I feel like Cal wasted Towns full potential
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PPat had a brutish inside game, and Cal forced him to take jump shots for the sake of his draft stock.
Demarcus had a 3 point shot as well as an array of deadly post moves, but Cal forced him to work primarily in the post for the sake of the team and secondarily in the mid range for the sake of his long-term NBA game.
Jorts had a jumper, but Cal forced him to develop his post repertoire to turn his JUCO ass into an All-conference level contributor and a second round draft pick.
Davis had no offense besides dunks coming in, and Cal gave him a couple moves from 8 feet in to build his game around, which the NBA coaches then expanded into his current arsenal of ridiculousness.
Noel had no offense besides dunks coming in, and Cal did the same thing as he did for Davis, although Noel hasn't shown the same aptitude as Davis in the league to expand all the way out.
Willie, same story as Noel.
Skal had as nice an outside game as Demarcus did coming in, minus anything resembling post skills. Cal tried to work with him on the latter, because he is going to need them (even as a face-up four) if he ever wants to be a starter in the league, but he just doesn't have it in him right now, so Cal was forced to revert course for the sake of the team mid-season.
Cal does what he can for these guys in the short time they're here - trying to balance their development for long-term success with team success in the short term. It's not easy, and we've had a bunch of different bigs who've needed to develop in a bunch of different areas. But all in all, I don't know anybody who has a better resume than Cal here - and that's not evne talking about guys like Camby, Dorsey, T Jones, Randle, Kanter, etc, all of whom ended up ferocious post players.
Demarcus had a 3 point shot as well as an array of deadly post moves, but Cal forced him to work primarily in the post for the sake of the team and secondarily in the mid range for the sake of his long-term NBA game.
Jorts had a jumper, but Cal forced him to develop his post repertoire to turn his JUCO ass into an All-conference level contributor and a second round draft pick.
Davis had no offense besides dunks coming in, and Cal gave him a couple moves from 8 feet in to build his game around, which the NBA coaches then expanded into his current arsenal of ridiculousness.
Noel had no offense besides dunks coming in, and Cal did the same thing as he did for Davis, although Noel hasn't shown the same aptitude as Davis in the league to expand all the way out.
Willie, same story as Noel.
Skal had as nice an outside game as Demarcus did coming in, minus anything resembling post skills. Cal tried to work with him on the latter, because he is going to need them (even as a face-up four) if he ever wants to be a starter in the league, but he just doesn't have it in him right now, so Cal was forced to revert course for the sake of the team mid-season.
Cal does what he can for these guys in the short time they're here - trying to balance their development for long-term success with team success in the short term. It's not easy, and we've had a bunch of different bigs who've needed to develop in a bunch of different areas. But all in all, I don't know anybody who has a better resume than Cal here - and that's not evne talking about guys like Camby, Dorsey, T Jones, Randle, Kanter, etc, all of whom ended up ferocious post players.
OP has a valid point and i thought the same thing at times last year. You could see that KAT had so much to offer and wasnt fully utilised, but at same time cal has his own way of doing things and obviously he does it quite well.
We had so much talent that it would be hard not to play dakari some, but the problem imo was in order to play some of those guys tou had to sit a true stud in towns....and i font think i could bring myself to take a guy like towns out of game unless just for quick breather or foul trouble.
He was and is just too great of a player to sit.
At same time we lost 1 game and i am sure in big picture towns learned some good things that will benefit him in life and in nba. He was a great kid with a super attitude. Says so much about him and his family that yhey trusted cal to use him that way.
We had so much talent that it would be hard not to play dakari some, but the problem imo was in order to play some of those guys tou had to sit a true stud in towns....and i font think i could bring myself to take a guy like towns out of game unless just for quick breather or foul trouble.
He was and is just too great of a player to sit.
At same time we lost 1 game and i am sure in big picture towns learned some good things that will benefit him in life and in nba. He was a great kid with a super attitude. Says so much about him and his family that yhey trusted cal to use him that way.
