We want Bradshaw to play, but how do we integrate him?

[silentsaregolden2.0]

We are clicking on all cylinders with Mitchell doing his thing, but what does Cal do with Bradshaw, given that he has said he wants to play both at the same time? I can't see AB hanging out at the 3 pt line, or taking his man off the dribble and driving. Didn't see him really in HS, so I don't really know his game. What could it look like when he starts playing? I don't want us to mess up what we got going, but we need size for rim protection and rebounding.

 

[IL Wildcat]

I think Bradshaw plays the 4 mostly and Mitchell stays at the 5 when both are on the floor. I don't think they'll both be on the floor all the time, though. Last night, Cal was asked. He said the offense won't change.

 

[mcwildcats04]

You stick with what got us here for the most part. Then sub in Bradshaw for lesser role initially and see how it goes. If it doesn't work out, go back to leaning more on what got us to this point.

 

[Smashcat]

We are clicking on all cylinders with Mitchell doing his thing, but what does Cal do with Bradshaw, given that he has said he wants to play both at the same time? I can't see AB hanging out at the 3 pt line, or taking his man off the dribble and driving. Didn't see him really in HS, so I don't really know his game. What could it look like when he starts playing? I don't want us to mess up what we got going, but we need size for rim protection and rebounding.

He's not your typical big. He can run and gun with this team.

 

[WildcatsAndBourbon]

I’ve had this same question tumbling around in my head, but you asked it better than I would have.

 

[IL Wildcat]

Yeah, I think Bradshaw, from what I've seen, is more perimeter oriented. He's likely to take more minutes from Thiero than Mitchell. He's a better shooter/scorer than Thiero, I just hope he has as good a motor. I expect Bradshaw will play some at the 5 and maybe even some at the 3 as well. From what I understand, he's gonna be very comfortable at those positions. Handles the ball well, passes well, and shoots it well. I guess we'll see.

 

[JwUKFan11]

Bradshaw will be best on Defense at the 4 as his shot blocking is at it's best as the help defender.

On Offense I think he's somewhat similar to Tre Mitchell in that the best matchups would be with the opponents 5 man. So in short I hope Bradshaw at 4 on D, Tre at 5 on D and then offense doesn't really matter.

 

[Cal-4-Three]

There's not much difference in Bradshaw and Mitchell to be honest, outside of the defense he brings. They both can shoot and both have pretty good post moves.

 

[BGCATFAN2012]

Pick and Roll with AB rolling will be a nice set for us. Shooters waiting for the kickouts if the lob and drives aren't there. Gonna be easy to bring him on I think.

 

[kybassfan]

First. We don’t integrate him. UK’s te does. We watch.

Second, trial and error. He’ll play some 5, facing and back, some 4. Scoring role. Passing. Etc. that’s how it is optimized.

 

[University-6]

Bradshaw is a big built for the style we are playing. He can shoot. He can run. He can play D. Rotate him with Tre at the "5" and Adou at the "4" then stand back and watch the show. It may take a while for him to get up to speed, but he was rated top 5 for a reason.

Sleep on Bradshaw...

 

[UKBB4Ever]

Bradshaw is many times better and bigger Mitchell. Much better rebounder. Much better defender. Would it be hard to integrate if Mitchill woke up 3 inches taller and became a rebounder and defender?

They will rarely play together.

 

[bucsrule8872]

I think Cal should start out giving him the Burks role, play him 10-12 minutes a game off the bench until he gets acclimated.

If Bradshaw is as good as advertised, Cal should put him in the Thiero role after a few weeks and give him those minutes and move Thiero to a support role. I love how Thiero is playing, but if Bradshaw is the real deal, he has to play over Thiero.

Defensively, he can play the 5 spot, so to speak, patrolling the paint providing rim protection.

If Bradshaw doesn’t live up to expectations, then he probably just replaces Burks as the 8th man. I suspect he will at least put Burks on the bench. I would be really disappointed if he couldn’t at least do that.

 

[mcwildcats04]

I think Cal should start out giving him the Burks role, play him 10-12 minutes a game off the bench until he gets acclimated.

