I don't see that glaring weakness

[IL Wildcat]

I'm certain I'll be accused of looking through those blue-tinted lenses, and I'm certainly a very glass is half full kind of fan, but I don't see the glaring weakness that we've had with some other teams.

I thought it would be shooting, 3pt shooting, foul shooting, mid-range shooting, but I haven't seen that.

We've had teams with very little in the middle, guys who seemed to wilt when teams got physical, but this team seems to have a won't back down kind of mentality and I think there are several guys here who enjoy the battle.

We've had teams that just wouldn't play defense, especially early in the year, but this group seems unafraid to get down in a stance and play D. I think they still need work guarding the ball, but there doesn't seem to be a lack of effort.

We've had teams without a dynamic wing player, to either score or defend other teams' 3 and 4, but we have multiple guys who can score and defend from the wing. I would have given just about anything to have a Knox or Diallo last season.

Hey, I know we're a work in progress still and will need time to gel, and maybe I'm missing something glaring because I'm biased, but where is the glaring weakness? How are teams going to attempt to beat us? Who will they go after? What's the weak point?

 

[irishcat1965]

The big weakness is inexperience. UK is going to need to win some of these non conference big games to have a chance to have a high enough seed to play in Nashville and Atlanta in the NCAA tournament. That home court advantage would be big for a team this young.

 

[dstroya]

Only weakness I see is sloppy passing, trying to go to fast, that will get better with more playing time tho.

 

[Mash 2.4]

Just from what little I've seen. We need a lot of work on stopping penetration. But that should come. These are all young guys. The way Green shoots and I think Knox will and if Gabriel continues we will definitely keep teams honest. Love the pieces we have. Would really like a Green / Alexander backcourt and Diallo off the bench but not sure Cal will do that.

 

[Poetax]

I'm certain I'll be accused of looking through those blue-tinted lenses, and I'm certainly a very glass is half full kind of fan, but I don't see the glaring weakness that we've had with some other teams.

I thought it would be shooting, 3pt shooting, foul shooting, mid-range shooting, but I haven't seen that.

We've had teams with very little in the middle, guys who seemed to wilt when teams got physical, but this team seems to have a won't back down kind of mentality and I think there are several guys here who enjoy the battle.

We've had teams that just wouldn't play defense, especially early in the year, but this group seems unafraid to get down in a stance and play D. I think they still need work guarding the ball, but there doesn't seem to be a lack of effort.

We've had teams without a dynamic wing player, to either score or defend other teams' 3 and 4, but we have multiple guys who can score and defend from the wing. I would have given just about anything to have a Knox or Diallo last season.

Hey, I know we're a work in progress still and will need time to gel, and maybe I'm missing something glaring because I'm biased, but where is the glaring weakness? How are teams going to attempt to beat us? Who will they go after? What's the weak point?

I think early teams with very good guards will take us off the dribble and get to the rim on us. And our bigs will have to adjust to protect the rim until we improve there. I saw zone tonight so Cal could be bending some, lol.

 

[JC CATS]

Team is very young and has not really been tested yet. I think we will know after Vermont and Kansas where our weaknesses are and what we have to work on

 

[jr40831]

If Kansas is ready to play (as Self is sometimes slow about kick-starting his teams) they will beat UK. UK has a way to go for playing team ball. Athleticism, size and talent is enough for weaker teams but the big boys will, at least early will beat the Cats. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[BoxterS]

The big weakness is inexperience. UK is going to need to win some of these non conference big games to have a chance to have a high enough seed to play in Nashville and Atlanta in the NCAA tournament. That home court advantage would be big for a team this young.

Yep that's the obvious one. Talent over experience though. Actual sports journalist will try to write this team off all season due to lack of experience. Again, Cal prefers what he has, "talent" over experience. We'll see if it serves.

 

[Poetax]

If Kansas is ready to play (as Self is sometimes slow about kick-starting his teams) they will beat UK. UK has a way to go for playing team ball. Athleticism, size and talent is enough for weaker teams but the big boys will, at least early will beat the Cats. Hope I'm wrong.

Yeah I think you’re onto it. Tonight individually we were more talented, teamwise we have a ways to go for sure. It’s very hard to keep winning games by having to score a 100 points and not much defense. But they are talented enough for Cal to get them where he wants them to be.

 

[Poetax]

Team is very young and has not really been tested yet. I think we will know after Vermont and Kansas where our weaknesses are and what we have to work on

I’m thinking if the Vermont game is a nail biter then hopefully the guys catch on what they need for Kansas but very little time between games, not sure if there will be enough time.

 

[SilentsAreGolden]

The only one I would say would be experience. Road games, especially in conference, are likely to be very difficult. I think we will be a decent to good shooting team, but not stellar. By season's end I think we will be very good defensively too.

