Who's Worried About Depth???

[UPSCat4080]

I keep hearing people say they are worried and we cannot compete with only 7 players because of injuries and foul trouble and blah blah blah.

2013-2014 had 4 guys average 30+ minutes. Only 7 guys saw real action and that is with Dakari averaging 14 mpg. The backups after that.....Marcus Lee and John Hood.

The platoon system last year screwed with your heads. We don't need 10 contributors....hell that didn't get the ultimate job done. A Duke team with 8 players cut down the nets.....we heard it 1000 times during the tournament but it was the truth.

Winning a championship is 50% talent and 50% coaching....doesn't matter if you have 6 legit players or 10.

I like the lineup of:

Ulis
Briscoe
Mulder
Poythress
Skal

With Lee, Matthews and Willis providing some spot minutes and maybe ONE MORE decent relief man this can be a top 5-10 team....as long as Cal does a 2011/2014 tourney type coaching job with them.

In Cal we trust.

 

[wildcatsboston1984]

Let's just hope our bigs don't get hurt or ever get in any foul trouble. We don't really have much room for error this season.

But you forgot Hawkins, by the way

 

[loublue22]

That team is thin up front and lacks a go to perimeter guy. Diallo and Murray were the answers to that, and Murray can still be had. He would start and there's no reason he couldn't be our leading scorer. We need him, badly.

 

[Rhavicc]

Let's just hope our bigs don't get hurt or ever get in any foul trouble. We don't really have much room for error this season.

We only have as much as at least every other team in the country.

 

[Supafuzz75]

If our bigs don't get hurt,, we should be OK.. But if Poy or Skal was to get hurt.. Oh boy..

 

[wildcatsboston1984]

We only have as much as at least every other team in the country.

But we don't have the perimeter depth to make up for it like Duke did this year. Which perimeter player is going to be able to step in to play the 4 when we inevitably have to roll with a small lineup because of foul trouble? Right now we don't have that Justice Winslow type of player

 

[The Bubba]

Look on the bright side, at least now we have enough players to scrimmage.

 

[Rhavicc]

But we don't have the perimeter depth to make up for it like Duke did this year. Which perimeter player is going to be able to step in to play the 4 when we inevitably have to roll with a small lineup because of foul trouble? Right now we don't have that Justice Winslow type of player

That's why I look at this Shaun Kirk recruitment so highly. 6'7, 190#, terrific athlete able to play inside and out. Already listed as a combo forward as well. Is he at the level of Winslow? No, but the kid averaged 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 blocks per game in high school last season. With that athleticism, and apparent tenacity, it makes him a good candidate to get in there and do the gritty work when called upon.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

To get by with only a couple contributors off the bench our starters would all need to be smart players, like a Davis, that knows how to stay out of foul trouble. They would all need to be efficient players, playing within their abilities and no more. They would have to be highly competitive, that will to win. To actually win a majority of their games they would need these things relying on only seven players.

Our schedule is too tough and everyone brings it against us. To withstand all that with a handful of good players, our margin of error each game is much smaller. They will have to play kind of like iron men, highly efficient, smart and competitive.

Now, maybe they can and maybe they will. But realistically, expect us to lose several games. Now, I think Cal adds another player or two. And if it is the right kind, not just space fillers, we have a nice core to build around and have a really good year.

Maybe Matthews is a whole lot better than a lot of people think and holds down that 3 spot with a good all around game. Maybe we get Murray, and everyone saw, that guy is a pro that will score points in bunches. And maybe Lee will do what Cal predicts.

Yes, I am concerned with the current roster. But, we are within a player or two of possibly rising to the level we have been used to.

 

[jte123]

We have zero beef down low, we better run and gun. Really disappointing on Diallo.

 

[EliteBlue]

We don't need beef. Beef is slow. You can have one of those traditional big guys on the floor at a time in college (Cuz, Towns) without giving up a weakness at the 4 when they get pulled to the perimeter and blown by.

I like Poy playing the majority of our 4 minutes with Lee splitting 4/5 minutes. That's similar to Davis owning the 5 with Jones at the 4 and Teague, Lamb, Miller on the perimeter. We were never mismatched at any position.

That's how the college game is because 95% of teams can't put that much size on the floor so it's smaller lineups and more guard oriented.

 

[Orville Boggs]

R E L A X! folks!

 

[wildcatsboston1984]

Beef isn't always slow. We're talking human beings here, not cows. There are thick, strong dudes that can run, Howard, Terrence Jones, Josh Smith, DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin, etc.

 

[UKCats2000]

I agree that we are spoiled from last year since depth was rarely a problem (other than a few missed games d/t illnesses). I'm most concerned about Skal being able to stay out of foul trouble and in the game. Hopefully Lee will hit the weights, and develop some offense and a free throw shot over the summer.

