Safe to assume Cal and Kentucky are better with freshmen

[LXWildcat]

These past couple of seasons Cal stopped going after every top prospect and did what every team was doing by getting older transfers, but it’s safe to assume that Cal is better with multiple five star freshmen. I think history shows that Kentucky is at its best with these young players under Cal. I’m glad he’s getting back to his roots, adding one or two transfers a year isn’t a bad thing but a team full of them seems to not work for Cal. The downside is the lack of experience, but I would take a team with six 5⭐️ players over a team full of transfer any day of the week. Thoughts?

 

[NorfolkNWaypal]

"LOL"

Yours,

Reeves
Thiero
Mitchell

 

[KFuqua]

Personally, I'd prefer a mix of some skilled veteran players and some talented Freshmen. To me, that seems to be the key.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

Doesn’t matter the class. Cal, like every other coach, is better with better talent.

 

[KyCPA]

These past couple of seasons Cal stopped going after every top prospect and did what every team was doing by getting older transfers, but it’s safe to assume that Cal is better with multiple five star freshmen. I think history shows that Kentucky is at its best with these young players under Cal. I’m glad he’s getting back to his roots, adding one or two transfers a year isn’t a bad thing but a team full of them seems to not work for Cal. The downside is the lack of experience, but I would take a team with six 5⭐️ players over a team full of transfer any day of the week. Thoughts?

And a terribly weak schedule. Let's see how SEC play goes before making judgment.

 

[Cats192]

I don't think it's that we're better off with Freshmen. I think Cal can coach juniors and seniors. The reality is that a lot of the transfer we've gotten haven't been great. A lot of guys are transfers because they aren't NBA level guys. And then we didn't have the elite freshman to make up the talent disparity.

It's a talent issue. When we've got a lot of it, we're good. When we don't, we're not. You can get REALLY good players from the portal. McCullar from Kansas. Terrance Shannon from ILL.

Jacob Toppin was pretty solid for us.
Reeves continues to be solid for us.
Mitchell has been another good transfer.

You just have to get good pieces and not mid pieces.

This year, we've got transfers that have been good. We've gotten the elite freshmen. We've gotten a few guys that we recruited to stick around.

 

[Cawood86]

Personally, I'd prefer a mix of some skilled veteran players and some talented Freshmen. To me, that seems to be the key.

💯

 

[Smashcat]

Fifth-year player and UK's leading scorer Antonio Reeves, and fifth-year player and UK's
leading rebounder Tre Mitchell be like.

 

[NoDef]

You have to have a dog that gets you points when needed. A lot of these four and five year guys don't have that or they would be in the league by now.

 

[IL Wildcat]

Yeah, I have to agree with some other posters here. It's very helpful to have Reeves and Thiero back, and to have Mitchell from transfer.

I would also add this: it depends on which freshmen you have. These guys are not just highly rated, they're playing well. We've had some freshmen who didn't play well early, and several who never came close to their potential all season. We have 2 freshmen, in Wagner and Edwards, who have struggled also. If not for the other freshmen playing so well, we'd be having similar results to some other seasons.

 

[MakinMusic]

You have to have a dog that gets you points when needed. A lot of these four and five year guys don't have that or they would be in the league by now.

I don’t disagree about the dawgs but you want 22 and 23 year old men to be on the floor too. Men simply have a different mentality than 18-20 year old boys. Elbows, pushing, hip checks, diving for balls, etc.

 

[Emarc]

Doesn’t matter the class. Cal, like every other coach, is better with better talent.

at every level.

 

[EliteBlue]

cal needs guys that can create on their own and high end 1v1 players.

Since 2019 we’ve had classes with talent;We have had teams with multiple NBA players…and Cal still loss and failed to put them in a position to maximize their skill sets as a group bc they weren’t stylistically his “type”.

2020 had 3 1st round picks and won 9 games. It all starts with a PG with elite 1v1 skills for Cal and everything else follows.

 

[bucsrule8872]

Got to have a balance.

Superstar Freshmen to lead the way. Veterans to provide stability.

Right now our 9-man rotation has two fifth year Seniors, two Sophomores, and five Freshmen.

That’s the kind of balance we need.

Relying solely on Freshmen won’t get it done.

Relying solely on the portal won’t get it done either.

But if you have to have one or the other, I’m going with Freshmen. 2014 had almost all Freshmen and made it to the title game. Last two years was almost all transfers and we won one game in the tourney.

 

[ck-2]

So far there’s 2-3 freshmen contributing at a high level.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

So far there’s 2-3 freshmen contributing at a high level.

Actually 4. And Edwards is coming.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

So far there’s 2-3 freshmen contributing at a high level.

With at least two coming off the bench. Matter of fact, two of the top five freshmen in the country are coming off our bench. Lulz

 

[Cowtown Cat]

Actually 4. And Edwards is coming.

Hope you’re right. I don’t have much confidence in him living up to expectations here. Especially if this is his only season.

 

[ck-2]

Actually 4. And Edwards is coming.

I said 2-3 at a high level, four is really stretching it. Sheppard, Dillingham, and Wagner in that order IMO. Hope Edwards and Bradshaw get there.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

I said 2-3 at a high level, four is really stretching it. Sheppard, Dillingham, and Wagner in that order IMO. Hope Edwards and Bradshaw get there.