If Bradshaw is as good as advertised, Cal should put him in the Thiero role after a few weeks and give him those minutes and move Thiero to a support role. I love how Thiero is playing, but if Bradshaw is the real deal, he has to play over Thiero.

Defensively, he can play the 5 spot, so to speak, patrolling the paint providing rim protection.

If Bradshaw doesn’t live up to expectations, then he probably just replaces Burks as the 8th man. I suspect he will at least put Burks on the bench. I would be really disappointed if he couldn’t at least do that.

Spot on with my thoughts. Ideally, I hope he's as good as advertised and wind up giving the majority of minutes to:

Bradshaw
Tre
Edwards
Reeves/Dilly
Sheppard/Wagner (hope not out long)

 

[kywildcats8]

I love this board but I think Bradshaw may have more threads about him for a player who has not played a minute at UK, even more than Sharpe from last year. How about let's wait until/if he plays before we crown him as our missing piece. Not really sure if we need him this yr- do we need another big body, I say yes only because of possible foul trouble but if he ever plays, hopefully he will not disrupt what we already have with this team and this team is tremendously fun to watch so far this year.

 

[Fancatstik]

Stick with what works until we lose

 

[Drcatfan]

I think Bradshaw moves into the rotation fairly easily. Gets a lot harder if a 2nd seven footer becomes healthy or eligible.

 

[Cawood86]

I think Bradshaw plays the 4 mostly and Mitchell stays at the 5 when both are on the floor. I don't think they'll both be on the floor all the time, though. Last night, Cal was asked. He said the offense won't change.

Interchange him and Thiero. Thiero is playing too well to sit

 

[YardCat]

I can see Bradshaw subbing for Adou, Mitchell and Edwards and we not miss a beat.

 

[bucsrule8872]

If Bradshaw plays and is the real deal, then we’ve got 8 guys who deserve to play big minutes.

Split 200 minutes by 8, that’s 25 minutes each.

That’s ideal for this team, IMHO, since all 8 are pretty close in talent.

That is assuming Bradshaw is right there with the other 7.

I think he will be.

 

[mcwildcats04]

Interchange him and Thiero. Thiero is playing too well to sit

Thiero is playing very well and will still be needed. But, if Bradshaw is as good as advertised, he offers the rim protection Adou does not and can supposedly shoot better. If he is as good as advertised, he's going to need to get at least a few more minutes than Adou.

 

[KYFOSSIL]

Bradshaw is many times better and bigger Mitchell. Much better rebounder. Much better defender. Would it be hard to integrate if Mitchill woke up 3 inches taller and became a rebounder and defender?

They will rarely play together.

That has not been proven to this point plus have to add Mitchell’s experience, basketball, IQ, three-point, shooting, and his assist

 

[Cawood86]

Thiero is playing very well and will still be needed. But, if Bradshaw is as good as advertised, he offers the rim protection Adou does not and can supposedly shoot better. If he is as good as advertised, he's going to need to get at least a few more minutes than Adou.

Agree with that. Plus Z as well. I guess Z subs Mitchell?

 

[LineSkiCat14]

He needs minutes asap. At some point we are going to run into a team that matches up well with us. Maybe that's a team loke Purdue with a monstrous big. Or maybe it's an athletic team that's very long and can stay with us.

Having a 7 footer allows us to add a whole other facet to our game, which is feeding the post. It allows for shot blocking so our guards can better defend and funnel offense into the paint. And it helps with rebounds for when we are missing shots.

You play Bradshaw until he shows he's hurting us after too many games. You move Mitchell to the 4 if he can manage it, and I'd say Adou would be better served as a 2nd unit guy for energy. Keep Shep with all the minutes and Filly, Edwards and DJ not far behind.

 

[smooth as butter]

Bring him off the bench for now until he gets comfortable out on the floor.

 

[The_Answer1313]

They will have to figure it out LOL

UK is 4th in Effective FG%. We are 4th in 3 point % and 17th in 2 point %
We are also 1st in turnover %

However we are 277th in offensive rebounding %. We are also 120th on defense.

Someone is going to have to rebound.


