Last time we brought in 8 freshman at once
- Thread starter JST390-2
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The problem isn’t bringing in 8 freshmen. It’s that 5-6 of them will be gone after this year. We need to build a roster in this era.
Even the “weaker” additions will be recruited over with Freshmen next year. His model is broken. His coaching is weak. We are in trouble.
Even the “weaker” additions will be recruited over with Freshmen next year. His model is broken. His coaching is weak. We are in trouble.
Eh, with the portal now a roster can be repaired in 1-2 years. If this is Cal's last season as some have speculated, the next coach may be left with a bare cabinet but it will be leagues easier for them to rebuild compared to just 5 years ago.
The situation right now isn't great, but I'm not too worried for the next coach, whenever that is.
Sadly, you are 100% correct. Loyalty is a forgotten trait. With it goes a schools tradition and history. All that will hang in a schools gym will be trophy banners and not individual ones for those who did great things.
The portal is like the minor leagues in a way or teams in professional sports who just buy their teams.
Sure.
But:
—everyone playing their natural positions
—Randle one of the biggest dawgs to ever play in college
—so deep they always had at least three top-25 guys on the bench
—a guy who already had one of our best defensive seasons ever coming back
That team is not this team.
And even with all that, that team kind of sucked until at the last minute Calipari reached into his ass and pulled out a “tweak,” whatever that is————something he hasn’t been able to repeat since.
Don’t get me wrong: I’d fricking love to go to the title game this year. But anyone who thinks we will just because they did is just being childish.
But:
—everyone playing their natural positions
—Randle one of the biggest dawgs to ever play in college
—so deep they always had at least three top-25 guys on the bench
—a guy who already had one of our best defensive seasons ever coming back
That team is not this team.
And even with all that, that team kind of sucked until at the last minute Calipari reached into his ass and pulled out a “tweak,” whatever that is————something he hasn’t been able to repeat since.
Don’t get me wrong: I’d fricking love to go to the title game this year. But anyone who thinks we will just because they did is just being childish.
This freshman class would’ve been just fine if we hadn’t had a mass exodus of players
However we still have the coach
Also..we talk about amazing incoming classes. How many of these super frosh can everyone name off the top of their heads (and without looking them up). How many were so great their names will be remembered
How many of this class will be remembered?
However we still have the coach
Also..we talk about amazing incoming classes. How many of these super frosh can everyone name off the top of their heads (and without looking them up). How many were so great their names will be remembered
How many of this class will be remembered?
The big difference is most of the good teams back then were really young too. Now they aren't. Plus, that team was terrible to watch in the regular season and came within a last second missed shot by Fred VanVleet of being bounced in the 2nd round of the NCAAT. If we had been bounced in the 2nd round, after a shitty regular season, 1 year after being bounced in the 1st round of the NIT, fans would have turned on Cal much faster.
But I will say that was the most fun run in the NCAAT of my lifetime. Lotta close games against great teams, who were rivals.
But I will say that was the most fun run in the NCAAT of my lifetime. Lotta close games against great teams, who were rivals.
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That team was an 8 seed. If it took them two weeks longer to get their shit together they were in jeopardy of missing the tournament. Don’t play with fire too many times.
The shocking part of that many highly ranked recruits is that only 1 turned into a real NBA player(I know JY was drafted decently high and others had a very quick cup of coffee). This roster will need more than 1 of the freshman to be NBA quality.
And that team was an 8 seed that needed a miracle multiple times over to survive. In February, they were looking into the lens of the NIT bracket after getting waxed at South Carolina, if I recall correctly .... wasn't that the infamous Pat Forde "Cal made his bed ..." article?
You all forget that year was miserable. They saved it at the end with some huge shots in big wins. James Young misses a 3 against WSU and that's billed as the biggest failure in the Cal era.
Again, college basketball is different now than it was then. The game is older. More parity amongst power 5’s with mid majors losing almost every star. In 2013-14 you could get away with freshman. It hasn’t worked for anyone in years. Maybe the guys coming in are alphas, but why not prepare in case they aren’t? That’s what I don’t get with Cal sitting on his hands throwing paper balls at the wall all off-season.
In fairness to that team, they didn't play a "young" team the entire tourney run.
They beat veteran teams.
They beat veteran teams.
Nah we’re building a good core group going forward.
IF we add the 3 we are entertaining I’m going to take the opposite view. Excited to see a young super talented UK team develop over the course of the season. Will take the down with the good.
Not going to quit and give up like most on Rafters. This season could spark a great run of Ky basketball.
Reminds me of our early post probation teams in the 80s. Easy to cheer for and push forward. Rebuild the brand.
