a great deal of our recruiting problems on Cal's platoon system. Bet you will never hear those words out of Cal's mouth ever again. Can't prove anything here. Just a gut feeling.....
I might be totally wrong here, but I am blaming
- Thread starter louisvilleblue
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Clearly Brown simply did not want to come to Kentucky and clearly is was not because he had any fear about playing time. That's about all that is clear. From there you have to guess why he stayed away. I will guess it had absolutely nothing to do with the platoon system. and it is because of all the Hoopla and media attention Kentucky receives year after year and the fact they really have not shown well in the big games of late. When you have 10 present and future NBA players, three of which are 7 footers you should be able to win any game in college. Interpreting, we have a negative public image.
That makes absolutely no sense.
These players are choosing Mississippi State and Cal and UNLV. It appears that "winning any game in college" isn't part of their decision-making whatsoever.
I keep seeing this posted here but not sure it's a factor surely kids could see we lost seven players w tons of playing time and that was just last season that we platooned. It's not like we do it every year and are know for platooning. I feel like Cal says anyway you may not score 30 a game but you wil still get drafted high. See Anthiny Davis. Perhaps something else was out there turning kids away.
Coach Cal can help these players get to the NBA better than anyone, if they go to some of these other schools they may have a hard time every getting to the pro's . After saying that I really do not thank they would have fit in at Ky, so it better that they are not here..
1. Platoon was used because of UK's extreme depth last year.
2. UK has no depth next year.
3. How does one possibly connect point 1 as an additive to point 2?
2. UK has no depth next year.
3. How does one possibly connect point 1 as an additive to point 2?
At first I thought that assertion was ridiculous because kids would look at why Cal basically had to resort to the platoon idea and see this was obviously an exception to the rule.
However, kids are impressionable and will believe things their handlers, family, etc tell them even if it makes no sense.
Oh well, I love our incoming class so far. Heck, Calipari may not even be finished with this class yet.
However, kids are impressionable and will believe things their handlers, family, etc tell them even if it makes no sense.
Oh well, I love our incoming class so far. Heck, Calipari may not even be finished with this class yet.
I think Zimmerman might have been scared off because he didn't want to play behind Skal, and wanted to stay home.
I think Newman wanted the ball in his hands, and didn't see that happening with Briscoe and Ulis here. Obviously had the family connection with MSU.
Brown apparently just liked Cal. What evs.
I'm ready to roll with what we've got. If we pick up anybody else, gravy.
I think Newman wanted the ball in his hands, and didn't see that happening with Briscoe and Ulis here. Obviously had the family connection with MSU.
Brown apparently just liked Cal. What evs.
I'm ready to roll with what we've got. If we pick up anybody else, gravy.
Limited depth, yes. We have 7 guys who you would expect to be normal rotation guys, in Skal, Poythress, Lee, Matthews, Mulder, Ulis, and Briscoe.
An eight guy has gotten important minutes when needed in the past. Hawkins.
A ninth guy is a wild card. Willis.
Very similar depth to what we have traditionally had under Cal. Guess Floreal and the kid from Pittsburgh will fight it out for 10th man minutes in practice (unless we pick up another commit).
Maybe they are seeing that Cal's offense is not the most fun to play in. Pound it in the middle and if you don't, you get embarrassed on TV when Cal chews you out.
Yes because Cuonzo Martin and Ben Howland play such exciting styles.
Oh, so a UL/Duke guy takes shots at UK and you think that's worth posting? What is your angle, exactly?
Other schools negative recruited the shit out of it. If other coaches are telling you the same BS over and over again it's going to be hard to tune it out even if the facts are right in front of you.
No way was it the platoon system, we simply do not have the bodies for a platoon next year and why would a player who could receive 30 min a game playing the 3 be scared of it. Is he afraid that Hawkins is going to take 10 min of his at the 3?? Maybe Willis will? Lol
Was Diallo worried about platooning here next year when we have such a thin front court while going to KU who has 2x as many front court players?
Think before posting.
We are seeing a result of the IDEA of the platoon system, not its reality. These kids make up their minds or lean heavily in their junior year. You have to think that opposing coaches got in their heads about the platoon system and their chances of success at Kentucky before it was made evident that seven kids would go pro on a resume of playing reduced minutes. No one realized at the beginning of the year (and the most crucial time of these players' recruitment) that the platoon system would actually boost a kid's profile by hiding his weaknesses and inflating his strengths. After the draft, it's going to be in the forefront of recruits' minds, and I believe we will se a delayed positive impact from it. This year, we are getting the blowback on its potential negatives and reaping none of the positives. It's a long game Cal is playing, and I think it's brilliant. I just wish things could have been a little less painful with this round of recruiting.
