We knew we would have losses but...

[brianpoe]

there are many questions beyond being a young team.


We can be a very solid team and cause havoc in the tourney but as of now these are the facts (at least my facts).


Poythress is not, nor will he be a beast.

Skal will improve but not to the level of a player you can ride to victory.

Lee has improved greatly, still gets lost on defense and has terrible hands.

Briscoe is the worst FT shooting guard in modern history.

Ulis is not and most likely will not be a Top 5 PG this year.

Our bench has no game changers - good hustle players in WIlis, Mathews, Hawkins, Mulder and Isaac.

Murray is our lone offensive threat, also the one player who could shoot us out of a game.



Not a top 10 team right now but definitely have pieces. Need to drop the individual hype and develop a team identity.

Long ways to go, these guys need to mesh much better.

 

[L Butler]

Ok coach got it.

 

[brianpoe]

Ok coach got it.

Thanks Richard.

 

[docholiday51]

several things to be unhappy about with this team

1.We get nothing in the paint, until we get some production there and teams have to honor a presence there we will struggle.

2.Skal can't help us right now , he may later or he may not

3.We don't have enough scorers in the line-up, maybe there is one on the bench that doesn't play for some other reason but we don't have options on the floor other than Murray

4.We can't play half court basketball on either end of the court. Transition is all we've got and we can't get it off the defensive backboard well enough to get it started often enough

 

[brianpoe]

Tyler has to make shots, at least an average number.

Briscoe must hit an average percentage of free throws.

5th year seniors cant miss the front end of 1&1's with games on the line.


As Doc said, we have zero inside presence. Alex has a tremendous opportunity but just doesn't seem to have what it takes.

 

[ZaytovenCat]

Agree with L Bulter.

I'm anxiously awaiting your next post to learn from your wisdom.

 

[brianpoe]

Agree with L Bulter.

I'm anxiously awaiting your next post to learn from your wisdom.

I can teach you how to not look real stupid by bumping a bad thread when the current game is proving how awful it really is.

 

[NCukcat62]

Ok coach got it.

Great response Adolf.

 

[Blue Decade]

there are many questions beyond being a young team.


We can be a very solid team and cause havoc in the tourney but as of now these are the facts (at least my facts).


Poythress is not, nor will he be a beast.

Skal will improve but not to the level of a player you can ride to victory.

Lee has improved greatly, still gets lost on defense and has terrible hands.

Briscoe is the worst FT shooting guard in modern history.

Ulis is not and most likely will not be a Top 5 PG this year.

Our bench has no game changers - good hustle players in WIlis, Mathews, Hawkins, Mulder and Isaac.

Murray is our lone offensive threat, also the one player who could shoot us out of a game.



Not a top 10 team right now but definitely have pieces. Need to drop the individual hype and develop a team identity.

Long ways to go, these guys need to mesh much better.

On days like this, panic posts are common. I am sitting in a restaurant in Brooklyn, down the street from the Barklays Center. I watched the entire game from near midcourt. Our team played their butts off. Strong effort, but this is not a very well balanced team. A lot of people probably won't like what I have to say about it, since everyone has their pet players. But you watch a game like this and certain realities are undeniable. Jamal Murray is a dominant player and skilled scorer who will be an NBA lottery draft choice. Lee and Poythess are the next most impactful players on this team, although I doubt either 1 of them will ever see an NBA roster. Briscoe plays with incredible energy, but his skill level is not comparable to Murray. I don't know yet if Briscoe is a serious NBA prospect because he really struggles to score against this level of competition. Labissiere basically gave us nothing again today, and I cannot stress enough how far he is from being physically ready to play at this level. I'm beginning to think Labissiere has to come back for another year. I know Ulis is very popular on this website, but popularity doesn't get the job done. Ulis was exposed today. Playing against much larger guards with similar athleticism, Ulis is a defensive liability who struggles on both ends. Sorry, but that is obvious. Willis is not ready to make an impact in a physical game like this. Ohio State was bigger and more physical than us. Ohio State also struggles to score points, but they hit the offensive boards hard and beat us to a lot of 50-50 ballsin the 1st half. Kentucky does not have a legitimate threat to score on the low block against a big, physical team. Nobody cares about our players' star ratings now. If we can't score on the baseline, the other team can extend its defense and put great pressure on our guards, especially on Ulis. We really don't have anyone besides Murray who can take over a physical game like this. We don't rebound very well, and we are not a great defensive team. We are very inexperienced, so I think this team will get a lot better. But its ceiling is not as high as last year because we are weak on the baseline. This is an NCAAT team, but not a FF team.

