February 7, 20215 yr This team has now shown that they can play with the other top teams in the SEC this year, and then self destruct at the end of games. In 2011 that UK team was also horrible at the end of games during the regular season. Then once they got to the tournament they finally figured out how to win games at the end. Now obviously this team is still no where close to the 2011 team. However who knows maybe this team could find away to figure out how to win games at the end once they get in the SEC tournament. The chances of that is very unlikely, however they have put together better moments as of late. So who knows maybe they will at least make the SEC tournament exciting, considering how pathetic the season has been.
February 7, 20215 yr 6 minutes ago, futurecoach said: This team has now shown that they can play with the other top teams in the SEC this year, and then self destruct at the end of games. In 2011 that UK team was also horrible at the end of games during the regular season. Then once they got to the tournament they finally figured out how to win games at the end. Now obviously this team is still no where close to the 2011 team. However who knows maybe this team could find away to figure out how to win games at the end once they get in the SEC tournament. The chances of that is very unlikely, however they have put together better moments as of late. So who knows maybe they will at least make the SEC tournament exciting, considering how pathetic the season has been. I am holding out hope as well. But like you, nothing has yet shown me they are capable of winning four games in four days against Missouri Valley competition, let alone SEC.
February 7, 20215 yr 1 hour ago, bugatti said: I am holding out hope as well. But like you, nothing has yet shown me they are capable of winning four games in four days against Missouri Valley competition, let alone SEC. Agreed! I like that they have shown more stretches of better play lately. However, the end of games is still a nightmare. Which it is just hard to see that changing this year, with how bad it’s been.
February 7, 20215 yr Why did Tennessee live in the paint versus UK? The same thing happened in the Missouri game. This UK team has a fatal flaw. Others have alluded to it. They are the weakest and softest UK team I can ever recall. I watched Tennessee and Missouri push UK players all around the court. They could get to where they wanted on the court. Conversely, UK's players cannot get to the rim. I don't see how Cal can fix that this year. When they try, the ball is stripped from them or they throw up some terrible off balance with a defender in their face shot. BJ Boston is the top 5 star player in the nation at taking bad shots. No one is better at bad shots than him. On offense, you have to be able to get inside a defense. Cal's teams have most often done this with the dribble drive offense and penetrating playmakers. The other option is get the ball to the big man in the post. Are either of those options possible with this group of players? The big men are skinny and weak. The guards cannot penetrate. What is the answer? All Cal can do is keep trying to develop both of those options and hope something starts to click in one or both. The good news for me is I do see improvement. Granted, I didn't start watching this team closely till the past couple weeks. But I see improvement. Anyone who has watched these games and says Askew is not getting better is not paying attention with an open mind. Brooks is getting better and is starting to look like he could develop into a possible go to option. Mintz is better. This team is playing hard and they are fighting to win. I see no chemistry issues. I see a group pulling together and trying their best. They are playing with more confidence. I have seen some positive signs of improvement out of almost all the players. I have seen Sarr post up with his back to the basket and want the ball. Unfortunately, because he doesn't have the strength to fight for his spot, he is catching the ball 10 feet from the basket instead of on the block. But he is trying. Those last four minutes. Tough with who they are. They try too hard to make plays and don't have the patience they need to make the extra two passes and cuts to get a good shot. They have to trust their teammates, play as a team and not try to be the hero. Let the shot come to them. Don't force it. Take care of the ball. On defense very player has to box out and get that rebound. The second possessions for opponents in the last four minutes are killers and they happen repeatedly. Fight for position and the ball. No second shots. Slow the game down, stretch possessions and have discipline. This team is improving and will be better at tournament time. Their focus now has to be on finding a way to win possessions at the end of games. That is all they are focusing on now according to Cal. That is the right thing to do. Start from there and work backwards. If they learn how to win possessions in the last four minutes, that will make them better the rest of the game as well. Now that I have made @futurecoach and @B-Ball Fan proud with perhaps my longest post ever, I will conclude with two things. One, Cal is coaching this team up and they are getting better. Two, that fatal flaw of weak players may be insurmountable this season. I believe they will continue to get better but I don't know if this weak group is capable of being a legitimate threat to win tough tournament games. I will be rooting for them and for Cal.
