Who was the poster that said those of us asking for Willis PT....
- Thread starter JC for 3
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"those of asking for Willis PT" It never ceases to amaze me how many fans think they know more than the coaching staff.
He's finally doing what's been asked of him. If you were asking for him to see the floor a few weeks ago you deserve what you got. You are rewarded with playing time. You don't just turn into a player when you've been sucking in practice.
I was one of the ones screaming for more PT for Willis but I had no idea he'd perform the way he has. I was wanting him to get more PT just to see what he could do if he could play without the fear of getting pulled after every mistake. What we had on the floor wasn't exactly working and someone else (Willis) deserved a legitimate shot. But his play has surprised me and hardly warrants a "slap down" to those who didn't agree with me. No one could have predicted he would perform like he has.
I think people need to let the whole topic go. Who cares who said what. He's contributing and that's all that matters.
This 1000000 times. Some people on here act like Cal was just refusing to let Willis play and he's always been the player he is right now. Cal keeping him on the bench for that time is actually the biggest contributor to his success. Without that I don't believe he would have the fire to go out and improve everyday like he is right now.
Not sure there's any crow for that poster to eat because I'm assuming they said this a couple weeks ago, and at that time they were right. If Willis was defending and rebounding the same now as he was a couple weeks ago, then he still wouldn't be getting much playing time, and you would have never had the chance to start this thread.
Cal didn't just wake up one morning, see the light and decide to give Willis more playing time because some message board posters were calling for it. Willis is getting more playing time because he is finally doing (defending, rebounding) what the coaching staff has asked from him, something he wasn't doing before.
...that's the point. He needed the playing time that he's been getting to prove himself. The poster that started the thread a few weeks ago was calling for fans to stop clamoring for Willis to get more PT....that DW wouldn't be able to deliver.
No, you have it backwards. He didn't need more playing time to prove himself. He needed to prove himself (that he could play defense and rebound) during the playing time he was already getting. Once he did that, then he was rewarded with more playing time.
Cal gave the returners (Poy, Marcus...) and the 5 star (Skal) a chance to earn PT. Willis didn't appear to be high on the priority list until a couple of them proved they couldn't produce. Anyone who thinks that a chance to play through mistakes isn't valuable to a player's confidence hasn't played much. After all, Willis has always had this skill set. And maybe, just maybe, Cal made a mistake with this kid. After all, he did try to make Skal a back to the basket kid and he admitted that he was wrong.
probably none...but I don't think Cal was lying about practice reports, or his terrible defense (early in season)...Do you think Cal was lying?
Not that he was lying necessairily, just that he was more committted to Skal, Poy, and Marcus early on and only when they didn't produce did he turn his attention to Willis.
Well coming into the season Poy and Marcus were considered the better players, that had already played meaningful minutes in meaningful games and somewhat showed what they were capable of. And on top of all that, neither of those guys took the entire year off last year and mailed it in like Willis did. So of course they got their chance ahead if Willis.
As for Skal, yeah, he got his chance ahead of Willis, too. He was a freshman that hadn't already been in the system for two years, and by all accounts supposedly really, really good. So why wouldn't he be given the chance over a Junior that hadn't showed anything up to that point, and that mailed it in and played funsies his entire sophomore year?
Let's see what he can contribute vs KU instead of Auburn or Mizzou. His defense will become rather apparent quickly so in order to remain in the game, Willis needs to rebound, pass well and take good shots.
It's the same theme , different KY born . There were posts that said John Hood just need increased playing time to get better instead of him earning it by taking advantage of the time he was given . Posters clamoring for Willis have been wrong for two and a half years , that's a buffet of crow . He finally plays well against bad teams and that somehow validates two and a half years of nonsense ? No , lol , no .
Willis has now earned more playing time because he took advantage of what he was given , that's how this thing works . If he continues to play well his time will increase but if he struggles his time will go back down , it's a simple premise that some don't want to believe .
They want the KY born to be important , I don't see a bunch a Mulder threads clamoring for his time to go up . Where are they ? Where are the threads in years past with season long calls for a player to get time they didn't earn ? Well where are they ? John Hood has worshippers calling for him to be left on the floor despite being totally ineffective , why Hood and why Willis ?
Willis has now earned more playing time because he took advantage of what he was given , that's how this thing works . If he continues to play well his time will increase but if he struggles his time will go back down , it's a simple premise that some don't want to believe .
