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FYI Derek Willis

kyboy1998 said:
Once they are on campus what does "5" star matter? Skal is a 5 and isn't crap. Briscoe is a 5 and just a reincarnation of Goodwin. Poythress is a 5 and gets worse with each year. Lee is a 5 and a garbage bucket guy.
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kyboy this is just a stupid comment if trying to lobby for Willis to play. We just had a number 1 over all pick start just as slow as Skal has but because he had the talent and the drive by the end of the year he was the best player in the country. Goodwin had a crappy year but is making millions now because he got better the next year and made a NBA roster. Alex has contributed every year he has been here. maybe not to the levels we expected but he has played.

so I guess my question is if Kat can turn it around in 6 months why has Willis been here for 3 years and still makes mistakes he made as a fresh? are you kidding me with this argument. of the the higher rated players given time have gotten better. some a lot better in just months. Willis has been here 3 freaking years, hell he has been committed and basically working with this staff longer then any other player on the roster. and you say he needs time. wow just wow. I ask when is enough enough and except him for he offers.
 
Cuz Willis doesnt get to play knowing he gets to stay in if he makes a mistake...it is hard to be effective that way
 
If we have to rely on Willis, it's going to be a disappointing year. Willis's biggest problem is he is a tweener. He is too weak to guard most power forwards and not quick enough to guard most small forwards. I think he is a really good player that definitely should be in the rotation. And can be very effective as a stretch 4 on offense. He is not as effective on offense when being guarded by a 3. When being guarded by a smaller quicker player he has trouble getting loose on the perimeter which is the only place he plays. Maybe in those instances, they could try posting him. The problem is what to do with him on defense because his defense is bad. If we could combine his offensive skills with the defensive skills of Hawkins, we would have one heck of a player. But as it stands, each player is only effective on one end of the court.
 
Ulis I do not buy that excuse anymore. 3 years and I still same the same def break downs and missed opportunity. yes in a game against UCLA right off the bat he makes a huge mistakes that costs us a and one. so Cal at a critical time in the game is supposed to leave him in because Willis needs time to get his head in the game? man that's BS. it's about wins not getting Willis PT to see if tonight is the night Willis decided to show up. no as a coach you immediately look to another talented guY on your bench to help U.S. WIN.
 
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I do believe the Willis needs more minutes threads are getting more frequent. He did show well in the first two games of the season - then disappeared the next several. He did a pretty good job against UCLA - but his defense, as a JR, leaves much to be desired.

I really want Derek and Dom to do well, get a lot of minutes - be the heroes. They are Kentucky natives and I love to see our Kentucky boys do well; but folks, it just aint gonna happen.
 
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whhs22 said:
Ulis I do not buy that excuse anymore. 3 years and I still same the same def break downs and missed opportunity. yes in a game against UCLA right off the bat he makes a huge mistakes that costs us a and one. so Cal at a critical time in the game is supposed to leave him in because Willis needs time to get his head in the game? man that's BS. it's about wins not getting Willis PT to see if tonight is the night Willis decided to show up. no as a coach you immediately look to another talented guY on your bench to help U.S. WIN.
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3 yrs?? But, hasn't Murray and Briscoe had more pt in 8 games than Willis in 3 years.
Game clock matters, doncha think?
 
Offense vs Defense
In my nearly 70 years of playing and coaching, & watching bb. (maybe 5000 games)
one thing I have observed.

50 % of all games were won by the team whose offense scored the most points
The other 50% was won by the team whose defense yielded the fewest points.:grimace:
Works every time......62- 59 or 99-95 doesn't matter. I can remember 17-8.:weary:
 
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MakinMusic said:
No matter what he's doing on offense, his defense has been consistently poor. A few bad defensive plays is one thing; nearly 90% is another.

