I want to try a zone. But it really doesn’t matter. The kids are soft. I hate finesse teams. Hate in in basketball and hate it in football.
Is it possible that our players just aren’t very good
- Thread starter TriCountyCat
- Start date
How do we know if our guys are talented enough?
When have we seen our full complement of players out on the floor?
Our coach is soft, our players are soft, so any little boo boo and they won’t play and he lets them sit out.
Talent, they’ve got that. Toughness is what they are missing.
When have we seen our full complement of players out on the floor?
Our coach is soft, our players are soft, so any little boo boo and they won’t play and he lets them sit out.
Talent, they’ve got that. Toughness is what they are missing.
We shouldn't play zone all of the time, anymore than we should be playing man-man 100% of the time. Switch from zone, to man, to another zone and then back again - make opponents have to guess and prepare for a change.
Rupp used a 1-3-1, so did Hall, Pitino used 2-3 and matchup zones, Tubby used a 2-3 drop zone and box and chaser - all used man-man and switched their defenses up to keep the opponent off guard.
At this point I expect the next player is out because of a hang nail suffered in autograph signing.
I don’t think Cal can even spell zone.
We won’t know until we try, 10M bucks is hard to turn down at a place you can definitely win at.
Can't disagree about anything you said but I think Dilly, Shep, DJ, and Reeves are plenty good enough
at the 1-3. Playing Edwards at the 3 has hurt us. Our problems have been at the 4/5 spots. I think Thiero is probably our best option at the 4. Center? Ugo is an excellent help shot blocker but gets abused one on one. Bradshaw can't play and Mitchell can't guard and Z isn't being given a chance so we just don't know. Probably should rotate all 4 depending on the other team's strengths.
But playing the wrong combinations continues to be a problem. We much have been outscored 15 points when Bradshaw and Edwards were on the court together and that wasn't many minutes(I know they outscored that combination by 10 in less than 2 minutes in one stretch). And it was one of Edwards better games.
I'd like to see Cal try something different that what we're doing since we suck so bad on defense. Like playing Reeves at the 3 and Ugo and Z at the 4/5 in a 3-2 zone. That zone can cover the most dangerous threes(from the corner) and it would be hard to get shots off in the paint. Might not work but if I were the coach I'd try to make better use of my talent than so far this year.
I believe they are talented. They just aren't strong mentally and physically because they are freshmen. This team is too young.
Cal isn’t going to try any of that. He is just gonna say fight and block out the noise. But I love the idea of trying Z at the 4
It’s Will Wade, he is the answer. Recruits as well as Cal, could get him for a steal, he wants to redeem himself. Very punchable face.
Of course they are not very good! Why do you think they lost at Rupp against UNCW? It sure in the heck wasn’t the coaches fault? Calipari is a HOF’r who poops ice cream and feeds it to his dogs while watching Little House on The Prairie!
No way that was on Calipari, or the 9-16 season, or the loss to Evansville, or the NCAAT flameouts the past 4 years! It’s CONvid and the players fault! Farrr all the players, for tricking Cal into recruiting and signing them, and forcing him into making stupid coaching decisions!
No way that was on Calipari, or the 9-16 season, or the loss to Evansville, or the NCAAT flameouts the past 4 years! It’s CONvid and the players fault! Farrr all the players, for tricking Cal into recruiting and signing them, and forcing him into making stupid coaching decisions!
Cal loves a good rock fight, because he knows in that setting, he's likely met his strategic equal and will not be exposed by the coaching expertise of the opponent. Problem is he still uses his bigs like he did 20 years ago, so we get crushed down low and burned to a crisp on back doors and pick and rolls. He lets our bigs get dragged out to the post by the other teams guard on a switch, and then wonders why we can't rebound worth a shit.
Cal is a MF dumbass!
Our frontcourt was overrated. AB is just not skilled and is very weak, Ugo is a solid backup but still raw, Thiero is a good rotation guy but has been hurt, Mitchell is a finesse guy on his 4th school. Who knows with Z, he won't play him. There were some really good and tough forwards in the portal and a couple even visited (David Jones, Keshad Johnson, Knecht). He should be getting a couple of those type of guys and a combo guard every year.
