You are missing one thing, he was a veteran, who already knew the system and how Cal practices. That is valuable when 75% of your team will be freshmen or newbies of some sort. Plus I liked that Ware did not back down when it came to contact. I think he will be missed.
Lance Ware enters transfer portal
- Thread starter JFCats22
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it really doesn't matter if Oscar returns or not. ccc only plays one way and does not change the style of play to maximize the players strengths or hides their weakness. I too prefer the Nelson kid & the Utah Valley kid. both have the ability to get up and down the floor. one has the ability to handle the ball & score, while the other can block shots & rebound. Oscaar has one ability, rebounding. He finishes below the rim, which is why he has so many of his shots blocked. He doesn't have very good foot movement for defense and is limited offensively.
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No offense but we are making a huge step to try to make the loss of Lance Ware as a negative impact to performance on the floor.
I don’t see how you can call it a great day. Ware just left a difficult to fill hole. No one is gonna want to come for depth at that spot. Plus we still need a starting center. All the eggs are in Oscar basket. That’s not good at all. I’m not saying Dickinson was the right fit but losing ware for whatever people think of him he’s a big physical body. We have none now just a bunch of freshman and ugo who technically should be a freshman.
??? Nobody else is saying that in regard to Ware leaving. In fact, there are a lot of positive comments by everyone. So, why trash our program over this? It makes no sense.
Ware was going to be gifted minutes and he brings nothing. His forced minutes in that Kansas State loss right before the Half were typical of most of his appearances.
I don't believe all the eggs are in the Oscar basket at all.
Dickinson was/is/will be a prick. That's just who he is. He's a guy who can play but bringing him into Lexington would've been very challenging in many ways that have nothing to do with basketball. I didn't care for the fit there either.
If there's something to be upset about, it's all the missed opportunities to give Onyenso's Ware's minutes last year. That was a missed chance to have a more developed/experienced player going into this year.
Also, I'll be interested to see what the Lance Ware Transfer market looks like. He may pivot and return, but I for one don't want to see him blocking the path of more talented guys who can improve with the reps/mins.
I simply disagree .. the guy is an OVC guy who averages 8 and 6 if he plays 28-30 min
Well yeah it was a no brainer to give ugo wares minutes that makes too much sense for cal to comprehend. He couldn’t have ever developed a player like bogans for instance because cal only thinks about the season in front of him. Brogans would have been OAD and missed an nba career with cal. He has never developed a player for the future by taking some lumps. I mean i coached 5A hs soccer and d2 soccer I was the head guy 25 years plus. I can tell you with certainty cal can’t develop players. He can motivate them to play their hardest for one season but developing ugo for this year didn’t even enter Cals mind. I have never seen a guy who doesn’t develop players continue to coach as long as cal has. It’s unsustainable and every year we have a couple guys on the roster who need player development, they don’t get it and play with in their bad habits until cal permanently benched them.
Dickinson yeah I didn’t want him in Lexington. Cal fooled a lot of people into loving and wanting Dickinson. Oscar though I don’t agree. He has some deficiencies that will preclude him from having a great nba career but he has the tools to be a great college player and he has to this point. Poy and AA in consecutive years. We need a guy like him not for skill but for sheer power. We have enough finesse and skill to surround him. Honestly I don’t see a night and day difference between Oscar and sanogo other than sanogo has developed more range. I feel like you put that much talent with Oscar and he will thrive especially when this is what we lack. Going with the rail thin guy from NDsu I’m not feeling it. That guy will get eaten up in p5 imo and he’s just another stick figure in the front court with ugo and Bradshaw.
Good luck to Ware.
He seems like a good guy and he always fought when he was in there.
That's about all I got on this lol.
He seems like a good guy and he always fought when he was in there.
That's about all I got on this lol.
I root for St Johns since I graduated from there so I want to see them do well but yeah I gotta be honest I haven't been too impressed with Pitino at St Johns so far.
You're not winning the Big East with Lance Ware lol.
Agree that player development isn't his strength but what's more frustrating is that it doesn't have to be when you are the HC at Kentucky. What you do need to do and was not being addressed once Kenny Payne left is having someone who is very strong in this area. John Welch hire is going to be a big factor addressing that weakness. That hire is being celebrated by even the harshest of Cal detractors. So it's a positive development in that area.