He's also struggled to rebound against anyone with similar size. I think he has tremendous potential. He just has to make the decision to make it happen in big situations.
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So you're saying he's Skal without the five stars???
 
so you think Willis should of played in front of Murry or Briscoe? How about in front of Jones, Kat, DJ, Lyles,WCS or even Wijler? I mean help me find his mins he deserves to help us win.

in 3 years the kid has practiced against the best every day at every position and we still bring in HS kids who need to be on the floor before him to help us win. it's no ones fault , he is just not as good as some of you want him to be.

I mean besides a 3 here and their what does he offer? can't guard a 1 or 2 has issues with shorter stronger 3 and 4s and forget about the 5 spot. on the O side can't post him rebounding is not his thing , makes turn overs and fouls when pressured. he still has a lot of work to do. not saying he can't just saying in 3 years he is not ready to be what some of you say he would be if he had more time on the floor. in the time he has had on the floor more bad has happened then good. what are you expecting from the kid? that's a honest question I'm curious, what are some of you thinking will happen if he gets those mins?
 
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ulismyman said:
Briscoe a bulldog and i like him but shooting not a friend to him...needs to get his points in other ways
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True . I really think that , due to his work ethic , he will be a reliable free throw shooter by the end of the season . His jumper on the other hand .........
 
Jkwo said:
Actually, Skal mystifyingly benched 185 12 times at the combine - .00001% of 8th graders could do that.

Obviously, that's just one measure of strength that's not particularly important to basketball, but the point is - kid is stronger than he looks. But he plays like he's a 3 year old afraid of contracting cooties from the other post players. That is a tough fix, but it can be done.
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I think it's his lower body strength that causes his problems .
 
Briscoe reminds me of wayne Turner. Now I think Briscoe has more of a touch and confident thing unlike Turner we're it was technique and form.

But that kid is just determined and his skill set and toughness is wanted in the NBA.
 
whhs22 said:
so you think Willis should of played in front of Murry or Briscoe? How about in front of Jones, Kat, DJ, Lyles,WCS or even Wijler? I mean help me find his mins he deserves to help us win.

in 3 years the kid has practiced against the best every day at every position and we still bring in HS kids who need to be on the floor before him to help us win. it's no ones fault , he is just not as good as some of you want him to be?
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Why do you omit the names of Matthews & Poy?
No one said he should play ahead of Murray or Briscoe.
Just in terms of game time, Willis is still a Fr.
He was considered the 12th man last year, not sure how much time he got in practice
 
Good discussion....Willis is victim of the player rankings...if he was a 5 star recruit people would say Derek will come around he wasnt a 5 star for nothing...you know like they do with Poythress
 
poppy if Willis was good enough the 3 years of practice time would of gotten him in the NBA. UK has put guys in the league at high draft spots who played half the time of players they we're drafted in front of. And in 3 years I'm sure Willis has gotten plenty of run in practice.

sorry I'm not willing to sit a player ready to contribute for one I'm not sure of. Willis has had the same chances as a Frosh in Mathews this year. Willis is more experienced and bigger , but Mathews has flat out played him for the mins because he helps us win. sorry it's just a fact.

no question Willis has the tools and on paper you would pick him ahead of better players just off the digits. but in game performance and in some ways his demeanor have kept him off the floor. if he would get Lees all out motor and maybe stop trying to be a skilled big man , he may find his place. remember is was not until Jorts said I'm going to be a bruising big and not a 3 point shooting passing big. and you seen what he became once he changed his floor attitude. I don't know if that would help Willis, but the kid is tall and pretty big, I'm sure if he got determined he could start moving people around on that floor. he is fast to. just so much their hope he figures it out.
 
ulismyman said:
Good discussion....Willis is victim of the player rankings...if he was a 5 star recruit people would say Derek will come around he wasnt a 5 star for nothing...you know like they do with Poythress
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This is incredibly dumb. Willis isn't a victim of anything, and hardly anybody thinks Poythress will "come around." After 4 years, we know what he is.
 
yoshukal I get what your saying. but it's kind of like what of you done for me lately with Poy. don't forget without him we do not make a final 4 run. he has and can play at a very high level. it's always been mental with Poy. a couple guys his Frosh year got in his head and I believe set him back. he is a grown young man so that's on him. but in no way can you put him in Willis category.

