Halfway to the tourney - How do you feel?

[beefhide]

Seeing as how we're this far into the season it seems we have a good sample size of where we're at and where we're heading.

Can we win the tournament? Absolutely. Cbb is wide open this year. Our team has faults but plenty of ceiling and though we've had lackluster performances, every team is finding their way as were finding ours.

Skal...people please chill. Granted he's been a ghost the past few games but the season is a long one. It's evident his presence is needed for a deep run but to what degree? Lee has significantly stepped up his game from last year and if POY would play with his capability like he did last game, then it could mean less laying the house bet on skal and more so relying on contributions from skal. Though no doubt expecting consistency from POY could end disappointing. Regardless, it's evident that skal has potential, cal spots it better than anyone, and we as fans should realize that. If he needs to stay, so be it. Then we expect a more refined big man with a very high ceiling next year on a team of studs.

Our 3FG% is bound to improve. Our stats at this point are not indicative to how well we can shoot the ball. Murray may have been sloppy against the cards but the kid was obviously overcompensating after coming off a game where he was absolutely fire.

Fans counting us out after a tough road loss to UCLA and a poor loss to Ohio state are living outside the realm of possibility. TEAMS LOSE GAMES. It happens. Guard play is arguably one of the most important components to a deep run and with our backcourt that's only gonna get better, I feel really good about where this team is heading. Also excited to see how tai fits in!

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

We have played 12 reg season gms and have 17 more to go plus potentially 9 more in the post season. Thus Id rather say we are only a third of the way thru the season, if that.

This team has a loooong way to go to get back to a FF and potentially win #9.

That said we still have 3 mths to get there.

Ulis was key in both of UKs biggest wins so far(Duke/UL). UK will go as far as he leads us.

Murray has shown flashes of brilliance (27 pts. & 7 three pointer half v Buckeyes).
Yet, he needs to stop turning the ball over so much.

Poy is showing signs (after the knee surgury) of becoming the best version of Alex we have yet to see since he came to UK.

We all know about Skal and we can all just hope that with Cal continuing to coach him up that the light will eventually turn on and Skal will give us 12 and 6 consistently.

Lee has improved and is a glue guy that can score inside, rebound and block shots while defending.

Briscoe has been a disappointment with his shooting but has made up for it with his D and his ability to get to and finish at the rim.

Hawkins and Willis are both coming along nicely as Jrs in the system and could prove vital to a #1 or #2 seed in the Dance.

 

[Samwise Ganjee]

I think we will go as far as Alex's broad shoulders and Tyler's quick-thinking take us, which quite frankly should be enough to get into the FF

 

[Samwise Ganjee]

I'll go so far as to say I actually feel more comfortable with a graduate senior, a sophomore PG and a junior wing out there, a very "old school" lineup, than I do with any group of freshmen we have had except Wall and Cousins

 

[Jamal Mercer]

Yeah, we aren't halfway yet.

 

[beefhide]

Yeah, we aren't halfway yet.

Ok

 

[rickscot]

Seeing as how we're this far into the season it seems we have a good sample size of where we're at and where we're heading.

Can we win the tournament? Absolutely. Cbb is wide open this year. Our team has faults but plenty of ceiling and though we've had lackluster performances, every team is finding their way as were finding ours.

Skal...people please chill. Granted he's been a ghost the past few games but the season is a long one. It's evident his presence is needed for a deep run but to what degree? Lee has significantly stepped up his game from last year and if POY would play with his capability like he did last game, then it could mean less laying the house bet on skal and more so relying on contributions from skal. Though no doubt expecting consistency from POY could end disappointing. Regardless, it's evident that skal has potential, cal spots it better than anyone, and we as fans should realize that. If he needs to stay, so be it. Then we expect a more refined big man with a very high ceiling next year on a team of studs.

Our 3FG% is bound to improve. Our stats at this point are not indicative to how well we can shoot the ball. Murray may have been sloppy against the cards but the kid was obviously overcompensating after coming off a game where he was absolutely fire.

Fans counting us out after a tough road loss to UCLA and a poor loss to Ohio state are living outside the realm of possibility. TEAMS LOSE GAMES. It happens. Guard play is arguably one of the most important components to a deep run and with our backcourt that's only gonna get better, I feel really good about where this team is heading. Also excited to see how tai fits in!