 

[catben]

-Perimeter defense(especially against a great passing and 3 pt shooting team)
-Passing
-Half court offense

Those 3 will be a hindrance for the first 2 months of the season. By March, we should improve on all 3 of the above. If we become a lot better, we can end up playing in April!

 

[JC CATS]

I’m thinking if the Vermont game is a nail biter then hopefully the guys catch on what they need for Kansas but very little time between games, not sure if there will be enough time.

Cal keeps saying, of course it could be coach speak, but he keeps saying they are a very good team

 

[Smashcat]

Inexperience was always going to be an issue but having 'vets' SKJ playing well and Grabriel playing very well makes me feel good,

 

[morgousky]

Defending the ball is going to be a problem until after Christmas. Biggest weakness I see. Very raw and undisciplined on D. Typical.

I'm very excited about this bunch. Lots of energy, and Green and Washington are going to quickly turn into fan favorites.

I like the attitude of the team as well.

 

[KyCatFan]

Some of our teams just had glaring weaknesses from the start that they never could overcome. Like the 2010 team was a poor outside shooting team. The 2011 team couldn't win on the road. The 2013 team didn't have the point guard these young teams need. The 2016 team had a hole in the middle.

I think this team is similar to the 2014 team. Both rosters had/have 8 freshmen. I don't think either team has/had an elite level of player (like a Wall, Davis, Towns). Plenty of the next level of players though. The experience for both teams are/were 2 sophomores. Will this team struggle to find it's way until very late in the season like the 2014 team did or will they gel a little earlier in the season?

There's nothing wrong with this team that can't get fixed over the next couple months in my opinion. We should be firing on all cylinders sometime in February. The only question is how far can they go? We are about due for another Final Four run.

 

[warrior-cat]

Only weakness I see is sloppy passing, trying to go to fast, that will get better with more playing time tho.

Out of control at times because of playing too fast.

 

[stenchymouse]

Last night really told us very little about this team.

Bellarmine would beat Centre by 20pts...

Yes, we hit some wide open shots, and that's encouraging and Richards was a beast against that tiny un-athletic team, but Centre also got a lot of wide open looks and their slows guards got into the paint a lot against us.

We have a LONG way to go and I hope that we tighten things up by the 14th.

 

[Jmeeks54thebest]

When we start playing good division 1 teams then the weaknesses will show. These guys have a tougher time at practice then against these exhibition teams.

 

[indianskid7220]

Can’t add much here that hasn’t already been stated above.

The biggest weakness I saw was defending on the drive. Our guys had some trouble staying in front of the ball. With that being said, I really like this team. Apparently Cal killed them in practice before this game. Because of that, maybe their legs just weren’t there and that’s why they had more trouble than usual staying in front.

I think this time can and will go deep in March. It will take time. I see this team losing 3 before January. But it will click and I expect another fun season.

 

[Buck Creek Cat]

We’ll know more when they start playing teams who have a front court that averages more than 6’1 in height.

 

[Bluegrassking]

I agree, I'm not seeing any structural flaws or lacking ingredients especially considering the possibility of adding Vanderbilt especially but also Baker back into this mix.

It is almost like we can present a decent grade version of about anything you can ask for on a basketball court as far as a skill or type of player.

The potential at least is there to get where we want to go. At this point that is all that can be asked for.

 

[jrpross]

It is interesting. They seem like sort of a jack-of-all-trades kind of team. Very balanced from top to bottom. I don’t see anything that they’re really GREAT at but there aren’t any glaring weaknesses yet other than typical youth sloppiness. Should be a fun season.

 

[Fox2monk]

Switching and stoping penetration which should be fixed around start of conference. After camp Cal we should see big improvements,

 

[Jmeeks54thebest]

Some of our teams just had glaring weaknesses from the start that they never could overcome. Like the 2010 team was a poor outside shooting team. The 2011 team couldn't win on the road. The 2013 team didn't have the point guard these young teams need. The 2016 team had a hole in the middle.

I think this team is similar to the 2014 team. Both rosters had/have 8 freshmen. I don't think either team has/had an elite level of player (like a Wall, Davis, Towns). Plenty of the next level of players though. The experience for both teams are/were 2 sophomores. Will this team struggle to find it's way until very late in the season like the 2014 team did or will they gel a little earlier in the season?

There's nothing wrong with this team that can't get fixed over the next couple months in my opinion. We should be firing on all cylinders sometime in February. The only question is how far can they go? We are about due for another Final Four run.

2014 had a shooter with ice in his veins and a monster in Randle. They had a rough SEC performance but became stars in March (Randle was a force all year).

If this team can be like 2014, but without injury (Randle was hurt for title game) I like our chances.

 

[KyFaninNC]

One huge positive is that all the guys can shoot free throws. No more dreading going to the foul line.

Also like Richards baby hooks with either hand, big guy got some touch.

