Skj transferrin

[Blueworld_3.0]

Strange then how Richards numbers were still better than SKJ were in about the same amount of minutes.And yet he didn't deserve any playing time.

Look at when and against which teams Richards played well. Mostly the pre-conference season. Richards was garbage thru most of the SEC regular season and tournament. When it came down to crunch time it was SKJ who stepped up his game. You do remember the SEC-T, right?

 

[RondoBaller21]

Green will be the next one to leave.

No

 

[BigBlueDiehard]

Appreciate SKJ’s contributions. Classy kid with a lot of potential who will be missed. Hope everything works out for him.

 

[TankedCat]

not to SKJ specifically but I have to believe at some point, this idea that you'll most likely end up somewhere else than see your Senior year at UK is not a positive for Kentucky.

(as a non OAD)

 

[mdlUK.1]

Actuallg there’s been more and it’s become more common the last few years.

Dodson
Poole
Harrow
Wiltjer
Lee
Matthews
Wynyard
SKJ

Feels like I’m missing one but that’s 8.

Of all those, only KW and Matthews had any success once leaving. And I’d bet you were one of Wiltjer’s harshest critics while here.

 

[ManitouDan]

I wish SKJ had stayed but he had done nothing until the SECT to justify more pt. If he was getting it done in practice, Cal would have play him. And SKJ is one example.

Ok .. Just what did Richards do to deserve ANY playing time what so ever . ? We ran him out to start he game , he fouled , he set at or before the first TV time time out . SKJ was no star but he didnt deserve to set as much as he did while BBN twirled their thumbs waiting for Richards to develop . which never happened .

 

[wildcatsboston1984]

You don’t think this culture of “if I’m not a star after two years transfer or go pro somewhere” isn’t a negative thing??

There was over 700 transfers in D1 college basketball last season.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

I’m just to the point where i don’t care if we miss on freshmen targets anymore if it’s just going to run off a veteran. I’m sick of being freshman dominated every year. It’s not working.

The definition of a troll: Zero posts in any thread welcoming EJ Montgomery or excited about EJ this morning (I checked.) Multiple, endless posting about SKJ leaving. Not that you needed to do anything else to expose what a phony you are to be on a Kentucky board all the time. I guess the mods keep you around to churn traffic. But its a pretty sad existence.

As to, "It's not working:" More NCAA tournament wins, more Elite Eights, more Final Fours than any program in the years Cal has been at Kentucky, and an NCAA championship. That's working fine.

 

[Ben101er]

This is the crap that has to stop under Cal

And exactly what is it that needs to stop? All I see is Cal recruiting the best players he can. SKJ could either step up over the summer and transform his body, or could redshirt, and work on his body and his game, then have two more years. After all, transferring is basically the same thing, except you are switching schools. Everyone wanted Montgomery, and now they don't because SKJ chooses to transfer? That is SKJ's decision, and has nothing to do with Cal.

 

[chevyman 50]

Wish he had been starting this yr he out played Richards in every game..

 

[Deli owl]

I'd prefer a solid SKJ over PJ at the 5 is what I meant, didnt come across very well, but I'm a little slow...

Just couldnt get SKJ to be solid enough.

I Thought both centers would split time this next year.

 

[Big Cat fan]

I take this as we will return PJ and Vanderbilt right? RIGHT?

 

[brianpoe]

Really? You don't think its totally possible that Diallo and Vanderbilt go to the NBA and Wenyen goes overseas or G league? If PJ has a good combine he's gone too.

I think you are getting your panties in a wad way too early.

So far we lost the expected OAD.

We lost the unexpected SKJ and signed the unexpected EJ.


Let's see what happens and how Cal reacts to it.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I don't think it's fair to say SKJ is running away, scared or doesn't have "it" in him. At least not put the blame entirely on him. He knows the score and he knows there's an uphill battle for him next year.

Lee, Matthews, SKJ, Hump... what all these players are just mentally weak? Or is it that there is in fact a separation between a top10 recruit and a multi-year player, at least in part? Yes some of that is god-given talent, sure. But we saw Cal stick with Richards past when he should. SKJ has to know the same thing is going to happen next year with a loaded front court..

