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I believe Ulis will test the waters this year reguardless of his draft position. His stock will never be higher and he can always finish his degree free in the future. I do not see Ulis as a starter but I see him as someone to come off the bench and give some quality minutes in relief.
Agree.
Ulis is never, ever going 1st round, unless he suddenly starts to shoot it like Calvin Murphy. Even then, it would be a matter of a team willing to take a big, unpredictable swing for him to go 1st round.
Ulis knows this. If his goal is to play professionally (which it clearly is), it's not going to make a lot of difference when he leaves UK. Which is why I think he's gonzo after this season.
I am really surprised that Skal is still in the Top 10 of most of 2016 NBA Mock Draft Boards and most have him going at #5 and Murray is still top 10 and has play well and consistent avg. 17ppg. Ulis has actually moved up most of the NBA Mock Draft Boards for 2016 since the Season started. At the beginning of the season Ulis was no where to be found in most of the 2016 NBA Mock Draft Boards for 1st & 2nd Rounds. Ulis is now in the top of the 2nd round for the 2016 NBA Mock Draft Boards. If Tyler Ulis continues to play as well as he has played in the last few weeks after shoulder injury and nearly averaging 20ppg and double-digits in Assists on most nights I see him like Devin Booker last year and he will be in the 1st round by end of season. Then we have Lee and Poythress that are in most 2nd round of mock drafts as well as Briscoe. So, I say Murray, Skal Ulis, Poythress, Lee, and maybe Briscoe head into the 2016 Draft if they continue to get better and are sitting at the 1st or 2nd rounds of the draft. Most players last year that was in the 2nd round of the 2015 Mock Draft Boards entered themselves into the NBA Draft.
Ulis is no way like Booker. Booker was a lot better shooter with height and more potential than Ulis.
And if we lose all 6 Coach Cal better get us another guard. No offense to Hawkins and Mulder b ut having them as our backups to Fox and Monk make me a bit nervous.
I expect to see six guys leave.
We will likely start five Freshmen next season:
G Fox
G Monk
F Gabriel
F Adebayo
F Killeya-Jones
We will have some quality veteran role players on the bench with Willis, Hawkins, Mulder, Matthews, Humphries, and Wynyard. Plus there is a good chance we add Bolden once the bigs declare.
We will likely start five Freshmen next season:
G Fox
G Monk
F Gabriel
F Adebayo
F Killeya-Jones
We will have some quality veteran role players on the bench with Willis, Hawkins, Mulder, Matthews, Humphries, and Wynyard. Plus there is a good chance we add Bolden once the bigs declare.
I don't want to see Briscoe or Ulis back, and that's purely with their careers in mind. Our back court next year is going to be stacked. Briscoe won't see much time if he's not shooting well. Fox and Monk didn't come here to be 2nd string.
Ideally, briscoe starts shooting well, Ulis keeps opening eyes, we get a deep run, and both get drafted.
Ideally, briscoe starts shooting well, Ulis keeps opening eyes, we get a deep run, and both get drafted.
If I was Skal I'd get a high ankle sprain after the next game north of 10 pts and 5 rebs. If he returns he is at risk of losing that ever important "upside" label that's made millionaires out of countless pitiful athletes.
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I'm a little curious what everyone thinks of Ulis. I like him a lot and it's obvious he plays with a ton of heart but what does he do so well that he will get drafted and play in the NBA?
He's listed a 5'9" and he's shooting 28% from three and 39% from the field. He's a very good floor general but he's not even top 100 in the country in assist rate.
He's listed a 5'9" and he's shooting 28% from three and 39% from the field. He's a very good floor general but he's not even top 100 in the country in assist rate.
He'd be a great guard to run along side of High scoring SG. He'd be nice with guys like Klay or Butler. But other than that, idk. He does need to find his shot.
But he was basically getting 5th or 6th man minutes on last year's stacked team. Not a lot of burn. 2nd to the twins. And now he's running the team but it's only been 15 games.
But he was basically getting 5th or 6th man minutes on last year's stacked team. Not a lot of burn. 2nd to the twins. And now he's running the team but it's only been 15 games.
He's 19th in assists per game at 6.1 and has a 3.15 a/to ratio, which is probably good enough to be top 25 or so.
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/player/_/stat/assists/sort/avgAssists
But he's playing 36 mpg. Most the guys on that list have a higher AP40. He's probably somewhere right outside the top 50 if you look at that.
I honestly think Skal goes late in the first round even if he doesn't play another minute at UK. He isn't physically ready, yet (Duh). But, once he gets to the league and can devote 24/7 to his game... a NBA team will take a chance.
You can't teach size, but more importantly... you can't FIND guys near 7' who are quick and athletic. He will spend some time in the D-League, but he just has too much potential for a big at such a young age to pass on.
That's the good news for Skal and his family. The bad news for we UK fans is that we likely won't ever see the fruits of his potential in his only year here.
You can't teach size, but more importantly... you can't FIND guys near 7' who are quick and athletic. He will spend some time in the D-League, but he just has too much potential for a big at such a young age to pass on.
