Which helps recruiting. So it depends on how much you care about recruiting . I suppose JC could go after a bunch of 4 year players and eventually we might make the FF!
Skal Should Not Start Against ASU
- Thread starter CatsBy90
- Start date
Skal's problems are all related to strength, positioning and angles. He has problems with all 3. That's what is keeping him from succeeding.
-has weak hands
-doesn't get position or put a hip on his man to rebound
-gets rooted out too easily on offense and defense
-takes the wrong the angles to defend and attempt to block shots
-doesn't work to get the ball on offense or to beat his man to the ball on defense
He has relied on his athletic ability to do these things his entire career, but now that's not enough. However, in his defense, he didn't play for a large part of last season.
He'll get better, just needs to work on the above areas. Big Men take longer to adjust at the next level. Cal will get him there by the end of the year.
-has weak hands
-doesn't get position or put a hip on his man to rebound
-gets rooted out too easily on offense and defense
-takes the wrong the angles to defend and attempt to block shots
-doesn't work to get the ball on offense or to beat his man to the ball on defense
He has relied on his athletic ability to do these things his entire career, but now that's not enough. However, in his defense, he didn't play for a large part of last season.
He'll get better, just needs to work on the above areas. Big Men take longer to adjust at the next level. Cal will get him there by the end of the year.
Final Four's are meaningless. The journey is fun and all but this is Kentucky. We should and always will measure ourselves by championships. Final Four celebrations are for Hoosiers.
No, it's not the fact that he's not averaging a double double. Are you watching these games? Nobody is talking about his numbers, what everyone is talking about is his effort. He's in a fog when he's out there and he doesn't appear to be trying. The kid has great talent, he's very smooth and can shoot but I think most people would trade him fouling out due to too much exuberance for what he's doing now.
He can score Ten points just by being in the right place at the right time. Can you imagine what he could do if he played with effort?
The most troubling thing tonight was watching him just stand there after a mistake or something and not go after a loose ball.
Numbers aren't a huge deal this early, I still think he will grasp his potential during SEC play, but not willing to go 100% is a problem. Kid needs to hangout with Briscoe, Lee and Ulis more.
Numbers aren't a huge deal this early, I still think he will grasp his potential during SEC play, but not willing to go 100% is a problem. Kid needs to hangout with Briscoe, Lee and Ulis more.
I surprised some of you manage to stay in your seats based on your basketball IQ.
Skal is an essential component for this team to be at its best. He will not resolve some of his issues sitting on the pine. If he doesn't mature, we are one Lee away from foul trouble that will kill us against a good team. Cal is following the only viable option he has. With Skal playing at 100%, we look good in March. Without him, we're just another decent team. Winning games is the second most important goal of this team. Winning six games in the tournament is the most important. We don't do that without Skal on top of his game.
Let the damn coach, coach.
Skal is an essential component for this team to be at its best. He will not resolve some of his issues sitting on the pine. If he doesn't mature, we are one Lee away from foul trouble that will kill us against a good team. Cal is following the only viable option he has. With Skal playing at 100%, we look good in March. Without him, we're just another decent team. Winning games is the second most important goal of this team. Winning six games in the tournament is the most important. We don't do that without Skal on top of his game.
Let the damn coach, coach.
He doesn't seem to have great instincts, reaction is not immediate.
Seems like a great kid and I'm sure he wants to be better. I have hope.
That little ASU team will throw Skal everywhere. But LEE and Briscoe will go to work on them. Cats should win by 15.
Not playing the last 2 years seems to have cost him instincts-wise, he has to play.
He also has to develop better technique, he is not going to put on 30 pounds prior to the tourney.
I hope he will be fine too.
Maybe not playing competitively much for two years really put him behind. I'm guilty of forgetting that myself. I think we are drunk off success haha.
The disappointing thing tonight is the small OVC opponent who wanted to run should be a game Skal dominates.
OK again some of you are forgetting Skal did not get a lot of coaching last year and did not get to play against good quality players. He will be fine by Feb. Cal will work wonders on him.
Oh, just stuff a sock in it. You're wrong, and idiots who think like you almost always have an agenda.