 

[mj2k10]

Wish he had been starting this yr he out played Richards in every game..

The how did he end up with a lot fewer points, rebounds, and blocks in about the same amount of PT?

Amazing how that could happen when he was so obviously superior to Richards.

 

[Ben101er]

This is why we need 1-3 KY boys on the team.... its our only chance at having a decent senior on the team

I agree, somewhat. There were some that talked about Hawkins and Willis transferring to a smaller school, to get more playing time. Both chose to stick it out, knowing if they did what they needed to, their time would come. It is a problem you will always have with players from KY who want to play more, immediately.

 

[Hoskins91]

Because SKJ was actually showing improvement. NR never did despite all the starts and min.

The difference in playing time became negligible, so did their impact. They would likely be fighting for who got spot minutes behind the other 3 returning guys who are all clearly better, and maybe even Montgomery. He wasn’t a difference maker this coming year, and likely wouldn’t be the next.

 

[mdlUK.1]

Ok .. Just what did Richards do to deserve ANY playing time what so ever . ? We ran him out to start he game , he fouled , he set at or before the first TV time time out . SKJ was no star but he didnt deserve to set as much as he did while BBN twirled their thumbs waiting for Richards to develop . which never happened .

I didn’t have access to practice, did you. SKJ did not earn any more pt. He had 76 fewer minutes than NR. About 2 minutes a game.

 

[JC43]

@mj2k10 fact is top 25 are 5 stars. Fact, yes when presenting an argument facts are important. Your argument now holds no water when Baker, four star is still remaining even though we recruited over him. Fact our other 4 star is about to be drafted in the lottery. The biggest jumps made by players generally occur between freshman and sophomore year. His growth peaked. He never took advantage of the time he was in. We played with Vanderbilt only 14 games or something and he came off injury to still beat SKJ for time. Again cool story bro

 

[Sejonesy]

This is the crap that has to stop under Cal

For real? Wow

 

[NC Weasel]

Maybe SKJ thinks Vanderbilt is returning too, which is looking more and more likely. Last season his minutes were directly tied to Vanderbilt's availabilty.

 

[anon_013cn8yrfncx2]

By the way, SKJ averaged 14 minutes a game this season, and played 15 or more minutes 16 times.

This idea that he wasn't given a chance isn't accurate. He just sees the writing on the wall and didn't want to share the minutes again this year.

It's going to happen if you recruit elite kids every year.

What is that writing on the wall? Is there another 5 on the roster other than Nick?

So who's going to be playing those minutes. Force feed EJ at the 4 ala Skal or small ball with no true 5 when Nick is not in the game.

SKJ doing what's best for SKJ. Players first.

 

[ukfan041]

Sucks to see him go! Wish him the best as long as he doesn’t go to an enemy

 

[mj2k10]

@mj2k10 fact is top 25 are 5 stars. Fact, yes when presenting an argument facts are important. Your argument now holds no water when Baker, four star is still remaining even though we recruited over him. Fact our other 4 star is about to be drafted in the lottery. The biggest jumps made by players generally occur between freshman and sophomore year. His growth peaked. He never took advantage of the time he was in. We played with Vanderbilt only 14 games or something and he came off injury to still beat SKJ for time. Again cool story bro

Cool story, yeah.

John Wall was a 5 star. So was Maalik Wayns.

Does that make them about the same?

A 5 star is a 5 star is a 5 star is taking a fact, and using it in a really stupid way.

 

[brianpoe]

I don't think it's fair to say SKJ is running away, scared or doesn't have "it" in him. At least not put the blame entirely on him. He knows the score and he knows there's an uphill battle for him next year.

Lee, Matthews, SKJ, Hump... what all these players are just mentally weak? Or is it that there is in fact a separation between a top10 recruit and a multi-year player, at least in part? Yes some of that is god-given talent, sure. But we saw Cal stick with Richards past when he should. SKJ has to know the same thing is going to happen next year with a loaded front court..

Matthews played in all 36 games averaging over 20 minutes per as a true freshman and loads of opportunity the next season. We lost Murray and signed Monk.

