At slightly over 40%.
Plus he is 10 of 10 from the stripe.
Dude needs more clock period.
Plus he is 10 of 10 from the stripe.
Dude needs more clock period.
Willis now leading UK in 3 pt FG%
- Thread starter KWilt43atbuzz
- Start date
No and no, matador D will never give him more clock.
I'll take that as a compliment. You do run into more Kentucky fans in Kentucky. Funny how that works.
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Not sure I would count 10 for 10 from the line as too good of a thing. Don't get me wrong, 100% is great, but put that into perspective.
First all, that is a very small sample size and the percentage definitely wouldn't hold up. Second of all, and most importantly, he's 6'9" and is pretty athletic for his size, has played in 15 games for 190 minutes total, yet he has only shot 10 free throws. That's less than one a game.
Willis should have more playing time as he is very productive scoring the ball. His defense needs improvement but that can be said for half the team.
Say what you want about the kid. Like or hate. He is a better player than most on the roster right now.
Say what you want about the kid. Like or hate. He is a better player than most on the roster right now.
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anon_9qtxg60vqzy0y
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Hey you guys remember that sweet pass he made right to the MSU player towards the end of the game yesterday when it was getting close?
And who exactly is he supposed to take minutes from? Which player should play less so that Willis can play more?
I guess they think we should not play Lee or Poy. They give more on D and everything else, but Willis scores more so he should play a ton. I do think Willis is probably a good 4th option on offense after our 3 guards. If he could play any D he could really get a lot of minutes IMO
Box scores should reflect a players +/- That would probably curb some of the fans opinions on certain players. Not saying it would in this case because I've never did the research but in general.
Thought Willis did well until his lax perimeter D gave up at least 3 uncontested 3's. He has to get in his man's face, instead he stands 4 feet back, flat footed, and sticks a hands up. That's lazy YMCA defense. His bunny hops to maybe get the rebound after he gets beat ain't foolin anyone.
The guy certainly brings a few more options on the offensive end, but he's a ghost in the paint on the defensive end and not much better with perimeter D.
Over the last 5 games, Willis is averaging the 6th most minutes on the team behind Murray, Ulis, Briscoe, Lee and Poythress. If he's not contributing on the boards / affecting shots, whose minutes do you take away?
The guy certainly brings a few more options on the offensive end, but he's a ghost in the paint on the defensive end and not much better with perimeter D.
Over the last 5 games, Willis is averaging the 6th most minutes on the team behind Murray, Ulis, Briscoe, Lee and Poythress. If he's not contributing on the boards / affecting shots, whose minutes do you take away?
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There are folks that evaluate a players worth simply by their scoring. Willis is one dimensional. I really hate that they throw that young man in everyone's face with endless threads. It makes any objective assessment of Willis sound negative. Also, it accomplishes nothing. Willis' defense is woeful. Calipari makes defense the overwhelming priority, as he SHOULD, so these threads just create consternation, not opportunities for Willis. The constant barrage by the Willis fanbois has really become just another baiting tactic.
Willis must be mortified by the fanboi insistence that he be allowed to play more just because he is from KY.
I don't have the stats handy, but according to one site (about a week ago) he leads the team in BPM (a new version of +/-). His offensive +/- was very high, and his defensive was a bit low, thought not actually negative. The stat suggested that his offense more than negates his defensive problems.
That's just the stats though, I think he's playing just about the right amount.
Willis is a net negative player right now. Whatever he gives on offense he allows double that on defense.
I really like Willis a lot and always love to see him hit some shots when in the game. But, he is seeing exactly the minutes he needs to see and doing a fine job for us. His D has gotten better since his freshman season but still is lacking and that's what hurts his chances at more time. He has the rest of this season and upcoming off season to work on that to try to see more PT next year but, then again, we have a killer group coming in next year which will make it tough on him. Keeps doing what he is right now and carry that into next year and he will be remembered fondly by the UK fanbase and that's about all he can hope for, I'm afraid. And, yes, I live in Lexington and I'm still fine with the clock he is receiving right now so not being a homer fan for him.
I agree. Good chance he gets to at least 3 Final Fours in his 4 years...not a bad gig. He also gets a degree that matters a lot for a player of his skill level, and will be able to get any job he wants in his field in the state of KY after he's done hooping because of where he is from/where he played college ball at. He could have went to WKU or Murray and scored 15-20 a game his junior and senior seasons...but that wouldn't help his professional prospects any and wouldn't help his non-basketball career any (strickly IMO of course).
Kind of reminded me of those sweet outlet passes Peyton Siva would throw to Syracuse at the end of every game they played. He was like Wes Unseld or Kevin Love with those things
Talk about a mob mentality. Willis may not be an elite defender but he is no where as bad as some of you guys are making him out to be. Both those threes in the videos linked by UK9 were well defended, the offensive player just hit two good shots. The three that was hit at the end of the half if Willis had jumped out Hard on newman, newman just drives by him and pulls up and hits or at least attempts a much shorter shot. Instead newman hits a 24 foot three pointer. The rotation defense was poor in stopping the drive by Murrays man but Willis was more of a victim last night in the opposing player he was guarding hitting every shot that was taken. Sorry but there were 74 points scored last night and those 74 points were not all scored in the 11 minutes of action that Willis played.
He had a bad turnover as well down the stretch but why was Murray throwing it to him in the corner to begin with. Murray had 4 very careless turnovers last night and 3 of those 4 were during the stretch run that state had to get back in the game.
He had a bad turnover as well down the stretch but why was Murray throwing it to him in the corner to begin with. Murray had 4 very careless turnovers last night and 3 of those 4 were during the stretch run that state had to get back in the game.