It's the nature of the game man . Did Dean Smith hold back Jordan ? I mean you could say that about most any college player that becomes an NBA superstar . You're overlooking the fact that he is a year older and has a lot more time to refine his game . I'm bettin he wouldn't have been near the outside shooter last year compared to now . Buy Cal isn't perfect .
I'll admit I did not realize how much Towns had in his arsenal for most of last season. Seems like it really wasn't until late in the season that we began to see him unleashed. What he's doing in Minnesota is truly eye-opening. And, at least on the surface, it does seem strange seeing a guy be this much more productive as an NBA rookie than he was on his college team.
But, then again, that 38-1 juggernaut was no normal college team. When you've got that many talented guys on one roster players have to sacrifice and defer more (especially when your best players overlap at the same positions as did our bigs last year). Hell, as other examples, look at Trey Lyles and Devin Booker this year--STARTING as NBA rookies, yet were mere role players (and, in Booker's case, not even a starter) last year in college.
Last year's team was just insanely stacked, almost too much depth for any coach to really know how to best manage all that talent (which, of course, is why Cal tried the "platoon" thing).
But, then again, that 38-1 juggernaut was no normal college team. When you've got that many talented guys on one roster players have to sacrifice and defer more (especially when your best players overlap at the same positions as did our bigs last year). Hell, as other examples, look at Trey Lyles and Devin Booker this year--STARTING as NBA rookies, yet were mere role players (and, in Booker's case, not even a starter) last year in college.
Last year's team was just insanely stacked, almost too much depth for any coach to really know how to best manage all that talent (which, of course, is why Cal tried the "platoon" thing).
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LoL clown school?
Cal and Kenny coach up towns add enormously to his game, he keeps improving in the NBA and Cal mis used him!
Post you pic mcclownney.
Cal and Kenny coach up towns add enormously to his game, he keeps improving in the NBA and Cal mis used him!
Post you pic mcclownney.
End of thread right there, nothing more needs to be said other than the OP has no clue.
That's called working hard and getting better. If you couldn't see his progress from the beginning of the year until the end of the year, you know absolutely nothing about basketball.
Nor did Cal use Booker, Ulis or Lyles to their full potential last year. Too many studs on the team to have anyone maximize their potential. It's what ultimately cost us the championship. Pressure built up all year being undefeated and when it came down to the last five minutes we had no one with enough balls to take over the game and win it. Instead we got to watch the twins ride off in the sunset by running the shot clock down three straight times. God that's gonna take a long time to forget.
I'll let Bob Hurley Sr (one of the greatest high school coaches ever) speak on how Cal handled Towns:
"I've always felt he had unlimited potential," Hurley said, "but this transformation from last year to this year has been incredible. He's completely changed his mindset about where he's playing the game of basketball. I didn't think he could go from shooting 3s to being this dominant around the basket. I want to write John Calipari a note to say this is the most amazing transformation I've seen.
"We played against [Andrew] Bynum twice, and Towns is much further along in his career at the same stage. In my mind, he's the No. 1 pick in the draft. [Duke's Jahlil] Okafor is a more polished offensive player, but Towns is a better defender, rebounder and foul shooter, and is a bit more versatile now. He's personable, a great interview, plays with passion, and has a more outgoing personality than most big kids do. You can put him on the Knicks and he's an NBA All-Star."
http://www.nj.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/04/what_does_nj_legend_bob_hurley_sr_think_about_univ.html
"I've always felt he had unlimited potential," Hurley said, "but this transformation from last year to this year has been incredible. He's completely changed his mindset about where he's playing the game of basketball. I didn't think he could go from shooting 3s to being this dominant around the basket. I want to write John Calipari a note to say this is the most amazing transformation I've seen.