Interesting you say that. As you know, I'm not one to talk bad about the players and team in public. That said, I think the biggest gap in Skal's skill is his footwork. Even in the exhibition games he leaned, reached and pushed on defense. Bad habits and lack of physical strength led to most of this. I was quite pleased to see him defend and not foul tonight on several occasions tonight, largely due to better footwork. As you say, he has to play or he simply will not develop. Fortunately, the staff sees this. Obviously they have been working with him a lot. There is more work to do. As you mention, lot of rust can build up after a year or so.
I don't know how good he will be by tourney time. I don't recall a kid that stands to improve SO much in his second year though. They say his guardian will seize the money and run. That's a shame because I think Skal would improve his earning potential by millions if he improves his footwork, adds some weight and increases that bench by 75 pounds and his squat by 100. He needs a year or so to get there.
The flip side is...assuming he gets drafted first round he will have full time to improve in all areas in the nba and then reach the big money for the 2nd contract.
Great points about his footwork.
I don't have an agenda. I just believe the Final Four is a meaningless marketing ploy that wasn't even created until the late 70's. You play to win a tournament. You play to be number one. In conference or nationally.
Said the same thing during Tubby's tenure and I was one of his staunchest defenders for a time. If you disagree perhaps you should debate instead of name calling.
Sorry to burst your bubble.
This goes back to the "we have only had 8 meaningful seasons in a century"?
Lots of memorable seasons we did not win it all.
75, 84, 92, 97, 10, 11, 14, 15
If he can get floor time in the NBA, that's true. I just think back to Prince. He flourished in the NBA after gaining strength in college. I'm not sure he would have done the same if he jumped as a frost. Time will tell.
I said nothing about memories or meaning. Meaning is whatever you wish to put upon something.
I have a wine cork necklace I wear from a 500 dollar bottle of French wine that I shared with three friends on a bed one night celebrating something that's very inconsequential. The best bottle of wine I've ever had. To anyone else it's just a wine cork.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but UK hangs banners for those- something it started doing long before Cal got here. Only a complete simpleton considers them meaningless. We all know that titles are #1 in terms of importance, but unless you want to lump all non-title seasons together (as if a 38-1 year is pretty much the same as a 24-12 year that ends in the 2nd round of the NCAA's), there are A LOT of "ands" after those titles, and the #1 and is making the FF.
There is no debate here when you choose to take the moronic position that Final Fours are "meaningless".
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Hey, if your first same sex final four is meaningful to you then you should wear that cork like a badge.
I'm not here to judge anyone.
But our basketball final fours mean something to many of us.
It's just one more game in the end. Or one less game you didn't win.
It didn't have cultural importance until the late 70's when the NCAA trademarked it and began to attempt to promote it as an "event" on par with something like the NBA Finals or the Super Bowl.
Cool. Enjoy them. I don't care.
In the end Kentucky Basketball is about championships. Everything else is window dressing and you take what you want to derive your own level of enjoyment.
I've posted on this a number of times. In a single elimination tournament, it is true, there is no second place. However, it is inappropriate to equate a first round out to a final four out. Most obvious of course is the number of wins. Also, deeper runs into the tournament are often key elements of team goals. Make no mistake, those goals are important. For some teams, just getting into the tourney is huge. For our program, a final four gets you a banner.
So yes, in single elimination, only one team is a winner. However, every step on the ladder has an intrinsic value to the program.
So what.
The NCAA expanded to 32 teams in 75, meaning every team had to win 3 games to make the FF for the first time. That's when it became really important. And I've got news for you- that was 40 years ago, and there have now been more tournaments played where the FF was clearly very important than were played prior to that. You can choose to act like nothing has changed in 40 years, but very few people are going to agree with you.
Come on now Crow,
The 70s were long ago and the field is larger and the 3pt shot gives teams more of a chance.
We all agree titles are #1 but a FF is an accomplishment.
If a coach has to coach effort then there's a problem. I just don't see a lot of effort from Skal right now in terms of rebounding and on defense. Not sure what's wrong but you don't have to be talented to give effort.
Skal is a great kid by all accounts. Just seems overwhelmed right now.
Skal is a great kid by all accounts. Just seems overwhelmed right now.
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anon_013cn8yrfncx2
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Final fours are very important. The most important reason of course is you can't win it all if you don't make the FF. Here's a question to ponder. In a 10 year period would you rather have 5 FFs and 1 title or 2 FFs and 2 titles? I'd go for the latter. AT SOME POINT final fours by themselves will not be enough!
