Kudos to Hurley.
No other coach has mastered the art of combining HS and portal to construct a contending roster as well as DH.
Having said that he has one more year of the Super senior bullshit and then he's got to come up with something new.
Is it possible that our players just aren’t very good
- Thread starter TriCountyCat
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No other coach has mastered the art of combining HS and portal to construct a contending roster as well as DH.
Having said that he has one more year of the Super senior bullshit and then he's got to come up with something new.
Cal will play zone for a total of one minute and the bleat in the postgame about how he had to switch back because we gave up a three.
As if we don't give up a dozen threes a game in SEC play running M2M anyway.
You are correct regarding man vs zone. There are ways we can play man to man to be a better defensive team. It's a false choice.
I don't think it matters too much at this point who is on the team regarding overall defensive performance. We will always underwhelm. The best we can do on defense anymore is the 2021 team that happened to have a defensive savant on the roster. Even then, it would have ranked among the worst of the Calipari Era pre 2019. The 2020 team had a NBA 5, 2 NBA guards, and a so called defensive ace at PG but still only could manage 52nd in defensive efficiency. Cal has lost the ability to coach a up a group into a strong, cohesive defensive team for whatever reason.
I meant the defense can get no worseWanna bet...if we shit the bed in Nashville to one win Vandy, it's off the chart pandemonium...
They're slow to react and give layups now, mainly because they lack the speed/athleticism to fight thru screens or are switched out of position from good ball movement against our man-man.
Then they drag our bigs away from the basket on switches and we are out of position to grab defensive rebounds...
Ugo guarding a guard at the top of the key and Shep on a 7 footer at the rim is epic fail...
Yeah I agree.
An alternate defense (zone/press) to your primary should be in place in preseason.
Definitely doesn't hurt to try but I'm skeptical with 10 games left that our zone would be effective but not a lot to lose trying.
I think as a team and as individuals they aren't good at defense. I also do think a couple of guys just aren't as good as advertised but on the flip side we have a couple that are better than advertised.
It's tough for young bigs to compete on a high level. Not many freshmen or even sophomores have been able to do it effectively. Even greats like KAT and Bam took nearly half or more of their freshmen season to start making a big impact. Others, like Nick Richards and WCS 2-3 years to adapt to SEC physicality.
Outside of the 7 footers being raw and young, talent is in no way an issue.
This team is just so poorly coached defensively. There's no reason why DJ, Rob, Reed, Reeves, Adou, Tre, Ugo, Edwards, and Bradshaw can't be molded into a solid defensive group that can be respectable on that end of the floor.
The problem is: Cal only plays defense one way. Man-to-man, switch everything, hopefully we get a blocked shot. There's no full court press, despite having a team that literally thrives in transition/fast break situations. There's zero zone, despite us getting beat off the bounce multiple times a game.
There's zero effort to try anything different.
Outside of the 7 footers being raw and young, talent is in no way an issue.
This team is just so poorly coached defensively. There's no reason why DJ, Rob, Reed, Reeves, Adou, Tre, Ugo, Edwards, and Bradshaw can't be molded into a solid defensive group that can be respectable on that end of the floor.
The problem is: Cal only plays defense one way. Man-to-man, switch everything, hopefully we get a blocked shot. There's no full court press, despite having a team that literally thrives in transition/fast break situations. There's zero zone, despite us getting beat off the bounce multiple times a game.
There's zero effort to try anything different.
These players coming out of high schools are some of the best in the nation but there is no leadership or coaching.
It's not the players! What's the common denominator over the past 5 seasons?
The lack of defensive adjustments and failure to prepare teams for in bounds plays on both ends is 100% COACHING.
He recruits and markets the program terrifically but his X's and O's are below average. We brought in Welch and the offense improved now we need a defensive coordinator lol. Fire Bruiser to make the necessary room. He haven't done squat since he's been here and neither has UK.
The lack of defensive adjustments and failure to prepare teams for in bounds plays on both ends is 100% COACHING.
He recruits and markets the program terrifically but his X's and O's are below average. We brought in Welch and the offense improved now we need a defensive coordinator lol. Fire Bruiser to make the necessary room. He haven't done squat since he's been here and neither has UK.
Welch has to know defense also as long as he's been in the game.
There's a lot of years experience on the staff.
Whether Cal listens is questionable.
I think part of this is recruiting.
Whenever we talk about highly rated guys, the ones UK gets, these rankings seem to be heavily skewed to the offensive side of the ball.
So it makes sense to have better offensive than defensive teams when you recruit like this.
Whenever we talk about highly rated guys, the ones UK gets, these rankings seem to be heavily skewed to the offensive side of the ball.
So it makes sense to have better offensive than defensive teams when you recruit like this.
Pretty much nailed it. All excellent points and 100% valid. Cal needs to coach defense but we've seen how that has gone this far into the season.
This team is giving up 1.13 points per possession in SEC play.
It's mindblowing.
I didn't check but I have to imagine that if I looked, that's the highest UK has ever given up in conference play.
Heck even in the 9-16 season we only gave up 1.00.
Granted the national average is up this year. Offense is on the rise. But 1.13 is a ridiculous number.
It's mindblowing.
I didn't check but I have to imagine that if I looked, that's the highest UK has ever given up in conference play.
Heck even in the 9-16 season we only gave up 1.00.
Granted the national average is up this year. Offense is on the rise. But 1.13 is a ridiculous number.
I do think this part of it. We all knew this wasn't an elite class.
Cal needs NBA all star caliber freshmen (or at least borderline all stars) to overcome older more experienced good teams.
I don't see a single player on this roster that's a likely All Star type player. A few "possible" or long shot ones yea, but no obvious ones.
Almost like if Herro had been the best player on that team, we wouldn't have done that much.
We have a bunch of good players that need more than 1 year to figure it out.
Cal needs NBA all star caliber freshmen (or at least borderline all stars) to overcome older more experienced good teams.
I don't see a single player on this roster that's a likely All Star type player. A few "possible" or long shot ones yea, but no obvious ones.
Almost like if Herro had been the best player on that team, we wouldn't have done that much.
We have a bunch of good players that need more than 1 year to figure it out.
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