we are in the deepest trouble since BCG if that is true, neither of those guys are worth a shish.
Skal requires patience but I don't have any with Poythress Tonight
- Thread starter Smashcat
- Start date
We missed Ulis for one game and almost lost the game. I saw a team that still is not stable enough to miss any part. When Lee went out, defensively it was the same problem. We sucked tonight, it's hard to stay up when it's all falling apart around you. It happens.
This is a TEAM sport. Alex will play much much better when the guards have more seasoning. Also it hurt not to have Lee to keep him on the bench longer when he was starting to get into foul trouble. New teams take time to come together!! We will be as dangerous as anybody come March, and you can mark my words
He just isn't a great basketball player. Just because the shoe fits doesn't mean he's Cinderella.
I think it's entirely mental. I don't think he's passionate about basketball. I think he was a smart kid who was big enough and athletic enough to get a full ride at a D-1 school, but I just don't think he lives and breathes basketball. Just a guess.
It's certainly not between the ears, dude is about as smart as they come, he's just not a great player, he is an elite athlete (well, was).
would be pretty nice if we ran an offense for him to succeed. when your role is limited to offensive rebounding putbacks...not much you can do some games. all his production starts with how the ball bounces. we never spread the court. its always clogged with two bigs, one of which gets pushed around and then guards cutting through. right now we are an easy to guard team. which makes it harder for alex to get going. how many iso's are run for him 10 feet and out on the side where he can take a 1 or 2 dribbles and get off a jump hook? everything is...guard takes it in deep, no where to go, drop it off to alex on the baseline with 2 or 3 defenders around him.
nothing gets run for alex yet people want him to score twenty. yeah he missed shots tonight, so did a lot of guys with way way more attempts.
unfortunately this wont change...cal is determined to turn skal into a post player which he isnt. skal needs to play 15 feet and out and let alex play inside. but thats not going to happen
nothing gets run for alex yet people want him to score twenty. yeah he missed shots tonight, so did a lot of guys with way way more attempts.
unfortunately this wont change...cal is determined to turn skal into a post player which he isnt. skal needs to play 15 feet and out and let alex play inside. but thats not going to happen
Then there are a ton of fools because he was a top 10 recruit. Those are not thought of as role players. Poy plays like a little girl too much
Poy is an incredibly intelligent young man and a FANTASTIC student. On the court I think the problem is actually he thinks too much. Like a golf swing he has to learn to just let if fly and stop over analyzing everything. I'm not sure if he will ever get to that point at UK.
I think he pressures himself too much.
The reason why i say this is difference in his shooting between exhibition and actual game.
Does anyone have difference in he way he shot during blue/white, BBM, Exhibition game, and the 8 games we have played so far?
I know the pressure is completely different defensively, but i don't even think other teams are defending poythress on the 3 point shot anyways.
The reason why i say this is difference in his shooting between exhibition and actual game.
Does anyone have difference in he way he shot during blue/white, BBM, Exhibition game, and the 8 games we have played so far?
I know the pressure is completely different defensively, but i don't even think other teams are defending poythress on the 3 point shot anyways.
Cal is gonna have to play Wynyard if for no other reason...screens, rebounds, and fouls
skal had 1 rebound tonight. 1. and people are focused on poythress. smh.
Because we know what was up with Skal. With Lee out and Skal basically out, we were hoping Alex would give us something down low. Instead he played like a freshman.
Alex can't handle being anything other than a secondary player. Whenever he has to be counted upon to score, he folds under the pressure. Then it affects his rebounding and defense. It's painful to watch. I hate it for him and for the team.
We really need him to be able to score and rebound when times get tough, but I am realizing that it is very unlikely we'll ever see it from him. Hope I'm wrong.
We really need him to be able to score and rebound when times get tough, but I am realizing that it is very unlikely we'll ever see it from him. Hope I'm wrong.
What plays can we run for Alex? He is not a proven jump shooter. He can't put the ball on the floor outside of a few feet from the basket. The one play that I can think of is the alley oop.
People are discussing both, and you know it. Alex is a senior and isn't living up to potential. Do you deny that?
I don't understand all the Poy hate. Everyone played terrible tonight. He didn't play great but he didn't play close as bad as some. His fourth foul was because he had enough pride to jump and at least try to block that dunk. Everyone else was just floating through the game and watching.
