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Skal LaB Appreciation Thead

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He will never be a power player. But, he can be one of the better finesse big men that UK has had at the four position. Once he gets comfortable with the college game, he will be unstoppable. Love his game!
 
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Skal is being treated as though he is guilty of being something other than 18 years old, and a little thin. If he takes more than one year to develop . . . that's OK. In the history of college basketball, few freshman have dominated the game. It's on the increase, but for that to be expected norm now is premature at best. We're blessed to have that expectation, but I think we need to cool our jets a little on every player brought into this program. Let them develop and enjoy the ride. It's temporary.
 
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In late March, one of the big hitter national writers, who aims at transcending sports, will write a story about Skal that begins:

"It is hard to imagine now, but in mid-December, Skal Labissiere felt lost. Nothing was working on the basketball court. He missed his family. Growing up in Haiti, which he left after narrowly surviving the devastating earthquake, Lexington, Kentucky was as surreal to him as Port Au Prince is to first time visitors. Then one day a couple weeks before Christmas, his phone rang, and everything began to change...(fill in details here from pre-Final Four interviews...)"
 
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Skal can end up being very good. But, it's all up to him. Does he have the desire? We'll find out, but he gave NO effort yesterday.
 
MdWIldcat55 said:
In late March, one of the big hitter national writers, who aims at transcending sports, will write a story about Skal that begins:

"It is hard to imagine now, but in mid-December, Skal Labissiere felt lost. Nothing was working on the basketball court. He missed his family. Growing up in Haiti, which he left after narrowly surviving the devastating earthquake, Lexington, Kentucky was as surreal to him as Port Au Prince is to first time visitors. Then one day a couple weeks before Christmas, his phone rang, and everything began to change...(fill in details here from pre-Final Four interviews...)"
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I think we just found Tipton's replacement. Congratulations! [banana]
 
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His ceiling for this year is just not as high as some think it will be. With big games coming up how much time will Cal give him to work thru things?
 
Bkocats said:
this has GOT to be the best representation of Skal I've seen - dead accurate. Well done.
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I think I posted the same thing a month ago. No video though.

Then again, it may have been a post about how Skal is afraid to touch anyone in the post because they may turn to ice. Can't remember.
 
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qwesley said:
As far as mpg I don't think so at this effort level and with Lee playing well.
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His minutes are not only being dictated by his play but also the foul trouble he stays in from being out of position. Skal is going to be given every chance to get better by Cal. I guarantee it.
 
Bungalow Bill said:
His minutes are not only being dictated by his play but also the foul trouble he stays in from being out of position. Skal is going to be given every chance to get better by Cal. I guarantee it.
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No way he gets 25+ mins at yesterday's effort against UL, LSU etc. The "free" minutes from Cal to show something is shrinking.
 
qwesley said:
No way he gets 25+ mins at yesterday's effort against UL, LSU etc. The "free" minutes from Cal to show something is shrinking.
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Sounds like you don't think he will improve. I think he bottomed out yesterday. If he gets it going he will earn his minutes. He really hasn't been getting many "free" minutes for sometime now.
 
I don't get how some of the cynics completely brush aside that the kid was injured for much of his junior year and simply didn't play anybody worth mentioning his senior year.

The one thing that won't change in his time at UK is that he's like 190 lbs at 6'11 (or whatever).

But the big eyes, that look of terror - I mean, yes, it would be nice to have a Boogie ripping peoples' heads off and spitting down their necks, but at the same time, I don't understand how many people have zero empathy for a kid who hasn't managed to get adjusted to college ball by mid-December after a crazy amount of down time (considering how late he started playing the game).
 
Jkwo said:
I don't get how some of the cynics completely brush aside that the kid was injured for much of his junior year and simply didn't play anybody worth mentioning his senior year.

The one thing that won't change in his time at UK is that he's like 190 lbs at 6'11 (or whatever).

But the big eyes, that look of terror - I mean, yes, it would be nice to have a Boogie ripping peoples' heads off and spitting down their necks, but at the same time, I don't understand how many people have zero empathy for a kid who hasn't managed to get adjusted to college ball by mid-December after a crazy amount of down time (considering how late he started playing the game).
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Right or wrong, the answer to your question is the one-and-done. When it's a mutually beneficial relationship it works great. But when fans know a guy is only going to be here for one year, they have little patience for development - especially when it appears, as is the case with Skal, that effort/desire is an issue. When a guy Skal's size gets zero rebounds and fouls out against good - but hardly great - competition, it's WAY more than rust.

Humphries hasn't been any better than Skal, but fans know he will be here next year. Thus, people are OK with the normal development curve. When guys are labeled one-and-done and projected as a top pick, regardless of how poorly they perform, people quit caring about potential - they want to see results.
 
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I feel for Skal. I'm sure he's a great kid. I want to see him do well. I wonder if he isn't the type of kid that screaming at doesn't work. I wonder if he wouldn't respond better to positive reinforcement. He just looks defeated. I hope he turns it around.
 