Lee played in all 36 games averaging over 20 minutes per and had an incredible opportunity the next season. We lost Alex and signed Bam.

SKJ most likely would have had to beat out one of EJ or Richards. Just beat one guy out...

Hump left to play pro ball back home and had been homesick for over 2 years. He also was given straight talk from NBA people about his future. Not to mention he thought we had Bamba and NR coming at the time.


Lee, Mathews, and SKJ may have a ton of other reasons, but from the outside it didnt appear to be too large a mountain to climb to stay at UK and battle for a spot.

 

[ManitouDan]

I didn’t have access to practice, did you. SKJ did not earn any more pt. He had 76 fewer minutes than NR.

Sure did , are you the only rafters poster that doesnt ? We all meet and get beers after every practice . I'll stop . Its a bad day and I get the feeling its isnt the end . I expect SGA to go , thats fine , but I'd guess JV does as well and maybe another . Then we are back to similar to next years Duke that we have all mocked for 2-3 weeks . A college team with near zero experience , with not much hope of winning a title . The 3 years like SKJ who are not stars but give quality minutes are what makes a champion . the proof is in the results . No experience equals no title .

 

[Hoskins91]

What is that writing on the wall? Is there another 5 on the roster other than Nick?

So who's going to be playing those minutes. Force feed EJ at the 4 ala Skal or small ball with no true 5 when Nick is not in the game.

SKJ doing what's best for SKJ. Players first.

Neither Richards nor Jones would play much this coming year. Vanderbilt and Washington will be your nominal bigs with EJ and Gabriel getting the rest of the minutes.

 

[floatingyou]

It started out a happy day and now everyone is bitching again.

Nah not everyone. Just the bitches who look for something to bitch about

 

[Hoskins91]

Sure did , are you the only rafters poster that doesnt ? We all meet and get beers after every practice . I'll stop . Its a bad day and I get the feeling its isnt the end . I expect SGA to go , thats fine , but I'd guess JV does as well and maybe another . Then we are back to similar to next years Duke that we have all mocked for 2-3 weeks . A college team with near zero experience , with not much hope of winning a title . The 3 years like SKJ who are not stars but give quality minutes are what makes a champion . the proof is in the results . No experience equals no title .

You’re assuming a lot.

 

[StubbornPenny]

You can thank his ACL tear for that. Cal has even said so. Plus he only stayed 3 years.

Poythress was here four years, though most of his 2014-2015 season was wiped out by the ACL. He played two full years before and one full year after.

 

[North Carolina Blue Wildcat]

Actuallg there’s been more and it’s become more common the last few years.

Dodson
Poole
Harrow
Wiltjer
Lee
Matthews
Wynyard
SKJ

Feels like I’m missing one but that’s 8.

What do you notice with this list? All are 3/4 year players no matter where they play.

 

[CatColumbia]

Poythress was here four years, though most of his 2014-2015 season was wiped out by the ACL. He played two full years before and one full year after.

My point is, one out of state player in recent history is nothing to shout about.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

I'm in agreement that Sacha was somewhat overhyped here, though I obviously wanted him back. More players, more experience is always a good thing. But people kept declaring him obviously better than Richards, despite producing at a significantly lower level then Richards with similar playing time. Richards was bashed for being turnover and foul prone (which he is) but Sacha turned it over and fouled MORE frequently. Richards rebounded better. Richards could actually hit free throws. I'm not sure what Cal should have done to keep SKJ - he gave him equal PT as our other big man who produced more points/rebounds/blocks in similar time. I guess he could have stopped recruiting?

Best wishes to Sacha. I wanted to see what you could do here in the next couple years, but it's entirely possible, maybe likely, he'd have stayed at his ~15 mpg and never really broke out. Hopefully none of our other front court players leave - SKJ would have ranked last on my list of priorities to return.

How did Nick's and Sacha's minutes compare in the SEC and NCAA tournies?

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Matthews played in all 36 games averaging over 20 minutes per as a true freshman and loads of opportunity the next season. We lost Murray and signed Monk.

