I am not beating up on Perry and Noah has shown some overall skills. However, I will admit I am so disappointed in Perry. This is the historic leading scorer in Kentucky High School basketball history. Won the preseason 3 point contest. In fact, there were several experts (not people here) on Youtube and other media saying he was a real talent. He also seemed slightly better in offense that Reed which made it ever more exciting a prospect to see. I don't know if it is psychological or he just isn't aggressive or is simply not at the level expected but it is hard to debate he is no Reed Sheppard or outstanding compared with many other Freshman for other teams.
Noah I think has done a little better but is he better than other Freshman for other teams? You can't have players who are not better than their opponents and expect to win.
I know many here, perhaps including me, hope they will develop. But, in the world of college basketball in today's game you have to have players who impact if you want to win. Perry, Noah, and Chandler the highest rated of the 3) are certainly not striking fear or causing coaches to come up with a game plan to stop them.
We knew already that Cal would not have recruited either Kentucky player other than if forced to have Perry to sit on the bench. I am no Cal fan any longer but was he right in this one?
You (uk78) usually make better posts than this ^.
I am disappointed that there are still fans expecting every FR to be a OAD elite level talent. Those are rare! The majority of UK fans had realistic expectations of both Perry and Noah, that they probably would not be ready to contribute as FR, possibly not even as Sophs but maybe then, but would their final 2 years.
Are there things both need to work on? Yes, of course. But honestly, both have shown me a little more than I expected.
They are shooting almost 37% combined from 3 (26-71).
Perry clearly lacks quickness. That is a tough thing to improve, but I do think he can improve it some. He also hasn't shown yet an ability to get many assists, although that looks less critical for the PG in Pope's offense. His TO rate (1 every 15min) is pretty low.
Noah has been the better shooter of the 2, but he has been more selective too (shooting less). And even though his rebounding rate is just "ok" (5.4 per30min), he seems to get timely ones and do better on the offensive glass than the defensive glass. And even though not a primary ballhandler like Perry, his TO rate (1 every 30min) is very good.
IMO, Perry has surpassed what Ritchie did as a FR (and maybe as a SOPH). Is he performing like Reed? No. But that performance last year was a shock to us all, probably even Reed and his parents too.
None of these 3 FR were expected to contribute much this year. And they weren't going to be asked/expected to (contribute much) before injuries set in.
They were brought in to be the 10th-12th men. What team's 10th-12th men are "striking fear" or "causing coaches to game plan for them"? NONE!!! Not at Auburn, or Duke or anywhere else.
Before the Poythress injury, who was the 10th-12th men on the 2015 team? Lee, Hawkins & Willis. On the 2012 team? 3 walkons.
Impact players in the NEW Transfer Portal and NIL world, for most teams come from transfers and some returning players. Also keep in mind that for the last 4 years there have been all of these 5th year players playing, which means more good older players, thus less opportunities for FR. Go look at any year top 25 incoming FR and their FR stats. Only about 10 of the top 25 typically average 10+ ppg.
www.sports-reference.com
