Watching last night...

[EvilMD]

...I realized how much I loved last year's team. In time I'll learn to love this one, too, but last year was just a special group with so many vets (for us) mixed with four awesome freshmen. From the outset it was like I knew every strength and weakness of every player and I just couldn't wait to put beatdowns on everyone. This year I feel like the kid who moved and has to make all new friends.

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

Two totaly different teams.
Last yr was bulit around bigs, this yr will be built aroung guards.
This team has a very good chance of going further than last yrs team.

 

[blubo]

Two totaly different teams.
Last yr was bulit around bigs, this yr will be built aroung guards.
This team has a very good chance of going further than last yrs team.

if they could go just one game further than last year's team that would be awesome by me.

 

[WeWant9]

I do agree. It was odd watching the first exhibition game and getting use to the new faces and numbers. I will miss last years defense, it was something special. However, Im super excited for this years team. I think well have some early growing pains, probably on the defensive end, but this team can ball and I love their attitudes.

 

[JonathanW]

if they could go just one game further than last year's team that would be awesome by me.

I hope you mean 2 games further.

 

[Bkocats]

Offensively, this team is utter joy to watch. Can't emphasize enough how much I loved seeing the press - and how effective it was. Yes, I understand that it was against an outmatched D2 team, but the mechanics are there.

I agree with WeWant9 - I think we'll hit a few bumps defensively. But I think this team will gel by mid-January and could very well get us that 9th NC.

 

[runt#69]

Yeah, getting used to the new faces and numbers with them is making it hard on me to get a good feel for this team. Plus, I don't follow the players as closely before they get to UK these days, as much as many of you guys do, so it always amazes me how well so many posters here on the Rafters already are familiar with the game the new young men bring.

I'm still getting the feel for that aspect with this team too. I always keep in mind what everyone here says about such-and-such new player, but I always try to temper those opinions with my own observations. Usually, though, I've learned the posters here already have a great feel for them and are generally right in their analysis of new players.

I hope my learning curve with this year's team won't be too steep. I'm enjoying the guard oriented lineup and fast paste offense. Lots to look forward to with this team!

 

[runt#69]

Oh hey, HI Bkocats, see you're online this morning too, putting in quality input for us! Good to see you this morning, and thanks for your likes and good comments when I'm around!

Have a great day!

 

[blubo]

I hope you mean 2 games further.

do we have to play 41 this year? if so, then yeah, 2 games further.

 

[EnglandWildcat]

do we have to play 41 this year? if so, then yeah, 2 games further.

I think he just means that if we only win one additional game, then we would be in the title game but not win it. We'd have to win two additional games to win the championship. I know what you meant though.

 

[ulismyman]

When Ulis is on the floor i never think we have chance to lose

 

[ORCAT]

I already love this team this year. They seem to really enjoy playing together already and really seem to like one another. I love the way they share the ball so well and get up and down the florr so early in the season. Remember, this team has had a lot less practice time and games together than last year's team at this point. Last year we already had had the Bahama trip and several games against pro competition, an advantage this team didn't get. Our guys will just get better and grow as a team in front of our eyes and I'm pretty excited about watching that. I do anticipate a few losses maybe early in the season and no 40-0 talk this year but we could just make it that one game further that could give us #9 and how could no one be excited about that. This seems like a real fun team to watch on offense and if they can make the press work against tougher competition this could be a special season once again.

 

[Bkocats]

Oh hey, HI Bkocats, see you're online this morning too, putting in quality input for us! Good to see you this morning, and thanks for your likes and good comments when I'm around!

Have a great day!

thank you, sir - good to see you back posting with us!

 

[TheDude73]

...I realized how much I loved last year's team. In time I'll learn to love this one, too, but last year was just a special group with so many vets (for us) mixed with four awesome freshmen. From the outset it was like I knew every strength and weakness of every player and I just couldn't wait to put beatdowns on everyone. This year I feel like the kid who moved and has to make all new friends.

This year the team looks less sloppy, to be honest. I like this team already just because they can handle the ball, don't try to hot dog as much, and are clearly better shooters. The return of the dribble drive is also exciting.

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

do we have to play 41 this year? if so, then yeah, 2 games further.

I think he means 2 wins further. I know that's what I want.

 

[FlCATFan]

We had a historically good defense last year and can't realistically hope to match that. But I was encouraged by the way the Cats were switching off and communicating on defense last night. Once Cal gets a better fix on the rotation and has time to review game tapes with this team I think we'll be fine.

Offense.... Oh Yeah; Love it!