 

[screwduke]

Poythress is one of the more disappointing players in modern UK basketball IMO. Its unreal how inconsistent he is. Without a consistent Alex this team probably isn't winning the title. He will look really good one game and then the next game he looks completely lost, like he's never touched a basketball before in his life.

 

[docholiday51]

On days like this, panic posts are common. I am sitting in a restaurant in Brooklyn, down the street from the Barklays Center. I watched the entire game from near midcourt. Our team played their butts off. Strong effort, but this is not a very well balanced team. A lot of people probably won't like what I have to say about it, since everyone has their pet players. But you watch a game like this and certain realities are undeniable. Jamal Murray is a dominant player and skilled scorer who will be an NBA lottery draft choice. Lee and Poythess are the next most impactful players on this team, although I doubt either 1 of them will ever see an NBA roster. Briscoe plays with incredible energy, but his skill level is not comparable to Murray. I don't know yet if Briscoe is a serious NBA prospect because he really struggles to score against this level of competition. Labissiere basically gave us nothing again today, and I cannot stress enough how far he is from being physically ready to play at this level. I'm beginning to think Labissiere has to come back for another year. I know Ulis is very popular on this website, but popularity doesn't get the job done. Ulis was exposed today. Playing against much larger guards with similar athleticism, Ulis is a defensive liability who struggles on both ends. Sorry, but that is obvious. Willis is not ready to make an impact in a physical game like this. Ohio State was bigger and more physical than us. Ohio State also struggles to score points, but they hit the offensive boards hard and beat us to a lot of 50-50 ballsin the 1st half. Kentucky does not have a legitimate threat to score on the low block against a big, physical team. Nobody cares about our players' star ratings now. If we can't score on the baseline, the other team can extend its defense and put great pressure on our guards, especially on Ulis. We really don't have anyone besides Murray who can take over a physical game like this. We don't rebound very well, and we are not a great defensive team. We are very inexperienced, so I think this team will get a lot better. But its ceiling is not as high as last year because we are weak on the baseline. This is an NCAAT team, but not a FF team.

A good post , things are what they are with this team . If there aren't some scoring options that can be found or developed we are going to be about what you see now for the rest of the year.If Mulder ,Humphries or Matthews can't give us something that we aren't currently getting from our other players then we can't score enough to put pressure on good teams . How we beat Duke I don't know

 

[kyjeff1]

Brian is right but good shooting cures most issues listed. Right now this team can't shoot a lick but if they ever get to the point where they can consistently make outside shots they can beat anyone.
The question is can they fix their poor shooting? I hope the answer is yes.

 

[Aike]

A good post , things are what they are with this team . If there aren't some scoring options that can be found or developed we are going to be about what you see now for the rest of the year.If Mulder ,Humphries or Matthews can't give us something that we aren't currently getting from our other players then we can't score enough to put pressure on good teams . How we beat Duke I don't know

We made Duke's guards poop the bed.

 

[docholiday51]

We made Duke's guards poop the bed.

So Ex-lax is our new secret weapon (a joke,we need a good laugh)

 

[VAWildcat15]

I think this team has always been destined to be more of a "transition" team, to the extent that we can have those under Coach Cal. If the net effect of this year is that we have a year more like 2011 (maybe without the magical Final Four run) and get to start keeping some players then worse things have happened. We aren't bad, we just aren't top ten good.

 

[kybassfan]

I couldn't watch the game today so I was forced to keep up through stats.