They want the KY born to be important , I don't see a bunch a Mulder threads clamoring for his time to go up . Where are they ? Where are the threads in years past with season long calls for a player to get time they didn't earn ? Well where are they ? John Hood has worshippers calling for him to be left on the floor despite being totally ineffective , why Hood and why Willis ?
"during the playing time he was already getting" .....how much time do you think that was?? It was minimal at best and he'd get yanked for any mistake.
It's also curios that there's a two and a half year long pleading for Willis to play through his mistakes and get game time to get better . But Skal needs to sit the bench until he can produce , no double standard there .
After this thread it's over and done with. But it's worth noting that if the Anti-Willis crowd had their way, he'd still be on the bench, waiting for a turn that was never going to come. And if we ever needed him to come in simply for foul minutes, he'd have never been as good as he was the last few games.
The problem isn't reminding those who were wrong, the problem is those people accepting that, in some circumstances, we need our bench players to play, and understanding the notion that they will only get better with minutes.
We very well could be toast if Cal never gave Willis a TRUE shot at playing time.
The problem isn't reminding those who were wrong, the problem is those people accepting that, in some circumstances, we need our bench players to play, and understanding the notion that they will only get better with minutes.
We very well could be toast if Cal never gave Willis a TRUE shot at playing time.
I'm glad you all kept with it and finally got through to Cal... ![[eyeroll]](http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/img/emoticons/rolleye/rolleye0011.r191677.gif "Eye roll [eyeroll]")
and Marcus Lee can do all those things? Willis has proven himself against the same competition some of the others have failed against. Willis didn't turn into this kind of player in two weeks. He finally got an opportunity to play thru some mistakes.
I agree 100% (same as Dereks free throw percentage)
It was enough for him to have 10 points scored on him and give up 4-5 rebounds. Once he proved he defend against those points being scored and grab some of those rebounds, he got more playing time. Not sure why this is so hard for you to understand this simple concept.
Willis isn't perfect, and he's not a 5*.. so he's always going to have trouble against great teams with athleticism and a true front court.
Tell me, what's worse a player who's not a great defender, but is starting to give it 110% or a player who is a great defender, but takes 3 of every 4 games off? I don't think there's much of a difference on the bottom line.
Willis has shown improvement every game. He made mistakes, he's correcting them. He was only going to make that progress by getting minutes and not having the short-leash attached to him.
Tell me, what's worse a player who's not a great defender, but is starting to give it 110% or a player who is a great defender, but takes 3 of every 4 games off? I don't think there's much of a difference on the bottom line.
Willis has shown improvement every game. He made mistakes, he's correcting them. He was only going to make that progress by getting minutes and not having the short-leash attached to him.
No. He finally started defending and rebounding. You say he didn't turn into this player in two weeks?
Well, guess what, two weeks ago he couldn't guard to save his life and instead of going up strong for rebounds with two hands, he instead flailed his arms and swatted at the ball with one hand.
So, he may not have turned into the whole player he is in two weeks, but he did in fact start doing the things the coaching staff has been coaching him to do for the last two years in the last two weeks.
who is the anti-Willis crowd? Most want the best players on the court...earlier in the season Cal. did not think he was the best.
Everyone thought Skal would be a good player. Most thought Poy and Lee would be better players.
The would not be so much angst, if Willis was not a Ky boy.
Cal never decided to give Willis a TRUE shot , that's KY born paranoia . There was a huge void in production from the interior from Skal , Poy and Lee . That left the door open for Willis and he took advantage for the past few games , he hasn't produced until now and you could have left him out there all game but it wouldn't have made him rebound or play defense . You've been wrong for years and have been waiting for years for vindication . It's like the team that you beat fifty times in a row but they finally win one and they be like "we told you wees gooder" .
All good points. My question to you is did Willis' skill set change? Do you think Willis might have known he wasn't a priority, whether it was justified or not? Those things affect players.
I was one screaming to stop it. The kid had pressure and confidence issues , but the biggest issue he had was feeling sorry for himself. So ya i knew more PT was not the answer.
I loved it when i heard it was his dad saying you need to D it up and get tougher. The last thing Wllis needed was more people screaming he needs PT and Cal wont play him because of protecting his NBA hopefuls.
Trust me all that was going through that young mans mind. He didnt need sympathy and excuses, he needed the truth from his pops saying play D and rebound then you will get PT.
