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Willis out of the shadows

He don't lose rebounds wth are you talking about?

Uh yes he did. Pretty much all year until the last few games. Him trying to grab rebounds with one hand is the main reason Cal kept pulling him. These last few games he is rebounding like crazy.
 
Uh yes he did. Pretty much all year until the last few games. Him trying to grab rebounds with one hand is the main reason Cal kept pulling him. These last few games he is rebounding like crazy.
I was talking about the last few games. And cal kept pulling him for his defense.
 
i'm glad his dad was finally able to get through to him when cal couldn't
Appreciate it brother. See what you can do with some of the others. Stay away Tyler and Murray though I believe they self motivate.
I disagree, not everyone blasts players. Actually, I'm sort of the type that believes in motivation by positive reinforcement. Just stating my thoughts on his play as of late.

Always new he could shoot the ball and was an athlete. Just so happy for him, you can just tell he seems to have realized he deserves to be on this team. I can't remember very many 6'9" UK players that can shoot as well as him. He's also very athletic, he's got the talent. Good to seem him have the confidence to use it.

Looking forward to seeing what happens over the next couple of games. The sky is the limit for him!
Well said sir.
 
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Good for Willis! Nobody should stay hidden in the shadows in today's society!!! :cool2:
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Ok, today Willis is the hero. Next time he has a bad game the same posters here, who are on their knees tonight, will be the first to blast him.

I'm glad he's doing well, we did need him to step up. But why act like a jerk, the kid's been more consistant then any big that we have. Will some jerk bash him after a bad game, probably, every fanbase has their jackasses.
 
So proud of this young man for stepping up for his team.
The first half of the season I saw a guy out there that was always second guessing himself, it was to the point that he would sometimes look awkward and out of place. It was really obvious on the defensive end of the court. He would hesitate just enough to give up a shot or let a man drive by him.
Wow, what a difference confidence can make in someone's game. It's allowed his athleticism to shine. His comfort has enabled him to look as if he's a true NBA talent. The difference in just "the eye test" with his presence on the floor is mind boggling to me.
Just so happy for this young man.
It's great that Willis is stepping up for his team. He is certainly working much harder to get good inside rebounding position, which is showing up in his stats. He is a deadly free throw shooter too, which would be extra nice on this team if he was a physical enough player to actually get to the line. Calipari is rewarding Willis with more playing time. But I read some of the stuff people say here about Willis and I don't understand what they think they are seeing. You want to see players improve their play with experience, and Willis is doing that. But I just don't see an impactful player, or a higher ceiling. I watched Willis closely in the Vandy game, and he is still a really poor defender. He was beaten frequently by Vandy's bigs, although they didn't actually finish every time he gave them that chance. Willis can shoot and score in situations, but he isn't a creator or a dominant scorer. The main reason Willis is getting this chance is because Labissiere is lost and Lee has regressed. If Labissiere or Lee were getting the job done, they would be getting Willis' minutes. A year from now, I will be surprised if Willis is averaging more than 12 minutes a game.
 
He's getting better because Cal taught him he had to do better when everyone was pouting about taking him out, when really that was heloping him. Willis is okay, he's getting better.

Not sure why there are still endless threads on him. I'm under the realization that we need Matthews, not willis to be the one that plays really well to make a run..bc he can defend and rebound.

Willis still gets blown by quite a bit, and makes alot of silly decisions sometimes lIke losing rebounds bc he wants to try aND tip dunk every thing evendors when its nit attainable. He's doing better, but if we are relying on him to be the one to do something..that's not good.

An NBA prospect..um no. That's not hating on him, but no dude, he's not an NBA talent. People thought bobby perry was playing well when we had to have him to, doesn't mean he was awesome.
He's getting better because Cal taught him he had to do better when everyone was pouting about taking him out, when really that was heloping him. Willis is okay, he's getting better.

Not sure why there are still endless threads on him. I'm under the realization that we need Matthews, not willis to be the one that plays really well to make a run..bc he can defend and rebound.

Willis still gets blown by quite a bit, and makes alot of silly decisions sometimes lIke losing rebounds bc he wants to try aND tip dunk every thing evendors when its nit attainable. He's doing better, but if we are relying on him to be the one to do something..that's not good.

An NBA prospect..um no. That's not hating on him, but no dude, he's not an NBA talent. People thought bobby perry was playing well when we had to have him to, doesn't mean he was awesome.

Matthews is going through that lost confused freshman time right now. He's not played well since the break but he will come around. I don't think offensively he will ever make the impact that Willis has.
 
I'm really glad he is playing so well, he had a tough time tonight with the 3 pointer, but all players have off nights. His play has really helped open up the court, makes a huge difference not getting pulled so quickly when a mistake is made.


As we have seen with Murray and Ulis, shooters don't need to be pulled because of their misses, it's the rest of their game that they can't let suffer. You can't stop hustling and rebounding just because you hit a cold streak.
 
He's getting better because Cal taught him he had to do better when everyone was pouting about taking him out, when really that was heloping him. Willis is okay, he's getting better.

Not sure why there are still endless threads on him. I'm under the realization that we need Matthews, not willis to be the one that plays really well to make a run..bc he can defend and rebound.

Willis still gets blown by quite a bit, and makes alot of silly decisions sometimes lIke losing rebounds bc he wants to try aND tip dunk every thing evendors when its nit attainable. He's doing better, but if we are relying on him to be the one to do something..that's not good.

An NBA prospect..um no. That's not hating on him, but no dude, he's not an NBA talent. People thought bobby perry was playing well when we had to have him to, doesn't mean he was awesome.

Bobby Perry, and it wasn't his fault, was never on the talent level that any of Cal's recruits were on. This was also why our teams averaged 10 losses or more during that time.
 
It's great that Willis is stepping up for his team. He is certainly working much harder to get good inside rebounding position, which is showing up in his stats. He is a deadly free throw shooter too, which would be extra nice on this team if he was a physical enough player to actually get to the line. Calipari is rewarding Willis with more playing time. But I read some of the stuff people say here about Willis and I don't understand what they think they are seeing. You want to see players improve their play with experience, and Willis is doing that. But I just don't see an impactful player, or a higher ceiling. I watched Willis closely in the Vandy game, and he is still a really poor defender. He was beaten frequently by Vandy's bigs, although they didn't actually finish every time he gave them that chance. Willis can shoot and score in situations, but he isn't a creator or a dominant scorer. The main reason Willis is getting this chance is because Labissiere is lost and Lee has regressed. If Labissiere or Lee were getting the job done, they would be getting Willis' minutes. A year from now, I will be surprised if Willis is averaging more than 12 minutes a game.

Maybe accessing player's talents is not one of your strong points.
 
I was critical of Derek's play on the defensive end and his lack of rebounding. He's made improvements on D and he's improved light years in rebounding. He made me eat my words. Hope he keeps it up for his sake and for the benefit of the team.
 
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