Respected basketball analyst’s takes on our lineups
- Thread starter Ron Mehico
- Start date
This isn’t hard and yet Cal is making it that difficult. He could just “roll the balls out” and probably make the Final Four playing a lineup of Reeves, Sheppard, Dilly, Big Z, and Edwards/Theiro
We don't even need the stats in this case to see what we see with our own eyes, anecdotally.
This is our best lineup and they should consume, TOGETHER, at least 30 minutes of playing time. TOGETHER as much as possible.
This is our best lineup and they should consume, TOGETHER, at least 30 minutes of playing time. TOGETHER as much as possible.
Reed played 35 minutes last night. But he didn't staaaaart!!
Dillingham would have played more but he won't stop fouling.
How many games has that expert won as a D1 coach?
Dillingham would have played more but he won't stop fouling.
How many games has that expert won as a D1 coach?
Hilarious that everyone on this board sees it with our naked eye, and the stats clearly back it up. And yet we are 28 games in and they’ve only played 162 SEC minutes (out of a possible 605 I believe, so 27%) together apparently.
anything short of a FF and Cal has flubbed this team, largely due to not playing his best players, which is such an insane statement
anything short of a FF and Cal has flubbed this team, largely due to not playing his best players, which is such an insane statement
That’s one game. Now explain the rest of the season? We’d be looking at a one seed right now, 2 at worst, if Cal consistently played our big 3 together for the maximum minutes excluding foul trouble and breathers. You know damn well foul trouble has not been the primary reason those 3 haven’t played together as much as they should. It’s the most lethal trio in college basketball and they are all guards. A tournament dream scenario
Talk about missing the forest for the trees. The issue is Reed/Dilly/Reeves should be starting and playing 30 plus minutes TOGETHER unless there is foul trouble. No one is upset about Reed’s minutes here.
It’s not about winning last night. It’s that Cal keeps willingly putting out line-ups to start each half that put us in holes. Come March when it’s win-or-go-home, those holes get much harder to dig out of, especially for younger players, due to the pressure.
NO! Reed defers to Dilly all the time when they play together. I guess we can let Dilly get his and flame out in March if you’d like. Dilly is a good guy/is good in spurts but Reed’s playmaking goes way down when they play together for an extended period.
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Everyone but Cal seems to know this. And I think he knows but refuses to do it for some reason. Maybe he wants to show he’s the boss like last year with the Bennie lineup.
I also think this is what brings on a lot of the criticism Wagner gets. It should be embarrassing to him subbing him out 2 mins into the game.
I also think this is what brings on a lot of the criticism Wagner gets. It should be embarrassing to him subbing him out 2 mins into the game.
Holes were dug in the beginnings of two halves. Please explain the benefit of that?
Your hero Cal said just a week or so ago this team has to start the games better and quit getting behind early. Well genius maybe you should start your best players and then sub in your bench players when the other team goes to their bench.
Another question I have for all of you that say “how many games have you/they coached as a D1 coach?” Next time you disagree with your children’s school teacher apply that same logic and ask yourself, “how many days have I worked as a professional teacher?” I bet it doesn’t apply there though does it? If you disagree with a politician like a senator or president do you use the same logic? I doubt it. Cal is not above reproach and should be ashamed and questioned about his blatant incompetency the last several seasons.
He’s just getting things set up for the big tweak reveal.
Reed didn’t play perfect, but he rescued us from a deep hole at the start. 32 points & a game winning buzzer beater. Cal had to play him 35 mins for multiple reasons. We couldn’t afford to lose this game and Reed was an offensive juggernaut.
That being said, Cal wanted Wagner to make that game winning shot so bad. Even in his post game, Cal mentioned his reasoning for not calling a time out was “get the ball to Wagner and let him go make a play”. It worked so it’s hard to nitpick…..I would have put the ball in Reed’s hands right away though. Maybe it’s Cal trying to get Wagner going for March? Maybe it’s another reason? I’m not sure. It definitely feels like Cal is set on proving that Wagner & Edwards deserve their minutes more than others.
That being said, Cal wanted Wagner to make that game winning shot so bad. Even in his post game, Cal mentioned his reasoning for not calling a time out was “get the ball to Wagner and let him go make a play”. It worked so it’s hard to nitpick…..I would have put the ball in Reed’s hands right away though. Maybe it’s Cal trying to get Wagner going for March? Maybe it’s another reason? I’m not sure. It definitely feels like Cal is set on proving that Wagner & Edwards deserve their minutes more than others.
Noticed you left out the “all 3 together minutes”
Nobody is denying there are situations where dudes have to come off the floor. The issue has been a season long trend where you rarely get the best 3 guards on the floor together for the majority of the minutes bc we have forced lineups w JE at the 3 or Wagner getting starter minutes when he should probably be closer to 15 and backing up foul trouble.
Couldn’t agree more. 6 close losses, maybe 3 go the other way if Cal consistently played his best. If 3 go the other way, UK is at 5 losses right now and in the drivers seat for a 1 seed.
It is almost like people just look at the final score and go “yep UK won and DJ started so why change the lineup?” without any understanding as to what happened and the holes UK had to dig out of to win.
