Minute allocation

[Mike-McD]

I think it's just that Cal wants to give guys as much time to develop as possible. The fact is this team is obviously better if a guy like Wagner is elite come March. As much as people hate hearing it, that process starts now. You don't put it on the back burner in mid-November.

What did Pitino do in 1995 when we crapped the bed against UMass? Did he "give them time to develop?" Nope, he put Epps in as starting point guard. He did the hard thing. And it paid off. Cal is incapable of doing the hard thing.

Wagner and Edwards don't have time to develop. They are gone after this year. The time for them to deliver is NOW.

 

[fatguy87]

Reed and Rob should have played more for sure

In defense of the decision regarding Rob's PT, Rob did end up fouling out.

Reed and Rob have been superior players so far. Edwards has looked more like a hustle wing player who can finish, not someone who handles and makes plays. Wagner has a sure handle, but it hasn't translated into playmaking ability to create his own or for others. Both right now would be fine role players with dynamic players around them, not primary playmakers/shot takers.

Will that change? Who knows? I hope it doesn't come at the expense of early-midseason performance that costs us a couple seeds by March.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

I think it's just that Cal wants to give guys as much time to develop as possible. The fact is this team is obviously better if a guy like Wagner is elite come March. As much as people hate hearing it, that process starts now. You don't put it on the back burner in mid-November.

We have plenty of games to develop Wagner and Edwards. Just don't give a game away doing it.

 

[K_TIME]

Dilly fouled out n 16 minutes. So he's out.

I agree shep should have played more. Do we have the breakdown of first half minutes vs 2nd half? Dumb 2 foul rule.

And edwards played 29 mins because there was no one else, same with thiero and Mitchell. Our forward and center positions have 0 depth at present.

You can play 3 guards in today's game...so Reed/Wagner/Reeves can fluidly play SF minutes. Thiero plays full PF now (until the bigs are back) so his minutes and Mitchell are all interior minutes. It is silly to box the lineup that Edwards has to play so many minutes....you can easily play small ball in college.

 

[Cats192]

I'm a big believer in giving your best players a chance to get going.
I don't fault Cal for giving DJ and Edwards a lot of leash. We need them to be good for the team to be great.

I think Reed and Rob earned a little more leash last night. Cal eventually comes around, but it often takes until February. Hopefully Wagner and Edwards figure it out soon, but if they don't, I hope he makes some changes before February.

 

[Cats192]

You can play 3 guards in today's game...so Reed/Wagner/Reeves can fluidly play SF minutes. Thiero plays full PF now (until the bigs are back) so his minutes and Mitchell are all interior minutes. It is silly to box the lineup that Edwards has to play so many minutes....you can easily play small ball in college.

Yeah.

I had the most issues with Edwards minutes. I think sitting him to run 3 guards works if he's not producing. Some 3 man combo of Reed/Wagner/Reeves/Dilly will work.

 

[ukfan1622]

Shot allocation bothers me more than minute allocation; you're supposed to get more shots for your better shooters. With UK, it seems more likely that one of our poor shooters will take a three than one of our better shooters. Maybe because the opposing coach knows if they leave our poor shooters open they will be the ones taking the shots...

 

[Kybluedude]

I think it's just that Cal wants to give guys as much time to develop as possible. The fact is this team is obviously better if a guy like Wagner is elite come March. As much as people hate hearing it, that process starts now. You don't put it on the back burner in mid-November.

Some truth in this. Teague struggled early but became a force

 

[Cawood86]

-Mitchell 39 minutes…made sense with no big
-Reeves 34 minutes….not going to not pick but I think keep him 32 and under is wiser move
-Adou 31 minutes…again makes sense wjtb no size
- Edwards 29 minutes…Cal 5* special. Easy to see he needed not near that much clock
- Wagner 25 minutes …another Cal special. After Dilly and Reed first half …why DJ starts second half and maintains minutes…patented Cal favorite that he’s done for years
- Reed and Dillly 16 minutes a piece …..plain dumb Each of these guys along with Adou sparked Ky to big first half lead. They both should have been at 25 minutes a piece and shave it from Edwards, Reeves snd DJ

Cal sitting Reed with two fouls in first half is more of Cal dumb coaching that we’ve seen from day one. Reed finished with 3 fouls…so it usually doesn’t matter but he does it regardless

Same as it ever was. Besides, Wagner is not a PG. Couldn't penetrate last night. Meanwhile Reed and Dillingham come in and get things moving.

I don't see anything changing. Cal will not sit or lower their minutes anytime soon. No reward for Dillingham or Reed.

 

[Cawood86]

IMO Adou was player of the game. Now that's a real DAWG. Not DJ and Edwards. Guy will be a total beast for us.