Willis just needs to reinvent himself. if I was him I would watch tapes of Scotty Pippen and try to mirror his game. could you imagine if Willis just committed to being a def stopper. wow. if he did that then not everything would be put on what can he gives us on the O side. he is built like Pippen he runs like a deer like Pippen just missing that attitude.

and before I start getting slammed with people saying I'm comparing Willis to Pippen , I'm not. I'm saying if Willis needs to have a player to maybe try to image his game after , in my mind a guy like Pippen would be we're I would start if I was Willis.
 
Aike said:
This is incredibly dumb. Willis isn't a victim of anything, and hardly anybody thinks Poythress will "come around." After 4 years, we know what he is.
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I agree with this. And I want Willis and Poythress both to succeed but It's hard for me to justify sitting Willis and playing Poythress right now. They both have flaws in their game that have really cost us at times but what Poythress does well he's not nearly as consistent at as what Willis does well while Poythress is more consistently bad at what he doesn't do well.

Cal just trusts Poythress more for whatever reason. I will say, Poythress absolutely saved us against UL and Wisconsin during our 2014 run. Maybe that just went a longer way with Cal trusting him than it has the fans.

So far Poythress has really struggled to finish at the rim like he did before the injury though. Maybe just needs a little more time.
 
Poythress is less than a year from ACL reconstructive surgery. He is not 100%. Not saying that is his problem. But it's obvious he doesn't have the same explosion as in the past.
 
whhs22 said:
poppy if Willis was good enough the 3 years of practice time would of gotten him in the NBA. UK has put guys in the league at high draft spots who played half the time of players they we're drafted in front of. And in 3 years I'm sure Willis has gotten plenty of run in practice.
.
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So, you're saying that if he's not good enough for the NBA, he's not good enough for UK.
To your credit, seems like Cal agrees with you.
By the same logic, where would Poy be?..Does he project a high draft choice or any at all?
Maybe, Willis if given time now, would loose it as others matured, that would be fine.
The learning curve this year seems to be a tad slower that last year. Maybe it's too early to go to a 7/8 man rotation.......maybe 8/10 should get double digit mins, until they (the players) sort it out. Play Hump until Skal can take a hit or 'til Poy mans up or Willis for Poy/Matthews.

No, I am not panicked over a freak loss. Just irritated that so many didn't show up for the game.
Wonder whose fault that is?
 
Poppy no way would i put Poy in the same discussion with Willis. And to your question we're is Poy on draft board's? Not sure today but he was to begin the year after missing a entire year injured. We're was Willis?

All these people counting out Poy and saying give Willis his mins i just do not understand. Poy is the one player who needs PT. Do any of you think in March if Willis is playing more then Poy we will be in contention?

Poy was set last year to have a solid year then move onto the draft. He was playing his best ball from the summer til he got hurt. Its a shame the expectations for him are this high this early in the year. Im frustrated to but also understand without him a 100% by march we are in trouble. I have no expectations of Willis stepping in and giving more or even the possibility of out playing Poy in a way that helps us win.

Poy may never be that All American we thought he would be, but he has helped and produced more for UK then Willis. And has earned the right to be disappointing 6 games in after having a devastating knee injury a year earlier. Wow really we're now comparing poy to Willis? Ok see we're this thread is headed.
 
I'm not really trying to compare anyone to anybody.
I'm just saying that the most productive should get
more clock while others are.....healing..........maturing...........
getting stronger.........learning the team concept...losing
that imitated look.......The cream will always rise to the top.
No science can force it to rise...(former dairy farmer in the 50"s):)
 
poppycat said:
I'm not really trying to compare anyone to anybody.
I'm just saying that the most productive should get
more clock while others are.....healing..........maturing...........
getting stronger.........learning the team concept...losing
that imitated look.......The cream will always rise to the top.
No science can force it to rise...(former dairy farmer in the 50"s):)
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Cal doesn't think the young guys will get up to speed fast enough without significant game action to cut their teeth.

