Agreed. Serious spacing problems there. I expect Williams won’t be shooting midrange as it was the weakest part of his game a year ago as well. In other words, those are dunker spot bigs.
Starting lineup next season
- Thread starter cornbreadnmilk
- Start date
Oweh is probably the best all around player we have right now. He was a double digit scorer in the best league in college bball. He was a really good defender in the best league in college bball. He brings it on both ends. I think that will put him in the starting five.
Butler/Oweh/Williams together should give us some solid defense.
Put Carr at the 4 for offense and rebounding.
Put Kriisa at the 2 for shooting and ballhandling.
Brea is use to being sixth man. Bring him in for instant offense.
Bring in Garrison at the 5 and there shouldn’t be much drop off from Williams.
Almonor is a solid role player off the bench at the 4.
That’s a solid 8 man rotation, and hopefully at least one of the Freshmen can contribute.
Everyone on the team is known as a good passer as well. That is crucial in Pope’s system. They may lack a true “go to guy” but if they find the open man, they could be a team that’s very hard to guard. Shooters and passers, that’s a good combo.
I think the team has potential, if they come together. They could maybe challenge for the SEC, if they all play to their potential.
Should be an exciting season.
Butler/Oweh/Williams together should give us some solid defense.
Put Carr at the 4 for offense and rebounding.
Put Kriisa at the 2 for shooting and ballhandling.
Brea is use to being sixth man. Bring him in for instant offense.
Bring in Garrison at the 5 and there shouldn’t be much drop off from Williams.
Almonor is a solid role player off the bench at the 4.
That’s a solid 8 man rotation, and hopefully at least one of the Freshmen can contribute.
Everyone on the team is known as a good passer as well. That is crucial in Pope’s system. They may lack a true “go to guy” but if they find the open man, they could be a team that’s very hard to guard. Shooters and passers, that’s a good combo.
I think the team has potential, if they come together. They could maybe challenge for the SEC, if they all play to their potential.
Should be an exciting season.
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I will assume Williams is a better defender than Onyenso, but I'm not sure about Garrison.
They are probably both much better offensively, it seems to me.
Overall, I think we should be better at the 5-spot, but hopefully not foul-prone.
Williams & Garrison combined for 19.7 points, 13.1 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game.
Onyenso, Bradshaw & Ivisic combined for 13.8 points, 11.4 rebounds and 4.8 blocks per game.
To my view, the key will be whether Williams can step up from Drexel to the much bigger stage, without any dropoff. I find it slightly odd that he only averaged 22.9 minutes per game in his fourth year there, after logging 27.3 the previous year ... ???
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We have Carr and Almonor at PF. I don’t foresee needing Garrison at the 4.
Williams is not a better defender than Ugo. Ugo averaged a full block more in less minutes against much better competition, Ugo would’ve averaged 5 blocks a game in the CAA. I think people are overrating some of these guys and putting unrealistic expectations on them. He’s a good defender but not in Ugo class and has the same struggles on offense. I’m of the the opinion that Carr is a much better option to start at center.
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I noticed the same thing about the blocks.
I have assumed Williams is an adept defender, despite against lesser competition, based on his all-conference status. I do recognize his is a major step up, no question, and you make good points. We definitely need Williams to be effective, in my opinion. I do not know much about what to expect from Garrison, quite frankly.
Ugo was great at blocking shot but there is more to defense. Did you not see any strong 6'9" guy we played back him down one on one and score easily? Williams can stand his ground and guard one on one where Ugo is just a help shot blocker. Williams is a much better overall defensive player.
It was true of the poster being responded to and any with a similar point of view be they few or many.
Yes, you can’t reduce defensive capability to blocks per game or blocks per minute. Williams not only can stand his ground against large post players, he can switch onto smaller players and rotate back to his man without putting his team in a bind. He is undoubtedly an upgrade over Onyenso defensively, and I think Onyenso is a good defender. Williams is an uograde defensively and offensively over Onyenso.
You block a lot of shots as a post defender when the guards you are playing with can’t guard a lamp post. More opportunities usually equals more blocks.
Case in point, we ranked first in block rate last season but in the 100's in adjusted defensive efficiency.
Another example of your point is the NBA career of Chuck Hayes. He was an elite post defender at 6'6''.
We don’t really know what to expect next year in general. Good thing is with calipari we knew what to expect and it was awful— we would have mostly a bunch of overhyped and inexperienced kids who would get totally exposed by grown men and cal had no ability to adjust. this will hopefully be something much better. A bunch of guys playing for the shirt and who have experience. And pope is a coach who actually cares about winning for Kentucky which cal obviously couldn’t ever care less about so it’s gotta make a difference
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