Murray is the key

[bucsrule8872]

With Jamal Murray, we have Final Four/title potential.

He is the perimeter shooter/scorer we need, IMHO.

Our rotation is great with Murray added.

Cal wants a six or seven man rotation. With Murray we will have six elite 5-star players. They will play most of the minutes.

Starters
G Ulis
G Briscoe
G Murray
F Poythress
F Labissiere

6th man- Lee- starter minutes

Bench
G Hawkins
G Mulder
G Matthews
F Willis

That's a great rotation. Lots of people will complain about not having enough size, enough depth, etc. but that doesn't matter. Even the biggest, deepest team we've ever had fell short.

Some will say that that team would be susceptible to an injury, but an injury can derail even the deepest team if it happens to a key player.

Adding Murray is the key, IMHO. He's the scorer we need to complete this team.

 

[UK_Johnny24]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Bro. I'd keep saying it but I think everybody gets it. I've been saying this since we lost out on Newman. But yes Murray is the key. With him we're the best team in the country. We're not bad without him, but we wont be elite, which is unacceptable. You basically said everything I've been trying to get across to everybody. Just freaking thank you bro.

 

[UK90]

Cal wants a six or seven man rotation. With Murray we will have six elite 5-star players. They will play most of the minutes.

Starters
G Ulis
G Briscoe
G Murray
F Poythress
F Labissiere

But do you think Murray wants to play the three? He looked a lot like a point guard when I watched him in the Nike Hoop Summit. If he wants to play point then I doubt he'd be too interested in a school that already has Briscoe and Ulis.

 

[bucsrule8872]

But do you think Murray wants to play the three? He looked a lot like a point guard when I watched him in the Nike Hoop Summit. If he wants to play point then I doubt he'd be too interested in a school that already has Briscoe and Ulis.

That is a concern.

But in the DDMO, all three guards will handle PG duties from time to time. Murray will bring the ball up the floor a lot, as will Briscoe. All three guards will be expected to drive the ball in the offense.

Hopefully Murray will understand this and come to UK.

 

[ia.ukfan]

I'm with y'all. If we land Murray I love this team. Count me as one who woukd 1000x rather have a 2 playing the 3 then a 4 like we did last year.

 

[caneintally]

I would word it differently . I think right now we are the 3rd -5th best team in the land . With any of the remaining 5 stars - Murray , Maker or Brown , we are the 1 team with a bullet. But even so we are damnnnn good with the best player in college ball in Skal. 2 of the top 10 guards and a top 10 PF and a top 15 center. Could be muchhhh worse .

 

[bookerfan66]

I keep hoping to hear that he will take a visit this weekend.If he came here I think he will really see how big basketball really is here and commit.

 

[Brando Mac]

But do you think Murray wants to play the three? He looked a lot like a point guard when I watched him in the Nike Hoop Summit. If he wants to play point then I doubt he'd be too interested in a school that already has Briscoe and Ulis.

I get what you're saying, but that argument doesn't hold much water IMO.

Murray, much like Newman would've, will have plenty of opportunities to display his lead guard skills in a 3 guard line-up but the main way we'd use him would be as a scorer and shooter out on the wing. That's what he is, a scorer/shooter that can run point in the same mold as Brandon Knight and Kyrie Irving. In college it's not so much the position you play as it is your skills and how they're utilized. I really think Murray's skill set would get to shine playing alongside Ulis and Briscoe, much in the same way the Illinois guards thrived off of each other so beautifully back in '05.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

I wish UK had gone all-in on Blakeney the second Newman made it clear he wanted to be a point guard - which was last fall. I know, I know; hindsight, right?

Antonio would have made it really simple next season as he compliments everything Ulis and Briscoe do so well.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

I keep hoping to hear that he will take a visit this weekend.If he came here I think he will really see how big basketball really is here and commit.

The strangely ironic aspect to all this is that minutes, winning, NBA track record, and being worshipped all await these kids here at Kentucky. They're still not coming. I know Kansas and Duke offer comparable opportunities, but all things being equal, one would think UK would have landed at least one of these spring studs.

Hopefully we still will.

 

[bucsrule8872]

I would word it differently . I think right now we are the 3rd -5th best team in the land . With any of the remaining 5 stars - Murray , Maker or Brown , we are the 1 team with a bullet. But even so we are damnnnn good with the best player in college ball in Skal. 2 of the top 10 guards and a top 10 PF and a top 15 center. Could be muchhhh worse .

Murray is the best fit of the three, IMHO. We need another shooter to spread the floor and another guy who can get to the rim and score or pass. He fits the bill.

Brown is the next best fit. We could use a big SF, especially defensively.

Maker would be a great get, but we need a wing moreso than another big.

If we add just one more, Murray is the one I want most.

Brown would be a very close second (but I don't think we get him because of Adidas).

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

The crazy thing about this whole recruiting period is that it's been incredibly fatiguing, but like a character in a mythological tragedy, I can't help but continuously return to my doom.

 

[wcc31]

I wish UK had gone all-in on Blakeney the second Newman made it clear he wanted to be a point guard - which was last fall. I know, I know; hindsight, right?

