Naivety.
Over the last month, we’ve all witnessed the slide of Wenyan Gabriel; the sudden emergence of Humphries; and the on-again, off-again productivity of Briscoe and Bam. In that time, we’ve also watched a number of our fans feed a imaginative inkling in their minds that Calipari would be able to convince 7 top 32 players – maybe 8 if you count Knox –to come to UK and compete alongside Briscoe, Bam, SKJ, Gabriel, Humphries, etc. Most fascinatingly of all, we’ve seen some of our fans put together prospective rosters that look something like this (here’s a conservative one with no Knox in the equation):
PG – Briscoe – Green
SG – Diallo – Alexander - Baker
SF –Vanderbilt – Washington
PF – Bamba – Gabriel – SKJ
C – Bam – Richards – Humphries
What’s strange about these projections is that they assume no less than six former top 32 recruits will be willing to come off the bench; that a player would rather be a third string center at UK than make money professionally in Australia; and that former five star studs like Gabriel or SKJ are mutually okay with a supporting role behind a top 3 pick (Bamba). The reality (which we are all aware of), is that UK is landing elite players because Cal is selling them on being the focal point. They aren't coming to UK to play 8 to 11 minutes a game as a third string, former five star all-American.
That said, those of you who are presently decrying the woes of OAD have set yourselves up for being misled if you look at it from a veteran vs. freshmen analysis. I know that in UNC winning the title, some of our fans are looking at the veteran leadership of that UNC team. The reality is that UNC caught lightning in a bottle by keeping Meeks, Jackson, Hicks, and Berry as long as they did (and even then, did everything possible to not look the part of a real national champion). Despite all of that, UK was a Mulder or Willis three pointer away from knocking off UNC (or a swing call in the first half). OAD had little to do with UK’s Elite Eight loss. Wide open missed shots – by veterans no less – and some bad break calls, were the bigger issues.
Also, those of you who are still not convinced that OAD is the way to go, I simply ask you to respond to this question: Would UK have been demonstrably worse this year if they substituted Miles Bridges for Derek Willis? Markelle Fultz for Mychal Mulder? The issue has never been veterans vs. freshmen; rather, it’s always been talent level vs. talent level. UK had massive roster holes this season (namely, inconsistencies at the 4 spot and also no 3 man to match up against elite wing scorers). Those issues both killed UK all season, and ultimately kept UK from winning the title this year.
Over the last month, we’ve all witnessed the slide of Wenyan Gabriel; the sudden emergence of Humphries; and the on-again, off-again productivity of Briscoe and Bam. In that time, we’ve also watched a number of our fans feed a imaginative inkling in their minds that Calipari would be able to convince 7 top 32 players – maybe 8 if you count Knox –to come to UK and compete alongside Briscoe, Bam, SKJ, Gabriel, Humphries, etc. Most fascinatingly of all, we’ve seen some of our fans put together prospective rosters that look something like this (here’s a conservative one with no Knox in the equation):
PG – Briscoe – Green
SG – Diallo – Alexander - Baker
SF –Vanderbilt – Washington
PF – Bamba – Gabriel – SKJ
C – Bam – Richards – Humphries
What’s strange about these projections is that they assume no less than six former top 32 recruits will be willing to come off the bench; that a player would rather be a third string center at UK than make money professionally in Australia; and that former five star studs like Gabriel or SKJ are mutually okay with a supporting role behind a top 3 pick (Bamba). The reality (which we are all aware of), is that UK is landing elite players because Cal is selling them on being the focal point. They aren't coming to UK to play 8 to 11 minutes a game as a third string, former five star all-American.
That said, those of you who are presently decrying the woes of OAD have set yourselves up for being misled if you look at it from a veteran vs. freshmen analysis. I know that in UNC winning the title, some of our fans are looking at the veteran leadership of that UNC team. The reality is that UNC caught lightning in a bottle by keeping Meeks, Jackson, Hicks, and Berry as long as they did (and even then, did everything possible to not look the part of a real national champion). Despite all of that, UK was a Mulder or Willis three pointer away from knocking off UNC (or a swing call in the first half). OAD had little to do with UK’s Elite Eight loss. Wide open missed shots – by veterans no less – and some bad break calls, were the bigger issues.
Also, those of you who are still not convinced that OAD is the way to go, I simply ask you to respond to this question: Would UK have been demonstrably worse this year if they substituted Miles Bridges for Derek Willis? Markelle Fultz for Mychal Mulder? The issue has never been veterans vs. freshmen; rather, it’s always been talent level vs. talent level. UK had massive roster holes this season (namely, inconsistencies at the 4 spot and also no 3 man to match up against elite wing scorers). Those issues both killed UK all season, and ultimately kept UK from winning the title this year.
