From one Bennie to another :

[ManitouDan]

meaning from me to Cal : We can get a ton better by these few things .. I'm doing this for no charge , not even a 100K
1) Fix the rotation . Ugo gets zero minutes . He's a project not a player that can us to the FF or win hard road games . Share the minutes at the 5 between AB and Z . Z has to get 25-28 minutes .
2) Thiero immediately gets the majority of Edwards minutes . If hes out there dunking in pregame hes good enough to play . Insert him , fixes some of our lack of muscle and toughness .
3) Tell Rob there are 2 ends to a basketball court and he has to play some D , same goes for Wagner whose D is awful .
4) Zone OOB plays , dont cry about assignments etc , ZONE the damn OOB from the baseline .. every possession matters .
5) Ditch the set where our guys loop and rotate with meaningless movement , yeah they are moving but at 1/2 speed and not thru any screens , and teach these AAU studs how to run a guy into a screen .. I'm afraid they think " I'm so damn good I dont need a screen " ah scoreboard .
That alone would make us sooooo much better off and more difficult to beat . And I'm just a washed up Bennie . PS play zone a few possessions a game to break the other teams rhythm .

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

Hell, I can fix 12-15 points a game with ONE coaching tip:

BOX YOUR MAN OUT UNTIL THE BALL IS SECURED!

Stressing this one thing in practice will translate to more wins.

Texas A&M boxed out. South Carolina boxed out. UNCW boxed out.

UK does not. It’s not taught, and that’s

COACHING MALPRACTICE

 

[H00SIER-Cat]

4) Zone OOB plays , dont cry about assignments etc , ZONE the damn OOB from the baseline .. every possession matters .

I've been screaming this for years. I've watched my kids (elementary and middle school) get roasted hundreds of times

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

I agree on Onyenso and Edwards going the way of the dinosaur when it comes to minutes. Both could be very good next year, but they don't fit right now.

Shorten the rotation. Theiro and Z get those minutes instead.

Play the four guards, Thiero, and Mitchell, Z, and Bradshaw. There's your 8 man rotation.

Edwards had his chance.

 

[katwest]

Most of the time 4- and 5-star players don't block out for rebounding, they have never had to, using their athleticism is what they have always relied on. That doesn't work in college against good teams. We hardly ever do block out and most certainly don't even try to draw charges, we would be a better team if we did those things. Good teams do what it takes to win, Kentucky relies on star power that gets exposed from time to time. One thing that has always given Kentucky trouble is a 6 foot 8, 270-pound center for the other team. We can't handle a guy like that and don't seem to want one even if he can move. We either need more beef or learn how to keep them in check when we play against one of those guys. Kentucky never got bullied when Maglorie was playing, you didn't push him around or drive down the middle.

 

[YardCat]

I hope Cal reads this and makes his tweak. lol he would take all the credit

 

[Mike-McD]

Just stop. Calipari has ruined this team beyond repair. He's doubling down on Edwards while lying about playing time. He's benched Sheppard.

It's over, guys.

 

[tomrain]

Most of the time 4- and 5-star players don't block out for rebounding, they have never had to, using their athleticism is what they have always relied on. That doesn't work in college against good teams. We hardly ever do block out and most certainly don't even try to draw charges, we would be a better team if we did those things. Good teams do what it takes to win, Kentucky relies on star power that gets exposed from time to time. One thing that has always given Kentucky trouble is a 6 foot 8, 270-pound center for the other team. We can't handle a guy like that and don't seem to want one even if he can move. We either need more beef or learn how to keep them in check when we play against one of those guys. Kentucky never got bullied when Maglorie was playing, you didn't push him around or drive down the middle.

This! Ive been saying for the last few years, we should always have a guy who is around 6' 8" 250+ who can be a bruiser inside. A grown man to combat teams like last night and like TAMU. We will see plenty more of that this season.

 

[TheDude73]

I agree on Onyenso and Edwards going the way of the dinosaur when it comes to minutes. Both could be very good next year, but they don't fit right now.

Shorten the rotation. Theiro and Z get those minutes instead.

Play the four guards, Thiero, and Mitchell, Z, and Bradshaw. There's your 8 man rotation.

Edwards had his chance.

Yet Saturday guess what...you guessed it...Edwards will be flashing those red sneakers in the starting lineup...again....

 

[TheDude73]

Most of the time 4- and 5-star players don't block out for rebounding, they have never had to, using their athleticism is what they have always relied on. That doesn't work in college against good teams. We hardly ever do block out and most certainly don't even try to draw charges, we would be a better team if we did those things. Good teams do what it takes to win, Kentucky relies on star power that gets exposed from time to time. One thing that has always given Kentucky trouble is a 6 foot 8, 270-pound center for the other team. We can't handle a guy like that and don't seem to want one even if he can move. We either need more beef or learn how to keep them in check when we play against one of those guys. Kentucky never got bullied when Maglorie was playing, you didn't push him around or drive down the middle.

Nope, we apparently reach over. Bradshaw, Onyenso and even Z just reach over the guy for the board. Bradshaw picked up two easy to see over the back fouls. I think Onyenso picked up one. Couldn't believe Z didn't when he went over the back and tipped a board back to himself (only to turn it over).

The only two rebounders we have are Thiero and Mitchell. The rest stand around or we have two seven footers both going for the block instead of one blocking and one blocking out.

It's clear Cal's approach this year is to just outshoot teams. But we all gotta give it to USC, they came out on fire defensively. Every player was in our grill, it was crazy to see. By far the best defense we've seen (and now they'll run off and get blasted in their next game...). And to be that strong on defense and not commit ONE FOUL until under 10 minutes in the first half, and around 6 minutes into the second.