I had to create a new account. Old one stop working a couple years ago and I so I stopped posting. I have no clout anyway. But I am an overthinker that’s good at noticing things others don’t. Not offended by criticism.
1. Wheelers hands aren’t big enough. I’m a taller guy (with big feet to save my ego), but I have small hands. Smaller hands are detrimental to basketball. That’s why I think he pushes everything. If you can’t grip the ball, you can’t control the ball that well. You can’t get your shoulders up to shoot with your hands behind the ball. Btw, I like Wheeler. He’s got a lot of heart, a good personality, incredible speed, but he has that limitation. Sure, there have been plenty of really good smaller guards, but maybe without that limitation.
2. Toppin was playing very hurt to start the year. Go back and watch some early games. He was holding his shoulders forward and stiff in a way that only comes from some significant upper body damage. That’s why he couldn’t finish certain shots. Now he’s playing more up and down and free in his movements.
3. Cal’s teams have conditioning issues. Maybe that’s the result of a changed world with more entitlements. It’s common across all of basketball now, but Cal’s teams seem even more susceptible than most teams. The players are lean and strong, but get hurt a lot. Running and weights aren’t the only things necessary to be in great shape. Being limber needs to come in somewhere.
4. Oscar doesn’t get a lot of foul calls because he doesn’t fall down. I think refs think that if he is unmoved then he really wasn’t fouled badly enough to deserve a call.
5. Cal’s recruiting hurts his teams at the beginning of the year. Cal is always on the go, and he’s older now so something has to suffer. You can’t have enough energy after a certain point in life to go, go, go, while also paying attention to coaching, leading a staff, and team psychology. Robic and Payne had long enough established relationships with Cal to manage those things. Newer assistants or assistants that have been away for a while are going to struggle more with those types of duties.
6. CJ probably had another problem this years that hasn’t gotten much attention. He’s a college age guy with a girlfriend/fiancé that is playing on a team with major issues. No shade to CJ, but you can’t be that close to someone at that age and those problems not effect you too.
7. You guys talk a lot about the next coach, because there is no obvious answer. When Cal was hired he was option 1, 2, and 3. I’m not sure that coach exists currently. More like, “I hope they would come,” and then “I hope that would work out.”
8. I don’t quite get the obsession with championships. Probably it’s just a marker to assert our superiority years down the road. Winning a championship is extremely hard. You have to have the right guys, the right assistants, the right calls, and the right luck. There haven’t been many AD/MKG teams in the history of basketball where the players were so superior that they could pretty much beat anyone on any night, even if everything didn’t go right.
9. I like the stories of Cal’s teams each year (usually). I like learning the personalities. I like seeing the adversity. I like seeing how each new team develops. The Cal years have been so much more exciting and interesting than the Tubby years. (Btw, Tubby didn’t win a championship). Pitino’s players won a championship when they stopped listening to Tubby in the second half and played the ball they already knew. Cal’s teams have tremendous turnover and so every now and then you get a dud. You just didn’t get the player you needed. Or you picked up an extremely toxic personality. Regardless, the reset each year is part of what makes the stories so interesting. UK hiring Tubby after Pitino was like Florida hiring White after Donovan. Didn’t make sense then. Didn’t make sense five years later. Still doesn’t make sense.
10. Someone please explain why Lance Ware isn’t any better at basketball than he is. The dude is big and fit. He’s decently athletic. He usually plays hard. But for some reason he’s not great at basketball. Great for team support and chemistry though.
Bonus: Like everyone else, Cal letting some players go to waste is maddening. Hopkins played hard when he got to play. He made mistakes, but he needed game time to learn not to make those mistakes. Same situation with Thiero. I love what Thiero brings to the table. Thiero has the potential to be a matchup nightmare. Unfortunately, we’re not going to get to see it.
1. Wheelers hands aren’t big enough. I’m a taller guy (with big feet to save my ego), but I have small hands. Smaller hands are detrimental to basketball. That’s why I think he pushes everything. If you can’t grip the ball, you can’t control the ball that well. You can’t get your shoulders up to shoot with your hands behind the ball. Btw, I like Wheeler. He’s got a lot of heart, a good personality, incredible speed, but he has that limitation. Sure, there have been plenty of really good smaller guards, but maybe without that limitation.
2. Toppin was playing very hurt to start the year. Go back and watch some early games. He was holding his shoulders forward and stiff in a way that only comes from some significant upper body damage. That’s why he couldn’t finish certain shots. Now he’s playing more up and down and free in his movements.
3. Cal’s teams have conditioning issues. Maybe that’s the result of a changed world with more entitlements. It’s common across all of basketball now, but Cal’s teams seem even more susceptible than most teams. The players are lean and strong, but get hurt a lot. Running and weights aren’t the only things necessary to be in great shape. Being limber needs to come in somewhere.
4. Oscar doesn’t get a lot of foul calls because he doesn’t fall down. I think refs think that if he is unmoved then he really wasn’t fouled badly enough to deserve a call.
5. Cal’s recruiting hurts his teams at the beginning of the year. Cal is always on the go, and he’s older now so something has to suffer. You can’t have enough energy after a certain point in life to go, go, go, while also paying attention to coaching, leading a staff, and team psychology. Robic and Payne had long enough established relationships with Cal to manage those things. Newer assistants or assistants that have been away for a while are going to struggle more with those types of duties.
6. CJ probably had another problem this years that hasn’t gotten much attention. He’s a college age guy with a girlfriend/fiancé that is playing on a team with major issues. No shade to CJ, but you can’t be that close to someone at that age and those problems not effect you too.
7. You guys talk a lot about the next coach, because there is no obvious answer. When Cal was hired he was option 1, 2, and 3. I’m not sure that coach exists currently. More like, “I hope they would come,” and then “I hope that would work out.”
8. I don’t quite get the obsession with championships. Probably it’s just a marker to assert our superiority years down the road. Winning a championship is extremely hard. You have to have the right guys, the right assistants, the right calls, and the right luck. There haven’t been many AD/MKG teams in the history of basketball where the players were so superior that they could pretty much beat anyone on any night, even if everything didn’t go right.
9. I like the stories of Cal’s teams each year (usually). I like learning the personalities. I like seeing the adversity. I like seeing how each new team develops. The Cal years have been so much more exciting and interesting than the Tubby years. (Btw, Tubby didn’t win a championship). Pitino’s players won a championship when they stopped listening to Tubby in the second half and played the ball they already knew. Cal’s teams have tremendous turnover and so every now and then you get a dud. You just didn’t get the player you needed. Or you picked up an extremely toxic personality. Regardless, the reset each year is part of what makes the stories so interesting. UK hiring Tubby after Pitino was like Florida hiring White after Donovan. Didn’t make sense then. Didn’t make sense five years later. Still doesn’t make sense.
10. Someone please explain why Lance Ware isn’t any better at basketball than he is. The dude is big and fit. He’s decently athletic. He usually plays hard. But for some reason he’s not great at basketball. Great for team support and chemistry though.
Bonus: Like everyone else, Cal letting some players go to waste is maddening. Hopkins played hard when he got to play. He made mistakes, but he needed game time to learn not to make those mistakes. Same situation with Thiero. I love what Thiero brings to the table. Thiero has the potential to be a matchup nightmare. Unfortunately, we’re not going to get to see it.