 

[CatsIndy2010]

Lee had at least 11 rebounds last night...... Thats amazing!

Dino was talking about briscoe shooting free throws.......I thought that was kind of nit picky...I mean its an exhibition game...oh well...Our whole team has got to make free throws, not just briscoe.

 

[Stonewall12]

Briscoe FT shooting is in his head.

 

[westerncat]

This is going to another fun team to watch this year. We have great guards and big guys that can run the floor. I can't wait to see Skal play against bigger stronger centers. Will he have enough fight as Cal is calling for to hold his own ?

 

[caneintally]

Yea this year's team is better IMO because we have more then 1 star . Last year we had towns and then a bunch of good players. Now we are loadel

 

[Cat Ballou]

A little soft in the middle right now. Skal will need to ramp up his toughness and rebound better. In the interim, he'll more than make up for it on the offensive end. I think we'll be great at PF with Lee/Poy rotating. I think as well we could see Humphries make an immense improvement by the end of the year.

I'm just picturing Skal going up against a wily vet like Plumlee at Duke or a big body like Meeks at UNC. Plus, any teams that are playing a smaller but powerful Harrell type at center are going to give us grief.

It's probably not a major problem because there aren't many teams out there this year with dominating bigs, but it's probably the only weakness I see right now.

Guard play will be elite, and with emergence of Willis, Matthews continuing to improve, we've got lots of options at SF. Great outside shooting and quickness.

Need Hawkins back. I think a lot of teams are going to try to go at Ulis to get him out of the game, and I think Hawkins will be a great backup.

 

[Ineverplayedthegame]

This team will be fun to watch. It should be better at passing, ball handling, and have more shooters.
Doubtful that it will be better in half court defense and even more doubtful it will be as good of a rebounding team and no way as good as a shot blocking team.

 

[Bodvar Bjarki]

We're soft and we're going to get into foul trouble in the middle. Going to drop a couple before league play even starts then a half dozen more in league play. I see an 8-9 loss team, to be perfectly honest.

 

[UKWildcats#8]

We're soft and we're going to get into foul trouble in the middle. Going to drop a couple before league play even starts then a half dozen more in league play.

Yeah...no. You are clueless.

 

[Aike]

Yea this year's team is better IMO because we have more then 1 star . Last year we had towns and then a bunch of good players. Now we are loadel

Cane, we had 4 lottery picks last year. Several players besides Towns were better than "good."

 

[Bodvar Bjarki]

No, I just know that being soft and foul prone on the interior lead to losses and we absolutely are going to drop more than a couple with this team. You can pout and be a blind homer all you want but they will actually play the games and you will have to eventually deal with it.

The year before when everyone was blabbering about 40-0 there were a few of us that tried to extend reality checks by saying it looked like a 10-12 loss team and you should have seen the horde of crybabies that descended upon any thread that tried to talk about the team realistically.

 

[Aike]

We're soft and we're going to get into foul trouble in the middle. Going to drop a couple before league play even starts then a half dozen more in league play. I see an 8-9 loss team, to be perfectly honest.

2 before league play wouldn't be a shocker. Half a dozen in conference would be the low end of our probability, imo.

Not impossible. It could go like 2011, when we got clipped in a couple of close games that could have gone either way.

I would say 3-4 conference losses is more realistic, with 1-2 losses being at least as likely as 6.

 

[Bodvar Bjarki]

I would agree with you but the SEC is greatly improved this year and last year's team very easily could have dropped 3-4 conference games. I think ONLY losing 5-6 would be great.

 

[ymmot31]

The year before when everyone was blabbering about 40-0 there were a few of us that tried to extend reality checks by saying it looked like a 10-12 loss team and you should have seen the horde of crybabies that descended upon any thread that tried to talk about the team realistically.

Blabbering? They actually won 38 games without a loss and the majority of those came after losing Poythress which severely impacted the platoon system. The true idiots were the ones that made an assessment of last years team and concluded it looked like a 10-12 loss team.

So you say we're soft on the inside. Are we so soft that we can't overcome that with superior ball handling skills and an innate ability to score at the rim? Does our perimeter shooting appear to be a weakness as well?

Skal might not be the toughest low post defender we've had recently, but I think his offense will cover his defensive shortcomings. He will score more than he's scored on.

 

[Aike]

I wouldn't call it great. I would say that if we lose 5-6 in SEC play that we didn't catch many breaks, or didn't finish games as well as one might expect given our level of talent at guard.

I brought up 2011 for a reason though. That backcourt was talented but young. Possibly their close losses taught them how to win close games in March.