The money in his contract is guaranteed money. Don’t get blinded by a number. Nothing says he gets the whole pile of unearned money in a lump sum. Should be fired for cause then negotiate that buyout way down but it’s not about keeping someone who is not doing what he’s paid to do. Do we need to see any more? It’s been 9 years of failure. Fire this clown. Immediately. To answer your question summarily, I’ll be happy to donate $2500 if it gets rid of him. I’ll donate another $2500 to hiring a competent coach and not a coward dog sitter.
Good post , what stuck out to me was " Z ISNT BEING GIVEN A CHANCE" I mean it's crazy , Cal wiped that guy off the team . Would be great at the 4 when Mitchell is struggling . Or simply to provide rest .. I love some dudes comment " Obviously Z cant play big boy SEC ball". so stupid , we have no clue what the guy can and cant do .. but based on the Ga performance he gets a legit chance .
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This is all on coaching. I'd venture to guess 99% of college coaches in America would change rosters with Cal.
Average UCONN recruit rankings (RIVALS) of the current eight roster players who were recruited to UCONN by Hurley, over the last three years.
UCONN:
2023: #127/ #69/ #63/ #80/ #10
2022: #39
2021: #70/ #75
So only Castle (#10) of UCONN was rated higher than Kentucky's UGO at #37..
Two of the most important players for UCONN are 5th year Seniors, who were transfers.
While UK has:
2023: #2/ #3/ #6/ #15/ #28 (Conceivably 4-5 of these won't be at UK next year)
2022: #37/ NR
2021: None available, 1-DNP/ 1-NBA/ 2-transfers
UCONN:
2023: #127/ #69/ #63/ #80/ #10
2022: #39
2021: #70/ #75
So only Castle (#10) of UCONN was rated higher than Kentucky's UGO at #37..
Two of the most important players for UCONN are 5th year Seniors, who were transfers.
While UK has:
2023: #2/ #3/ #6/ #15/ #28 (Conceivably 4-5 of these won't be at UK next year)
2022: #37/ NR
2021: None available, 1-DNP/ 1-NBA/ 2-transfers
Paul Westhead - Wikipedia
LM made it to the elite eight one year, but their offense prowess tended to prove you need defense to win in March.
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Paul Westhead - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
LM made it to the elite eight one year, but their offense prowess tended to prove you need defense to win in March.
Yep......tho conversely if you have a great defense and not a great offense, you aren't doing much either.
You really need both to stand a shot at this thing.
You do understand that would require some effort
Cal is lazy. Just rolling out the ball is a lot closer to what’s going on than many think.
Cal is gonna Cal and he shouldn’t be questioned.
See I tend to think it's not about man to man or zone or switching between the two.
I think we just have players that suck at defense lol.
I think we just have players that suck at defense lol.
Wanna bet...if we shit the bed in Nashville to one win Vandy, it's off the chart pandemonium...
I get Cal needs to be blamed but Cal is not out there rebounding or getting beat 1 on 1 so I do think our players not all are over hyped
There's enough blame to go around here.
Cal runs the ship. He's responsible for putting together a roster that's capable of winning titles.
Honestly tho these players just aren't good on defense. It's on everyone
Cal runs the ship. He's responsible for putting together a roster that's capable of winning titles.
Honestly tho these players just aren't good on defense. It's on everyone
To be a six win team Vandy has a good back court.Wanna bet...if we shit the bed in Nashville to one win Vandy, it's off the chart pandemonium...
We have to win the paint.
That sounds good in principle but do you trust our players to get into the right position when a switch is called from the bench.
I could see guys slow to react and give up a layup.
A "poor" zone is not going to help.
I'm not against a zone but I believe the root cause of our defensive woes are more effort based.
Lots of people see an abundance of talented skinny players. After SC bullied the team the light when on for how to play UK. I'm not the only one but I posted about the lack of bulk back in the summer when they played in Canada.
The critics have their reasons for frothing at the mouth. Their reasons seem to me to be wrong, and the critics just like to froth.
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