I mentioned in a thread somewhere how much I liked EJ - no one wanted to talk about him
Willis now leading UK in 3 pt FG%
- Thread starter KWilt43atbuzz
- Start date
He's pretty fast and he plays great defense in practice so Ulis says
Don't you know? The only skill that is important is the ability to shoot wide open threes.
You would think a coach that was in the Hall of Fame would know that.
Is coach Cal a naysayer? You gonna rub it in his face too?I hope Willis hits a three to win the NC for UK just so I can rub it in all the naysayers faces.
Im sure their collective responses would be..."yeah we won the title and Derek hit the long buzzer beater but he cant play D worth shit." Idiots.
Never mind the fact that every damn one of us would absolutely LOVE for Derek to hit a three to win the championship. We all know he can hit 3s.
In the halftime side court interview of the MSU game the girl asked Cal about the two big 3s that Willis just hit. What was his response? He said yeah but he just gave up a huge 3 to end the half. And he did. He backed off Newman like the guy was really going to drive from 25 feet out with less than 2 seconds left.
People like you and ulismyman need to quit trying to talk down to other fans because you're obviously ignorant about what coach Cal wants out of his players. Scoring is far down the list. His top 2 priorities are DEFENSE AND REBOUNDING.
Why the hell do you think Briscoe plays so much when he can't shoot worth crap? And Cal already shot down the once popular "he only cares about the future draft picks" theory when started limiting Skal's minutes to 15 or less a game.
These message boards are for discussion of UK basketball. I get it. But you start talking like you're going to rub our faces in something because we agree to let the real COACH make these decisions...it makes you look like a damn fool.
The fact of the matter is...Cal is not always right and i am sure he would tell you that himself...not playing Ulis against Wisc was a huge mistake down the stretch. You are correct...this is a message board so we get to nitpick and second guess the coach....it is what ya do....called armchair quarterbacking. Been going on with every team and every sport forever. Are we saying we are better than Cal??? Hell no...are we saying we can see things different than he does...hell yes...not a damn thing wrong with it.
more stats to consider:
we've played 9 games against "power5" teams. In those games Willis has averaged 11.89 minutes
In games where he played less than his average (Duke, OSU, Ole Miss, Miss St) we are 3-1
In games where he played more than his average (UCLA, ASU, UL, LSU, Bama) we are 3-2
Yes Derek is highest on the team in 3 pt %. This is also possibly the worst 3 pt. shooting UK team in many years. There are TWO guys on this team that shoot even 30% or above.
in '15 there were 5
in '14 there were 5
in '13 there were 4
in '12 there were 5
in '11 there were 5
in '10 there were 8
And again, I'm not trying to rail on Derek because I like all these guys and want them all to succeed. Just offering some perspective here. Being the best 3 pt shooter on this team really doesn't mean that much, especially when were only talking about 19 attempts against legitimate competition.
we've played 9 games against "power5" teams. In those games Willis has averaged 11.89 minutes
In games where he played less than his average (Duke, OSU, Ole Miss, Miss St) we are 3-1
In games where he played more than his average (UCLA, ASU, UL, LSU, Bama) we are 3-2
Yes Derek is highest on the team in 3 pt %. This is also possibly the worst 3 pt. shooting UK team in many years. There are TWO guys on this team that shoot even 30% or above.
in '15 there were 5
in '14 there were 5
in '13 there were 4
in '12 there were 5
in '11 there were 5
in '10 there were 8
And again, I'm not trying to rail on Derek because I like all these guys and want them all to succeed. Just offering some perspective here. Being the best 3 pt shooter on this team really doesn't mean that much, especially when were only talking about 19 attempts against legitimate competition.
Wiltjer was not a Ky boy and there were plenty of threads just like this his last year here
I disagree with this. Second guessing a coach is what fans should do when their team consistently loses. In this case we're talking about a team and a coach that has the best record in college basketball since his tenure begun 7 years ago. I don't even care about the hall of fame or any of that stuff. Cal wins and he wins ALOT.
And if you read my post above you will see that the WON-LOSS record shows that we have a better record when Willis plays less than his average (although I fully admit it's a small sample size and the record is based on hundreds of other factors)
Every time there's a thread about Willis, I am going to support him. It seems to me that Cal only plays him to appease those of us who keep saying he needs more minutes. Yet, Cal finds any reason to yank him because of his D. I don't see him yanking Murray every time he gives up a three or gets blown by. A complete DOUBLE STANDARD. For that reason, I've come to dislike our coach more every season. He's a great recruiter, and has a fabulous track record of getting babies to the NBA, but he cannot coach worth a lick IMHO.
