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Wonder if Oscar is tanking on purpose?

I know he came back because he wanted to work on his game to translate to the NBA but Cal still has him camped out on the block while Collins and freaking Ware got to play the 4. Wonder if he's aggravated because he didn't get a chance to develop as a 4?
What the hell is Oscar going to do as a 4? He can't shoot well enough to play the 4. Oscar biggest problem is that he plays below the rim so he wouldn't do any better at the 4.
 
That and they’ve figured out CCC’s simplistic offensive strategy and shut it down.
Arkansas was running Cal's offense better than his players which is why they were constantly in position to steal the ball. How we managed to be UT to is amazing considering how bad we looked tonight.
 
Arkansas was running Cal's offense better than his players which is why they were constantly in position to steal the ball. How we managed to be UT to is amazing considering how bad we looked tonight.
Caught them on a bad night like last year. They’ll return the favor.
 
Hasn’t been the same since he called out CCC for screaming. I think he’s another example of a guy CCC has broken down mentally. Should be stronger than that but I think it’s true.
Oscar's serious offensive and defensive limitations are simply being exploited by other teams. Can we stop trying to blame Cal for everything? Oscar is a grown man.
Cal has not broken him down mentally. The defense of opposing players has been so effective against him that he has lost a lot of confidence.
 
Oscar's serious offensive and defensive limitations are simply being exploited by other teams. Can we stop trying to blame Cal for everything? Oscar is a grown man.
Cal has not broken him down mentally. The defense of opposing players has been so effective against him that he has lost a lot of confidence.
So we continue with no changes?
 
Oscar's serious offensive and defensive limitations are simply being exploited by other teams. Can we stop trying to blame Cal for everything? Oscar is a grown man.
Cal has not broken him down mentally. The defense of opposing players has been so effective against him that he has lost a lot of confidence.
And Cal has made zero adjustments about this.
 
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Oscar is coming off a national player of the year season and is playing with different teammates and against opponents who have seen him multiple times. The chances of replicating the production from the season prior was not a certainty.
 
What the hell is Oscar going to do as a 4? He can't shoot well enough to play the 4. Oscar biggest problem is that he plays below the rim so he wouldn't do any better at the 4.
What Oscar did last year was nothing short of remarkable because it was all heart and effort. But the truth is he is just not a skilled ball player and worse than that has not been taught any skills or moves in two years so far to help improve that
 
Oscar needs a 4 who can shoot. Sestina, Willis, or yes, Brooks. Losing Brooks hurt this team badly whether you like him personally or not. Toppin can't do what he can. At all. Teams had to respect Brooks shot. They don't with Toppin.
 
Pretty sure Oscar asked to go back to his role from last year after the develop your game/stretch the floor Oscar experiment wasn’t working. Cal just sucks, plain and simple. That’s all it is and if anybody is tanking it’s him.
 
Oscar's serious offensive and defensive limitations are simply being exploited by other teams. Can we stop trying to blame Cal for everything? Oscar is a grown man.
Cal has not broken him down mentally. The defense of opposing players has been so effective against him that he has lost a lot of confidence.
Who do you think should be blamed for not working overtime to get our two big men who are way more talented than Oscar serviceable for some minutes on the court for games like this? What do you think coaches are supposed to do? Cal is simply over his head and all the SEC coaches know it even if you and Cal don't.
 
Oscar needs a 4 who can shoot. Sestina, Willis, or yes, Brooks. Losing Brooks hurt this team badly whether you like him personally or not. Toppin can't do what he can. At all. Teams had to respect Brooks shot. They don't with Toppin.
We have seen the best of Oscar. Opposing coaches have figured out how to deal with Oscar and it has worked for two consecutive games and there is no reason to think that it won't continue working for other teams.
 
We have seen the best of Oscar. Opposing coaches have figured out how to deal with Oscar and it has worked for two consecutive games and there is no reason to think that it won't continue working for other teams.


