If we get a few more recruits that "P-word" is gonna pop up.
- Thread starter Jamal Sunburn
- Start date
No, it's not. It's never ever ever going to pop up. Get it? Got it? Good!
Move along people.....nothing to see here. Move along......
I don't know why it's such a taboo subject. We did get to 38-0 with it. And I don't think that it was the reason we lost in that game.
I wasn't sure if it was perfect season
or platooning
or P***Y (Which didn't make sense. )
Few other words came into mind. But those top two.
Yes we were crushing people that year, especially Kansas and UCLA, if Poythress didn't get hurt I think we could have beat Wisconsin
Can't talk about platooning.
Not only did we have a terrible season, but our recruiting still hadn't recovered.
Not only did we have a terrible season, but our recruiting still hadn't recovered.
Oh hell no, don't you ever bring up that "p" word! Don't you remember the horrible things that happened last time? We ONLY went 38-1 and got negatively recruited against the following year leading to a GAWD awful mere #2 recruiting class. SAD!
Right, because we didn't platoon in the title game, Ullis, Booker and Johnson got the lowest combined minutes they had in probably 15 games...and we lost. Kind of makes you wonder, if we hadn't all of a sudden went to a conventional rotation of 5 starters with a few subs giving breathers...
The reason we lost that game was because Poythress went down and we went away from the platoon. Playing 1 top 5 team is tough, but that year Kentucky fielded 2 top 5 teams- each playing roughly 20 minutes a game. That gassed the opponent.
The reason the platoon is bad is because it hurts recruiting. Top tier players don't care that those guys played 20 minutes and got drafted high, they only saw that they played 20 minutes. Top tier players want 30+ minutes a game. The bench gives them chills.
Cal mentioned before that while he felt the Platoon system worked out well with the 38-1 team, he isn't going to use that system again and understands that utilizing 6-7 players gives you the best opportunity to win the NC. Being the innovator that he is I'm glad he was willing to try something that hadn't been done before and I'm equally impressed that he's able to see past the success to realize that it's not the best option when going after number 9. Still, I can easily see where one might be tempted to give the platoon a second go around with the clientele we have coming in next year.
http://www.coachcal.com/34612/2015/05/we-may-never-platoon-again-but-players-will-always-come-first/
Go Big Blue!!!
Coach Cal has made it clear that he will not play the Platoon system again. Even if we add a couple of more recruits we are just replacing the 7 or 8 that are leaving. We are losing all our guards including backups. We only have Gabriel and maybe Hump back and Gabriel down the stretch went completely backwards and no improvement. We now have 6 new players coming in and if we add 2 or 3 more that is the 8 or 9 that Coach Cal like to play. If we go with a 3 guard lineup and play Green, Diallo, and Cam Johnson if he comes here and then underneath we have Vanderbilt, Washington, Bamba, and Richards. We could go with Green and Diallo at guards and Vanderbilt or Washington at one forward, and Bamba at the other forward and Richards at Center. That would leave Vanderbilt, Cam Johnson, and Gabriel off then bench. Coach Cal is great at distributing 8 or 9 players and each playing 25 - 30 minutes each. With all the touchy fouls in the SEC League we have seen with the players it was hard last year to stay out of foul trouble. Coach Cal is big on if you get the 2 fouls you will sit the remaining half and especially in the SEC with the touch fouls 8 or 9 players will get 25 to 30 minutes a game.
Cal reverted back to a short bench in the tournament. He's not going to platoon again. The reason is philosophy. Not only does Cal want a short rotation, as little as 6 guys, but it kills his recruiting pitches and makes handlers believe he could see a log jam.
We are not going to platoon. Cal has not even left the door open.
I have learned some things over the years.
1. Never sat never
2. People change their minds all the time.
3. Cal is just like the rest of us. If platooning works and win games he may use it again.
1. Never sat never
2. People change their minds all the time.
3. Cal is just like the rest of us. If platooning works and win games he may use it again.
Yeah like Cal talking about Grad transfers then offering a grad transfer.
Nah, I don't think Calipari will ever go platoon again. He will never say he learned his lesson, because that would be admitting he was wrong, but I think he learned his lesson. Now, it should always be noted, he won 38 straight games with that system, so it's not a colossal failure. There is no question, it worked for much of that season. I'd say he should have stopped using it about mid-season, or at least mid-SEC season, when the team stopped dominating like they did early.
