is Skal Cal's first miss?
- Thread starter buckkiller
- Start date
That doesn't work, Skal wouldn't be considered a recruiting mistake no matter what kind of player he ends up being. He was the number one or two guy in the class. Although Poythress isn't as good as we'd hoped, it was an unfortunate case of a guy being overrated not a recruiting mistake, everyone thought Poythress would be a beast, he's still a really good player. Greg Oden wasn't a recruiting mistake, he was a bust.
Stacy Poole, Enes Kanter, Derek Willis (for some) would be better examples.
I really wasn't calling Poy a mistake, but the recruiting world including Cal thought he would be much better. BTW Poy is my favorite player on the team
Poole was in Cal's first year and he was after bodies, the talent was there in Kanter, I think Cal knew what he was getting in Willis
Skal may not be a miss by NBA draft pick status...but he's going to fall way short of Nerlens and KAT...it's not even worth the time to compare him to Davis ever.
- KAT was a physically imposing presence even when his offensive game was developing early in the year.
- Nerlens was an energizer bunny from day one. Non stop motor and he had by far the worst offensive ability of KAT, Skal, Davis.
Skal is a complete let down on defense. He plays like Wiltjer with exception he can block a shot with his length at times. But 4 rebs a game is so bad you can't really see how SKal will be a 10 reb a game player as the physical ability of bigs will only improve as we hit SEC play.
- KAT was a physically imposing presence even when his offensive game was developing early in the year.
- Nerlens was an energizer bunny from day one. Non stop motor and he had by far the worst offensive ability of KAT, Skal, Davis.
Skal is a complete let down on defense. He plays like Wiltjer with exception he can block a shot with his length at times. But 4 rebs a game is so bad you can't really see how SKal will be a 10 reb a game player as the physical ability of bigs will only improve as we hit SEC play.
1. It is WAY too early for anyone to using the word miss in a post about Skal. Good lord, the kid's only played eight games.
2. What makes you think Cal's never had a miss before? Sorry, but Cal's had plenty of recruits that could be characterized as misses, or at least who didn't turn to be nearly as good here as projected when recruited. A few names that come to mind being Stacey Poole, Ryan Harrow, Archie Goodwin, Eloy Vargas, Kyle Wiltjer (based on how he did at UK, not Gonzaga), Darnell Dodson, Alex Poythress, etc. Hell, you could maybe arguably even include guys like Dakari and Lee, depending upon how one defines the term miss.
2. What makes you think Cal's never had a miss before? Sorry, but Cal's had plenty of recruits that could be characterized as misses, or at least who didn't turn to be nearly as good here as projected when recruited. A few names that come to mind being Stacey Poole, Ryan Harrow, Archie Goodwin, Eloy Vargas, Kyle Wiltjer (based on how he did at UK, not Gonzaga), Darnell Dodson, Alex Poythress, etc. Hell, you could maybe arguably even include guys like Dakari and Lee, depending upon how one defines the term miss.
Stop. Archie didn't cause us to lose alone. At least the dude was attempting to get a shot. Not much else happening on that team. Blaming Archie for that debacle is just silly.
Olden was a GREAT college player . And just like Sam Bowie , injuries are what did Oden in . I think a guy can't be considered a bust because of injuries . Is Jay Williams a bust for having a motorcycle wreck ? Now Anthony Bennett , Kawane Brown , Chris Burgess , Brett Bearup , Richard Madison . Those guys were busts .
Archie suffered for lack of a point guard and no one else on his team that could create a shot . Sometimes he appeared to be selfish but what else could he do ?
You saying they were? Or agreeing with my thought / that they were not? Either way, you're opinion is valued. Just curious.
![[roll]](http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/img/emoticons/classic/roll.r191677.gif "roll [roll]")
That's true, but to be fair, that was maybe one of the 5 weakest high school classes since basketball has been a nationally recognized sport. It was just awful.
Look at this top 10:
Shabazz Muhammad
Nerlens Noel
Kyle Anderson
Isaiah Austin
Steven Adams
Ricardo Ledo
Anthony Bennett
Alex Poythress
Kaleb Tarczewski
Marcus Smart
How many of those guys would make the top 10 in 2016? Probably zero. Maaaybe Shabazz and Nerlens would creep into 9 or 10. Maybe.