Ware's minutes were due to relationships, not ability.
My point on Oscar is he's not going to go from NPOY/AA to a reduced role. That's a dreamland scenario that UK media is omitting the human element. His point is going to be "I'm doing my job, why should I change how we play". If your plan included him, you needed to get shooters all around and make it easier. These guys are built to play DDM style offense and open random type of offensive game.
Defensively is where it would be a complete nightmare. Even worse then past because the plan is to play Bradshaw the PF spot--now if he's a PF as tallest player and say Livingston returned--you could put out a lineup of Bradshaw, Livingston, Edwards, DJ and Dillingham. Ugo/Adou//Reeves/Reed are bench players and see what you have. I think that roster is short a player or 2 personally. Oscar with Bradshaw is defensively about as bad of a duo to have out there. Bradshaw would have to take the pick and roll game and then what does Oscar do at the rim? Not to mention his chase close outs are so slow and mechanical by the time he flies to challenge--shot is halfway through the air-which is why he sags/hoping they miss for a rebound.
UConn kid could defend. He also split his minutes and played a reduced role than most guys would accept--specifically if he they had Oscar's credentials which leads me back to ignoring the human element of a player returning where he's had great individual success but not team success. NDSU guy would be assuming Oscar isn't back and it's to play a different style of offensive basketball.
I'm an outlier/contrarian in that my experience watching/coaching basketball, offense wins championships. You have to be able to score the ball. Kentucky's biggest problem in the recent decline of Calipari era is they want "rockfights". Those are trash games. They happen but at a place like Kentucky should only happen in occasion, not consistently. The way to change that, get players who have great skill and are athletic but also focus on player development and conditioning to the point movement and pace is embraced and not looked as an early season thing. If you want to grind--better build around shooters in your 4 around 1 system-which Cal has stated he doesn't want to use. So.....where do you go?
Ugonna and Bradshaw are 7'0 and a guy like Nelson (whose preference is NBA) is 6'11 and skilled. I like the player from Utah Valley and other options who are mobile and athletic above the rim finishers/rim protectors in SEC before I like brutes who are beneath the rim. Just a preference and won't matter what I think if Oscar returns. Then I just hope for the best and that it equates to more winning.
Yeah we won't even make the sweet 16 again but we will be okay.
Oh, we will get our 10th guy. It will be another project player that does nothing. So we'll go into next season with four project players on our roster. Two will bust. One will be decent. One will meet expectations. We'll end up with a 7 1/2 man rotation, praying for good health when March rolls around.
No movement in the portal = we won't be landing a significant transfer portal player. Don't want to make the starters actually have to compete for minutes or anything. That might hurt Cal's street cred. Championships be damned as long as he maintains that street cred.
Oscar's problems started, and ended with Oscar. He spent way to much time outside of the gym. He did not put in the work he said he would to transform his game. He coasted this year, and let his ego get in the way of getting better. Heard way to much from people in/around the team, and from local church members about the amount of time he spent outside the gym and away from teammates.
Ware accepted his role as a backup for 3 years and probably never expected to start. You’ve got to have players like that. If nobody accepts their role coming off the bench then you will never have over 6 quality players on your team, especially with the crazy transfer rules now.
And yet he's still averaging 20 and 20 in three tournament games. The "Oscar is the reason we sucked" argument is pure Calipari-deflection fallacy.
Addition by subtraction. He's a SWAC level talent. Good luck to him, though.
Lamce is a nice guy. He is a good college player. There is absolutely no reason to believe that any coach would be able to develop him into a better player. Only the Cal haters would try to blame Cal for Ware's serious limitations as a player.
This just highlights that your blinded by stats, and don't understand how the game is played. You can be a statistical machine, and still be a overall negitive to the function of the team. He did not spend the time in the gym to work on his weaknesses. No one questions his motor and hustle on the court. But his drive off the court to get better, and his isolation from the rest of the team you can rightfully question. You can also question Oscar, AND still question Cal. It's not one or the other.