Name is KWilt"jer", I assume, and loves Willis. I bet you he hated the 1989-1990 Detroit Pistons. Big fan of Rob Lock though? That game where he gave up 45 to David Robinson must have been really tickled you. Jk
Huh, like to see this"BPM" whatever the hell that is.
And yes right now his minutes are fine.
How many of those points has he given back on the other end? Not to mention 2nd chance points given because of lost rebounds. Until he proves he can play some defense and rebound with 2 freakin hands, his mins will be limited. Point blank period!
I like Willis and don't mind giving him - some - minutes.
The problem is, he has the worst defense on a player I've seen since wiltjer. Those that keep saying everyone is that bad are wrong. Willis cannot stay in front of quicker players. He doesn't have great court iq. He has very slow response time. He doesn't take proper positioning. His help defense is not existent.
Stop twisting yourselves into pretzels trying to prove a point that isn't there. This was his year to prove he could do more than score and give up a score. He didn't. That's why cal is sick of it. There's no excuse in his pitiful defense. He's had 3 years to improve it.
Derek seems content with his situation. He needs to work harder than everyone around him when no one is watching and he doesn't.
The problem is, he has the worst defense on a player I've seen since wiltjer. Those that keep saying everyone is that bad are wrong. Willis cannot stay in front of quicker players. He doesn't have great court iq. He has very slow response time. He doesn't take proper positioning. His help defense is not existent.
Stop twisting yourselves into pretzels trying to prove a point that isn't there. This was his year to prove he could do more than score and give up a score. He didn't. That's why cal is sick of it. There's no excuse in his pitiful defense. He's had 3 years to improve it.
Derek seems content with his situation. He needs to work harder than everyone around him when no one is watching and he doesn't.
I think "double" might be an excessive estimate but your general point is not being refuted. At least 3 examples last night of his outstretched arm on the perimeter being shot over for a 3-pointer. He sags in this situation to prevent being dribbled around, and thus gets shot over easily. Then, there was a very annoying example in the 2nd half late were he set a screen completely out of position, a least two body lengths away from where it was needed. By the time he repositioned it was late, and it happened right in front of Cal. These are simply mental errors, the kind that are most certainly at the front of Cal's consciousness when he makes post-game references to being "deserving" or "undeserving."
To start off, Willis is not a good defender. No one will ever say he is. But I do agree with someone else earlier in this thread who said he's not as bad as some on here make him out to be. Yes, a person he was guarding last night hit three 3's. The first one he could have closed out more, but I don't mind forcing a 38% 3-pt shooter to hit a 24-footer. Could he have contested more? Yes, but if he gets much closer the 6'3 guard will simply drive past him. He simply can't guard someone that quick.
The second 3 was bad defense and the third three was guarded plenty well. The guy simply hit a shot with a hand right in his face. On top of that, he forced a much smaller (6'5) guard/wing who shoots 32% from 3 to take a couple threes as opposed to getting up on him and giving him the opportunity to drive by him. I wish he had missed the shots, but at the end of the day it's not as bad as some people make it out to be and he's certainly not the only one who isn't good in man-to-man on this team.
The truth is that Willis does something few others on this team can do and that's hit shots/FTs. Yes, he has deficiencies but his D is far from this team's biggest problem. We all wish he were a better rebounder (or defender), but if the guy was a 40% 3pt shooter and a great rebounder/defender while being 6'9, he'd be in the league right now and not coming off the bench at UK.
The second 3 was bad defense and the third three was guarded plenty well. The guy simply hit a shot with a hand right in his face. On top of that, he forced a much smaller (6'5) guard/wing who shoots 32% from 3 to take a couple threes as opposed to getting up on him and giving him the opportunity to drive by him. I wish he had missed the shots, but at the end of the day it's not as bad as some people make it out to be and he's certainly not the only one who isn't good in man-to-man on this team.
The truth is that Willis does something few others on this team can do and that's hit shots/FTs. Yes, he has deficiencies but his D is far from this team's biggest problem. We all wish he were a better rebounder (or defender), but if the guy was a 40% 3pt shooter and a great rebounder/defender while being 6'9, he'd be in the league right now and not coming off the bench at UK.
Not sure if banging underneath or driving to the basket are his strengths. But he has to learn how to switch and not leave his feet when the shooter fakes a shot.
I have never seen the 7th man garner so much attention. But, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. He does some good things and he does some not so good things. Everybody relax and let's see what happens.
I just can't believe Willis is tearing us apart like this. 3 years ago I would have never believed you.
yes...he is much better than anyone else at his position (3, 4 and sometimes 2 or 5). It is ludicrous that Poy and Lee get so much more play. We need fewer offensive and defensive rebounds. We need to allow more barely contested threes. We need more unforced turnovers. THEN we can just outscore the other team. I am sure he would average close to 20 pts a game and UK would not have lost those three games, cuz he doesn't just bring it, he bought it!
HA - you showed Murray getting blown by as a Willis blown defense...yet you showed Willis getting blown by as also a Willis blown assignment...if you want to blame Willis for not rotating, then someone else should get the blame when Willis was taken off the dribble.
Also, if jumpers in the eye are blown defenses, I'd love to see the amount of blown defense others had...I mean what, 60 points were scored on others besides Willis...could be interesting.
No, the 2nd and 4th video showing Willis giving his guy 4+ feet of room with just an arm in the air is not "well defended". It's soft and lazy.
The mob mentality is due to the OP feeling obligated to start a thread with a terrible take.
Willis is a niche player. He plays his role fine. He comes in shoots threes (occasionally crashes) and prays he doesn't give up any points. High School teams have these type of players so can UK. Willis is fine with the minutes he has. No more no less. He is a 6th/7th man and that's how it's going to stay regardless of the whining.
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