NERVOUS.......

 

[beefhide]

I was one of those predicting 6-8 losses in the pre-season, so things have gone about as I expected so far. Here are my observations about the rest of the year:

I feel better about Ulis than I did in October, which is saying a lot. I believe he's the best point guard in America, and that counts for a great deal in March. I have no doubt Murray will get more consistent and use better judgment as the season wears on, and we've already seen he can explode and score 30 at any time. Briscoe has been better than I expected -- I honestly thought he'd have further to go to really contribute than any of the freshman. I was wrong. I also feel very good about the forward tandem of Poythress and Lee. Both are well-above average college interior players. I think Matthews will continue to improve, and will be a reliable spark off the bench, and that Willis and Hawkins give quality bench depth.

The question mark obviously is the center position. I'd have no problem rating this team's prospects higher than 2011 if there were a Josh Harrelson in the middle. I think the team has more promise than 2014 -- if there were a combo of freshman Dakari and sophomore Cauley-Stein in the middle. I don't see practice every day as Cal does, so I'll just have to accept that Humphries is not ready to be a younger, more offensively skilled Harrelson, which it looked like he could be after the Duke game. I don't believe Wynyard can contribute this year. So, that leaves Skal. I've seen Cal and the staff do impressive work with freshmen between November and March. I hope it happens again this year.

I agree my main concern is at the 5. I just keep waiting for skal to have that one game where he turns it around. As far as humphries, the strength is appreciated but tbh I'd need to see more. Don't expect tai to get much if any playing time but I would like to see him thrown in just to get to get an idea of whats coming

 

[Mojocat]

Well, it's a down year, so you won't have to be a great team to win it. And, we have the best March coach in the nation. So feel good about those two things. Also on the plus side, I think there's something to the idea that guards are what's most important in the tournament, and we have 3 really good ones. All good. On the down side, for us to be as good as we can be, Skal has to be somewhere in the picture as a serviceable, above average big guy - and I don't know that there's enough time between here and there for that to happen....

 

[IL Wildcat]

Honest evaluation: I expected this team would take a couple losses in the nonconference, but I expected it would be to Duke and possibly Louisville instead of UCLA and Ohio State. I do think that in both cases UK ran into teams that played over their heads in UCLA and Ohio St. That happens, and this team is clearly not good enough to overcome a good, not great, team getting hot. They're not good enough yet, anyway.

Players who have been better than I expected:
Tyler Ulis- I knew he'd be good, but he's been better
Isaiah Briscoe- His ft shooting has been rough, but his defense, decisions, and strength put him here
Marcus Lee- I don't know where this team would be right now without Lee

Players who have been worse than I expected:
Skal Labissiere- not much to say that hasn't been said
Mychal Mulder- I thought he'd be a knock down shooter and play at least 12-14 minutes per game

Players who have been pretty much what I expected
Jamal Murray- he's been up and down but the average is about what I expected
Alex Poythress- poor early games have been balanced by good games lately
Charles Matthews- still has a huge upside, but he's contributed about what I expected
Derek Willis- same as Murray- I think he can do more also
Dom Hawkins- I might move him up after Saturday when he exceeded my expectations

I know this is a broken record for Calipari teams, but this team is still learning and growing together. Our "superstar" guys on this team are very young and all will get better and better from here. I think they're figuring it out and learning how they need to play in order to win. These last couple weeks of practice have been good and I think this week will be even better. They've played enough good teams to know where they stand and where they need to improve, and I fully expect them to get there. There will be some more bumps along the road, though, and we're gonna have to keep from freaking out. I'm reminded of the 2010-11 team when I see this team. That team lost some early games and then several conference road games before getting it figured out in March. That may be the path we're on.

 

[TexKat]

As all know we do have a long way to go coming together as a team tho we've seen flashes. We've got the tools even if Skal is slow coming around. Just keep playing to learn and trust in Cal. How can you not? We will definitely be a contender that other teams won't look forward to being in our bracket for sure. I don't care who they are.

Then and only then.......just gotta win 6 games in a row! It can be done. No more, no less.

Go Cats!