 

[docholiday51]

Team is very young and has not really been tested yet. I think we will know after Vermont and Kansas where our weaknesses are and what we have to work on

Agree,how we react when the chips are down remains to be seen.Will we continue to play smart in adverse situations or revert back to AAU ball.A team that has some experience and enough size and talent to make us defend and challenge shots on the offensive end will be a problem.How mentally tough are we?

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Ball handling/ball protection. Team defense. This is a good team, but I don’t think it is a top 10 team. But then, how would we know at this point, given the level of our competition?

[edit: add play in the paint. Nick can rebound and shoot hooks and dunks all day against me and Centre, but I will wait and see who is controlling the paint in December]

 

[docholiday51]

Ball handling/ball protection. Team defense. This is a good team, but I don’t think it is a top 10 team. But then, how would we know at this point, given the level of our competition?

If we had played Barry College we would know more about this team,We probably don't have as many weapons as a Bruce Pearl coached team

 

[kyjeff1]

As was said a few posts up, D1 teams are going to expose the holes and slow rotation if this defense.

They are also going to challenge us on the glass and make it damn near impossible to score at times.

But that's okay, because this team has a really intriguing combination of guys that will get it and I really wouldn't be surprised if they beat Kansas. I'm not expecting it, but this team is going to cause problems for KU.

Also, I know this team has length and some size, but I don't expect them to win too many rebounding battles against true D1 competition until maybe late December. They'll out rebound the mid major schools, but not the legit D1 schools.

But again, that's okay. This team is going to be feared in March. I REALLY like the makeup of this team. The 3's and 4's we have are phenomenal.

I also think we shoot the 3 ball MUCH better than anticipated.

It'll be an intense ride.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

If we had played Barry College we would know more about this team,We probably don't have as many weapons as a Bruce Pearl coached team

True. Cal was smart to avoid The Barries.

 

[docholiday51]

If Gabriel makes 3's at the rate he did last night we are a whole different team,that may not happen on a regular basis

 

[SmyrnaCatFan]

Against this team, I saw some selfish play on our part. I thought the team mindset was "I can get mine". They did but I would hate to be in the film room when Cal breaks it down on many of those fast breaks sans passes.

 

[KyCatFan]

2014 had a shooter with ice in his veins and a monster in Randle. They had a rough SEC performance but became stars in March (Randle was a force all year).

If this team can be like 2014, but without injury (Randle was hurt for title game) I like our chances.

I mainly am just comparing the similarities with so many new players and very little experience. I think the outside shooting overall can be better on this team. As we have seen so far, we have a number of different guys knocking down 3's. They just don't have a James Young type of shooter (maybe Baker if he even plays this year) that hits at a high %. At least as far as we know right now, but someone may become one.

We also don't really have a big like Randle. I'd guess Washington is the closest player we have to him this year, but so far he reminds me more of a bigger MKG type. Richards seems more like a finesse player with his soft touch on that baby hook he has. He looks closer to a WCS than a Randle.

Our bread and butter will likely be rebounding and getting out in transition and everyone on the court seems to do it well. I just wish we had all of the players available right now. Would love to see Vanderbilt and Knox out there together. Those are just some of my impressions of the team in the very limited time I have seen them play. Things will undoubtedly change as the season progresses.

 

[sluggercatfan]

How can ANYBODY know what strengths or weaknesses we have yet? We have played virtually no one to tell...

 

[ThroughBlue]

I see a lot going of vaginas on this board. Where can I buy my 40-0 shirt?

 

[KMKAT]

Cal will tell you we haven’t been hit in the mouth yet. So far, no issues with foul trouble and what that night do to the rotation. But we have to learn to bang very soon. It’s all about half court execution and of course a couple of biased refs.

Let’s see some comparable talent and teams that are veteran before we envision a long postseason run. After 3 games though, we do get buckets.

 

[Cardsstink]

Win or lose, that Kansas game is going to be HIGHLY entertaining. We have guys that hate to lose and that game will be a war jam packed with action as we'll be swarming.

 

[Cardsstink]

If Kansas is ready to play (as Self is sometimes slow about kick-starting his teams) they will beat UK. UK has a way to go for playing team ball. Athleticism, size and talent is enough for weaker teams but the big boys will, at least early will beat the Cats. Hope I'm wrong.

I think we are going to beat Kansas with a swarming effort on defense and fresh legs on offense.

 

[kyjeff1]

Already seen it a couple of times in this thread, but people have to stop getting so butthurt when others simply give a realistic view.
This team is young and it is going to make mistakes and you have two be okay with it for now.
I get it, you don't like to read comments that might suggest the team has holes, but it's real, you can wait to see it for yourself, but we've all seen this stuff before.
Our teams are going to out-athlete the teams we play in exhibition games, but, with the exception of 14/15, things get exposed when the ball tips for real against D1 teams.
Just chill out, there's nothing that is fatal with this team, but they have a lot to fix.
Yes, they won by 40 last night, but they ain't beating Vermont by 40 and KU is going to show us all exactly what needs to be fixed.