We lose handily to Providence without him and wouldn't have been close to Kansas State, who we would have beaten had Reeves not gone 1 for 15 with his loan make at garbage time. Heaping our lack of success on a guy that averaged 21 and 20 in his three tournament games is amateur stuff.
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That was how he was utilized in the past. If he's used in a similar manner, you won't field a team as the incoming class was not told they'd be playing 4 around 1 and throwing to Oscar and watching him be the focal point.
Everyone's assumption is that a player is going to be fine with a role. Now add the human element. He told the staff he planned on being gone prior to the season. He's trying to get to the NBA. They have to fill the roster and are looking (which he understands) to fill roster spots and you have media members assuming he'd be fine with: less minutes, ,less $, less of and a different role? Talk and fantasy basketball is one thing. Reality is that a lot of things have been discussed and with the idea he'd not be around and he didn't have a great season.
I didn't blame him for failed postseason success. I did point out that having a bullish brute hasn't led to SEC or postseason success when someone mentioned not having enough bulk upfront. If I have a choice, I take shot blocking/rim protection over the rebounder. You'd prefer both and if you get that-those guys are gone after a year due to being Lottery picks. It's why a guy like Isaiah Jackson was a 1st Rd pick on the worst UK team in Modern history and Oscar is trying to get a guarantee that he'll get Drafted in 2nd Rd as one of the best CBB rebounders ever. The TEAM success is what everyone wants to see but so many act like the personnel is the same and fit will be too.
All this said-if he surprises and returns, I'll be hoping he kills and everything works out. Just know that what fans/media/others want doesn't take into account what people want/expect.
Reeves had no issues getting all the shots he wanted when Oscar was on the floor. The guys coming in won't have issues, either. I hope they make some so his rebound numbers suffer. I get the rim protector angle but those guys that really change a game and send you deep in March are few and far between.
Well you seem to have a read on the future. Can you give me a winning lotto numbers too?
Things are pretty bad at Ky when Lance is transferring.
Reeves is the type of player who can easily fit to play off Oscar. Catch and shoot and off the dribble. But he also would kill it with the open looks he'd get off drive/kick game that we're supposedly going to see this year. In that style of offense, that dunker spot only has to have a guy who can finish above the rim/good hands to catch and finish lobs/open dunks but usually protects rim/defensively is impactful. Think Joey Dorsey at Memphis when Cal was there. Easier to fill that void.
If you wanted an ideal team of guys to play around Oscar when he is most successful-you get catch/shoot guys.
Right now this class is built to play more random like Miami Fl or Texas did last year than they are how Oscar plays. Now Miami will shoot 3's but they do it off drive/kick and emptying the lane playing in transition, not loading the block. Oscar is best utilized as a post player. This roster as it currently is constructed would have every opponent-force the ball down-then double down knowing Oscar is a bad passer/playmaker and then leave guys open to make shots. They aren't a 4 around 1 team.
Now if you want to shift the discussion to needing more shooting/shot making-I'm all for it. UConn for instance got veteran starters like Joey Calcaterra and Naheim Alleyne to come in for reserve roles and they already had Jordan Hawkins who was the best shooter I saw in the tournament. That opened things up for Sanogo and Clingan, along with Andre Jackson's playmaking. They also ran great sets and were lauded for that.
I'm more concerned with adding shooting than I am bigs right now. But I value scoring more than defense and in my defense I want rim protectors so I can chase opponents off the 3pt line and force tough 2s or them to try and score over my rim protection. Kentucky has an elite rim protector in Onyenso who will show that if given minutes. Do they have the shooting?
My problem with Cal has been his ignoring shooting too often. The '12 team was stacked but to have a guy like Wiltjer come off the bench and give you a 3 each rotation he was in more often than not was valuable to a team like that. It just wears on opponents. It's something my friend has brought up to them with guys like Jalil Bethea/Jaiden Glover available and I've passed on Jackson McAndrew in the '24 class. Those shooters are weapons and they aren't limited to just being shooters. But I love how Villanova played under Jay Wright and how UConn had shooting around bigs--different philosophies but nobody shorted shooting for sake of defense or athletes. You can have both.
Either he knows Oscar is coming back or he didn't appreciate us trying to get another big man on top of Bradshaw. Most likely the latter. He certainly did his time and wish the best for him.
