Just the stats

[K_TIME]

1. I was sort of shocked that we got out rebounded by 10...39 Zags 29 UK. Oscar got 1/2 our rebounds as usual...but nobody else came to fight inside. Toppin had 3 boards in 36 minutes. Frederick and Wallace only get 2 a piece and they played 35 minutes. Ware goes 10 min and 1 rebound for a garbage guy.
2. Zags were not blistering hot from 3...7-19 36% ain't bad.. But UK was not hot ...6=25 24%. Many fans want UK to get more modern offense with a lot of 3's and some Oscar. And that is the pace UK tried to deliver and failed. So for those arguing....we need to admit it's more than just a style of play....you simply have to execute whatever you do well....and we are not an execution team.
3. UK had no answer for Strawther.....he was simply super IMO. 20 pts, 14 boards, 3-4 from 3pt and 7-7 FT. Wallace and Frederick drew that assignment and he destroyed them all game long.
4. Drew Timme and Oscar sort of washed each other out. 22pts/7 boards for Timme...Oscar 20pts and 15 boards.
5. UK did a good job of taking care of the ball...only 11 TOs. Zags had 18 TOs. Not bad of keeping our TO's down and generating decent amount of TOs to them.
6. Zero blocks for UK....sort of stunned to see that. I would have bet our athleticism would have made it harder but it was not a factor (or maybe we don't have quite the athleticism we imagine).
7. Wheeler isn't getting 30-ish minutes that many were worried (including me). 17 minutes is about what I think he's good for and that is about where he's playing now. So we can't get on to Cal/Wheeler a ton....he was not on the floor and only a plus/minus of -3.

To the opinion stuff.
- Why UK came out and went under so many ball screens is just having no gameplan of opponent. This reeks of Cal's "We don't watch tape...we just concentrate on what we do". If that is true, that is nonsense. No reason for a game this big to not practice...we always go over screener on this guy, we hedge this action with their guards/Timme, etc. It looked like an AAU game our approach to D.
- Wallace does a ton of good things. Steals, not many TOs, shot well tonight....but his ball wandering style was a problem and breakdown on defense. Strawther and Bolton made him pay every time he went under screens and roamed a bit too much. I think that comes with time for him.
- Toppin looks like Keion Brooks II now. All jump shot 2's and can't hit a 3pt. Not near enough boards. No steals. And his defense was hardly what I'd call a stopper. Jacob was a fine glue guy and a lot of little things....but he's not doing that now and we need him to get back to doing the little things for this team.
- Frederick and Reeves have to shoot to play heavy minutes and they did not today. I don't blame Cal for sticking with them and not working in Theiro. They both had shooting pedigree...I think it's correct to ride them out
- No gameplan for Timme. We just played in straight man to man and he went to work. No strategy to dig down and help post with his endless dribble moves and spin moves. Never doubled off Hickman to make him take shots. We just let their main dudes get all the shots they wanted and their role players to be on the floor to do exactly their roles. Stupid gameplan to not dig back on Timme's drives and rotate off their worst shooters.....that is ole Cal for ya.
- Not blaming the refs at all....but it got a bit silly in 2nd half that Zags had 4 fouls with 4 minutes left in game. Timme was getting every call known to man....all the while he initiates contact all the time. This is why guys like Timme wont' play in NBA. College refs live to ball when a player dribbles into contact and throws up crap...NBA not so much.


https://www.spokesman.com/video/2022/nov/20/highlights-gonzaga-88-kentucky-72/

 

[Fox2monk]

Exactly, it’s like we have the same exact plan every game. Doesn’t matter who we play. We are playing the same defense, the same way no matter what. We don’t execute, we don’t rebound, we don’t defend at what we try. We aren’t prepared, we can’t get a good shot, our offense is clogged as usual. It’s ugly basketball.

 

[megablue]

1. I was sort of shocked that we got out rebounded by 10...39 Zags 29 UK. Oscar got 1/2 our rebounds as usual...but nobody else came to fight inside. Toppin had 3 boards in 36 minutes. Frederick and Wallace only get 2 a piece and they played 35 minutes. Ware goes 10 min and 1 rebound for a garbage guy.
2. Zags were not blistering hot from 3...7-19 36% ain't bad.. But UK was not hot ...6=25 24%. Many fans want UK to get more modern offense with a lot of 3's and some Oscar. And that is the pace UK tried to deliver and failed. So for those arguing....we need to admit it's more than just a style of play....you simply have to execute whatever you do well....and we are not an execution team.
3. UK had no answer for Strawther.....he was simply super IMO. 20 pts, 14 boards, 3-4 from 3pt and 7-7 FT. Wallace and Frederick drew that assignment and he destroyed them all game long.
4. Drew Timme and Oscar sort of washed each other out. 22pts/7 boards for Timme...Oscar 20pts and 15 boards.
5. UK did a good job of taking care of the ball...only 11 TOs. Zags had 18 TOs. Not bad of keeping our TO's down and generating decent amount of TOs to them.
6. Zero blocks for UK....sort of stunned to see that. I would have bet our athleticism would have made it harder but it was not a factor (or maybe we don't have quite the athleticism we imagine).
7. Wheeler isn't getting 30-ish minutes that many were worried (including me). 17 minutes is about what I think he's good for and that is about where he's playing now. So we can't get on to Cal/Wheeler a ton....he was not on the floor and only a plus/minus of -3.