Antonio would have made it really simple next season as he compliments everything Ulis and Briscoe do so well.

Pretty clear Cal messed up by not going harder after Blakeney and Bragg/Bryant now. Best in the country, but messed up there.

 

[ukmelanie]

The strangely ironic aspect to all this is that minutes, winning, NBA track record, and being worshipped all await these kids here at Kentucky. They're still not coming. I know Kansas and Duke offer comparable opportunities, but all things being equal, one would think UK would have landed at least one of these spring studs.

Hopefully we still will.

I can handle losing players to Duke and Kansas better than the UNLV,Mississippi State,Illinois and possibly Oregon ones.I just can't understand picking them over UK.

 

[jwhite123]

We need another big just to fill out practice.

 

[Aike]

I would love to get Murray, as he takes us from Final Four potential to Final Four favorite. That being said, we have DDMO personnel right now.

Skal at the 5, with Lee as his backup.

Poythress and Mulder/Matthews in the corners with Willis subbing for Poy.

Ulis and Briscoe out front with Hawkins spelling them.

This assumes that Poy and Matthews are capable of hitting wide open corner jumpers. If not, you have to modify the system.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

We need another big just to fill out practice.

Yep. We need another big period. The thought of Willis at the 4 terrifies me.

 

[bookerfan66]

This assumes that Poy and Matthews are capable of hitting wide open corner jumpers. If not, you have to modify the system.

I worry about that because Poy's offense is erratic at best and Matthews question mark is his shooting.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

For those of you guys hoping Matthews shoots at a consistent clip from three, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed.

He's a great many things - but a three point shooter he is not.

 

[Aike]

I worry about that because Poy's offense is erratic at best and Matthews question mark is his shooting.

Yeah, it's a question mark. I might be more concerned about Poythress driving the ball than I am about Matthews knocking down open shots.

We could actually go small at times with Ulis/Booker/Mulder/Matthews playing around Skal, Lee, or even Poythress. That would actually be a better DDMO set than having Poythress on the wing.

Truly, we've only seen traces of the dribble drive since Cal got here, but necessity is the mother of invention. Our lack of size might open the doors to more of it next year.

 

[Aike]

For those of you guys hoping Matthews shoots at a consistent clip from three, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed.

He's a great many things - but a three point shooter he is not.

I only hope he can knock down enough wide open looks to keep defenses honest. I don't expect him to ever hunt the shot.

 

[UK_Johnny24]

I would word it differently . I think right now we are the 3rd -5th best team in the land . With any of the remaining 5 stars - Murray , Maker or Brown , we are the 1 team with a bullet. But even so we are damnnnn good with the best player in college ball in Skal. 2 of the top 10 guards and a top 10 PF and a top 15 center. Could be muchhhh worse .

I love that expression you just used. We're the number 1 team with a bullet. Lol that's awesome bro.

 

[kentucky_wildcat_#1]

I agree. With this kid on the roster, it takes our team to another level. He is that guy that can score the heck out of the basketball outside. We will still be a lil thin up front, but just good enough to go pretty far come tourney time. Yeah, if we have an injury, we could be in some trouble. I think you could say the same for most title contending teams. That is actually the norm in college basketball. It's not every year you have a guy at the back up spot just as good, if not better than your starter like this last Kentucky team. I think i also have more faith in Marcus Lee than most on here seem to have. If the kid adds about 10 pounds of muscle, we will see a totally different player than last year's Marcus Lee. Overall, i think we'll be fine and until i see reason to, i'm not going to worry about next season. With as much talent we will have, we have as good of a shot as anybody to win it all. Some fans are going to have to understand we may never see a team as stacked as last year's team ever again and to be honest, you don't need that much talent to win it all. Don't get me wrong, if i have the choice, i'll obviously take that type of talented roster every year, but it's not realistic to expect.

 

[UKCATSFREAK]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Bro. I'd keep saying it but I think everybody gets it. I've been saying this since we lost out on Newman. But yes Murray is the key. With him we're the best team in the country. We're not bad without him, but we wont be elite, which is unacceptable. You basically said everything I've been trying to get across to everybody. Just freaking thank you bro.

My exact thoughts too! I admit that I didn't see much of him before the Nike game but since then I have been saying the exact same thing about Murray. Whatever Cal has to do to get this kid to UK he needs to do. I haven't heard yet but I am praying that he comes to visit this weekend. If so, I think its good indication that we are sitting pretty with him and I like our chances then. If he doesnt, I tend to think Oregon gets him in 2016. If he reclassifies then surely its because of us and he's going to come IMO. Not sure if Oregon was trying to get him to 2015 or keep him for 2016 though. I like this kid ALOT ALOT ALOT!! He is a game changer and seems to be able to do it all on the offensive end.

 

[hotelblue]

how teams would guard us if we went three guards is what's interesting. with skal and poy or lee looming it'd be hard to guard such great dribble penetration. murray would complete a stacked roster. losing diallo/maker takes away any hope of last year's type of team again imo but if we get a top scorer we'll be right there. gbb

 

[Bigblueforever]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Bro. I'd keep saying it but I think everybody gets it. I've been saying this since we lost out on Newman. But yes Murray is the key. With him we're the best team in the country. We're not bad without him, but we wont be elite, which is unacceptable. You basically said everything I've been trying to get across to everybody. Just freaking thank you bro.