Three things jumped out.

Up until about halfway into the second half we were shooting less than 30%. Last 10 minutes we shot better and the gap closed.

Our bigs are taking around 50% less shots than the perimeter guys. This is extraordinary for a Calipari team. As a result, we are not getting to the line.

We were getting killed across the stats until the shots started dropping. Ironically, when our shots started falling, their shooting fell off, particularly on the perimeter.

My thoughts based just on watching those stats. Gotta shoot the rock! (DOH). We are not good enough to win 3 on 5. I'd go to a two guard offense until the remaining two started to feed the post better. Will be interesting to see if my opinion changes after actually watching the game.

 

[KyFaninNC]

We are not good enough to win 3 on 5. I'd go to a two guard offense until the remaining two started to feed the post better.

Feed the post to whom? Not one post player can score if they get the ball right now.

 

[OHIO COLONEL]

I couldn't watch the game today so I was forced to keep up through stats.

Three things jumped out.

Up until about halfway into the second half we were shooting less than 30%. Last 10 minutes we shot better and the gap closed.

Our bigs are taking around 50% less shots than the perimeter guys. This is extraordinary for a Calipari team. As a result, we are not getting to the line.

We were getting killed across the stats until the shots started dropping. Ironically, when our shots started falling, their shooting fell off, particularly on the perimeter.

My thoughts based just on watching those stats. Gotta shoot the rock! (DOH). We are not good enough to win 3 on 5. I'd go to a two guard offense until the remaining two started to feed the post better. Will be interesting to see if my opinion changes after actually watching the game.

Two things...I think our bigs are taking that many fewer shots because defenses are packing in it, and therefore, for a Calipari team we aren't getting nearly the number of alley oops that we have in the past. And secondly, their shooting fell off late in the first half but we couldn't/didn't take advantage of it. Could have really cut their lead, but just couldn't do it. But you're right with that in the second half when our shots started to fall.

One more point...there were a lot of posts in the game thread about how OSU was pushing us down low and the refs weren't calling it. A lot of it was fans upset with the game, blame it all on the ref, etc. But, without big bodies down low, especially in the college game of '15, a thin guy like Lee and Skal go up against a big body...get bumped...and they're immediately sent backwards or sideways. May not, and probably isn't a push off. A lot of plays where our interior is 'pushed' out of position....it wouldn't have happened with Cousins, Harrelson, Randle, etc.

 

[kybassfan]

Two things...I think our bigs are taking that many fewer shots because defenses are packing in it, and therefore, for a Calipari team we aren't getting nearly the number of alley oops that we have in the past. And secondly, their shooting fell off late in the first half but we couldn't/didn't take advantage of it. Could have really cut their lead, but just couldn't do it. But you're right with that in the second half when our shots started to fall.

One more point...there were a lot of posts in the game thread about how OSU was pushing us down low and the refs weren't calling it. A lot of it was fans upset with the game, blame it all on the ref, etc. But, without big bodies down low, especially in the college game of '15, a thin guy like Lee and Skal go up against a big body...get bumped...and they're immediately sent backwards or sideways. May not, and probably isn't a push off. A lot of plays where our interior is 'pushed' out of position....it wouldn't have happened with Cousins, Harrelson, Randle, etc.

I couldn't speak to the officiating, not having seen the game yet. I am sure Skal's biggest problem is technique, not stature. He leans into his opponent, reaches, etc. It speaks of bad habits from poor competition. He'll get over it. Not that 30 lbs and another 100 on the bench wouldn't help.

As far as teams packing it in, heck that's how Uconn beat Wall and Cousins. You must be able to get the ball into the hands of the bigs regardless. If you fail in that phase of the game, you are at the mercy of your jump shot.

 

[irishcat1965]

Whether a team makes a deep run is not determined in December. There are issues but they have plenty of time to work things out. Cal will get it done.

 

[bigbluedon]

Humphries needs to play more, period.. He can help open things up outside but Cal is too Stubborn to play him.