I am going to say the unthinkable

[crazyqx83]

Not to piss in our collective wheaties, but I think we play better without Vanderbilt. Here is our record against P5 teams:

Without him we are 8-3 with an average margin of victory of +6
With him we are 7-7 with an average margin of victory of +2

Not that I don't want him to play, but we seem to play better without him.

 

[bluesundown]

I understand record but I can't buy that we are better without him

 

[etowncatfan]

You may be right. It seems like when we are short handed everyone picks up the slack. When Jared is playing some players revert back to the thinking .......I don’t have to fight for a rebound Jared will get it. But I think his energy is contagious. So You always need another possible good player to plug in.

 

[onearmedjesus]

I'd say yes and no. If SKJ gives us the kind of energy and inside play that he did today, we are perhaps stronger, as he has an outside shot. However, Vanderbilt bring consistent energy, and this overcomes his shooting weakness. I would take a mix of both.

 

[kats23]

Good example of stats geting in the way of eyeballs. When he came back, he had to gel with everyone, get his feet under him. Plus, there is the teams we’ve played with him vs the teams we played w/on him. We need Vanderbilt.

 

[Sawnee Cat]

I think it often difficult for a team when a player starts playing his first games late in the season. Chemistry is very important. Jared gives us an invaluable contribution on rebounding and his passing is good but he can not score the ball. With him out for some reason we do run a better offensive. But where we give up in scoring and wins we make up with his rebounding. Both Alabama and Georgia whipped us on the boards but we were on our game on offense and we played tough, tough defense.

Bottom line I would like to see a healthy Jared from the first day of practice through the season. I think the chemistry would be better and we would be better than .500 in the won loss column. He really needs to come back next year but that is questionable right now with the pros and their money.

 

[Bungalow Bill]

When JV is healthy and integrated into the lineup we are a much more dynamic team and capable of going much farther in the big dance IMO.

 

[KyCatFan]

The problem with those numbers is the fact that we were still playing certain players to much when he first started playing. Now that the minutes have been cut back for the less productive players, we have been playing better. Even without Vanderbilt these last 2 games, we still played those guys less. I still say we are a better team with him.

 

[crazyqx83]

The problem with those numbers is the fact that we were still playing certain players to much when he first started playing. Now that the minutes have been cut back for the less productive players, we have been playing better. Even without Vanderbilt these last 2 games, we still played those guys less. I still say we are a better team with him.

Who are you talking about? Diallo and Richards? They weren't playing very much when we went on our 4 game losing streak.

I'm sorry to tell you all this, but those of you denying this fact are wrong.

 

[Smashcat]

Not to piss in our collective wheaties, but I think we play better without Vanderbilt. Here is our record against P5 teams:

Without him we are 8-3 with an average margin of victory of +6
With him we are 7-7 with an average margin of victory of +2

Not that I don't want him to play, but we seem to play better without him.

The best long term scenario is that Vandy improves his shooting to go with his energy and rebounding.

 

[sambowieshin]

If we have another rooferee and foul trouble in the tournament, we will need every last ounce of talent we have available on that bench.

 

[KyCatFan]

Who are you talking about? Diallo and Richards? They weren't playing very much when we went on our 4 game losing streak.

I'm sorry to tell you all this, but those of you denying this fact are wrong.

I believe in 2 of those games Diallo was in foul trouble that limited his minutes and Richards had a 26 minute game in those 4. You're right in the fact that they didn't have big minutes in every game, but that doesn't mean they still weren't playing to many minutes. Diallo is playing better now since having his minutes cut back and Richards is getting very few minutes at all right now. If Vanderbilt isn't healthy we won't go far in my opinion (might not with him healthy). We can't keep expecting to hit a ton of 3's to make up for our poor rebounding without him.

Rebounding has been one of the keys to our resurgence after that losing streak. It just so happens that Vanderbilt is the best rebounder we have. If we can get the rebounding and good 3 point shooting to go hand in hand then we will be a very tough out.

 

[HalHR2500]

Keep in mind Vanderbilt joined team right before toughest part of schedule too, so you need ALL hands on deck, encouraged by SKJ play

 

[Dablueman]

How bout doing the last 5 games before at Florida refs took him out of that game
Ur counting the games JV and the team were still learning to play with each other

 

[DrH. Lecter]

To the degree that Vando's minutes come from PJ then you could be right.

 

[caneintally]

When JV is healthy and integrated into the lineup we are a much more dynamic team and capable of going much farther in the big dance IMO.

This x 100. We are a much much much better team with him intergrated into the team.

 

[Moss04]

If we’re hitting all our shots, then I’d agree. But in the event that we aren’t hitting, our team is much better with JV. We got out rebounded yesterday, and Alabama was missing their best big. And many of those rebounds should have been 50-50 balls. I love Gabriel’s shooting from the 5-spot, but he has to hit at a crazy percentage to outweigh JV’s dribbling and ball movement with PJ. If Sacha, JV, and Gabriel all bring their best games, we can be great.

 

[JonathanW]

Not to piss in our collective wheaties, but I think we play better without Vanderbilt. Here is our record against P5 teams:

Without him we are 8-3 with an average margin of victory of +6
With him we are 7-7 with an average margin of victory of +2

Not that I don't want him to play, but we seem to play better without him.

In a simplistic analysis, your conclusion may be correct. BUT like with so many other things in life, if you change one thing, it affects other things. So your conclusion ignores the fact that it takes/took some time for the team to adjust to the "new" player. That is why we didn't do so well when he started playing. Add in the Green injury hurt us for 2-3 games. You certainly can't blame Vanderbilt on our bad shooting for a month, where we made about 25% of our 3's (I think he attempted only 1).

