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Originally posted by Trey Ball:
Here is what I do not get from Cal. He is going ballistic at Shepard for a turnover at around the 14:10 mark of the second half. You can literally here him on the TV yelling “Reed, WHY!”

I will tell you why Coach Cal. Because the turnover should go on Bradshaw who would have had another easy dunk if he simply would have sealed his man. Instead he was lazy and just tried to reach for the ball. It was the right play by Reed all day long, but poor execution by Bradshaw.

Cal was literally 3 feet from the play and can’t see that?

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Cal was an idiot for yelling at Reed. Bradshaw's defender was on the other side of him and still beat him to the ball.

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Cal IS an idiot. Period.

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It may be a bit harsh, but it pretty much sums up how I feel lately.

Cal is ALWAYS looking for scapegoats, excuses, or taking a very lame approach to "that was on me". The problem is entirely self-created: He was the first to capitalize on the NBA 20-year minimum age requirement, made hay with the early one-and-done wave, then when Coach K and Self strarted to wake up and take the better one-and-dones, Cal had no other options. He is stuck hoping to strike gold in the now very competitive market for one-and-dones, but cannot POSSIBLY expect to develop them into true, seasoned, title-contenders. So, he blows smoke up our arse, telling us how many NBA all-stars briefly passed through our consciousness, how many cheap wins he racked up, and trying to divert our attention from the increasing irrelevance of UK in March.

He cannot change now. It would guarantee two or three awful seasons to focus on building a program of seasoned players. So, this is what we'll get, folks. Maybe, just maybe, this team has what it takes to make a six-game run from a 8 or 10 seed... but that is asking a LOT. I love watching them when they are smokin' hot and running free, but when we run up against a team with equivalent talent AND greater experience, we have seen what happens.

[ 02-08-2024, 09:32 AM: Message edited by: Tiptree ]
 

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Posted by Bama Cat (Member # 153) on 02-11-2024, 07:40 PM:
 
....and now the rest of the story. From this point frorward any one expecting us to win much of anything is dreaming or high on drugs or alcohol. We have finally shown what we have this year, and it is not even close to what we were expecting.

With Reeves, Thiero and Ugo as the only experience4d returners, Cal had hoped he could add Mitchell and a hand full of freshmen for a final four team. WRONG!
Bad wrong.

Let's start with our defense which is what Cal used to say we will get the defense down pat and then we'll work on the offense. Where along the way did he change his philosophy? This is one of the most defense lacking teams he has had here. A few of them can play good D for a short while but they always return to concentrating on their offense.

Our offense is one of the best in the country.... but not always. WE have a hand full of great shooters but they are not always consistent. And it seems like they are prone to follow the leader. If one is hot there are usually 2-4 other guys hitting them. But we have had some losses this year that went down to the wire because not more than 1 person could hit a basket.

Our 3 big men are proving that they did not have the experience or knowledge to carry us inside. Poor hands, poor shooting inside, poor rebounding and just a poor understanding of how to play top college BB. One good thing is overall they can shoot free throws. The speed of the college game has left Z behind standing around wondering where to go next

I think I could write a book about what we lack. This doesn't mean we can't improve enough to rise from a 8 or 10 seed to do a little damage. But for the most part we'll be lucky to reach the final 16.

The thing that should look good for us is most of them aren't good enough to get drafted. The 7 footers are no where ready for the NBA, although some will draft a 7 footer if he was in a wheel chair.

Our guard corps are all good shooters, when they are hot. Shepherd can take the team on his back but that tends to run out before he realizes he needs to get others involved. That's when he makes those passing mistakes.

Not much wrong with this team (AS REDBONE WOULD SAY) that some of that fantastical tape they sell on TV couldn't fix. Don't look now but the rowboat is reeling low in the water. Sit back and enjoy the good games and feed the sharks the bad'ens

[ 02-11-2024, 07:45 PM: Message edited by: Bama Cat ]
 

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Posted by Bama Cat (Member # 153) on 02-12-2024, 10:13 PM:
 
Guys we have a lot of guys who won't be ready for the draft but most should return to get draftable next year. Right now I would say we lose 2 graduates, Trey Mitchell and Antonio Reeves. Past that we have DJ, Dillingham, Shepherd, Thiero who could all get there feet wet in the draft. But I don't see all four of them leaving. The rest of the roster needs to hang around for another year, but they won't. They'd rather play the G League or overseas for money. I would guess that their stock has really fallen since we got into the SEC schedule. We do have some more good kids next year so they will have to fight for their minutes next year again. With Somto Cyril, Jaden Quaintence in the front court we will be tall again. And with Boogie Fland running the show we should have asimilar PG next year. And the final piece of the puzzel is Travis Perry who holds the Kentucky high school lifetime scoring title. It could be a great addition if the class this year gets their heads on straight and mold into the new guys plan. It's just a shame Cal can't figure it out.
 

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