Wenyen has been the best player so far according to reports
- Thread starter Jakarii
- Start date
True on Hump, but the same kind of summer reports were also glowing about guys like Bam and Monk last year, Ulis/Randle/MKG/AD in years past. Almost like 60-70% actually appears accurate when the season gets going
We just need realize that summer reports are based on what a handful of people see.
Having said that, I would not be surprised to see Gabriel be a starter and expect him to at least be in the rotation getting close to starter minutes.
He started several games as a Freshman, how come he can't improve on a solid Freshman season?
What we are saying here kind of perpetuates what the media and fans of other schools say when they say Cal can't develop talent, he just recruits talent.
We are expecting little improvement from Gabriel and are already moving on to the next class.
We look at what we view as minimal improvement from multi year guys like Poythress, the Twins, Johnson, Lee, Briscoe, and Humphries and ignore the improvements we obviously saw from Harrellson, Liggins, Miller, WCS, Ulis, Hawkins, Mulder, and Willis.
Hopefully, both Gabriel and Killeya-Jones are improved enough to start or at least be regular rotation players.
I am expecting both to get 15-20mpg a piece.
I want to see them start and play 20-25mpg. I would like to see Green, Diallo, Knox, Gabriel, and Killeya-Jones starting. With Gigeous-Alexander, Baker, Vanderbilt, Washington, and Richards coming in off the bench and getting good minutes.
Having said that, I would not be surprised to see Gabriel be a starter and expect him to at least be in the rotation getting close to starter minutes.
He started several games as a Freshman, how come he can't improve on a solid Freshman season?
What we are saying here kind of perpetuates what the media and fans of other schools say when they say Cal can't develop talent, he just recruits talent.
We are expecting little improvement from Gabriel and are already moving on to the next class.
We look at what we view as minimal improvement from multi year guys like Poythress, the Twins, Johnson, Lee, Briscoe, and Humphries and ignore the improvements we obviously saw from Harrellson, Liggins, Miller, WCS, Ulis, Hawkins, Mulder, and Willis.
Hopefully, both Gabriel and Killeya-Jones are improved enough to start or at least be regular rotation players.
I am expecting both to get 15-20mpg a piece.
I want to see them start and play 20-25mpg. I would like to see Green, Diallo, Knox, Gabriel, and Killeya-Jones starting. With Gigeous-Alexander, Baker, Vanderbilt, Washington, and Richards coming in off the bench and getting good minutes.
I was thinking the same thing. Everyone was touting that Hump was the biggest surprise last year and that didn't pan out until UNC (where he did played amazing basketball) in March.
SGA will have to prove why he his such a surprise before I believe it.
With WG I'm not sure why he's getting all this hate. His ceiling is incredible. He didn't have an outstanding freshman campaign but not every 18 y/o kid we get is going to. Some of these guys take longer to adjust to not being the man of their team and not being able to physically dominate their opponents like they did in HS.
Let's see how he does. I got my eye on you Wenyen, show us what's up.
anyone who has ever played any kind of organized team sport knows that there are dudes who ball out in the off season and even in practice on a regular basis, and that there are the dudes who ball on game day...
Glad to hear WG is playing hard and getting better, hope it continues but I've seen and heard the off season/practice hero story too many times before.
Head on over to the lair and I'm sure you'll find multiple threads about how good the back up QB is looking in 7 on 7 don't even sneeze in the QB's direction drills...
Glad to hear WG is playing hard and getting better, hope it continues but I've seen and heard the off season/practice hero story too many times before.
Head on over to the lair and I'm sure you'll find multiple threads about how good the back up QB is looking in 7 on 7 don't even sneeze in the QB's direction drills...
Then you are an idiot. And I'm not saying WG is "great". But to think you can judge how good a player will be based on his FR year is plain stupid. Will Purdue couldn't get off Vandy's bench, I'll say it again Vandy's bench, for 2 years, and then became an all-SEC player and long time NBA starter for the world champion Bulls. There are lots of other examples. Sometimes players need a year, or two. Gabriel has the raw tools. They say he has the work ethic / motor. So he may just need some time and/or confidence.