 

[RondoBaller21]

You'd be crazy not to be worried about it. We don't even have a starting 3 right now

 

[ulismyman]

Only thing im worried about is our spoiled brat fan base...we go to 4 of 5 final fours and we are bitchin....mindboggling at best....ulis is our point guard thats all tou need to know...had he been on the floor against Wisconsin at crunch time we would still be undefeated

 

[RondoBaller21]

Me.

Let's say a game pops up where Labissiere and Poythress both get in foul trouble in the first half and have to sit extended minutes. Who plays the 4/5? Willis and Lee?

*HUGE rolleyes*

Having to play Willis extended minutes worries me. I want him to do good, but I don't see it happening.

 

[EliteBlue]

Beef isn't always slow. We're talking human beings here, not cows. There are thick, strong dudes that can run, Howard, Terrence Jones, Josh Smith, DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin, etc.

Outside of Howard who is a freak athlete the rest of those guys fit the Athletic 4 mold with a little extra size. They are also all world athletes in the NBA, not the norm. You can get away with playing on big giant on the court at the 5 if everyone else has speed. But if you try playing more than that at a time in college it'll kill you. The NBA is a different sport. Everybody is big. You aren't llaying against jitterbugs that it's hard to get down in a stance on and move your feet when you're that big.

 

[*Bleedingblue*]

I keep hearing people say they are worried and we cannot compete with only 7 players because of injuries and foul trouble and blah blah blah.

2013-2014 had 4 guys average 30+ minutes. Only 7 guys saw real action and that is with Dakari averaging 14 mpg. The backups after that.....Marcus Lee and John Hood.

The platoon system last year screwed with your heads. We don't need 10 contributors....hell that didn't get the ultimate job done. A Duke team with 8 players cut down the nets.....we heard it 1000 times during the tournament but it was the truth.

Winning a championship is 50% talent and 50% coaching....doesn't matter if you have 6 legit players or 10.

I like the lineup of:

Ulis
Briscoe
Mulder
Poythress
Skal

With Lee, Matthews and Willis providing some spot minutes and maybe ONE MORE decent relief man this can be a top 5-10 team....as long as Cal does a 2011/2014 tourney type coaching job with them.

In Cal we trust.

I got a question for you.. when you piece together a team if you was picking a group to compete for a title how would you do it? Would you just pick 7 random guys? Just pick guys based on their ranking?
The reason Duke won is because they had shooters with skill and size knocking down shots. The reason why we got beat by Wisconsin is the same reason.

Now with your team where is the scoring coming from ? How are you going to outscore people? Slow it down to the way Wisconsin used to play 5 yrs ago?

 

[mrschwump]

How do you know Poythress will be ready to go at the start of the season?

 

[spotter34]

Some have complained about the platooning hurting our recruiting. Others (maybe the same ones) are complaining about not having enough depth at each position. Well you can't have it both ways.

Personally I like what we have. Would have liked to have Diallo but Lee will now get his shot at playing 20+ minutes and I think he'll rise to the occassion. Foul trouble is always a concern, except for this past year, but we have a nice three man rotation right now at the 4-5 spots (Skal, Poy, Lee). We also have a formidable rotation of four or five at the 1-3 spots (Ulis, Briscoe, Mulder, Matthews, Hawkins). Then you have Willis who I think can crack the rotation if he does what he needs to do over the summer.

We're not going to go 38-1 but I still think we'll be in the top 10 most, if not all, of the season. I think we'll have 5-6 losses by the end of the regular season.

 

[UPSCat4080]

I got a question for you.. when you piece together a team if you was picking a group to compete for a title how would you do it? Would you just pick 7 random guys? Just pick guys based on their ranking?
The reason Duke won is because they had shooters with skill and size knocking down shots. The reason why we got beat by Wisconsin is the same reason.

Now with your team where is the scoring coming from ? How are you going to outscore people? Slow it down to the way Wisconsin used to play 5 yrs ago?

You're going to score the same way we have scored the first 6 years of Cal's tenure. We have two point guards who can create in transition and in the half court, the number 1 overall draft pick at Center, a PF who was playing out of his mind in the Bahamas against grown men before he went down with an injury, experienced players in Lee and Willis who can give breathers when needed and not kill us, an appears to be sharp shooter in the JUCO kid who just commited and maybe one or two more players that Cal thinks are good enough to play here.

We will score points. The people acting like we will be lucky to break 40 are hilarious.

 

[wcc31]

Depth's the last thing I'm worried about. We have a coach who likes to play 7-8 anyway.

My only BIG concern- scoring and shooting on the wing.

 

[StubbornPenny]

You'd be crazy not to be worried about it. We don't even have a starting 3 right now

Are you on loads of crack? Ulis, Briscoe, and Skal start on 99% of D1 teams. Poythress and Matthews probably start on 90%, and Mulder, Lee, Hawkins. and Willis start on 75%. I'm concerned as well, but we have 5 legit starters, good lord.