That's the good news for Skal and his family. The bad news for we UK fans is that we likely won't ever see the fruits of his potential in his only year here.
AHAHAHAHA . Man that is classic . No way ever while Cal is here do we lose 1 player. Murray , Ulis , Poy are gone for sure. Skal and Lee most likely. Briscoe IMO is the big ? mark.
Can't happen that way. We're oversigned and have to lose at least 4 scholarship players from this roster to free up spots for our incoming recruits (and perhaps 5 if Cal takes another recruit). If Murray's the only one going pro then Cal will have to kick guys out the door by other means.
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I'd be shocked if we don't get two of Skal, Lee, Ulis, and Briscoe back. My guess is Skal and Briscoe come back. Briscoe would have to be okay with coming off the bench. Don't know if that would push him to go or not, even if he's a projected 2nd rounder. If Ulis comes back, he's starting. We'd start 3 guards, with Ulis, Monk, and Fox. Gabriel would start at the 4, and Bam at the 5. Gonna be a fascinating few weeks next spring leading up to the deadline.
How about this? As of this moment: Gone - Poythress. Most likely gone - Murray, Ulis. Probably gone - One of Lee, Skal. My guess is these hold true, with possibility of adding Briscoe if he finishes strong.
FWIW, Skal has fallen all the way to the second round in NBAdraft.net's newest update. I'd expect that free fall to continue as the season progresses unless the kid wakes up and has a dramatic turnaround.
^ Poythress is a senior and is gone regardless. Murray should go. I don't see how much more Lee or Ulis could improve their draft position.
I like watching the development of high potential freshmen - especially with Calipari pulling the strings - and would be thrilled to watch that team next season; but I won't have a lot of hope for that team starting 5 freshmen reaching a Final 4. Bring Ulis and Lee back and I'm feeling much more giddy with expectation.
Its simply amazing. Kid has a couple of good AAU games and he's set for life. He hasn't done a damn thing at UK, not a bit of demonstrated performance, yet his size and skill set (that has yet to translate to the actual game) will get him drafted. So the story goes; gets drafted highly, comes on slowly, still developing, little to no production, gets traded, bounces around in the league, makes millions, done. All because of a couple of good AAU games.
Skal is in a tough spot. He's clearly not ready for the NBA, and won't be in a few months. He needs to come back. I bet he won't. The 2017 draft will be much deeper. Someone has to be picked in 2016, there are 32 slots, so 32 guys have to go in the first round, whether they are legit first rounders or not. Plus, as a freshmen, you can still think "he just needs strength, as he ages he'll get stronger and tougher" and take a chance based on that. The longer he stays - eventually he's thought of as "old" or "complete", this is what you've got. If he's finished two years in college, it's harder to make the "he'll get better as he gets older" argument. Deeper draft in '17, diminishing value of "potential" as he stays - those two things argue that he leaves this year.....
If Daniel Orton can go in the first round averaging 13 minutes, 3 points and 3 boards a game, anything is possible........
If Daniel Orton can go in the first round averaging 13 minutes, 3 points and 3 boards a game, anything is possible........
AP on paper does not have to leave. Has 5 years to play 4. Unless he played too many games last year.
And hopefully Cal dosent have to call his buddy tom crean up and get some spring creaning tips...
And hopefully Cal dosent have to call his buddy tom crean up and get some spring creaning tips...
Would love to have Poythress back at the 4 (and strictly at the 4) next year. That would be awesome.
Top 50 is still a far cry from the top 100 that you claimed he wasn't even in. Not to mention, you never said anything about per 40 minutes in your op.
Anyways, doesn't really matter. Next time might want to actually look up a player's stats, though, before just guessing and stating it as fact.
Pretty solid argument, Mojo, and can't say I disagree with what all you say. I think most of us here on the board can see that Skal isn't ready for the NBA and feel he needs to come back but what you say makes perfect sense and are all very good reasons why he will probably jump in the draft after this season. I guess Cal hinted that Skal could be a 2 year player and many on here took that as a sign that he will be back if he doesn't suddenly figure it all out and become the player we thought he would be. I have thought about this year's draft class VS next year too, like you say, and that may very well be one of the biggest factors in Skal deciding to go this year.
He is outside the top 100 in assist rate....
That is different than assist per game or assist per 40.
http://kenpom.com/blog/index.php/weblog/entry/assist_rate
I don't really see that as an indictment on Ulis, though. All he can to is set up the open man. He can't make the shots for them. If the guards on this team were knocking down the wide open jump shots, or if the bigs could finish at the rim, then his assist rate would be much higher. Not to mention, this team is geared to score a lot of baskets off the dribble, so that kind of plays into his assist rate being lower than expected as well.
True but guys like Kris Dunn (who has the #1 assist rate) are able to create shots for their teammates.
I guess my question is what sets Ulis apart to get him to the NBA.
Cal took a team with 7/8 frosh to the National Title game just 2 seasons ago. It can be done, and it won't all be frosh...we will have solid veteran play off the bench and one may start for all we know. I'm not sure why having Lee back excites you...he'll be coming off the bench and not playing as much as this season. Ulis I agree 100% with though, I'd love to have him back TWO MORE years.
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