No hate for Poy.
From the stands, it looked like he was giving it everything he had. Cal has asked him repeatedly to focus on jumping high and getting rebounds. He did that several times and either got called for a ticky-tack foul or they called a jump ball. He had about 4 offensive boards that he outfought UCLA for and then got a whistle not in his favor.
And that last foul sucked. He got posterized by a character from Aladdin.
From the stands, it looked like he was giving it everything he had. Cal has asked him repeatedly to focus on jumping high and getting rebounds. He did that several times and either got called for a ticky-tack foul or they called a jump ball. He had about 4 offensive boards that he outfought UCLA for and then got a whistle not in his favor.
And that last foul sucked. He got posterized by a character from Aladdin.
being a senior means you are not good enough to be a pro. so why such high expectations? cal just wants him to rebound and finish plays. he rebounds well. last night didnt get the ball in places to finish.
alex isnt the problem with this team but apparently is going to get the blame. wonder why....oh thats right...because we cant blame the guards because they are fan favorites no matter what. the last 6 games before last night, alex was averaging about 10 ppg, pretty consistent. he had a bad game. we have others that have been consistently bad who are playing much bigger roles that get a pass.
the strength of this team or so we though was going to be superior guard play. early on, they were going to lead the team. we arent getting that. shooting is terrible and they are not creating easy plays for others. all summer long and in the exhibition games all i heard from people was that this would be a great shooting and passing team. IF that were true, it would provide the room for alex to succeed. but its not true...so alex's job is made harder. so lets blame alex? seems backwards to me.
twins arent around to blame anymore.
I agree. The dribble/drive was not working and players passed up a lot of open 3's. Instead they took a lot of forced 2 pointers. Might want to have other options than DD. JMO
A zone? I am not a basketball man by any means as far as knowing the terms and what they mean but all UCLA did was pack the paint (As I heard it described on TV.) A zone is played a little farther out than the paint. jmo
This is exactly right. He's like Darius Miller. Aggressiveness and passion are just not in is DNA. Crazy as it sounds he might be better off playing center where he is forced to be around the ball.
Nah, Marcus was a huge void last night. You can't just take him away and not expect to see weaknesses.
Skal and Poy will be fine, and both need to improve on their weaknesses. First road game, cross country, and UCLA played out of their minds. Sound familiar with any team we play?
This loss hurts now, but Cal will right the ship and get us back to normal going forward.
Exactly. You're the senior and you take yourself out of the game with three fouls that quickly? Either a) your basketball IQ is lacking, or b) your desire to get involved in a physical game isn't there.
I've talked to guys who came back from knee surgeries. They say it's really hard to come back mentally to where you just throw yourself into situations. That initial hesitation causes you to be a split second late. That could be the cause of the fouls. But still, you have to realize the team needs you.
My remark was to a poster who said Ulis was always given an excuse for not playing well, and the other part that disturbed you was about his 3 point shooting. Do you think he had shot well from the 3 point line?
Not trying to argue but I have to disagree with you. UCLA had the energy and took us to the wood shed. Skal doesn't "get it" but hopefully he'll progress throughout the season. Other than that I think the only player that gave maximum effort were Briscoe and Willis.
The way I took it was that before Ulis got hurt he wasn't playing well. (Wasn't killing it.) Ulis overall was the best player on the team up to that point. That was what I was referring to.) I may have misunderstood but that is how I took it. Ulis has been nothing short of amazing.
Poor argument. First the pro game is different so there are 4 year very productive college players that never play in the NBA.
Second, there is a need for AP to give a physical and energy presence to this team. People have seen the light go on late for Liggins, Harrelson, Miller, etc and hope it would for AP as well.
You mentioned earlier that you would like them to post him more and I agree but he has not shown any improvement on feel or mechanics when he gets the ball....still too upright, spins into help, too many dribbles etc.
In 2011 Cal went away from posting TJ and ended up posting Miller quite a bit. I was hoping AP could evolve the same way but I just don't see it.
The sad part of posting is that it's hard to guess where someone is coming from I agree. Like I said, my statement was in response to another to felt Ulis was getting special treatment. Ulis has played great except his 3 point shooting but no one has set it on fire yet.