 

[kyjeff1]

This is the reason why we needed JV to play as many games as possible in the SECT. He needs as many game minutes as he can get to take UK to the next level.
It may be too late, but I really hope he plays today. We are going to face teams in the NCAAT that will crush us on the boards if JV isn't in there.
Better hope we don't get Michigan State.

 

[cal=8]

Not to piss in our collective wheaties, but I think we play better without Vanderbilt. Here is our record against P5 teams:

Without him we are 8-3 with an average margin of victory of +6
With him we are 7-7 with an average margin of victory of +2

Not that I don't want him to play, but we seem to play better without him.

We where at the toughest part of the season when Vanderbilt returned. Also, Quade was struggling after his injury.

 

[UK_fan_41102]

If UK was needing a crucial rebound in a tight game, which UK big do you trust the most to get it?

 

[bookerfan66]

No way.Our rebounding is pathetic without JV and I think it may lose us the game today.

 

[Wildcats1st]

No. The reason the record is skewed is bc it took 4+ games to integrate him into the team.

 

[Dablueman]

JV's per 40min average in the stretch where we played full strength Auburn tough at Auburn thru the 4 game win streak. Basically where everyone believes we started playing our best ball. 17pts 20.67rbs 8 offensive rebounds 3.5 assists 3 blocks a game. Throw in he is our best interior defender and maybe best over all defender. We had 5 turn overs vs Georgia and 10 vs Bama we hit shots and didn't turn the ball over. You add JV and better rebounding to those games and we destroy both teams

 

[morgousky]

Stats can confuse so many people sometimes.

This isn't math class.

We need Vanderbilt in the big dance. No way around it.

 

[Aike]

Stats can confuse so many people sometimes.

This isn't math class.

We need Vanderbilt in the big dance. No way around it.

Right. There's no way to be better without a guy like that available. If you can't be a better team with the addition of that much energy and effort, it's the coach's fault.

 

[crazyqx83]

JV's per 40min average in the stretch where we played full strength Auburn tough at Auburn thru the 4 game win streak. Basically where everyone believes we started playing our best ball. 17pts 20.67rbs 8 offensive rebounds 3.5 assists 3 blocks a game. Throw in he is our best interior defender and maybe best over all defender. We had 5 turn overs vs Georgia and 10 vs Bama we hit shots and didn't turn the ball over. You add JV and better rebounding to those games and we destroy both teams

Auburn is trash. They played an embarrassing schedule.

 

[EliteBlue]

Not to piss in our collective wheaties, but I think we play better without Vanderbilt. Here is our record against P5 teams:

Without him we are 8-3 with an average margin of victory of +6
With him we are 7-7 with an average margin of victory of +2

Not that I don't want him to play, but we seem to play better without him.

I understand what you're saying but it isn't the entire story.

His first 3-4 games back he was only playing 15 minutes a game and that was combined with Green recovering from his back injury.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

What it probably is, is that we're better without JV because he's still coming back. Remember this JV is like the rest of our team in January.. Not good.

If JV was with us all year.. He makes us better. But it's possible that him still figuring the game out is costing the team while we gets going.

 

[KentuckySir2]

Richards is the reason why we need JV playing.

 

[Eddie Gran can coach]

They will need ALL hands on deck to beat Arizona, Ayton is a physical beast so they need JV, SKJ and NR to go at him, harass him, and mix in a little Gabriel physicality too.

 

[bucsrule8872]

We won 4 out of 5 with him right before he got hurt.

Bottom line is we are playing really well with or without him.

We have won 7 of our last 8 and our only loss was @UF on Senior Day.

That's a great way to go into the tourney.

 

[marshalfan]

Vanderbilt is one of our best 3 players. We don't go very far without him. I wished he could have played this weekend for chemistry reasons

 

[blueskidmark]

He didnt get to play against all those cupcakes earlier in the season. He started at the hardest part of our schedule.

 

[Wall2Boogie]

If we beat Davidson we will need Vanderbilt big time. We need a second many bigs as possible to stop him. I think sga can handle trier but we need Knox to check alkins. He will be the xfactor

 

[LukaszObrzut]

With SKJ playing well, I would have liked to see us start Vanderbilt if he were healthy.

 

[fabcat]

Simply put. We need him. We need his rebounding his 5 fouls and his ability to guard and pass

 

[The_Answer1313]

We won 4 out of 5 with him right before he got hurt.

Bottom line is we are playing really well with or without him.

We have won 7 of our last 8 and our only loss was @UF on Senior Day.

That's a great way to go into the tourney.

Exactly. Did people forget the double digit wins we put up with him in the lineup.

Shooting comes and goes. But his rebounding will be constant. We’ll need that rebounding when we go cold which we will at some point

 

[TheShowKiller]

It’s not Vanderbilt, imo. It’s the increased minutes from Wenyen, especially the time he fills in at the 5. Opens things up for Knox and SGA. Allows PJ room to work as well.

Really, Vanderbilt healthy should start at the 5 with SKJ rotating in, PJ and Wenyen rotating at the 4 and occasionally the 5.

Richards should sit...I like the guy and his potential down the road but he’s not there yet and time for development is over.

 

[JPScott]

I'd say yes and no. If SKJ gives us the kind of energy and inside play that he did today, we are perhaps stronger, as he has an outside shot. However, Vanderbilt bring consistent energy, and this overcomes his shooting weakness. I would take a mix of both.

I frankly think SKJ has been playing well recently (including when Vanderbilt was playing), he just wasn't getting a lot of minutes.