4UK said:
Right or wrong, the answer to your question is the one-and-done. When it's a mutually beneficial relationship it works great. But when fans know a guy is only going to be here for one year, they have little patience for development - especially when it appears, as is the case with Skal, that effort/desire is an issue. When a guy Skal's size gets zero rebounds and fouls out against good - but hardly great - competition, it's WAY more than rust.

Humphries hasn't been any better than Skal, but fans know he will be here next year. Thus, people are OK with the normal development curve. When guys are labeled one-and-done and projected as a top pick, regardless of how poorly they perform, people quit caring about potential - they want to see results.
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The problem with the "effort/desire" designation is that it implies that the kid is a malcontent, or at best, lazy.

And anybody who has seen an interview with Skal knows that he is a Towns/Noel level good kid - I think he'd fix it all in a second if he felt like he could, but the kid is incredibly tentative and gets the ball ripped out of his hands 10/10 times by any guard, wing, or big who feels like taking it.

I get the frustration about him, though - you're right that even a rusty player should be good for a couple rebounds - I primarily take issue with the personal attacks we saw in that big thread yesterday.
 
qwesley said:
His ceiling for this year is just not as high as some think it will be. With big games coming up how much time will Cal give him to work thru things?
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He'll give him all the minutes he needs. Thats Cal's promise to these types of players. You come here and you will play and play regardless of your mistakes. Thats his pitch. You don't have to worry about making a mistake and getting yanked. You just keep playing. We've seen it time and time again with Goodwin to the Harrisons. ITs also why Cal says "I can't hide you here". In other words, if you are playing like crap you might sit the bench at other places until you mature and develop (through practice). But here you are going to play and play all the time so you better not make too many mistakes. Its brilliant in a way because kids want to come here because they know they will get ever opportunity to show-case their skills for the next level. The only time it sucks is when you have mistake after mistake pile up and its to the detriment of the team. Cal walks a fine line when it comes to this.
 
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CUT-NETS said:
He'll give him all the minutes he needs. Thats Cal's promise to these types of players. You come here and you will play and play regardless of your mistakes. Thats his pitch. You don't have to worry about making a mistake and getting yanked. You just keep playing. We've seen it time and time again with Goodwin to the Harrisons. ITs also why Cal says "I can't hide you here". In other words, if you are playing like crap you might sit the bench at other places until you mature and develop (through practice). But here you are going to play and play all the time so you better not make too many mistakes. Its brilliant in a way because kids want to come here because they know they will get ever opportunity to show-case their skills for the next level. The only time it sucks is when you have mistake after mistake pile up and its to the detriment of the team. Cal walks a fine line when it comes to this.
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There's no doubt HOF Coach Calipari is brilliant at getting and developing players. Skal is clearly going to develop into the player everyone knows he can be. Calipari will make sure of that, and not only will Skal benefit from that, the fans will as well with hopefully another banner year.
 
Clive Gollings said:
There's no doubt HOF Coach Calipari is brilliant at getting and developing players. Skal is clearly going to develop into the player everyone knows he can be. Calipari will make sure of that, and no only will Skal benefit from that, the fans will as well with hopefully another banner year.
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You're right. Cal is a HOF coach and Skal will develop and be one of the best players in the country and a top 2-3 pick. With Cal as his coach, and being in the HOF Skal will develop. Everyone just wait and see. Skal is going to dominate everyone.
 
CUT-NETS said:
You're right. Cal is a HOF coach and Skal will develop and be one of the best players in the country and a top 2-3 pick. With Cal as his coach, and being in the HOF Skal will develop. Everyone just wait and see. Skal is going to dominate everyone.
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At least you're not copy and pasting the same posts anymore.
 
Clive Gollings said:
At least you're not copy and pasting the same posts anymore.
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Hey you guys are the ones always pointing out that Cal is a HOF coach. Lets see how that works for developing Skal. I assume since Cal is a HOFer, he will have no problem developing Skal.
 
You really do seem miserable with HOF Coach Calipari as the UK coach and the fact he's hung more banners than your boy Rick at UK.

You seem like you would rather Skal not develop and UK not win another title under Calipari just so you can get some sort of "win" in your book. You're not a UK fan.
 
Clive Gollings said:
You really do seem miserable with HOF Coach Calipari as the UK coach and the fact he's hung more banners than your boy Rick at UK.

You seem like you would rather Skal not develop and UK not win another title under Calipari just so you can get some sort of "win" in your book. You're not a UK fan.
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Why are you so worried about me? You follow me around on here like a puppy dog. Why are you slurping my every post and every word on here? I own you.
 
Clive Gollings said:
That's true, yet you act like you know more. He's also in the HOF.
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Think about how much it bothers you the things I post. If you were so confident in Calipari and his ability to bring home titles would you really feel the need to defend him at my every post? Think about that for a moment. You don't see as confident in Cal as you act.
 
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