I'm thankful that Wagner handed the ball off to Reed shortly after crossing midcourt.
More often than not the stats back up “the Bennie’s” eyes. The colllective fanbase is the most intelligent (basketball knowledge) fanbase in the sport and that use to be a nationally known acknowledged fact that was often parroted in the national media.
I thought everyone agreed that Dilly was the worst nickname and would never be used again?
Please ban this name mods. For good luck sake.
Please ban this name mods. For good luck sake.
Cal wanted the fourth best guard on the floor to go make a game winning play. Especially after the night Sheppard was having. That should tell you all you need to know about Cal and his coaching and how he lets relationships/promises etc affect the team. I’d be willing to bet if you asked most fans and analysts that have watched this team all season to pick one guy to “go make a play”’to win a game. Sheppard, Reeves, and Dillingham would be the top three choices and not necessarily in that order. That would depend on the particular game and matchups. DJ would be number four out of the guards. And if memory serves me correctly it’s been a pretty good while since DJ was even on the floor at the end of a close game.
Stupid moves like this on Cal’s part cost you ballgames. People ask why DJ keeps bricking threes? Well I think you have your answer. I’m sure he has the green light from Cal even if he’s 1 for his last forever. If Cal ever told the truth it was with his “players first” statement. Even if it results in undermining the teams success.
Stupid moves like this on Cal’s part cost you ballgames. People ask why DJ keeps bricking threes? Well I think you have your answer. I’m sure he has the green light from Cal even if he’s 1 for his last forever. If Cal ever told the truth it was with his “players first” statement. Even if it results in undermining the teams success.
Remember that time Reed and Rob didn't even ENTER the game until 13:00 left in the 1H? Cal has been pulling sh*t like that quite a bit all season, and it has undoubtedly cost UK multiple games and seed lines.
The point is, Cal has hurt the team's overall resume by not playing his best players the most minutes throughout the season.
We go through this BS every year, though. Losses pile up, UK gets a seed that makes their path harder, and Cal says no big deal, I like my team, blah blah blah .... just win games and STFU.
Who are these “handlers” since you know such much about them? Are the the same “handlers” that weren’t gonna let Aaron Bradshhaw play, the ones who had Justin Edwards shutting it down a few weeks ago, or the ones who had DJ Wagner and others “faking” injuries.
I don't remember which it was but there was a gameshow that polled the audience of hundreds of people. While individual opinions don't mean much, when 85% of people believe something there might be something to it.
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Another example of how accurate collective polling can be is how often the betting line moves and ends up being dead on.
All that happens from Vegas balancing the bets to find the number that has as close to equal money on both aside…aka measuring public perception. Vegas sets the opening line and the public does the rest. It can get swayed by single big money bets but for the most part it’s just the general public moving the line
And when the national media catches up with the "Basketball Benny's" and starts writing articles and has segments on their sports shows pointing out the obvious, That's when Cal gets even MORE pissy in his Press Conferences.
He KNOWS we are right and HATES that fact!!!
So he’s good enough to play 35 minutes in a hard fought game but not good enough to start? lol.
I 100% believe that if it were possible to have an instant poll in which this board could determine when and which subs are made, we’d have a better success rate in terms of wins/losses than Cal’s. Not saying any one of us would be a better all around coach, but it’s clear his rotations have sucked ass this season and have likely costed us a few games.
If you watch the post-game press conference Cal spends a huge chunk of it pumping up Wagner and trying to defend his horrendous outside shooting since the injury. The fact he called the final play for Wagner is mind-boggling. Who knows what promises he made behind closed doors….but he won’t accept Reed is substantially better then DJ.
He said multiple times that he was shooting 40 percent from 3 before he got injured. I call BS on that!
Exactly. It's insane to intentionally do things you know are likely to start each half at a deficit. Especially on the road. On the road you need quick starts to kill the crowd.
Tweak: playing the best players. Genius move!
My take. Some on this board -- given the power -- would ride the same five players into the ground. They wouldn't develop the bench. They wouldn't know which players to substitute and when or even why. And when the team was too fugged to play well in the tournament, they'd blame somebody else for the loss.
If there were HOF for complaining, we've got some contenders.
Picking and choosing which commentators to agree with and when is called cherry picking. Commentators don't suddenly become authorities just because you agree with them.
If there were HOF for complaining, we've got some contenders.
Picking and choosing which commentators to agree with and when is called cherry picking. Commentators don't suddenly become authorities just because you agree with them.
He is and any small positive thing they do Cal will focus on how amazing it was while ignoring truly remarkable performances of other players.
Facts OUTWEIGH opinion.
The "fact" is that Reed is UK's best player and when he's on the floor we have the BEST chance of winning the game. And when Reed, Rob and Reeves are on the floor together, we outscore opponents by nearly 20 pts/100 possessions in SEC play and it's even BETTER when you add in the whole season.
Look at the OP and see the "facts"!!!
Yeah it’s complete BS. His peak this season YTD has been 32.7% so not even close.
You have no proof that is what people would do. You just choose to believe that they would do this because they don't slurp on Cal like you think everyone should. You also don't have any clue what cherry picking is. The fact Cal has played his BEST lineup less than 30 percent of the minutes invalidates any defense you try to put up for him.
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