February 7, 20215 yr 10 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said: Why did Tennessee live in the paint versus UK? The same thing happened in the Missouri game. This UK team has a fatal flaw. Others have alluded to it. They are the weakest and softest UK team I can ever recall. I watched Tennessee and Missouri push UK players all around the court. They could get to where they wanted on the court. Conversely, UK's players cannot get to the rim. I don't see how Cal can fix that this year. When they try, the ball is stripped from them or they throw up some terrible off balance with a defender in their face shot. BJ Boston is the top 5 star player in the nation at taking bad shots. No one is better at bad shots than him. On offense, you have to be able to get inside a defense. Cal's teams have most often done this with the dribble drive offense and penetrating playmakers. The other option is get the ball to the big man in the post. Are either of those options possible with this group of players? The big men are skinny and weak. The guards cannot penetrate. What is the answer? All Cal can do is keep trying to develop both of those options and hope something starts to click in one or both. The good news for me is I do see improvement. Granted, I didn't start watching this team closely till the past couple weeks. But I see improvement. Anyone who has watched these games and says Askew is not getting better is not paying attention with an open mind. Brooks is getting better and is starting to look like he could develop into a possible go to option. Mintz is better. This team is playing hard and they are fighting to win. I see no chemistry issues. I see a group pulling together and trying their best. They are playing with more confidence. I have seen some positive signs of improvement out of almost all the players. I have seen Sarr post up with his back to the basket and want the ball. Unfortunately, because he doesn't have the strength to fight for his spot, he is catching the ball 10 feet from the basket instead of on the block. But he is trying. Those last four minutes. Tough with who they are. They try too hard to make plays and don't have the patience they need to make the extra two passes and cuts to get a good shot. They have to trust their teammates, play as a team and not try to be the hero. Let the shot come to them. Don't force it. Take care of the ball. On defense very player has to box out and get that rebound. The second possessions for opponents in the last four minutes are killers and they happen repeatedly. Fight for position and the ball. No second shots. Slow the game down, stretch possessions and have discipline. This team is improving and will be better at tournament time. Their focus now has to be on finding a way to win possessions at the end of games. That is all they are focusing on now according to Cal. That is the right thing to do. Start from there and work backwards. If they learn how to win possessions in the last four minutes, that will make them better the rest of the game as well. Now that I have made @futurecoach and @B-Ball Fan proud with perhaps my longest post ever, I will conclude with two things. One, Cal is coaching this team up and they are getting better. Two, that fatal flaw of weak players may be insurmountable this season. I believe they will continue to get better but I don't know if this weak group is capable of being a legitimate threat to win tough tournament games. I will be rooting for them and for Cal. I feel like a lot of what you describe in terms of the weakness and skinniness is usually addressed by a college weight program. I’m guessing a lot of that was likely disrupted by COVID. In general, I think a lot of people discount COVID’s effect on what we’re seeing.
February 7, 20215 yr 2 hours ago, Voice of Reason said: Why did Tennessee live in the paint versus UK? The same thing happened in the Missouri game. This UK team has a fatal flaw. Others have alluded to it. They are the weakest and softest UK team I can ever recall. I watched Tennessee and Missouri push UK players all around the court. They could get to where they wanted on the court. Conversely, UK's players cannot get to the rim. I don't see how Cal can fix that this year. When they try, the ball is stripped from them or they throw up some terrible off balance with a defender in their face shot. BJ Boston is the top 5 star player in the nation at taking bad shots. No one is better at bad shots than him. On offense, you have to be able to get inside a defense. Cal's teams have most often done this with the dribble drive offense and penetrating playmakers. The other option is get the ball to the big man in the post. Are either of those options possible with this group of players? The big men are skinny and weak. The guards cannot penetrate. What is the answer? All Cal can do is keep trying to develop both of those options and hope something starts to click in one or both. The good news for me is I do see improvement. Granted, I didn't start watching this team closely till the past couple weeks. But I see improvement. Anyone who has watched these games and says Askew is not getting better is not paying attention with an open mind. Brooks is getting better and is starting to look like he could develop into a possible go to option. Mintz is better. This team is playing hard and they are fighting to win. I see no chemistry issues. I see a group pulling together and trying their best. They are playing with more confidence. I have seen some positive signs of improvement out of almost all the players. I have seen Sarr post up with his back to the basket and want the ball. Unfortunately, because he doesn't have the strength to fight for his spot, he is catching the ball 10 feet from the basket instead of on the block. But he is trying. Those last four minutes. Tough with who they are. They try too hard to make plays and don't have the patience they need to make the extra two passes and cuts to get a good shot. They have to trust their teammates, play as a team and not try to be the hero. Let the shot come to them. Don't force it. Take care of the ball. On defense very player has to box out and get that rebound. The second possessions for opponents in the last four minutes are killers and they happen repeatedly. Fight for position and the ball. No second shots. Slow the game down, stretch possessions and have discipline. This team is improving and will be better at tournament time. Their focus now has to be on finding a way to win possessions at the end of games. That is all they are focusing on now according to Cal. That is the right thing to do. Start from there and work backwards. If they learn how to win possessions in the last four minutes, that will make them better the rest of the game as well. Now that I have made @futurecoach and @B-Ball Fan proud with perhaps my longest post ever, I will conclude with two things. One, Cal is coaching this team up and they are getting better. Two, that fatal flaw of weak players may be insurmountable this season. I believe they will continue to get better but I don't know if this weak group is capable of being a legitimate threat to win tough tournament games. I will be rooting for them and for Cal. @B-Ball Fan says hold my beer.