Wish it wasn’t happening but it is. Can’t cry over water under the bridge. Players are gone. Got to look ahead and UK is my team.
Like the look of all the new and potential new players. Lots of skills and exciting ball players. Lots of pieces. Will put the fun back in UK bball. Think we replaced the defectors with better players.
Our coaches need to upgrade their efforts as well.
Please don’t turn this into a Cal bash. It’s a new season coming and this team doesn’t deserve any criticism. Glad they want to be here.
Go Cats!
"Recruited over" is a subjective term.
A player controls their own destiny with their play on the court.
There will always be a next recruiting class.
Why would any coach purposely go out and recruit a class not equal to other classes.
This goes back to the debate about Portland not drafting Jordan because they already had Drexler.
You always take Jordan in that situation and let it work itself out.
It is. With that said, his freshmen haven’t been good enough the past five years. You need some grown men on the roster to bang down low.
Anybody defending his roster build for this upcoming season I am going to disagree with. Not saying I am right. In my opinion, we need 3/4 grown men on each roster with some five star ballers.
OK - by the same token - what happened the last time we lost 9 scholarship players?
Now days ... our lottery winnings are less than the cost of the ticket.
One glaring difference though is the size of those freshman compared to this years. They were physically built much higher than the kids in this class
Randle was by far the best one. Aaron hit a few big shots. Overall he wasn’t a good three point shooter. But he hit them when it mattered
Don't agree at all. Remember them all because of that run and several came back the next season as part of that 38 win team. No real UK is forgetting those players.
This class’ guards better than the twins/James young I think. I’m at least excited about that.
Obv don’t have a randle but think the overall playmaking should be more electric and keep us in games.
Dillingham, Edwards and Wagner gonna get buckets no doubt. We’ll see how it all clicks in March.
Obv don’t have a randle but think the overall playmaking should be more electric and keep us in games.
Dillingham, Edwards and Wagner gonna get buckets no doubt. We’ll see how it all clicks in March.
2014 is the best comparison. It’s not perfect, but it is the closest comparison.
I think Dillingham and Wagner can be better than the Twins in year one.
I think Edwards will be better than Young.
If we get Cyril, he could be comparable to Johnson.
Bradshaw is unlikely to be the next Randle, though.
Onyenso is a very poor (impoverished) man’s WCS.
Thiero, given the minutes, could play the Poythress role.
This team has one thing that 2014 lacked, an excellent guard on the bench in Reed Sheppard. In 2014, Hawkins was not ready to contribute, and we had nobody to really backup the Twins.
And Sheppard is a good shooter, which that 2014 lacked. Harrison was decent and hit big shots down the stretch, but he wasn’t what I would call a consistent shooter.
On the other hand, we don’t have a solid frontcourt replacement if a big man goes down like they did with Lee in 2014.
It’s the best comparison, but definitely not perfect.
This team probably produces a similar regular season result, 10+ losses, but I don’t see them lucking up and beating a super weak 1 seed, then getting a couple of miracle shots to get to the Final Four. This team is probably a first weekend casualty. Not much different than the last two seasons.
Like 2014, this team has little margin for error. If one guy isn’t as good as advertised, it could get real ugly. Like 2021 ugly.
I think Dillingham and Wagner can be better than the Twins in year one.
I think Edwards will be better than Young.
If we get Cyril, he could be comparable to Johnson.
Bradshaw is unlikely to be the next Randle, though.
Onyenso is a very poor (impoverished) man’s WCS.
Thiero, given the minutes, could play the Poythress role.
This team has one thing that 2014 lacked, an excellent guard on the bench in Reed Sheppard. In 2014, Hawkins was not ready to contribute, and we had nobody to really backup the Twins.
And Sheppard is a good shooter, which that 2014 lacked. Harrison was decent and hit big shots down the stretch, but he wasn’t what I would call a consistent shooter.
On the other hand, we don’t have a solid frontcourt replacement if a big man goes down like they did with Lee in 2014.
It’s the best comparison, but definitely not perfect.
This team probably produces a similar regular season result, 10+ losses, but I don’t see them lucking up and beating a super weak 1 seed, then getting a couple of miracle shots to get to the Final Four. This team is probably a first weekend casualty. Not much different than the last two seasons.
Like 2014, this team has little margin for error. If one guy isn’t as good as advertised, it could get real ugly. Like 2021 ugly.
There are MANY UK fans here. And the program, including its coach, deserves every bit of the criticism that it's getting. I think we need to let people exercise their right to free speech. Go Big Blue!!!!
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