That's how he does it.

He also tries his best to win along the way.

Most of the time his methods work out pretty well.

38 straight wins.

4 Final Fours in 5 years.

7-1 this year.

His way isn't the only way but it's the way he's going to do it.

Whiny fans won't change anything.

You could go be a Kansas fan if you want upperclassmen to play and freshmen to sit.

Then you could complain about lack of freshmen development and 2nd round flameouts.
 
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In 1 1/2 years this will not even be a discussion. Reason being all home grown Ky boys will be gone. And not sure their are any more talented enough for Cal to recruit. Lets be honest is this about a JR not getting PT or about a JR that is a Ky boy not getting PT?

Cal had this issue in Memphis. The difference was Cal stopped recruiting Memphis kids because of all the outside flack. And Memphis has talent to recruit. Here he brings in a over rated Ky kid and is trying to get the kid on the floor but just has better talent from other places on the bench.
 
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whhs22 said:
poppy if Willis was good enough the 3 years of practice time would of gotten him in the NBA. UK has put guys in the league at high draft spots who played half the time of players they we're drafted in front of. And in 3 years I'm sure Willis has gotten plenty of run in practice.

sorry I'm not willing to sit a player ready to contribute for one I'm not sure of. Willis has had the same chances as a Frosh in Mathews this year. Willis is more experienced and bigger , but Mathews has flat out played him for the mins because he helps us win. sorry it's just a fact.

no question Willis has the tools and on paper you would pick him ahead of better players just off the digits. but in game performance and in some ways his demeanor have kept him off the floor. if he would get Lees all out motor and maybe stop trying to be a skilled big man , he may find his place. remember is was not until Jorts said I'm going to be a bruising big and not a 3 point shooting passing big. and you seen what he became once he changed his floor attitude. I don't know if that would help Willis, but the kid is tall and pretty big, I'm sure if he got determined he could start moving people around on that floor. he is fast to. just so much their hope he figures it out.[/QUOTE
whhs22 said:
poppy if Willis was good enough the 3 years of practice time would of gotten him in the NBA. UK has put guys in the league at high draft spots who played half the time of players they we're drafted in front of. And in 3 years I'm sure Willis has gotten plenty of run in practice.

sorry I'm not willing to sit a player ready to contribute for one I'm not sure of. Willis has had the same chances as a Frosh in Mathews this year. Willis is more experienced and bigger , but Mathews has flat out played him for the mins because he helps us win. sorry it's just a fact.

no question Willis has the tools and on paper you would pick him ahead of better players just off the digits. but in game performance and in some ways his demeanor have kept him off the floor. if he would get Lees all out motor and maybe stop trying to be a skilled big man , he may find his place. remember is was not until Jorts said I'm going to be a bruising big and not a 3 point shooting passing big. and you seen what he became once he changed his floor attitude. I don't know if that would help Willis, but the kid is tall and pretty big, I'm sure if he got determined he could start moving people around on that floor. he is fast to. just so much their hope he figures it out.
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If
whhs22 said:
poppy if Willis was good enough the 3 years of practice time would of gotten him in the NBA. UK has put guys in the league at high draft spots who played half the time of players they we're drafted in front of. And in 3 years I'm sure Willis has gotten plenty of run in practice.

sorry I'm not willing to sit a player ready to contribute for one I'm not sure of. Willis has had the same chances as a Frosh in Mathews this year. Willis is more experienced and bigger , but Mathews has flat out played him for the mins because he helps us win. sorry it's just a fact.

