Ok, here is how I look at this. Is our roster what we want it to be? No. (Add Murray and I'd change my answer). Is Our roster bad? No. We have an experienced PG, and pretty dang good Freshman PG, The #1 draft pick next year in Skal, a guy in Poythress that could dominate if you put him where he is most comfy, the 4, and some solid 4* guys in Matthews and Mulder. I will say this, there have been in the past 6 years 4 teams that have won the title with no where near that kind of talent (UCONN x 2, Louisville, Duke 2010). There have been plenty of teams make the final four with less "talent" than that. A lot of this will rely solely on the shoulders of John Calipari. This can be a top 10 team if you play to strengths, something I think we did not do many times this past year. If we do not add anyone else, we will need to be a team that out executes teams, a lot like 2011. That wasn't us this past year. We were at our best against KU, Ark, UCLA, etc that tried to "out athlete" us. Against Wisconsin, Notre Dame, UGA both times, 30 min of each UF game we struggled because those teams executed their halfcourt offense to a T. If you wanted to take WCS out of a game, make him play half court offense. I mean I love Wille but our last 2 games we played 2 teams that put a 6'8ish guys on him and he could not score against them in the half court.
This years team will most definitely take some lumps. But its a team, that if we can win enough games to be a 1-5 seed can make a final four run (lets not forget, we made a final four with Harrelson and Liggins starting and Vargas being the first guy off the bench). In a way I think this coming season will be better for Calipari and better for us fans from a pressure standpoint. We aren't going to be expected to be world beaters. There will be no NBA/Cal talk (I think after he lost that Wiscy game it really hurt his NBA stock). There will be no undefeated talk. There will be other teams in the SEC, with EXTREMELY talented players that will be expected to perform. By no means am I saying we are completely fine, but it is not doom and gloom and ultimately, if we can get in the Midwest region, get past the 1st weekend regardless of seed, we will play 2 home games in Louisville to get to another final four. But like I said, This is completely on Cal. He has to figure this team out and run some sort of a system. He will not be able to just run an offense with a "go make a play for me" school of thought, which is very much what he has done since being here. Our guys will have to execute at a high level and with 2 PG that have great feels for the game and distributing ability, it can be done.
To be fair, I know plenty of people that can take this roster and run a highly efficient offense with Ulis, Briscoe, Poythress and Skal. Add Mulder if he can knock down some shots and role players in Matthews, Lee and hopefully a much improved Willis and I can see it. Im not near as worried about defense. Duke and UCONN didn't win the title 2 times each due to defense, they put the ball in the hole, and not via the 3pt shot either.
I think that Wisconsin loss hurt our recruiting and John Calipari much more than many think...had Wiscy won, I think its a totally different feel, but the fact Duke with Coach K and just as many AA won made the loss sting even worse.
This years team will most definitely take some lumps. But its a team, that if we can win enough games to be a 1-5 seed can make a final four run (lets not forget, we made a final four with Harrelson and Liggins starting and Vargas being the first guy off the bench). In a way I think this coming season will be better for Calipari and better for us fans from a pressure standpoint. We aren't going to be expected to be world beaters. There will be no NBA/Cal talk (I think after he lost that Wiscy game it really hurt his NBA stock). There will be no undefeated talk. There will be other teams in the SEC, with EXTREMELY talented players that will be expected to perform. By no means am I saying we are completely fine, but it is not doom and gloom and ultimately, if we can get in the Midwest region, get past the 1st weekend regardless of seed, we will play 2 home games in Louisville to get to another final four. But like I said, This is completely on Cal. He has to figure this team out and run some sort of a system. He will not be able to just run an offense with a "go make a play for me" school of thought, which is very much what he has done since being here. Our guys will have to execute at a high level and with 2 PG that have great feels for the game and distributing ability, it can be done.
To be fair, I know plenty of people that can take this roster and run a highly efficient offense with Ulis, Briscoe, Poythress and Skal. Add Mulder if he can knock down some shots and role players in Matthews, Lee and hopefully a much improved Willis and I can see it. Im not near as worried about defense. Duke and UCONN didn't win the title 2 times each due to defense, they put the ball in the hole, and not via the 3pt shot either.
I think that Wisconsin loss hurt our recruiting and John Calipari much more than many think...had Wiscy won, I think its a totally different feel, but the fact Duke with Coach K and just as many AA won made the loss sting even worse.
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