Side note: Wenyen is a great kid. I took my son to the Tyler Ulis camp last week and afterwards he challenged Gabriel to a game of HORSE. He gratefully accepted the challenge and hit all 3's to beat my 10 year old son.
Then.....my son asked if he could throw him a couple alley-oops and he politely obliged to that also. Very cool experience for my little guy.
Then.....my son asked if he could throw him a couple alley-oops and he politely obliged to that also. Very cool experience for my little guy.
If any of you have perspective on our great team's history, you would know that many players have made incredible leaps from their Freshman to Sophmore seasons. Tony Delk was lost in his first year averaging 9 minutes and 4 points per game. He went to 28 minutes and 17 PPG as a Sophmore. I can easily see a player like WG making the same transition in his second year
I like the idea of playing Wenyen at the 5. I noticed someone else mentioned that earlier in the thread. Have to go back and see who it was later on. That's the beauty of this team, in that several guys can play multiple different positions. I have a really good feeling about this team.
Yeah, well, SKJ was the talk of the town all last summer, Rex was raving about him, but we saw how that panned out.
Edit: my comments are not a knock on SKJ or WG, no, they were meant to lower excitment and unreal expectations. I fully expect both players to crush it this year, but too many people go nuts over these early reports and hold them as absolute truth.
But damn, those two guys have the talent, size and athleticism to own their positions this year.
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Gabriel had a very good year for a typical freshman last year- it's just that we are use to Cal's freshman studs being great from day 1.
Diallo, knox, and Washington will start. Green and shai will fight for PG and Richards has a great chance to start as well. GABRIEL will play starter minutes regardless if he comes off the bench IMO.
Yep because Jorts freshman was easily the same as jorts every other year. Freshmen never ever ever get better after their freshman year
That's the starting line up I want to see, if thatbis he line up that means SKJ and Wenyen made some kind of jump skill wise or the incoming freshmen just aren't ready
Richards is more raw on offense than SKJ and Wenyen at the same stage, fouls more on defense than they did at the same stage.
What's your problem, bud? Ugly language, dissing Gabriel and bad grammar. Heck of a day you had today. Old Crow for dinner?
Good to know, thanks for the info. I think if he works hard his game will improve at a rapid rate and I could see him being a good player by tourney time. Reminds me of WCS a bit.
Post of the year nominee. Suprise it hasn't been deleted yet when you mention anything to do with weynen, length or letting it all hang out.
![[roll]](http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/img/emoticons/classic/roll.r191677.gif "roll [roll]")
Had weynen been a OAD the haters wouldn't have a problem but since he's not Tyler ulis he's labeled as Marcus lee. I'm just glad weynen doesn't have to play against draymond green.
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History has taught me to look at this exactly like you say. Being the object of positive reports from summer pickup games is a good thing, but it might or might not not translate to the season. I have given my opinion about Gabriel before. When fans were so down on Gabriel last season, I said he is a far better player than they were saying at the time. Gabriel has skills and length. He just needed to get stronger and smarter. But all of this can become moot if he isn't actually on the floor for enough minutes to show what he can do. Calipari can only play 5 players at a time. Gabriel still isn't strong enough to play 5. He is a forward. Calipari has a lot of very good forwards this year. I think PJ Washington is the best player on our team. So Gabriel may struggle at times to get on the floor.
Rothstein gets this second hand, reports it in a rweet. No real news. Is there anyone actually watching pick up games with observations?
Sure seems like this board is filled with UK fans that have only been since Cal has been coach. Meaning they have hardly seen a SOPH improve. Believe it ,it actually does happen. some get really good. Hard to believe i know.
No, they just are not paying attention. Cal's Sophs improve, they just do not see it.
Lamb improved. Jones improved. WCS improved. Poythress improved. The Twins and Johnson improved. Even Briscoe made strides.
People are not happy until a player is averaging double figure points, rebounds, and assists. Until they do, then they are just another scrub.
They would rather criticize Cal for not turning the Twins into lottery picks than praise him for turning WCS into one.
All I know is that come the season, UK will have better players than everyone else. What happens after that, we will see. Lots of variables.
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