Yea his 12 points and 12 rebounds KILLED us!
I love UK and the fans are great. But there is just too wide of a net. You get along of dumb fish whenever you throw it in the water.
willis vindicated...
- Thread starter ulismyman
- Start date
I love UK and the fans are great. But there is just too wide of a net. You get along of dumb fish whenever you throw it in the water.
He gave up 14-20 points including several huge 3s during the Auburn comeback! He is simply not a winner!
You have over 4,00 posts and 8 likes. Those 8 likes likely came from 8 drunks like yourself on here late at night.
Your posts make my head hurt. Welcome to ignore. Sleep it off.
Your posts make my head hurt. Welcome to ignore. Sleep it off.
I don't think he has been given the playing time because other players had higher potential.
All players don't mature at same age. those who do mature later are often overlooked or bypassed by their coaches. I think that if Willis had been given more minutes instead of bench time his first two years he would have shown his potential much earlier. There was several opportunities for him to get minutes, but were given to the NBA boys.
i realize our coach is a players coach and its not hard to figure who they are. jmho
Last edited:
Willis has such good size and can shoot the 3, hard to keep him out of the line up, do not understand with Poy and Ulis give and go like they had in that one game and Poy posting up..
More heart than most out there. Not as much natural skill. When he is leading rebounder and out scores the bigs who have more ability, what does that tell you?
Willis had a outstanding game. He deserves clock. His defense was no worse than anyone else and he rebounded well.
Two BIG problems:
1) No matter what his supporters say, this team needs post presence both offensively and defensively more than another 3 point shooter. When he is plays, the hole in the donut just gets bigger.
2) If we are at the point where we need Derek Willis to save the season, we are in big trouble.
Two BIG problems:
1) No matter what his supporters say, this team needs post presence both offensively and defensively more than another 3 point shooter. When he is plays, the hole in the donut just gets bigger.
2) If we are at the point where we need Derek Willis to save the season, we are in big trouble.
We need willis to play like this every game AND we need to Alex and lee to step up a notch if we want to finish strong this season. We need a team full of guys bringing it not just a couple.
I don't think most people think Willis is the answer to our woes.. I think the big knock on Willis has been his defense. You can't play him if he doesn't contribute defensively. Yesterday Willis had a solid all around game as a reserve. We need that from him night in and night out. We also need Poythress and Lee to bring it, night in and night out. If we get those three going we should win a few games.. Willis is nor the Savior nor the problem.
Pathetic douchebag remarks.
Cal said Derek was great, so don't compare yourself to him.
Comparing your 5'5 height and jr pro experience to Willis is also dumb.
All that said, Derek played his best game.
This doesn't mean he played good on defense in the past, he didn't.
Glad to see the effort this game.
I am not confident in this team if Derek is our go to guy as far as the bigs are concerned.
This means Lee, Skal and Alex never turned the corner.
Great post. That's been my point from the beginning but you said it far better. I'm sure Willis is a great kid and yesterday was a personal milestone for him. That said, our prospects are sharply degraded if we don't have Lee, Skal and Poythress hitting on all eight. If those guys play their best, I'm not sure what minutes remain for Willis.
Overall, many of you are saying the same thing...
Willis had a pretty good game--great by his standards. He is soft on defense.
--He was our best big option last night; but unfortunately it will not take us very far... ala "we lost the damn game", and the opposing coach said as much (paraphrase: we have no post game).
--Really need Skai L. to develop to get a solid shot at going deep into the tournament
-- He's developing very slowly...any maybe never...
--There's a reason Poy / Lee / Willis / Skai aren't "one and dones". Why do the BigBlue Faithful always try to make it about "heart", "effort", "waste of talent", etc. -- Quit trying to make these players into the next Michael Jordan--can't fit the square peg into a round hole!
Go CATS!
Willis had a pretty good game--great by his standards. He is soft on defense.
--He was our best big option last night; but unfortunately it will not take us very far... ala "we lost the damn game", and the opposing coach said as much (paraphrase: we have no post game).
--Really need Skai L. to develop to get a solid shot at going deep into the tournament
-- He's developing very slowly...any maybe never...
--There's a reason Poy / Lee / Willis / Skai aren't "one and dones". Why do the BigBlue Faithful always try to make it about "heart", "effort", "waste of talent", etc. -- Quit trying to make these players into the next Michael Jordan--can't fit the square peg into a round hole!
Go CATS!