Regardless of all this, I don't think we're even near the point of needing to platoon. There are several multi-years players in this group. We already know SKJ, Humphries, Wynyard, and Gabriel are, but there are at least a couple of these incoming guys who will be multi-year players. The reason Cal platooned is because he had 8 or 9 guys who were potentially NBA ready by the end of that season, and he didn't want to hold any of them back. This group isn't close to that.
Regardless of all this, I don't think we're even near the point of needing to platoon. There are several multi-years players in this group. We already know SKJ, Humphries, Wynyard, and Gabriel are, but there are at least a couple of these incoming guys who will be multi-year players. The reason Cal platooned is because he had 8 or 9 guys who were potentially NBA ready by the end of that season, and he didn't want to hold any of them back. This group isn't close to that.
Doubt it. UK struggled with ND and wisconsin. Duke was the same caliber of team.
I think those 4 bigs if they all return get dramatically better with another year.
IMO, Wenyen & SKJ have higher ceilings than anyone in our 2016 class. We just need them to reach that potential.
As UK fans, we all know how special length and athleticism is. And it's not like those guys can't shoot. Sometimes it takes time for big kids to put it all together.
And with the incoming recruits I think they'll take on the challenge.
Agreed. In my opinion, Wenyen is right on the cusp of being a great player. He shows flashes of brilliance this year but faded when conference play started. (And now we know why, the conference was pretty darn good, especially defensively) If he can become stronger and more consistent in the off-season, look out!
And yes, SKJ has potential too. The only thing that worries me there is that he not only fell behind Bam and Humphries, he also fell behind Wynyard. That's a concern. But the potential is there.
But as for these incoming guys, it's hard to tell much just yet. All star games don't give a complete picture. I like what I've seen Vanderbilt and Washington. Richards seems similar in some ways to Cauley-stein to me, great physical tools but not a polished player, and may need a couple years. I think Quade Green is a strong leader and will likely start at point, but he's not the prototypical point guard for Calipari. He will likely be a 2 year guy, in my opinion. Shai Alexander is similar as far as his outlook for NBA, in my opinion. He's smart, he defends, he has good vision and seems a good leader, but doesn't have elite quickness or athleticism from what I've seen. Baker is a multi-year guy too from what I've seen.
If anyone thinks I'm slamming these guys, I'm certainly not. I like the idea of having several guys stay around a little bit. We may not lose more than a couple guys. If Bamba comes, that will be another. The greatest potential for one and done next season seems to be Vanderbilt and Washington. That may be it, unless we sign Bamba.
Problem is Kentucky was a matchup nightmare for Duke. Both our starting guards were 6-6. Their power forward was 6-6 and they started three guards. Kentucky would have manhandled them in the paint.
The only value of having a ten-deep rotation is that it presents the opportunity to run a zone-trap full-court press for the entire game. That is a high-energy, physically taxing defense, but it produces turnovers galore. By platooning, the defenders can be better rested than the opponents, which makes the full-game full-court press even more effective. It's not rocket science. If run properly, the gains from the defensive turnovers more than offset the fact that you don't have your best five (or seven) offensive guys on the floor all the time.
But Calipari demonstrated in 2015, in spades, that he isn't going to attempt to implement a zone-trap full-court press defense for the entire game. If not with that roster, it'll never happen. So, for U.K. there is just no value in a platoon system -- other than to try to keep all of the players happy with playing time, which was obviously the only purpose of the so-called "platoon" in 2015.
But Calipari demonstrated in 2015, in spades, that he isn't going to attempt to implement a zone-trap full-court press defense for the entire game. If not with that roster, it'll never happen. So, for U.K. there is just no value in a platoon system -- other than to try to keep all of the players happy with playing time, which was obviously the only purpose of the so-called "platoon" in 2015.
Which is the regional championship game, then the two regional champs play for the national championship, correct? The final game we played, the regional finals, the final four.....in that game, whatever you want to call it, we didn't platoon...or the one before that, the elite 8 game, the semi finals, the game we played before the last game that we played..that we lost that we didn't platoon in either.... better?