There obviously weren't any super-elite guys, like future NBA standouts - there weren't even any elite (eg. sure starter as a pro) players.
The ceiling on that class was basically "decent rotation guy in the league" and there were maybe 3 of those, give or take.
That's historically bad.
Our fanbase has a lot of stupid morons! 
I remember the dumb butts that questioned Anthony Davis' high school ranking because he could do nothing but block shots until late JAN. We forget & only remember that March
I remember the dumb butts that questioned Anthony Davis' high school ranking because he could do nothing but block shots until late JAN. We forget & only remember that March
It totally amazes me we lose our 1st game of the year on the Road to UCLA with Ulis not being 100%, Lee out most of the game, and foul trouble in 1st half with bad calls and we want to say Cal's first miss is Skal. I have also heard from fans that Murray is a miss too. Come on fans we lost our 1st game in nearly 40+ games in two years during regular season and we want to say how bad this team is now. Just a couple of weeks ago when we beat Duke pretty handily everyone was talking about how great this team is and headed for undefeated season and a FF run and winning another Nat. Championship. How things change in one Loss! We will be fine by the time March Madness. Coach Cal is always good in having his teams ready to play when March rolls around!
Skal essentially didn't even play basketball last year . It may take him a little longer to find himself . Right now he is trying to find the middle ground between playing hard and being as physical as he can WITHOUT FOULING . That's a tough transition for any freshman but especially for a dude that ,through no fault of his own , basically played on the equivalent of a church league team .
Give him some time .
Yeah, I mean, 8th game of the season and some of us are already calling this kid a bust.. SMH
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lol , careful with the word WE . I don't think anyone wants to be linked in a group with the OP .
Comparing Skal to the likes of Karl Anthony Towns is so unfair. Towns grew up with all the resources he would ever need--stable family, relatively affluent home life, excellent nutrition, coaching and physical training, top competition level, etc. Skal, on the other hand, is basically a refugee from an earthquake-ravaged third world country. In his young life, he has enjoyed none of those factors with any continuity and he has endured long periods when he was without combinations of them altogether. His gifts, however (an exceptionally long and smooth athlete, quick leaper, terrific hands and on and on), are obvious.
I think you are right. We have already seen he has a sweet shot. He just needs to be more aggressive and confident which will come.
Enes? You mean the guy who just got the huge contract extension from OKC and is a double double machine even off the bench?
Kid was a really good recruit. Maybe great. He shouldve been able to play at least part of the season. Definitely not a miss imo.
I think this is accurate. Poythress was highly rated because his class was just putrid.
Perry Ellis , Parker at UCLA , Amille Jefferson , the Salemon kid that was kicked off off of Duke , Meeks at NC, Troy Williams at Indiana .
Werent all these kids McD AA that year and are still in school ? Could be wrong about some of them cause I'm just going off memory . Anyway I agree that is probably the weakest class I can remember
What an idiotic post . I disagree that it is fair to ask if Skal is a recruiting miss AT THIS POINT IN THE SEASON . In one statement you say Skal has a lot of talent and plenty of time to develop toughness then the next statement you say it is fair to ask if he is a recruiting miss . Seven games into the season . Your first statement you said you never post here , just read . I would encourage you to stick with that practice . You won't look as foolish .
you just proved that my comment about not being able to compartmentalize is 1000% true. thanks sunshine
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Check my post post history and you'll find I am far from a sunshine pumper . I've had lots of less than glowing remarks about Cal , Poythress , free throw shooting , Cals zone offense , and if you go back to last year I was even critical of WCS at times . A sunshine pumper I am not . Sometimes it is better to stay quiet and not call attention to ones self . I think most would agree applies to you .
let me help you with your critical thinking a bit. the concept that Skal could be a miss because he has actual playing issues to work on and the idea that he still has time to fix them are not mutually exclusive. thus discussion of if he could be a miss, even 7 games in, is a legitimate topic. and the op was gang attacked by sunshine pumpers for bringing it up.
Well then mr. Imsuchagoodthinker LOL , the same can be said for ANY freshman on ANY team . Why single him out ?