"We played against [Andrew] Bynum twice, and Towns is much further along in his career at the same stage. In my mind, he's the No. 1 pick in the draft. [Duke's Jahlil] Okafor is a more polished offensive player, but Towns is a better defender, rebounder and foul shooter, and is a bit more versatile now. He's personable, a great interview, plays with passion, and has a more outgoing personality than most big kids do. You can put him on the Knicks and he's an NBA All-Star."
http://www.nj.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/04/what_does_nj_legend_bob_hurley_sr_think_about_univ.html
Cal could of brought him out to shoot 3's more bc Karl did have the ability but despite being the tallest team in the country, Towns was our best post player so I don't think it would of made any difference in the long run with wins and losses, or loss in this case. Towns had to learn how to play in the post for NBA success. UK did that for him. It would of been a nice weapon and he's using that to his ability in the NBA.
Sure, Davis developed that little jumper in 2012 and that helped forcing bigs out to guard it but Jones was a better offensive player than WCS while at UK so it was a much more calculated risk. Overall, I get what the OP is saying but I don't think it would of made any difference.
Sure, Davis developed that little jumper in 2012 and that helped forcing bigs out to guard it but Jones was a better offensive player than WCS while at UK so it was a much more calculated risk. Overall, I get what the OP is saying but I don't think it would of made any difference.
When you're trying to instill in a young man the mindset that he is an inside player, it isn't wise to let him go out and shoot from the three-point line. If he misses, that's bad. If he makes, that's temporarily good but long term bad because now he's thinking "I want to go out there where I have freer range of motion to get my shot off" and his inside game is secondary to him.
David Robinson averaged 7 points a game his freshman year at Navy. He averaged 28 points a year his senior season. News flash!!! Big men take time to develop and mature.
No, it really wouldn't have. Maybe if we didn't have that skill set but we did in Booker, the Twins, and Ulis. What we needed out of Towns is what we got. How much more dynamic could that team have been? We won 38 games for cryin out loud and destroyed everyone.
Also, Towns worked on his outside game during the entire off season every single day. Add that with the fact that he is a year older and you have a much better player than he was in Lexington. It's unfair to look at his game today and think he was the exact same player last year because he was far from it. He made incredible strides in his short time at UK. From the time he got there until April, he made leaps and bounds. Now he has continued to get better and expand his game with an entire year of work. He is well beyond the player he was for us last year and a kid with that work ethic will just continue to get better and better but he wasn't anywhere near this type of player last year.
Im assuming you're talking about outside shooting because Cal did post him up down low a lot, especially as the season progressed.
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We only lost one game, but it was the last game....I wanted to see more from Towns while he was out there. He could have opened up drives for the guards /wings.
You should have been careful about what you wished for. It came true and you seem to be stuck with it.
In fairness, David Robinson is a special case that can't really be compared to this. When DR first enrolled he was only 6'7" and considered a non-prospect who only got into the Naval Academy because of his academics more than his basketball. Four years later he was 7'1" and built like Superman.
That was one of the wildest physical transformations ever seen--similar to what happened to guys like AD, except it occurred in college instead of high school.
On a weaker team that would have featured Towns and needed 25 to 30 pts. every game, I think Towns would have shot more from outside. Same for Trey Lyles. I think if he had played 35 minutes per game and we needed 25 a game from him, Trey would have been an All American. He has those skills. But Cal was blending them in with the other great players and doing what was best for the team and improving their individual game. Same thing he tried with Skal this year. He tried to force him inside to make him a better all around player. Now he said it hasn't worked so he's gone back to what Skal does best.
OP is definitely not a troll - have seen too many of his posts to think otherwise
However, cannot agree with this take on KAT. Cal only had so much time (practice hours per week, plus games) to develop him enough to go 1st in the draft. I'm sure Cal knew there were other aspects of KATs game that would be excellent in the NBA world, but didn't have the time to exploit them while he was here.
In the NBA, there is unlimited practice time - plus, as another poster said, he has KG mentoring him. KAT had all summer to work on his game, full time, then the season. Several former players have added facets to their games that weren't readily apparent when at UK.