The Willis argument seems like it's been going on since the war in the Middle East started. He contributes so why shouldn't he play. In a game like last night we needed his rebounding. No one else was rebounding. He did knock down some big shots as well. It's not a detriment or sign of weakness that he's showing sings of being a full time player. We do need another shooter. Bruschetta was not having a good night. Poy was off and he got hit in the eye so that didn't help. Just waiting for the tweak this year. This season is still wide open for anyone to take the title. No worries
That's the thing, though, until yesterday he hasn't been rebounding. No one has said that Willis shouldn't play more whatsoever, just that he needed to listen to what the coach has been asking from him, (to rebound better and play better defense) then he'll get to play more.
He did that yesterday and what happened? It was the most minutes he has played in months, maybe the most all season (too lazy to look it up).
This. But if you really watch the game. Lots of points being givin up by him. And to look good good wasn't hard with the second half meltdown of Poy.
Not going to read anymore of this thread and see UMM try to break his arm patting his own back off that "great" game that he feels vindicated his blathering bromance with Willis.
Why can't we just be happy he played well. I feel like if he does well or not it's a pissin match on this kid of I told you sos. He's gonna be a contributor during March and that's not a bad thing. We need more contributors. Will take it from any source. But we're gonna be a tough team to deal with come March
I'll take what he gave us today if he will play around that level game in and game out, we don't need 12/12 every game, I'd take it, over Poythress going off one game and then disappearing game after game only to reappear...who knows when?
Give the kid a chance, he could surprise if he gains more confidence. The potential is there, Cal has said so repeatedly, what do we have to lose at this point? He nearly outplayed Lee, Poy and Skal combined, 12/12 vs 9/13!
Willis minutes
Freshman year 39
Sophomore year 75
Junior year 231
Auburn Game 31
He needs to start next game over that bum Poythress. There's a lot of things to look forward to with next years team. One of which is that Alex Poythress wont be on it.
The truth of the matter is that BOTH view points on Willis are and were correct.
Those who believed that he is a very talented player are ABSOLUTELY correct!
Those who believe that Willis is/was a lazy defender who deserved to sit the bench were ABSOLUTELY correct!
It was and has been up to Willis to play hard, physical and with maximum effort on BOTH ends of the floor.
Up till now, he had not done that.
Yesterday he DID indeed show that he can rebound and it has been an effort deal up to this point.
Willis's best position to be a big time player is at the stretch 4 because he just can't guard people off of the dribble, but he HAS to rebound to play that position.
Yesterday he showed that he CAN do it if HE wants to bad enough.
If he will play hard and physical and rebound, then he should take minutes from Poythress.
Those who believed that he is a very talented player are ABSOLUTELY correct!
Those who believe that Willis is/was a lazy defender who deserved to sit the bench were ABSOLUTELY correct!
It was and has been up to Willis to play hard, physical and with maximum effort on BOTH ends of the floor.
Up till now, he had not done that.
Yesterday he DID indeed show that he can rebound and it has been an effort deal up to this point.
Willis's best position to be a big time player is at the stretch 4 because he just can't guard people off of the dribble, but he HAS to rebound to play that position.
Yesterday he showed that he CAN do it if HE wants to bad enough.
If he will play hard and physical and rebound, then he should take minutes from Poythress.
- It is difficult to win in college basketball without at least three outside threats on the floor at the same time. Willis offers a legitimate third option on the perimeter. Plus, how can we expect Willis to get any better without PT? We understand that Skal needs doses of PT to improve, that Lee needs PT to improve, but when it comes to Willis, we just throw our hands up in the air and say "bench 'em". Is that an answer?
- It's fair to say that this team lacks a true interior threat, but the lack of a third shooter has at least something to do with that reality. Notice how easily teams can play that sagging, ball-line man to man on us? That's because teams can man up on Ulis and Murray and sag with the other three, since Briscoe is no threat from the outside. Doubling down on Poythress or Skal is much easier when you don't have to worry about being burned by the inside-out pass.
- It's odd how people, rather automatically, insist that Willis shouldn't play because he's a liability at one end of the court. If this is so, shouldn't Lee be on the bench as well? Lee's offensive game is much more limited that Willis' defensive game. Yet, I never hear anyone yelling, "Sit Lee down, he's a dud on offense!". There are all kinds of teams--good teams--that play players that are liabilities on one end of the court. You can do that, as long as you have complimentary parts to offset their respective liabilities. You can play Lee, but you must have someone to augment his lack of scoring; you can play Willis, but you must have someone to augment his lack of defense.