February 7, 20215 yr 1 hour ago, mcpapa said: @B-Ball Fan says hold my beer. B-Ball Fan can type a post like that in his sleep.
February 8, 20215 yr 1 hour ago, Randy Parker said: B-Ball Fan can type a post like that in his sleep. With one thumb tied behind his back.
February 8, 20215 yr 6 hours ago, Voice of Reason said: Why did Tennessee live in the paint versus UK? The same thing happened in the Missouri game. This UK team has a fatal flaw. Others have alluded to it. They are the weakest and softest UK team I can ever recall. I watched Tennessee and Missouri push UK players all around the court. They could get to where they wanted on the court. Conversely, UK's players cannot get to the rim. I don't see how Cal can fix that this year. When they try, the ball is stripped from them or they throw up some terrible off balance with a defender in their face shot. BJ Boston is the top 5 star player in the nation at taking bad shots. No one is better at bad shots than him. On offense, you have to be able to get inside a defense. Cal's teams have most often done this with the dribble drive offense and penetrating playmakers. The other option is get the ball to the big man in the post. Are either of those options possible with this group of players? The big men are skinny and weak. The guards cannot penetrate. What is the answer? All Cal can do is keep trying to develop both of those options and hope something starts to click in one or both. The good news for me is I do see improvement. Granted, I didn't start watching this team closely till the past couple weeks. But I see improvement. Anyone who has watched these games and says Askew is not getting better is not paying attention with an open mind. Brooks is getting better and is starting to look like he could develop into a possible go to option. Mintz is better. This team is playing hard and they are fighting to win. I see no chemistry issues. I see a group pulling together and trying their best. They are playing with more confidence. I have seen some positive signs of improvement out of almost all the players. I have seen Sarr post up with his back to the basket and want the ball. Unfortunately, because he doesn't have the strength to fight for his spot, he is catching the ball 10 feet from the basket instead of on the block. But he is trying. Those last four minutes. Tough with who they are. They try too hard to make plays and don't have the patience they need to make the extra two passes and cuts to get a good shot. They have to trust their teammates, play as a team and not try to be the hero. Let the shot come to them. Don't force it. Take care of the ball. On defense very player has to box out and get that rebound. The second possessions for opponents in the last four minutes are killers and they happen repeatedly. Fight for position and the ball. No second shots. Slow the game down, stretch possessions and have discipline. This team is improving and will be better at tournament time. Their focus now has to be on finding a way to win possessions at the end of games. That is all they are focusing on now according to Cal. That is the right thing to do. Start from there and work backwards. If they learn how to win possessions in the last four minutes, that will make them better the rest of the game as well. Now that I have made @futurecoach and @B-Ball Fan proud with perhaps my longest post ever, I will conclude with two things. One, Cal is coaching this team up and they are getting better. Two, that fatal flaw of weak players may be insurmountable this season. I believe they will continue to get better but I don't know if this weak group is capable of being a legitimate threat to win tough tournament games. I will be rooting for them and for Cal. Love this!
February 8, 20215 yr 21 hours ago, Bluegrasscard said: In terms of Cal's X-Os. I have rarely been impressed (sorry @MJAlltheWay24). And using timeouts to stop big runs seems to be something Cal does not like to do. But he did it last night with the score 56-58 in favor of UK. Eight points of a ten point lead were whittled away. So he did call a TO to steady the ship. After that TO: Askew turnover Askew rebound Mintz missed 3 Sarr turnover Sarr foul Maybe they just are not getting it, or playing to their own agendas. But the coach did right coach thing after an opponent run, but the players execution lacked. No need to apologize to me. I've never once said he was a great X-O's coach on here. I think he has some guys that do play hard, they are just dumb and/or can't get out of previous bad habits.
February 9, 20215 yr Author On 2/8/2021 at 8:40 AM, MJAlltheWay24 said: No need to apologize to me. I've never once said he was a great X-O's coach on here. I think he has some guys that do play hard, they are just dumb and/or can't get out of previous bad habits. I would say BOTH of those and/or apply to this team very distinctly!!
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