However, cannot agree with this take on KAT. Cal only had so much time (practice hours per week, plus games) to develop him enough to go 1st in the draft. I'm sure Cal knew there were other aspects of KATs game that would be excellent in the NBA world, but didn't have the time to exploit them while he was here.
In the NBA, there is unlimited practice time - plus, as another poster said, he has KG mentoring him. KAT had all summer to work on his game, full time, then the season. Several former players have added facets to their games that weren't readily apparent when at UK.
That's an interesting quote. And I'd guess Cal's success transforming Towns from an outside to inside guy last year is why he's been so persistent about trying to force Skal inside this year. He figured he could do the same thing but, unfortunately, Skal just doesn't seem to have that ability to change his game the way Towns did.
College basketball seasons end with a one loss and your out tournament so college coaches focus on making their teams as efficient as possible. KAT could do a lot of things well but what he did BEST was score around the basket. If Karl had spent the season shooting jumpers his dominant Notre Dame performance probably doesn't happen.
Which was way better for Karl and UK. If Cal doesnt make him learn to play in the post, then he wouldnt have been unstoppable later in the year. He also wouldnt have been #1 overall. It was the way better move all around.
Number 1 overall pick off of a 38-1 team. Cal really didn't get everything out of him. Sorry for the hostility, but stfu. You think maybe KAT has improved in 10 months?
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Have to ask the OP a question. Is being a ul fan the curse that it appears to be from the outside? The general stupidity that ul fans bring to the table knows no bounds.
Cal pretty much tried to run our entire offense through Towns by the NCAA Tourney. A lot of people say the reason we sucked on 6 straight offensive possessions late against Wisconsin with no score was due to Wisconsin knowing our plan (throw it down to Towns) and preventing that and the other guys panicking with a deer in the headlights kinda look. Karl Towns was great at UK, and if he had stayed this year (Why would he but still) I'm sure Cal would have had time to expand his game even more. The Cal bashers need to realize one season is not enough to do everything for a guy. That is why Wall, AD, Cousins, Bledsoe, Knight, etc, continued to improve once they got to the NBA
Dude if you pay any attention at all to this board you would know any slight toward cal on this board is met with hostility. Cal did with towns exactly what he does with his teams which is to make one dimensional. So many people who just want to hate on you for your post completely ignored what you were even trying to say. Yes, cal did a heck of a job developing his postgame but failed to utilize the remainder of his skill set which could have made an historically good team even better.
I love cal and wanted him here long before anyone else ever did but unless he becomes the best version of himself then he will leave KY with only one title.
He has changed up the dynamic of this years team so at least there is a sign of hope he is willing to adjust when needed.
Give me a frigging break. Wisconsin had 3 tremendous defensive stands on the last 3 possessions. They executed down the stretch. We didn't. Had nothing to do with your theory. We just got beat. Plain and simple.
apart from the platoon paradigm, KAT was also in foul trouble (mostly on bs calls IMO) in just about every game after new year's
his rep was as a finesse, face-up big entering college. cal's emphasis on his back to the basket game helped turn him into a complete player/prospect
i know some of you people think the end of last season demonstrates how kzryzewski is a superior coach to cal, but they've lost to lehigh & mercer in the first round and been blown out by arizona & louisville largely because they don't establish paint offense. using KAT as a low-post bell-cow was good for kentucky, too
his rep was as a finesse, face-up big entering college. cal's emphasis on his back to the basket game helped turn him into a complete player/prospect
i know some of you people think the end of last season demonstrates how kzryzewski is a superior coach to cal, but they've lost to lehigh & mercer in the first round and been blown out by arizona & louisville largely because they don't establish paint offense. using KAT as a low-post bell-cow was good for kentucky, too
i doubt very seriously that you wanted him here before i did. pretty smug
and that you think having the greatest defensive team of all time and winning 38 games in a row last year somehow illustrates cal's shortcomings demonstrates just how unduly smug you are