Agree. He was punking dudes.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

Just don't get figuring it out by tournament time. By then we will have lost games that will cost us a good seeding in the tournament. It's like we have a whole season to get Wagner and Edwards ready to be a first round draft choice instead playing the players the most that gives us the best chance to win every game. And some fans are fine with that? The higher seed the best chance for a championship. Let the two first rounders get better in practice and then in games as we go along. Not sacrifice a bunch of games and make it much harder to get far in the tournament.

 

[Cawood86]

O

I just hope we don't have another B.J. Boston with Wagner...highly touted 5* recruit who doesn't live up to it at UK. Overall, we have such a good group of guys with the potential to win big, I am so afraid that Cal will waste or misuse all of this talent.

He already did last night. 31 points vs 5 points. 32mins combined vs 54mins combined. 1-18 shooting vs 10-17 shooting.

 

[Cawood86]

Dilly got red hot and Cal gave him a few minutes on the bench so he could catch his breath. This team was absolutely gassed by the end of the game and to me that's the huge reason Kansas won. Sometimes guys need a rest.

Another Cal brigade coverage post.

 

[Cal-4-Three]

Both were in foul trouble.

shhhh, that doesn't fit his narrative.

 

[CatEye2010]

Well until their last names change to Edwards and Wagner, they won’t.

Been obvious since day one Calipari was gonna ride or die with both. And we will die.

Prolly gonna watch News Nation during games this year. Easier to watch cringy cuomo get abused by light weight politicians begging for airtime…

Says the troll who joined today just to post crap.

 

[Cal-4-Three]

Yeah.

I had the most issues with Edwards minutes. I think sitting him to run 3 guards works if he's not producing. Some 3 man combo of Reed/Wagner/Reeves/Dilly will work.

Cal isn't sitting Edwards with Rich Paul in attendance for Klutch. You guys have to understand that these agents are now funneling players to certain universities. If you want to continue getting good/great players you have to appease at times. Most fans don't grasp that. "this is uk we don't appease" take that ish out of here. It's a new day in college athletics.

 

[Mike-McD]

I'm a big believer in giving your best players a chance to get going.
I don't fault Cal for giving DJ and Edwards a lot of leash. We need them to be good for the team to be great.

I think Reed and Rob earned a little more leash last night. Cal eventually comes around, but it often takes until February. Hopefully Wagner and Edwards figure it out soon, but if they don't, I hope he makes some changes before February.

You don't fault Cal for giving DJ and Edwards a lot of leash, but Reed and Rob have to earn it?

 

[Cats192]

Cal isn't sitting Edwards with Rich Paul in attendance for Klutch. You guys have to understand that these agents are now funneling players to certain universities. If you want to continue getting good/great players you have to appease at times. Most fans don't grasp that. "this is uk we don't appease" take that ish out of here. It's a new day in college athletics.

That may indeed play a role.

I still think Cal expects his guys that came in as elite talents to figure it out over the course of a bad game.

In Edwards case, he wasn't really giving us a ton. I didn't notice him on the defensive end, so maybe he was doing a good job defensively.

 

[Cats192]

You don't fault Cal for giving DJ and Edwards a lot of leash, but Reed and Rob have to earn it?

I think the guys that were viewed as better players to start the season typically get more leash. I think Cal has seen them practice and scrimmage for months and has an idea of who he thinks gives us the best chance to win. Now, if they keep proving him wrong in games, he needs to change course. I'm not sure one bad game proves anything.

DJ And Edwards were the highest rated guys in the class. And Cal probably thinks that they'll eventually get going. I'm not going to fault that line of thinking 3 games into the season.

I absolutely fault him for benching Rob when he was white hot in the 1st half.
I absolutely fault him for not getting Reed a bit more run when he was playing good.

But, I get trying to give guys a chance to get going 3 games into the season.

 

[FilsonCat]

Cal was horrified by 4 out and 5 out pace and space with good movement in Canada. It is obvious that he's spent all of fall practice making sure that we don't fall into the trap of modern basketball offense. We've gotta grind folks, it is the only trick pony Cal has left.

 

[megablue]

What's happening with these two kinda reminds me of the way it took Cal SO damn long to finally realize that Quickley should be playing ahead of guys like Whitney and Hagans. Sometimes it seems Cal gets so blinded by what the recruit rankings and NBA scouting reports say that he misses what's going on right in front of his face on the court.

I'm still holding out hope that Wagner will become the superstud he was hyped to be ...but honestly, Sheppard and Dillingham have consistently looked better to me going all the way back to those summer exhibitions. At some point Cal may have to admit it too.

But I hope I'm wrong and we see the promised version of Wagner soon.

I get your point, but Dilly did not play well in Toronto. I was there.

Dilly is ultra-quick and it shows on offense. His defense is very suspect. It is not clear to me that he has the "want to" on the defensive end.

Shep is a very solid player. That is the book on him. He will probably always help you, even on his poor shooting nights ... which every player can have.