- The cry of "trust Cal" has been raised in many quarters as a legitimate reason to park Willis. Is it? I would argue that Cal is a master recruiter, a excellent motivator, and an elite x's and o's coach, especially on defense. He is also notoriously stubborn, sometimes sticking to his guns when a perfectly good bazooka is right beside him. I would point to his unwillingness to play zone, even when his roster is clearly zone oriented (see: 2014-2015), his locked in approach to the pick and roll (on defense and offense), and preset ideas of what he "wants" at each position. On that last point, it's worth mentioning that the only reason we have Ulis--the best PG in the nation--is because Emmanuel Muiday fell through. Why? Because Ulis doesn't fit Cal's idea of a modern PG (big, strong, athletic). I would argue that Cal sees Willis as a role player, a non-elite kid that, in his mind, shouldn't play ahead of bigger prospects. In fact, playing Willis over some five-star might even scare away recruits, who come to Kentucky firmly entrenched in the idea that freshman play immediately and upperclassmen are "role players".
- Willis offers one last thing: the possibility of a truly diverse lineup. Right now, we have too many parts that perform the same function. Lee is Poy; Briscoe is Hawkins; Murray is (similar to) Ulis. Each of those players are valuable, but they become mighty redundant when on the floor together, the one exception being Murray, who is a PG playing the role of SG. The one player on the team that isn't a redundant part is Willis. Insert him into the lineup and we become a more dynamic offensive team.
You nailed it. Without his 12 pts and 12 rebounds we may have lost by 20. Good Lord you're thick.
He was in the face of that guy, who was draining 25 footers with guys in his face. That's not "giving up" points.
Willis played good and hustled. He's just not a good defender.
His three point shooting is sketchy too. His shot is ugly and, without looking at %, seems to rarely go in. At best he's streaky.
But he's earned some time on this team. But people so need to slow down on Derek. If he plays 30 minutes a game, we are going to lose a lot. He will allow teams to remain close throughout games. Just the way it is. He's not close to elite.
But he played well yesterday. Not going to argue with it.
His three point shooting is sketchy too. His shot is ugly and, without looking at %, seems to rarely go in. At best he's streaky.
But he's earned some time on this team. But people so need to slow down on Derek. If he plays 30 minutes a game, we are going to lose a lot. He will allow teams to remain close throughout games. Just the way it is. He's not close to elite.
But he played well yesterday. Not going to argue with it.
Exactly. He played with purpose and leadership.
And as people see, cal isn't playing favorites. He played him because Willis played hard and actually went after it.
Bad form NWO...
Before Alex was injured he was an enforcer at the rim early in this game.
His lack of leadership and inconsistent play is frustrating, of which I have complained several times, but these remarks are over the top.
Willis is playing because Cal wants to lite a fire under Poythress. Willis should have been getting minutes long before now.
I cant stand it though Poe. One game he's out there looking like a top 10 draft pick. The next game he's looking like a nobody. He's never going to be what he should and could have been. We all know that now. I thought with him coming back as a Sr and playing PF that he'd be a leader on and off the court and look like a different player, and I thought he'd end up being a 1st round pick when the year was over. Man was I wrong. He'll be in the NBA for a minute or 2. Then the D-League. Then probably overseas.
Why should he have been getting more minutes? His defense has been the worst on an already had defensive team.
He's been getting what he should get.
I hear you brother, all of us do.
We all thought he would be much more than he is. And our projection of him is exactly what this team needs.
Alex is a complimentary player, as is Lee. A competent post player and these two would look good again providing a great play every now and then, as well as picking up the garbage points.
I will be utterly shocked if Alex makes an NBA roster. Not much need for a 6'7-6'8 power forward with no offense. There are plenty of those types already there, except they are 6'9-6'10.
I've been lobbying for more PT for Willis. You just can't beat good teams with 3 non offensive threats on the floor at the same time...think Briscoe, Lee and Poythress. We're desperate for offensive threats and Willis is 47% FG%, including a team leading 40% from 3, and a team leading 100% from the FT line. He also has more upside than Poythress and Lee because he really hasn't played much at all in his UK career. You know what you've got with the other two.
As long as Willis is shooting 40% from 3, the hell with his defense. We do not have the rim protectors like we did last year and that makes it look worse. Lee plays better defense but brings nothing in the offensive end. Poythress is like a box of chocolates you never know what you going to get. Skal has been a huge disappointment. Lee gives you nothing from the foul line and we already have one player that does that in Briscoe. Willis has yet to miss a FT this year. Will Willis play this well vs Kansas? I don't know but I know how Lee and Skal and Poythress played aganist one of the worst teams in the sec. And it was not good. I would run with Willis and sprinkle in Tai... We live with Murrays dumb turnovers and horrible sloppy passes and bad defense because of his scoring. I think we can live with Willis defense long as he plays hard. Then went next years class comes in we don't have to worry about it.
With Poythress and Lee on the bench, be fully prepared for giving up 50+ points in the paint on a regular basis.