Believe Bradshaw will. Dude plays so hard. Not sure on Edwards. Dude seems to have such a low motor, shies away from contact, etc.

 

[TOMCATS1990]

Elite freshman with some good to great upperclassmen is a perfect mix

 

[CB3UK]

Having a mix is clearly the way to go. Need the insanely talented younginsnalongside steely eyed veterans.

 

[UKSanders]

cal needs guys that can create on their own and high end 1v1 players.

Since 2019 we’ve had classes with talent;We have had teams with multiple NBA players…and Cal still loss and failed to put them in a position to maximize their skill sets as a group bc they weren’t stylistically his “type”.

2020 had 3 1st round picks and won 9 games. It all starts with a PG with elite 1v1 skills for Cal and everything else follows.

I would argue Cal needs an elite PG for offense AND an elite rim protector for the defensive side of the ball for success.

Obviously, any coach does better with elite talent, but his style REQUIRES those thing as he doesn't coach/scheme around them (i.e. he doesn't like running set plays on offense or changing defenses to "hide" lesser defenders).

 

[caneintally]

Yeah, I have to agree with some other posters here. It's very helpful to have Reeves and Thiero back, and to have Mitchell from transfer.

I would also add this: it depends on which freshmen you have. These guys are not just highly rated, they're playing well. We've had some freshmen who didn't play well early, and several who never came close to their potential all season. We have 2 freshmen, in Wagner and Edwards, who have struggled also. If not for the other freshmen playing so well, we'd be having similar results to some other seasons.

Wagner struggle? LMAO he has been elite in all aspects when healthy minus 3 point shooting which he is great at or bad at depending on the game. Edwards has struggled some but he still will grab you 10 pts and 6 rebs playing average he is THAT talented physically. But Wagner has not struggled in the least.

 

[NorfolkNWaypal]

Wagner struggle? LMAO he has been elite in all aspects when healthy minus 3 point shooting which he is great at or bad at depending on the game. Edwards has struggled some but he still will grab you 10 pts and 6 rebs playing average he is THAT talented physically. But Wagner has not struggled in the least.

He's the worst shooter on the team and it isn't close. 40% from the field isn't elite. And most of his non-three misses are layups.

 

[IL Wildcat]

Wagner struggle? LMAO he has been elite in all aspects when healthy minus 3 point shooting which he is great at or bad at depending on the game. Edwards has struggled some but he still will grab you 10 pts and 6 rebs playing average he is THAT talented physically. But Wagner has not struggled in the least.

I have nothing against Wagner caneintally. I hope he has a great rest of the season and is a first team All-American. But he has had struggles- his shooting has been a struggle in multiple games. UK has had slow starts in most of his starts. Wagner has had some good games, of course. We needed his defense against Wilmington, I certainly won't deny that, but he has had several games where he struggled, especially offensively. The pattern has been established- he and Edwards start the game and UK falls behind. They go out and Sheppard and Dillingham come in, the team goes on a run. He's shooting 27% from 3, which means he's just not much of a threat out there. He also has struggled finishing his drives in multiple games. And his playmaking has been iffy in multiple games. All of this adds up to the slow starts that have to be overcome when Sheppard and Dillingham come in to save the day.

Now, as I say, I hope Wagner proves me wrong. I do see his potential, which is undeniable. I want him to do well. If he improves, this team becomes even better. I don't doubt both he and Edwards have the potential to be elite. As I say, I have nothing at all against either of those guys. We need them. I'm just making an observation. If not for the freshmen coming off the bench, we'd be struggling as a team along with them, SO FAR. I hope the struggles are gone as we move forward. I'm rooting for them. We will need them at their best in these upcoming SEC games.

 

[know1]

It doesn't matter if they are freshmen or seniors. We just need several to be talented and playing well.

We need players who can "figure it out" and not have to rely on specific game plans, structured offense, in game adjustments, out of bounds plays, different defenses, etc.

 

[ksharpless]

Feel like he never stopped recruiting elite guys.

We missed on some and some we got didn’t pan out. And then obviously the whole world was messed up which I think affected 2 seasons.

Quickley/Maxey’s team was good. BJ Boston was underwhelming and Clarke was hurt but think that year could’ve looked differently too under normal circumstances.

Cal has def been stubborn about some things but imo it’s never been like he’s TRYING to not get elite talent and win games (championships).

 

[EliteBlue]

I would argue Cal needs an elite PG for offense AND an elite rim protector for the defensive side of the ball for success.

Obviously, any coach does better with elite talent, but his style REQUIRES those thing as he doesn't coach/scheme around them (i.e. he doesn't like running set plays on offense or changing defenses to "hide" lesser defenders).

Exactly. We’ve had some fairly talented teams that would have likely excelled running a Princeton style/Iowa style offense with more structured plays and multilayered, continuous off ball movement and screening. But that isn’t the style Cal coaches. Even when he adapts to his personnel it’s usually still on ball based..I.e high pick and roll to start the offense with Jorts/Knight two man game etc. The biggest off ball action he uses is typically one guy running continuously off screens with the freedoms to freelance (Herro and Quickley both were used this way at times).

Not saying there is anything wrong with any of that. It’s just his preferred style and we got away from recruiting to fit the style for a few years.