Constantly playing with a 4 that can't shoot really hurts him though. Teams are just sagging off Toppin (or God forbid Ware) and daring them to do something about it and clogging the lane.

I ain't saying a Sestina or Willis would be some savior but they damn sure would have helped a lot.
 
And Cal has made zero adjustments about this.
He still leaves his tall guys on the bench along with Adou. Other than the walk-ons, I have no idea why any of these players come back next year. History will show them, coming back another season gets you nothing.
 
Constantly playing with a 4 that can't shoot really hurts him though. Teams are just sagging off Toppin (or God forbid Ware) and daring them to do something about it and clogging the lane.

I ain't saying a Sestina or Willis would be some savior but they damn sure would have helped a lot.
Starting every game with a 3 who can't shoot makes little sense considering the team's best scorer plays that position. Keeping CJ on the court when he can't hit the broad side of a barn 2 feet away doesn't help either. If you are not going to start Reeve in place of Livingston, he certainly should be getting the start over CJ.
 
I think Oscar believed that he could impose his will on the teams this year

You don't get to surprise the league 2 years in a row
 
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So we continue with no changes?
Cal should play Collins more. The defense today was a little bit better when Oscar was on the bench. I just don't think playing Collins more in this game would have made much of a difference. I just don't think Kentucky matches up well against Arkansas.
 
Starting every game with a 3 who can't shoot makes little sense considering the team's best scorer plays that position. Keeping CJ on the court when he can't hit the broad side of a barn 2 feet away doesn't help either. If you are not going to start Reeve in place of Livingston, he certainly should be getting the start over CJ.


I mean I agree. If Livingston keeps hitting shots like he did today (and he had a three that rimmed out..) he and Reeves need to be the 2 and 3 for most of the game. CJ just cannot get it right and I don't know if he's gonna find it at this point.
 
Oscar's serious offensive and defensive limitations are simply being exploited by other teams. Can we stop trying to blame Cal for everything? Oscar is a grown man.
Cal has not broken him down mentally. The defense of opposing players has been so effective against him that he has lost a lot of confidence.
Oscar is confused, lacks confidence and if he doesn't figure it out we aren't going anywhere. I don't remember Oscar throwing his hands up one time last year. Now it's all the time. I think the chemistry is getting worse between him and his teammates every game too. That has to be fixed!
 
Oscar is a gimmick player. He is a great rebounder who can score off put back opportunities from offensive boards. He's always been a poor ball handler, poor shooter and poor defender. He gives pretty solid effort on offense, but is lazy on defense. Last year teams didn't expect him to do what he did on the glass, but teams figured out how to negate his impact this off-season. So now he's more average.
 
I mean I agree. If Livingston keeps hitting shots like he did today (and he had a three that rimmed out..) he and Reeves need to be the 2 and 3 for most of the game. CJ just cannot get it right and I don't know if he's gonna find it at this point.
Please, please, please stop with the Livingston hitting shots. This was a one-off game for Livingston and there is nothing he has done to this point to make you think that this might be the start of a trend. Giving Livingston starter minutes is only putting the team in position to play the first 10 minutes with only 4 offensive players on the court.
 
Please, please, please stop with the Livingston hitting shots. This was a one-off game for Livingston and there is nothing he has done to this point to make you think that this might be the start of a trend. Giving Livingston starter minutes is only putting the team in position to play the first 10 minutes with only 4 offensive players on the court.


And play who instead? CJ? Adou? Wheeler?
 
Cal should play Collins more. The defense today was a little bit better when Oscar was on the bench. I just don't think playing Collins more in this game would have made much of a difference. I just don't think Kentucky matches up well against Arkansas.
I just wish Cal would treat all of them nearly the same. Oscar is stinking it up, that doesn't mean he isn't trying, but when Collins comes in and helps with the rim protection leave Oscar on the bench for a long extend time. Cal says he can't play Collins more because he needs to get Oscar going. To me when he is playing this bad let him get going the next game. He head just isn't where it needs to be.
 
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