And thats exactly what i was saying like Cal. And he starts Ding it up and double digit rebounds with a some blocks and guess what? He is starting and getting mins. Hmmmm looks like me and his pops we're right. Lol. But all seriousness im happy for the kid. He now understands their is more to this game then spot up 3 s.
I loved it when i heard it was his dad saying you need to D it up and get tougher. The last thing Wllis needed was more people screaming he needs PT and Cal wont play him because of protecting his NBA hopefuls.
Trust me all that was going through that young mans mind. He didnt need sympathy and excuses, he needed the truth from his pops saying play D and rebound then you will get PT.
And thats exactly what i was saying like Cal. And he starts Ding it up and double digit rebounds with a some blocks and guess what? He is starting and getting mins. Hmmmm looks like me and his pops we're right. Lol. But all seriousness im happy for the kid. He now understands their is more to this game then spot up 3 s.
So Cal was agenda driven?
He was playing who HE thought would give the best chance of a W. Why is that so hard to understand?
Cal said multiple times Willis would play if his defense got better. and guess what, Willis admitted he needed to improve and he did...Holy shit!...now he is playing more and has a shorter leash of his mistakes.
Can we just put this crap to bed?
If you can't see that he is moving his feet better on defense, not reaching as much, not getting as lost on his rotations, making sure his hands are always up and rebounding strong with two hands all in the last two weeks, then I don't know what to tell you. So, yeah, his skill set on that end of the floor definitely changed. Or, do you not consider those necessary skills in the game of basketball.
Some fans thank if you are not a 5 star you cannot play , Willis has just been waiting for his chance an took it, it has not been a couple wks. ago some fans was wanting him to transfer with all the talent coming in next yr, I thank it will be hard to get Willis out of the starting line up next yr..
You had PLENTY of posters who wanted no part in bench players, and thought we should placate to the recruits he brought in. And normally, I'm fine with that, but this year is an exception. Skal started off (aside from a few games) horribly. And not to mention he had 0 enthusiasm and was mailing it in. His first half of the season was a disaster. Poythress was still Poythress, the same timid, mistake-prone player he was 3 years ago.
That's 2 frontcourt players that we couldn't rely on, on a team that was lacking forwards and centers to begin in.
We needed guys like Willis and Hump (still think he should get burn). But some wanted to keep sticking with Skal and Poythress, and giving them 30+mpg.
I don't think this has anything to do with Willis being from Kentucky, but maybe that's just me. I couldn't care less where he's from, I'm from New York anyways. WHat I DO care about is players giving 100%, and we had several who could barely muster 50%. Simple as that.
I love Cal, but it's not a stretch to say he may have made a mistake with Willis.
He's admitted two huge ones this year. Making Skal play like Shaq, and being too loyal to the Harrison in the Wisconsin game last year.
Cal says he is players first and his goal is to get guys to the league. Who projected to the league better at the beginning of this season? Skal, Poythres, and Lee. Not Willis. Cal stayed as loyal to the goal for those 3 , getting them to the NBA, as he could. Maybe it's an old habit he had to make himself break this time.
Also, anyone who think he didn't have a short leash is lying to themselves. The kid got one mistake and was pulled. Mulder is going through the same thing. He also has showed the energy he can bring when he's in.
It's not out of the realm that Derek could do this before. Don't forget the legend of Josh Carrier. If practice were everything, he would have been player of the year.
He's admitted two huge ones this year. Making Skal play like Shaq, and being too loyal to the Harrison in the Wisconsin game last year.
Cal says he is players first and his goal is to get guys to the league. Who projected to the league better at the beginning of this season? Skal, Poythres, and Lee. Not Willis. Cal stayed as loyal to the goal for those 3 , getting them to the NBA, as he could. Maybe it's an old habit he had to make himself break this time.
Also, anyone who think he didn't have a short leash is lying to themselves. The kid got one mistake and was pulled. Mulder is going through the same thing. He also has showed the energy he can bring when he's in.
It's not out of the realm that Derek could do this before. Don't forget the legend of Josh Carrier. If practice were everything, he would have been player of the year.
He ONLY got there because of minutes, and Cal loosening the leash every outing, giving Willis confidence, exposure, and experience.
That's the rub here: People want our players to be great, but they will only get there by playing the game. And that means mistakes will be made. WIllis made mistakes, absolutely. But he worked through him. He got better every game, and now, is arguably the highest energy guy on the team.
Some years, we don't need to go to the bench, like last year. But this season was different.