It's one thing when u play a team like Miami who were equally bad at rebounding. It's entirely different story vs Kansas or UNC coming up

 

[mrdavisanddd]

I think Cal should start out giving him the Burks role, play him 10-12 minutes a game off the bench until he gets acclimated.

If Bradshaw is as good as advertised, Cal should put him in the Thiero role after a few weeks and give him those minutes and move Thiero to a support role. I love how Thiero is playing, but if Bradshaw is the real deal, he has to play over Thiero.

Defensively, he can play the 5 spot, so to speak, patrolling the paint providing rim protection.

If Bradshaw doesn’t live up to expectations, then he probably just replaces Burks as the 8th man. I suspect he will at least put Burks on the bench. I would be really disappointed if he couldn’t at least do that.

I believe that’s exactly what will happen

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

Jimmy Dykes just called to tell us to put him in the dunker spot.

 

[NociHTTP]

Stick with what works until we lose

That's where I'm at. But, Cal won't. And without any of us having spent time in practice with Bradshaw, we probably wouldn't, either. We all have different ideas as to how he could be utilized. In my mind, I picture him helping to eliminate the Edy's and Dick's of the world.

 

[WildcatFan60]

Ah.... what a great problem to have... how to integrate 3 seven footers into your lineup.. I love it

 

[Ukgold]

Imo this is easy, reduced Reeves mins by 5 t start out. Dude is playing too many mins right now with this style of play. You cut his mins by 5 and go from there

 

[JonathanW]

We are clicking on all cylinders with Mitchell doing his thing, but what does Cal do with Bradshaw, given that he has said he wants to play both at the same time? I can't see AB hanging out at the 3 pt line, or taking his man off the dribble and driving. Didn't see him really in HS, so I don't really know his game. What could it look like when he starts playing? I don't want us to mess up what we got going, but we need size for rim protection and rebounding.

I think he does exactly what you "can't see", hanging out at the 3pt line & driving. As for the minutes, once he builds up to say 25 (which may take 4-5 games), I see the minutes changing as such:
Mitchell going from 34 to 28
Theiro going from 26.5 to 18
Burks going from 11 to 2

Adding in the 2nd piece next (Onyenso or Ivisic), is where it gets tricky. Then probably each of those above lose a couple minutes, as well as Edwards and Reeves, getting UKO or Z 10-15mpg. If Ivisic, I think like Bradshaw he plays on the perimeter. But Onyenso would play more at the FT line-extended like Oscar last year. With all 3 I think we would see some cuts to the backside of the rim lob pass/dunks. I don't think adding them helps our Offense. BUT I think it definitely helps our DEFENSE and Rebounding! And the offense is chugging along just fine!

I just don't see how a 3rd one fits, if all 3 become able to play.

 

[Montana81]

Bradshaw probably does step in for Adou, who has not been much of a perimeter threat so far so the good news is it shouldn’t cause the floor to shrink on that end. I actually think Bradshaw mid range jumper is better than Adou’s. The ball can’t stick though. And that’s something adou does do really well that fits with this team is he moves the ball like the other guys.

Adou is probably more physical and a better perimeter defender, bradshaw obviously gives us rim protection. You maybe play bradshaw at the 4 on offense and the 5 on d.

People that have seen him more than me swear he’s mobile enough to switch and hedge and get back on pick n roll d. The bits ive watched of him I worry about that but our defense can’t get much worse aside from last night.

I watched Goodman’s reaction to last night on field of 68 just now and he’s really high on Bradshaw as well. Said he watched him on the circuit a lot and he’s a legit lottery talent that gets up and down the court really well and should fit fine with what we’re already doing.

 

[KENTUCKY_FLYER]

Platoon

Bradshaw
Edwards
Burks
Shep
Dillie


Z
Thiero
Mitchell
Wagner
Reeves

 

[pauled]

Bradshaw is many times better and bigger Mitchell. Much better rebounder. Much better defender. Would it be hard to integrate if Mitchill woke up 3 inches taller and became a rebounder and defender?

They will rarely play together.

I think I’ll wait to see if that’s the facts! Mitchell isn’t a defensive juggernaut but he’s been pretty damn good at everything!