I said it before, by not winning the title this year gave coaches around the country a leg to stand on. Why go and sacrifice for what. Just facts and kids are starting to listen.
Perhaps it is not so much the platoon system, per se, but the fact that Cal has been attracting recruits with the "players-first" mantra, and then put them in the platoon system where they have to fit into a system that doesn't allow for a lot of individual attention. I'm not a Cal fan, but I thought his ability to get this year's team to buy into the idea of the platoon and the limited playing time was amazing.
Coaches negative recruited the shit out of the platoon system all year long. If someone tells you a lie over and over and over again you eventually begin to believe it even if it isn't true.
Recruits, my god, don't EVER play at a school that platoons! The HORROR! KY did that one year and it messed. up 7 kids so bad, they had to quit and turn pro.
I don't expect Cal to ever platoon again, EVER. Until he gets 10 NBA capable players on same team.
I don't expect Cal to ever platoon again, EVER. Until he gets 10 NBA capable players on same team.
I am just going to chalk it up to this statement by Calipari. UK basketball is not for every recruit. IMO some of these recruits just were not confident that they could compete for playing time with the talented players that most times UK has on its roster.
Of course you wouldn't be.
Don't patronize us with your smug analysis. Go back to the Duke board and convince yourself that K cares about his players more than his wins.
kids - more importantly the parents - really care about one thing, and that's gettIng drafted. Not winning the title doesn't hurt us....
We've heard Cal say that UK isn't for everybody and it's been speculated that we lost more than one coveted recruit because of UK's atmosphere. Maybe these 5-star kids who chose schools that get less exposure and/or will be "all about the kid" shouldn't even think about going to the NBA. Don't these young men realize that the NBA will be overexposure and in all probability, they will be low man on the totem poll when they go to the NBA. CAl could have guided them flawlessly into that transition. But like fools they rejected the best offer in the land. Oh well.
I don't know if many of you guys even remember but Tubby used to replace 5 guys at a time all the time. When we were making a run then he would replace all 5 guys at once and stall out our run. He would sit the hot hands on the bench for some cold ones.
The problem is that Kentucky didn't win the title last year. Last season showed these recruits that you don't have to go to Kentucky to win and that even the most stacked roster of All Americans in history isn't guaranteed a title. It opened a lot of eyes last season to see Kentucky lose to a Wisconsin team with 2 Top 100 recruits on it. Michigan State also proved that you can just go to a team where you have good chemistry with your teammates and get hot at the right time and make it as far in the tourney as a ridiculously stacked roster.
Fans of every other team in America should send Wisconsin a thank you card.
The only problem with that is that there is only one constant over the last 4 or 5 years. You can take your chances of everything falling into place somewhere else or you can take the sure bet.
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This entire post is weird.
You really think that kids are naïve enough to suddenly understand that you don't have to go to a stacked team to win it all? Recruits already knew that you can take down elite teams with a few really good players and one cold shooting night from the favorite - just look at all the horrific performances Kansas has had at the expense of mid-majors. You guys have been the footnote for a decade on why superior teams can lose on any given night. You get that, right?
Also, Duke won it all with three top 20 picks, so that kind of deflates your hollow, impotent argument.
Given Cal's comments about the platoon system - it was a one time thing. He was surprised so many returned, with the class we had coming in. He would have compromised his players first motto had he done anything differently. How soon we forget this:
http://www.coachcal.com/31049/2014/10/calipari-willing-determined-use-two-platoon-system/
Cal got fooled by the ones that came back, hence ended up with too many good players. I thought he would play more up tempo, press more, which means he could utilize more players, but that never happened. Cal continued to let the other team dictate the tempo. Hopefully he learned from that. I don' know how he could have done anything but try the platoon with so many guys on board. I think the platoon would have worked if Cal had changed his style some. Not blaming Cal for using the platoon, but he did not coach up this team.
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how do you negative recruit a system that sent 7 players to the nba draft--four of them high first round locks? i'm sure most coaches 'negative recruit' in some way every year.