To the opinion stuff.
- Why UK came out and went under so many ball screens is just having no gameplan of opponent. This reeks of Cal's "We don't watch tape...we just concentrate on what we do". If that is true, that is nonsense. No reason for a game this big to not practice...we always go over screener on this guy, we hedge this action with their guards/Timme, etc. It looked like an AAU game our approach to D.
- Wallace does a ton of good things. Steals, not many TOs, shot well tonight....but his ball wandering style was a problem and breakdown on defense. Strawther and Bolton made him pay every time he went under screens and roamed a bit too much. I think that comes with time for him.
- Toppin looks like Keion Brooks II now. All jump shot 2's and can't hit a 3pt. Not near enough boards. No steals. And his defense was hardly what I'd call a stopper. Jacob was a fine glue guy and a lot of little things....but he's not doing that now and we need him to get back to doing the little things for this team.
- Frederick and Reeves have to shoot to play heavy minutes and they did not today. I don't blame Cal for sticking with them and not working in Theiro. They both had shooting pedigree...I think it's correct to ride them out
- No gameplan for Timme. We just played in straight man to man and he went to work. No strategy to dig down and help post with his endless dribble moves and spin moves. Never doubled off Hickman to make him take shots. We just let their main dudes get all the shots they wanted and their role players to be on the floor to do exactly their roles. Stupid gameplan to not dig back on Timme's drives and rotate off their worst shooters.....that is ole Cal for ya.
- Not blaming the refs at all....but it got a bit silly in 2nd half that Zags had 4 fouls with 4 minutes left in game. Timme was getting every call known to man....all the while he initiates contact all the time. This is why guys like Timme wont' play in NBA. College refs live to ball when a player dribbles into contact and throws up crap...NBA not so much.


https://www.spokesman.com/video/2022/nov/20/highlights-gonzaga-88-kentucky-72/

Excellent summation. Where do you get the plus/minus for each player?? Wallace is very good on defense, but he does seem to gamble a bit too much, like Hagans used to do. Toppin has to get more rebounds. Shooting speaks for itself.

 

[Bluegrass79]

John Wooden did same thing. Didnt worry or care what the othe team had going on. His philosophy was STOP US, fuk your system, your way, your players. Wooden focused on UCLA only.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

John Wooden did same thing. Didnt worry or care what the othe team had going on. His philosophy was STOP US, fuk your system, your way, your players. Wooden focused on UCLA only.

When Bill Walton and Lou Alcindor show up on campus, let me know. Along with three of the next best 10 players.

 

[chroix]

Toppin needs to step sit up big time.
CJ needs to step sit up big time.
Reeves needs to step sit up big time.

 

[JonathanW]

1) the rebounding was a result of our guys having zero energy that first half, WTH. I also do think they stand around too much expecting Oscar to go get every board.
2) I said it the other day, if Fredrick AND Reeves both struggle, we will struggle to win any (Big 5 Conf) game. It's pretty amazing we cut it to 4, and later to 5. Worse than the 6-25 was that many of those were OPEN shots. 6-25 when they are trying to stop us from hitting 3's, ok, but that wasn't the case here
3) Strather was what we want Toppin to be, but he ain't there. Even Watson looked good.
4) The numbers were similar, except Oscar more boards. But Timme seemed to make more of an impact. Maybe part of that was the whistle (IDK)
5) I think this will be a strength for us all season, Wheeler taking better care of the ball and Fredrick rarely turning it over, AND Wallace just takes the ball away from guys, he makes you think of a Strong Safety that just physically dominates WRs
6) 6 is disappointing, and maybe part of why we lost. but then again no minutes from Onyenso, not many from Collins, our 2 best shot blockers by far. Also Timme gets his body into you to score, which makes it tough to block his shot. I would have had a trailer on him when he drove, so as soon as he spun there would be Wallace to take the ball away.
7) part of the reason Wheeler played only 17 was the fouls. But I think I saw Cal sitting him more than usual before the fouls racked up, so I think Cal was wanting to cut him down from 30 to 25.

I agree with you on Timme, I mean the one drive on Ware he plowed into (a stationary) Ware, turned and plowed his other shoulder into him, then on the 3rd "bump" goes up and Ware does hack his arm. Yeah Ware fouled him, but AFTER they allowed Timme to bully-ball his way to the rim. If Oscar does that on offense, he probably has 2 fouls and a Tech called on him. The whistle was definitely 1-sided; but we didn't deserve to win that game.

As for Reeves and Fredrick, if they aren't hitting, play Livingston that game, at least he rebounds and can play better D. Or even Theiro. But if those 2 are playing 50+ minutes, if we don't get at least 5 combined 3's from them, it's going to be a Loss.
ANY game where Oscar is not our leading scorer, we WILL WIN.

I love Wallace. On offense he is not trying to do too much, and so he has been efficient. On DEF he just takes the ball away from guys. But yeah he does need to stick to his man a bit more.

I think we need to stop with always switching. Wheeler should NEVER be guarding Timme. Fredrick shouldn't guard certain guys too. Maybe also Reeves. This might be the most Zone needing team we've had, and this coming from someone (me) who doesn't like zone.

 

[CELTICAT]

When Bill Walton and Lou Alcindor show up on campus, let me know. Along with three of the next best 10 players.

When John Wooden retired from UCLA, it was closer in time to the Treaty of Versailles to end WWI than today.

 

[Smashcat]

John Wooden did same thing. Didnt worry or care what the othe team had going on. His philosophy was STOP US, fuk your system, your way, your players. Wooden focused on UCLA only.

It works when you have the talent to win natiinal championship after national championship.