Murray or Brown is the would make our team. Would like to have each one.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

Lost in all this is one thought: Nike seems to be consistently getting its #@@ beat for elites lately.

I mean, when's the last time we heard a high school elite say, "I want to play for a Nike school."

 

[ThroughBlue]

We have had a few keys this year.

 

[weatherbird]

If people are being honest, Murray has been the key for the last few weeks. I don't understand all the worry over losing out on Diallo, as we already have someone like him on the roster, and getting him would likely just push Poythress to the SF position, where as I would rather have him playing PF. If we add nothing else, this is a top 10 team that loses probably 7-10 games. If you add just Murray, it is a top 5 team that probably loses 3-5 games. Add Murray and Brown (two players we really need, and would start from day 1), and that is the #1 team in the country and loses less than 3 games next year. If fact adding both Murray and Brown makes the team eerily similar to the 2012 team, except they would be slightly deeper.

 

[CalCat57]

If people are being honest, Murray has been the key for the last few weeks. I don't understand all the worry over losing out on Diallo, as we already have someone like him on the roster, and getting him would likely just push Poythress to the SF position, where as I would rather have him playing PF. If we add nothing else, this is a top 10 team that loses probably 7-10 games. If you add just Murray, it is a top 5 team that probably loses 3-5 games. Add Murray and Brown (two players we really need, and would start from day 1), and that is the #1 team in the country and loses less than 3 games next year. If fact adding both Murray and Brown makes the team eerily similar to the 2012 team, except they would be slightly deeper.

Brown is not coming here and Murray is a very longshot at best. That is why losing Diallo hurt. We had an actual chance at him.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

Murray alongside Skal, Briscoe and Ulis would be pretty electric. Talking about 4 very competitive players here that we could complement well with roll type players.

 

[bnewt]

I wish UK had gone all-in on Blakeney the second Newman made it clear he wanted to be a point guard - which was last fall. I know, I know; hindsight, right?

Antonio would have made it really simple next season as he compliments everything Ulis and Briscoe do so well.

This could be said of both Blakney & Bragg......a couple of guys that can score & are pretty athletic

 

[Honeydikkin79]

He's probably not coming either

 

[Owen68]

weatherbird has it right. Getting Diallo would have moved Poy to the 3. Would rather have him at the 4 and Lee subbing for the 4 and 5 spots. Would like to have Murrey and/or Brown but without either a three guard lineup with Matthews and/or Mulder at the 3 will do fine. I think it's very important to have Poy at the 4.

 

[Aike]

Lost in all this is one thought: Nike seems to be consistently getting its #@@ beat for elites lately.

I mean, when's the last time we heard a high school elite say, "I want to play for a Nike school."

I was thinking about this. I mistakenly thought that Diallo was an Adidas kid. Thon Maker is trending toward ASU, who switched to Adidas last year. Wiggins flipped to an Adidas school (then signed a big Adidas deal in the pros).

Adidas is seemingly making power plays to snag some top Nike guys. I know there's more to it than that, but it is interesting nonetheless.

 

[reignof cats]

I would like to see Cal land both Murray and Brown or at least 1 of them. The minutes are there and practices would be an all out battle. These are the 2 kids left to take us to the next level.

Murray would spread the floor immediately if we get him. (Run the inverted ND offense)

Brown would be a matchup nightmare. I would tell him to go after every rebound. I would love to see him get a defensive board and take it coast to coast. I would also like to see if Brown can play the 4 and go with a 3 guard line up with skal or Lee at C.

Ulis at the pg Briscoe / Hawk
Murray @ sg Mulder / Matthews / Briscoe / Hawk
Brown @ SF Matthews / Willis
AP @ 4 Lee / Brown / Willis
Skal @ 5 Lee / Maker ?

I don't think we get both but we got Cal and we are Kentucky. Maker 2nd semester to keep him out at IU. GBB

 

[SilentsAreGolden]

MJ just said that we should know today whether Murray is going to visit this weekend. Didn't say why we should know this though.

 

[JFCats22]

Chris Fisher ‏@ChrisFisher247
UConn has offered Jamal Murray, his father tells http://CatsPause.com.

 

[SilentsAreGolden]

Maybe another offer is good news about reclassifying, but not good to have another suitor.

 

[UK_Johnny24]

We just absolutely gotta get Murray. I just don't know what's up with this class though man. I mean any kid would want to play here but like I said in another thread you'd really think that after the story came out about Lisa Ann hooking up with Booker that every kid would be lined up to get here. I mean think about it. Playing for some straight laced goody coach like coach K? Or come here let Cal get you prepared for the NBA and be in the spotlight and be worshiped and be around rappers and porn stars. I mean just wow. Makes you wonder what's up with Mr. Newman, Zimmerman, Diallo, Ingram, Kennard and all the rest of em.