 

[JonathanW]

Just how is Dillingham going to play more minutes when he fouled out?
Now you can say he shouldn’t have taken him out when he was hot. And I agree.
You can say the “not play in 1st half with 2 fouls” rule is dumb. And I agree.
But RD limited his own minutes with needless fouls.

 

[ManitouDan]

I think it's just that Cal wants to give guys as much time to develop as possible. The fact is this team is obviously better if a guy like Wagner is elite come March. As much as people hate hearing it, that process starts now. You don't put it on the back burner in mid-November.

“ enjoy the process “ lmao 🤣

 

[EliteBlue]

Wagner won’t play a second less and Calipari will cost us everything over it. When are people going to learn none of this lineup projection, future recruit talk, pogo stick bigs back - gonna work when Calipari is still the one on the sideline.

We would have lost tonight with our bigs because he would have found a way.

I wanna play “lineup fun thread” too, but the sht don’t matter.

Unfortunately I find myself agreeing with this. When we get the bigs back Cal will start playing more similar to how we tried to in the second half vs the first. We will slow it down and try to get paint touches instead of pushing tempo and running which built the lead.

 

[EliteBlue]

Cal sat Reed with 2 fouls, that's what Cal does - love it or hate it, Reed's playing time had nothing to do about how many stars are next to his name, it has to do with Cal's long-time philosophy of sitting a player with 2 fouls in the first half.

Edwards played too much, I agree with you. But unless you're going to play Burks those mins, then he has to play, especially with Reed in foul trouble. Context matters here. Cal is trying to keep length on the court, and you really only had 4 options - Mitchell, Adou, Edwards, and Burks.

Wagner didn't look good at all. But again, he had to play more mins in the 1st half than he deserved because Reed grabbed 2 fouls

Let's keep this in mind: with benching Reed in the 1st half after grabbing 2 fouls - the Cats were still one buzzer beater away from going into halftime with a 10-point lead. So it's not like sitting Reed killed us

He ended the game with 3 fouls. Sitting in the first half is one thing. Barely playing in the 2nd until it was panic time was malpractice when the other guys were shellshocked

 

[bthaunert]

Dilly fouled out n 16 minutes. So he's out.

I agree shep should have played more. Do we have the breakdown of first half minutes vs 2nd half? Dumb 2 foul rule.

And edwards played 29 mins because there was no one else, same with thiero and Mitchell. Our forward and center positions have 0 depth at present.

Breakdown of minutes per half:

Edwards 16/13
Thiero 14/17
Mitchell 19/20
Reeves 15/19
Wagner 14/11
Dillingham 10/6 - got his 3rd foul with 15 minutes to go and 4th with 10 minutes to go
Sheppard 6/10 - got his 2nd foul with 9 minutes to go in the first half. benched the rest of the half

I think minutes would have been distributed more evenly amongst with guards had Shep and Dillingham not gotten in foul trouble.

 

[UK90]

Cal isn't sitting Edwards with Rich Paul in attendance for Klutch. You guys have to understand that these agents are now funneling players to certain universities. If you want to continue getting good/great players you have to appease at times. Most fans don't grasp that. "this is uk we don't appease" take that ish out of here. It's a new day in college athletics.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of truth here, more than most fans want to accept. Rich Paul sitting courtside in Klutch gear is something I’m sure Cal was very aware of.

 

[Seth_C]

We have plenty of games to develop Wagner and Edwards. Just don't give a game away doing it.

Thank god. Someone else who understands these things can co-exist and developing a player doesn't require losing winnable games. The real problem is if we tank the season and go out in the second round but DJ is a top 10 draft pick, in Cal's mind the season was a success. He will say so. That is his philosophy and I fundamentally loathe it.

 

[UKNothinButNet]

This post is exactly why so many of us no longer buy into the whole "hEy LoOk WhO's CoMiNg NeXt YeAr" bullshyyte.

I wish the cowbois would post their recruiting info in the recruiting forum. I could care less about it at this point. Every day is Ground-hog day.

And IMO the mods should create a dedicated forum for former UK NBA players so people who don't have to sift through all that too; it has nothing to do with the UK basketball program.

 

[bigbluedon]

Another Cal brigade coverage post.

You got that right. When guys are on a roll and making shots they don’t know that they are tired. You k look at them play till they drop. Cal has been a momentum killer with subbing patterns his whole time here. Ridiculous.

 

[bigbluedon]

Cal was horrified by 4 out and 5 out pace and space with good movement in Canada. It is obvious that he's spent all of fall practice making sure that we don't fall into the trap of modern basketball offense. We've gotta grind folks, it is the only trick pony Cal has left.

We played better inCanada than any other game so far. And that is because Cal wasn’t coaching. I thought Welch and the coach from Oregon would help with us running a screening motion offense. We are running the same shit we have been for years. I like these players but the coach has to prove he can change with the times.