think we will be a much quicker team then any since Coach Cal has been here. I look for a lot more fast break points with lots of alley-oops.
Good take.
Very similar to 2010, except we don't have that kind of beef inside.
Two PGs, good bigs inside, and likely 2-3 unproven guys trying to fill the SF spot.
As it stands right now, I would take the same results (an Elite Eight appearance) with this team.
6"5" is the least height the NBA really wants their point guards to be There are some exceptions. I don't expect to get Murray anyway. The Memphis kid I'd take for a SF. He is 6'5" and can hit the long ball, has midrange game and can dunk it in your face. Would add another quick player to the team that will have good speed in transition We will be fast with a new 30 second clock and speed will be something the team will have.
This makes 0 sense.
Steph Curry, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, John Wall, Jeff Teague, Eric Bledsoe, Kyle Lowry, Ty Lawson, Mike Conley, Isaiah Thomas.
Those are the top 12 PG's using PER value for the entire season. Not one of those players is 6'5". In fact, it's not until you get to #24 on the list, Jordan Clarkson, that you get to a guy listed at 6'5" or more.
Yes, I disagree with some of what you said. While it is true that losing your best player to an injury can doom a team's fortunes, that doesn't mean that you don't plan for unexpected developments. Just because a thin team won the championship in 2012, that doesn't mean it's good to have a thin team. We have plenty of open scholarships, and it would be best to use some of them. The upshot of your previous posts was that Labissiere, Lee, Poythress, and Willis are enough baseline players. There, we disagree. Now, you admit that you don't expect much from Willis. OTOH, I don't expect as much from Lee as you do. People still overestimate Lee because he was a 5 star out of high school. This just shows the problem with ratings. Lee is a 1 dimensional player, although his 1 dimension is pretty good. Lee can really leap which makes him a good rebounder and shot blocker. His defense has improved. But he has no offensive game at all, and he shoots 40% from the free throw line. I don't see Lee improving much on the offensive end. These weaknesses are exploitable. This year, Calipari was able to hide them. In some matchups, Lee will be effective because of his hops. But when we need points from our bigs, Lee must sit. When the opponent posts up Lee and pushes him around, he will have to sit. When opponents foul Lee as a strategy, he will have to sit. You probably disagree, but I think time will confirm this. So, in some games, Calipari will be forced to play Labissiere and Poythress for 32-35 minutes. If 1 of them gets into foul trouble, Calipari may have to use Lee in a bad matchup, which may cost us a couple games. Lee himself is also foul prone. We could really use 1 more big. Nothing Wynyard has said suggests he will play next year. He seems to be teed up for the following year, which is why he is listed everywhere as a member of the following class. And yes, we could also use another perimeter scorer too. I don't doubt that Matthews and Mulder are good additions, but it is not clear if they will be ready to contribute at a high level right away. I don't know how much Willis and Hawkins will ever give us. We need another big and another wing.