Lee played in all 36 games averaging over 20 minutes per and had an incredible opportunity the next season. We lost Alex and signed Bam.

SKJ most likely would have had to beat out one of EJ or Richards. Just beat one guy out...

Hump left to play pro ball back home and had been homesick for over 2 years. He also was given straight talk from NBA people about his future. Not to mention he thought we had Bamba and NR coming at the time.


Lee, Mathews, and SKJ may have a ton of other reasons, but from the outside it didnt appear to be too large a mountain to climb to stay at UK and battle for a spot.

Do we know for sure Hump was homesick? Sounds to me like he saw what many other sub top15 recruits saw. I could be wrong, but I get the sense that if he had a bigger role on the team he wasn't going to go back home so soon.

Remember still, they're 18 years old. It was much harder to get minutes when you were these guys and yes, maybe because they ttruly weren't as good as the top15 crop of guys. But they did get yanked sooner. The tolerance for mistakes seemed much lower. And it clearly weighed on them.

All those guys *could* have broken out, but it might have been in their heads that their minutes could go up in flames very quick.

There has to be some truth to that, otherwise, we wouldn't keep losing these 4-stars/fringe 5-stars.

 

[brianpoe]

My point is, one out of state player in recent history is nothing to shout about.

We can complain about it but what is the fix?

Recruit the best and they go OAD.

Recruit a tier lower and they transfer...

Next suggestion?

 

[ManitouDan]

Matthews played in all 36 games averaging over 20 minutes per as a true freshman and loads of opportunity the next season. We lost Murray and signed Monk.

Lee played in all 36 games averaging over 20 minutes per and had an incredible opportunity the next season. We lost Alex and signed Bam.

SKJ most likely would have had to beat out one of EJ or Richards. Just beat one guy out...

Hump left to play pro ball back home and had been homesick for over 2 years. He also was given straight talk from NBA people about his future. Not to mention he thought we had Bamba and NR coming at the time.


Lee, Mathews, and SKJ may have a ton of other reasons, but from the outside it didnt appear to be too large a mountain to climb to stay at UK and battle for a spot.

Just an opinion among 1000's but I think he got tired of seeing Nick suck it up while he set . He didnt get an honest chance to win more PT .

 

[CatCall]

Exac

Yes. Never saw much in SKJ. Always wondered why anyone was high on him. Lost 90% of the time, bad defense, and has a jump shot that rarely goes in.

It's a false choice anyway. EJ replaced him, and I'll take that all day.

Gotta agree with you guys. I liked SKJ but the stats don't lie. NR was better in every category of comparable stats but one. Better from the field, much better from the line, better rebounder and shotblocker. The only stat that SKJ was better in was steals and that was a .2 to .1 per game figure They almost had the same minutes/game as NR only averaged one min/game more (14.7 to 13.7)

 

[anon_013cn8yrfncx2]

If he doesn't want to be here and compete, then he is free to leave. Just wondering how this falls on Cal? You think Cal brought him in and said, "you should leave"? No. Seems like SKJ wants a place to shine and get as much floor time and attention as possible, and that is fine for him.

Well do you think he didn't talk to Cal at all? It's either that, or the conversation was not to SKJ's liking.

IMO, Cal is not going to stop taking the shiny new thing and he won't be afraid to let it be known.

Think Cal couldn't have convinced Hump to stay or do you think he told him that he'd have to beat out Bamba and Richards.

 

[CatColumbia]

We can complain about it but what is the fix?

Recruit the best and they go OAD.

Recruit a tier lower and they transfer...

Next suggestion?

In a perfect world (know it's impossible), have a good mix. Have your 3-4 year players to go with the One and Doners. The roster turnover has been so volatile that I'd like to see some retention. I believe that this will give us our best foot forward in winning a championship. Not going all in on freshmen.

 

[TnRustyCAT]

Disappointing. I enjoy talented freshmen but I also like watching a kid grow for 3-4 years and give the team much needed veteran leadership. Hopefully Wenyen isn’t going anywhere.

I agree! We need vetren's as much as anything? I know some of these new kid's are talented. but are that much better than SKJ?