EDIT: just realized you meant a Small forward. Either way we'd b okay with Matthews/Mulder at the 3 ( basically 3 guard lineup)

 

[kats23]

Not too concerned. Always nice to have the depth UK had last season, but at the end of the season it didn't work to our advantage anyway as Cal likes to run a shortened rotation by March. When AP went down, it really screwed things up. Cal was basically running 5 in and 5 out without having to make adjustments with the exception of foul trouble. After the AP injury, more decisions were made in game and a lot of times it came down to matchups and who Cal trusted.

While the platoon had it's advantages, I think it did hurt the offense because it's more difficult to get into a flow when coming in and out so much.

 

[ORCAT]

How do you know Poythress will be ready to go at the start of the season?

That's the thing I've been wondering about lately too. We don't even know just what Poythress will really be like this season and how close to being fully ready he will be and when. Big question mark still there regarding him, in my mind. He's coming off a serious injury that has held back many others, look at how long it took for Nerlens to come back from the same thing.

 

[BleedBlueCats21]

I've said it before in another thread, but having a bench full of big men is a luxury, but not a necessity. Obviously foul trouble with our starting 4 and 5 would be a concern, but that's the case with any team. We went to a final four with a frontcourt of Terrence Jones, Harrellson, and...Eloy Vargas.

As for the 2/3 positions, though, yes I think it's important we add another player (or two) for depth.

 

[bucky1989]

When I think about depth I just think back to the Brandon knight team we had liggins and jorts cal works better with the 7-8 man rotation

 

[UK_fan_41102]

Me.

Let's say a game pops up where Labissiere and Poythress both get in foul trouble in the first half and have to sit extended minutes. Who plays the 4/5? Willis and Lee?

*HUGE rolleyes*

This right here is why I hope we get one more big.

 

[StubbornPenny]

That's the thing I've been wondering about lately too. We don't even know just what Poythress will really be like this season and how close to being fully ready he will be and when. Big question mark still there regarding him, in my mind. He's coming off a serious injury that has held back many others, look at how long it took for Nerlens to come back from the same thing.

The 76ers held Noel out long after he was deemed ready to play, mostly in order to tank. Poy has already posted videos of him dunking in practice. You never know with an ACL but there's been nothing but positive news so far.

 

[wcc31]

Me.

Let's say a game pops up where Labissiere and Poythress both get in foul trouble in the first half and have to sit extended minutes. Who plays the 4/5? Willis and Lee?

*HUGE rolleyes*

Good point. Now, that I think about it- maybe we should sign TWO MORE bigs because what happens if Labissiere, Poythress AND Lee all get in foul trouble in the 1st half????

And what if our entire team sprains their ankles the SAME GAME??????

 

[wcc31]

I'm not trying too hard. We have a coach who likes a short 7-8 man rotation. We have 3 guys who can handle the 4/5 positions- all high-end talents, the #2 NBA draft prospect in 2016 and two upperclassmen McD AAs. We have a junior in Willis as well who can slide down to the 4.

We're fine down low. People have gotten too spoiled.

 

[C1180]

Lets just put it this way. I do not think there will be discussion about the Cats needing a loss next year going into to the NCAA tournament. I think a more likely scenario would be we need more wins to get a better seed. Losing 7 player early to the NBA will do that to a team. Heck it would have be eight if Poythress had not injured his knee.

The mystery to me is why is Cal struggling to get recruits when there is obviously so much playing time available on this UK team.

 

[docholiday51]

I'm not trying too hard. We have a coach who likes a short 7-8 man rotation. We have 3 guys who can handle the 4/5 positions- all high-end talents, the #2 NBA draft prospect in 2016 and two upperclassmen McD AAs. We have a junior in Willis as well who can slide down to the 4.

We're fine down low. People have gotten too spoiled.

It gets really old when everyone posts about spoiled fans,for the most part that is a load of crap.

Let the NCAA rule Skal out of the mix for 5 or 10 games or the whole season

Let AP not be ready to play till sometime in January

Let 1 other player go down with an injury or get strep or mono

And oh by the way Cal is working his ass off to come up with one or two more players(he spoiled too?)

We have no real 3,we got a 4 who may or may not be ready for the start of the season and a 5 that may or may not get to play ...nah we don't need any more players

 

[rabidcatfan]

Cal brings in Brown and maybe another big and I think our depth will be just fine. That would give us a lineup of:

PG - Ulis/Hawkins
SG - Briscoe/Mulder
SF - Brown/Matthews/Willis
PF - Poythress/*new big*/Lee/Willis
C - Labissierre /Lee/*new big*

I definitely think we'll need another big off the bench, just because of potential foul trouble, fatigue, etc.