Or maybe it was dumb luck and the ball bounced our way when we needed it to.

I will say this. If this team is 12-6 in conference play, this board will be unbearable.

 

[FilsonCat]

This team is the kind of team that has given us trouble in the past; unreal quickness and ball handling at each guard spot. We've got physicality and athleticism and 3 point range. In the low post, we are still athletic and long, but not nearly as dominant physically as last year.

You can't really press or trap this team without giving up easy buckets. You also can't sag or zone them without giving up easy shots.

This team may end up being a tougher out in March than last year due to guard play.

 

[Bodvar Bjarki]

Blabbering? They actually won 38 games without a loss and the majority of those came after losing Poythress which severely impacted the platoon system. The true idiots were the ones that made an assessment of last years team and concluded it looked like a 10-12 loss team.

So you say we're soft on the inside. Are we so soft that we can't overcome that with superior ball handling skills and an innate ability to score at the rim? Does our perimeter shooting appear to be a weakness as well?

Skal might not be the toughest low post defender we've had recently, but I think his offense will cover his defensive shortcomings. He will score more than he's scored on.

The year before last, numbnuts. That's when the 40-0 crowd was in full bloom on here.

 

[ymmot31]

oh

 

[Bodvar Bjarki]

Cal is exactly right. By the end of the year this team will be vastly improved but our fans had better be ready for more than a few losses along the way and the SEC is much better.

Last year we had some amazing escapes in league play, we're not going to get lucky like that again.

 

[Blue Decade]

...I realized how much I loved last year's team. In time I'll learn to love this one, too, but last year was just a special group with so many vets (for us) mixed with four awesome freshmen. From the outset it was like I knew every strength and weakness of every player and I just couldn't wait to put beatdowns on everyone. This year I feel like the kid who moved and has to make all new friends.

People will love this team until they lose a game. Then our fans will nitpick. This is Calipari's greenest team since 2010. A lot has been made about Poythress being a senior, Lee a junior, and Ulis also back from last year. But Poythress is coming back after missing most of last year with a serious knee injury. Murray and Humphries skipped their senior year of high school. Labissiere was ruled ineligible in Memphis and missed his senior season. Briscoe and Matthews are other true freshmen who will play key roles. Willis and Hawkins played little before this year. This team will look sloppy at times in November and December, but they have the highest upside of any Calipari team yet.

 

[Cat Ballou]

My concern would be that our two best, most indispensable players have critical weaknesses that can be exploited on the defensive end.

We saw games last year where Ulis was being abused by bigger, stronger guards and had to be subbed out. There goes your leader on the floor. Skal is going to pushed around in the post early in the season and could have issues with foul trouble - there goes your top option for post offense.

 

[Bkocats]

Cal is exactly right. By the end of the year this team will be vastly improved but our fans had better be ready for more than a few losses along the way and the SEC is much better.

Last year we had some amazing escapes in league play, we're not going to get lucky like that again.

in hindsight, I think those close escapes are ultimately what hurt us against Wisconsin. Everyone - team and coach included - assumed no matter what happened, we'd pull out the win.

 

[MKGMVP]

People will love this team until they lose a game. Then our fans will nitpick. This is Calipari's greenest team since 2010. A lot has been made about Poythress being a senior, Lee a junior, and Ulis also back from last year. But Poythress is coming back after missing most of last year with a serious knee injury. Murray and Humphries skipped their senior year of high school. Labissiere was ruled ineligible in Memphis and missed his senior season. Briscoe and Matthews are other true freshmen who will play key roles. Willis and Hawkins played little before this year. This team will look sloppy at times in November and December, but they have the highest upside of any Calipari team yet.

Skal didn't miss his senior year. I watched him play at the Marshall Co. hoopfest.

I do agree with this teams upside.

 

[dckala2]

I have not thought one time really about last years team. Especially for the first two exhibition games.

 

[WildcatNC]

I actually like this team more, though I certainly am still getting a feel for them like most. I never had full confidence or a good feel for the Twins.
Our strength vs weakness are the opposite of last year but i think having the best backcourt and a great frontcourt will generally serve you better than the opposite. Really looking forward to the guard play this year. I hate to say it for Hawkins but when he gets back he's the practice guard so Ulis, Murray, and Briscoe can play together more. When Ulis is out then Murray will play the point, then Briscoe will get turns after that. Those three will share it leaving Hawkins outside looking in.
I just love having Elite, tough, sharpshooting guards with swagger. This year will be fun.