This whole post is freaking hilarious. I literally laughed out loud. Sorry man but this is SO misguided it's funny
Crestcat is right - there were close to as many.
We see a big guy who can shoot threes; who's good at the line and think he should get more play. Human nature.
N
I'm not sure it's as much human nature as misguided fans who think it's a better tactic to just have as much O as possible and sacrifice D hoping we can outshoot some one every night. Makes me wonder if they've ever heard of the phrase "Defense wins championships"![[winking]](http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/img/emoticons/classic/wink.r191677.gif "Winking [winking]")
I'm not sure it's as much human nature as misguided fans who think it's a better tactic to just have as much O as possible and sacrifice D hoping we can outshoot some one every night. Makes me wonder if they've ever heard of the phrase "Defense wins championships"
Yes I agree with you, but Crestcat referenced Wiltjer not being a Kentucky boy. I never said he was.
I love all of our guys, but there's been a glut of Willis apologists lately. I wish him well, but let's not pretend he's something he's not.
In the post I referenced, you inferred that all of this was because Willis was a Ky boy
Yes I did, but you said Wiltjer. I never inferred that Wiltjer was a Kentucky boy.
I said Wiltjer because this same crap kept coming up about his playing time and he was a tall boy that could shoot from out side and could not play defense. Got it now?
Understood that just fine. I think you're missing my point, but I'm respectfully bowing out.
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This is, quite possibly, the dumbest sh*t I have ever read on this site. And that is saying A LOT. Every coach since the beginning of time has had a double standard. Those with the most talent play the most and get to play through there mistakes. I don't see what's so freakin hard to understand about that. You don't wanna see a coach with a double standard? Go watch intramurals or biddy ball where everyone has to play a certain amount of time.
Except that you are wrong and are ignoring the fact that Ulis had not been effective and Booker was getting eaten alive. If Cal had done what you suggest he would have been a laughing stock. I'm sure you know how that feels.
No kidding. They probably want to bench Willis after stinking it up at Auburn the first half.
I have had over 25000 posts and been on this board since it began back in the AOL days and thru the many transitions it made, somewhere during one of those my post count reset. Probably because I havent posted in about 5 years. I was staying away from smart alec a-holes like you.
Well that and working away from home for most of the past 5 yrs but mostly because of the retards like you.
Willis is a role player on most UK teams but guys just trashing his D when others are as bad or worse makes no sense either. He(right now) is about our only consistent scoring option for a big. You live with a little d deficency because he can score the ball. Who else should we count on? POY? Lee? Skal? All of em have potential but generally have one good game out of 4. Skal not even that much.
But you guys do realize that most teams , including title teams have 2 - 3 starters that are just role players.
Pretty sure he had 11 rebounds yesterday. So there's that. Willis is much more athletic than anybody wants to give him credit for. Is he a good defender? No. Is he as bad as some make him out to be? Nope.
I see you posted this before the gm so I will ask you...how do you like Willis now? Is 12 rebounds enough for you and Cal?
See what happens when you give Willis some clock?
After the gm Cal said himself Willis is the best big on the team.
So stop with your self righteous rant and hop aboard the Willis Train brutha!
So you only come back to gripe and complain?
Willis played 30 minutes I guess that shows that your Cal conspiracy was wrong too.
Been around since AOL as well and I'll continue to be here, so feel free to venture back into obscurity.
I don't have a Cal conspiracy. I am saying THIS team needs Willis to score and will have to live with his defensive mistakes because none of the other big men are much of a threat to score on a regular basis. seems like Cal may be coming to that conclusion as well. What kills me is people dogging the guy because of his defense. Murray is in the same boat doesnt really play good defense but we need his scoring. The only two good defenders on the team are Ullis and Briscoe
He had more than a few games with atrocious defense without the rebounding and scoring.
Lets hope he keeps this energy level up.
We need anything we can get right now.
Never get on a ship that doesn't have very high railings to protect you from going overboard in the calmest seas. You appear to suffer from severe dizziness.
So ala....
Cal doesnt play Willis because he is not an NBA baby.
Cal plays Willis a lot, but only to appease you message board posters.
Cal has a title, 2 runner-ups, multiple FF's, including 2 with mid majors and four with a P5, 12 conference titles, 11 conference tournament titles, is in the HOF but cant coach worth a lick.
Do I have it?
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