no question Willis has the tools and on paper you would pick him ahead of better players just off the digits. but in game performance and in some ways his demeanor have kept him off the floor. if he would get Lees all out motor and maybe stop trying to be a skilled big man , he may find his place. remember is was not until Jorts said I'm going to be a bruising big and not a 3 point shooting passing big. and you seen what he became once he changed his floor attitude. I don't know if that would help Willis, but the kid is tall and pretty big, I'm sure if he got determined he could start moving people around on that floor. he is fast to. just so much their hope he figures it out.
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The statistics don't support your comment that Matthews has outplayed Willis.
Willis: 5.9 PPG, 2.3 REB, .5 ASSISTS, .8 STEALS,.4 BLOCKS, 44% FROM THE FIELD AND 100% FROM THE LINE.
MATTHEWS: 3.8 PPG., 2.3 REB., 1 ASSISTS, .8 STEALS, .1 BLOCKS, 50% FROM THE FIELD AND 45.8 FROM THE LINE.
MATTHEWS IS AVERAGING 17.8 MINUTES PER GAME .
WILLIS IS AVERAGING 12.3 MINUTES PER GAME.
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whhs22 said:
poppy if Willis was good enough the 3 years of practice time would of gotten him in the NBA. UK has put guys in the league at high draft spots who played half the time of players they we're drafted in front of. And in 3 years I'm sure Willis has gotten plenty of run in practice.

sorry I'm not willing to sit a player ready to contribute for one I'm not sure of. Willis has had the same chances as a Frosh in Mathews this year. Willis is more experienced and bigger , but Mathews has flat out played him for the mins because he helps us win. sorry it's just a fact.

no question Willis has the tools and on paper you would pick him ahead of better players just off the digits. but in game performance and in some ways his demeanor have kept him off the floor. if he would get Lees all out motor and maybe stop trying to be a skilled big man , he may find his place. remember is was not until Jorts said I'm going to be a bruising big and not a 3 point shooting passing big. and you seen what he became once he changed his floor attitude. I don't know if that would help Willis, but the kid is tall and pretty big, I'm sure if he got determined he could start moving people around on that floor. he is fast to. just so much their hope he figures it out.
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Willis is ahead of Matthews in almost every statistical category while playing 12.3 minutes compared to 17.8 minutes for Matthews.
 
What has Willis shown that makes anyone think he deserves more playing time? Cal is thinking about the postseason. He's not concerned about meaningless games in December.
 
There are games/opponents where Willis will have a chance to play and do well, and there are games/opponents that aren't a good matchup for him. Same for some other guys on the team.
 
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yoshukai said:
I think it's his lower body strength that causes his problems .
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Naturally that's a much bigger factor than upper in basketball, and it's possible that you're right, but as somebody who has trained a lot of young guys, I find that it's really rare to have significant upper body strength before lower - it's usually the other way around, largely because of what gets used in daily life. I don't mean to say that he's stronger than most D1 posts, but I would certainly bet his legs are stronger than he makes it look with his scared play.
 
Bigfoot you actually think Willis has out played Mathews? I've watched every game and Mathews may not be killing it on the stat sheet but for a guy much smaller then Willis and younger he balls. no way Willis has out played him. and in all honesty I expect more out of Willis because he is older and bigger in the same position. maybe I'm missing something
 
Hoskins91 said:
What has Willis shown that makes anyone think he deserves more playing time? Cal is thinking about the postseason. He's not concerned about meaningless games in December.
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See I told my dad not all Kentucky fans are knowledgeable.
 
whhs22 said:
Bigfoot you actually think Willis has out played Mathews? I've watched every game and Mathews may not be killing it on the stat sheet but for a guy much smaller then Willis and younger he balls. no way Willis has out played him. and in all honesty I expect more out of Willis because he is older and bigger in the same position. maybe I'm missing something
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I wasn't saying he had outplayed him. I was reading the team statistics and I was a little surprised to find that Willis was ahead of Matthews pretty much in every category while playing 30 % less. After I read that I just put it out there to add perspective. I am kind of a numbers guy so I just thought it was interesting. It's about the only measuring stick that I know of to evaluate performance.
Matthews is better on defense but right now Willis is better on offense so I guess as someone else said it will depend on the situation as to which one should play more.
 
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crestcat said:
Willis played 14 min. against a team that out rebounded us and was tied for leading rebounder on our team and UCLA definitely had size.

His defense looked as good as the rest of the team in that game also.
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Stop bringing facts into this conversation. :popcorn:
 
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