Cade Cunningham

[Tomcats1990]

He and his Cowboys just beat Baylor in the Big 12 tourney. He almost was a Wildcat as most people know. ST hired his Brother as an assistant Coach to land the 1st pick in the Draft.  I believe if he would have come to KY, this season looks very different. One Elite PG makes that much difference in CALs system. I think Cade on this KY team puts them in the mix to win the real #9.

[John Anthony]

5 hours ago, Tomcats1990 said:

He and his Cowboys just beat Baylor in the Big 12 tourney. He almost was a Wildcat as most people know. ST hired his Brother as an assistant Coach to land the 1st pick in the Draft.  I believe if he would have come to KY, this season looks very different. One Elite PG makes that much difference in CALs system. I think Cade on this KY team puts them in the mix to win the real #9.

I know a smart guy who would agree with you!  He’s a flat out superstar.

[Randy Parker]

Exactly right.  And it worries me about next year.  Devin Askew isn't going to lead this team anywhere significant. 

[futurecoach]

34 minutes ago, Randy Parker said:

Exactly right.  And it worries me about next year.  Devin Askew isn't going to lead this team anywhere significant. 

See comments like this I don’t understand. People complain about the one and done, and want more guys who stay. Yet then complain when freshman don’t come in as studs and dominate as freshman. People truly seem to forget that players actually get better, and this is what normal freshman may look like. 
 

After Quickleys freshman season. I would say none of us thought any chance Quickley the next year would be the SEC player of the year, and then also doing great as a rookie in the NBA. Most people completely wrote Nick Richards off, and talked about how he was a waste of a scholarship. Yet he ended up being one of the best centers in college basketball by his junior season. 
 

Askew overall like many of the players was not good this year. However, he now has a full year under his belt and hopefully close to a normal summer coming this year.

 

My fellow UK fans have to realize we can’t have it both ways. We can’t expect to have freshman come in and play great, then also expect them to stay. If they are great as freshman they are going to leave. If they aren’t great or even struggle as freshman, that is usually what gets guys to stay. 
 

 

[Tomcats1990]

Kentucky lost 9 games by a combined 18 points. How many we win with him at PG.

[Tomcats1990]

22 minutes ago, futurecoach said:

See comments like this I don’t understand. People complain about the one and done, and want more guys who stay. Yet then complain when freshman don’t come in as studs and dominate as freshman. People truly seem to forget that players actually get better, and this is what normal freshman may look like. 
 

After Quickleys freshman season. I would say none of us thought any chance Quickley the next year would be the SEC player of the year, and then also doing great as a rookie in the NBA. Most people completely wrote Nick Richards off, and talked about how he was a waste of a scholarship. Yet he ended up being one of the best centers in college basketball by his junior season. 
 

Askew overall like many of the players was not good this year. However, he now has a full year under his belt and hopefully close to a normal summer coming this year.

 

My fellow UK fans have to realize we can’t have it both ways. We can’t expect to have freshman come in and play great, then also expect them to stay. If they are great as freshman they are going to leave. If they aren’t great or even struggle as freshman, that is usually what gets guys to stay. 
 

 

Askew isn’t a CAL prototype point guard . Maybe he improves a lot and can be a serviceable PG. I like him and hope he is a 4 year player here but he should have never been KYs starting PG getting 30 minutes a game. If Mintz played PG from day 1 and Askew spelled him we wouldn’t be sitting at home next week. CAL did a poor job with roster construction and management this season.

[Randy Parker]

2 hours ago, futurecoach said:

See comments like this I don’t understand. People complain about the one and done, and want more guys who stay. Yet then complain when freshman don’t come in as studs and dominate as freshman. People truly seem to forget that players actually get better, and this is what normal freshman may look like. 
 

After Quickleys freshman season. I would say none of us thought any chance Quickley the next year would be the SEC player of the year, and then also doing great as a rookie in the NBA. Most people completely wrote Nick Richards off, and talked about how he was a waste of a scholarship. Yet he ended up being one of the best centers in college basketball by his junior season. 
 

Askew overall like many of the players was not good this year. However, he now has a full year under his belt and hopefully close to a normal summer coming this year.

 

My fellow UK fans have to realize we can’t have it both ways. We can’t expect to have freshman come in and play great, then also expect them to stay. If they are great as freshman they are going to leave. If they aren’t great or even struggle as freshman, that is usually what gets guys to stay. 
 

 

I didn't say a single thing about one and done.  I just don't think Devin Askew is very talented.  He showed me nothing that indicates he can be a strong point guard on a Final Four caliber team.

[futurecoach]

4 hours ago, Tomcats1990 said:

Askew isn’t a CAL prototype point guard . Maybe he improves a lot and can be a serviceable PG. I like him and hope he is a 4 year player here but he should have never been KYs starting PG getting 30 minutes a game. If Mintz played PG from day 1 and Askew spelled him we wouldn’t be sitting at home next week. CAL did a poor job with roster construction and management this season.

Injuries is a big reason why he was playing so many minutes all year. If Clarke didn’t get hurt, we probably see Askew end up regulated to the bench much like we saw Cal do with Whitney last year. However, Clarke getting hurt forced Cals had in having to continue to use Askew. 
 

As we seen even in limited minutes after not playing in three months. When Clarke was in the other day, he was running the point. If he doesn’t get hurt, Clark would have been the one who would have been running the point. 
 

I know people don’t want to admit it,  because for some it is easier to just blame Cal. However, injuries did play a big role this year too. Brooks not being able to start the season off healthy, when he was the only one who had played for Cal before hurt. Because having him out there would have made UK at least have someone out there who knows how Cal wants things at the start of the year. Then we saw Cal already start transitioning Clarke to the pg role before he got hurt. Which coming in to college many scouts even mentioned Clarke’s ability to play the pg spot. His injury, and not getting be play the pg spot did hurt than some of you all like to admit in the construction of this roster. 

[futurecoach]

2 hours ago, Randy Parker said:

I didn't say a single thing about one and done.  I just don't think Devin Askew is very talented.  He showed me nothing that indicates he can be a strong point guard on a Final Four caliber team.

You very well could end up being right. However, no one could ever honestly say after Quickleys freshman season. That they would have seen anything after his freshman season, to indicate he could end up being a guy who wins the SEC player of the year the very next year. 
 

Which gets back to we have been so spoiled having freshman who come in looking great. We forget what freshman who may not come in great right away, and forget most of the time players improve a great deal after their freshman year, or sometimes maybe after a sophomore season like Nick Richards. There was zero indications players like Quickley or Richards would end up being what they became at first either. Yet they ended up being two of the best players in college, and were positioned to lead a team to the final four. 
 

Point is how Askew is after a poor freshman season, is no indication on what he may become. Much like there was no indication that Quickley or Richards would become what they did. People seriously seem to forget players can improve, and improve drastically in some cases. 

[Randy Parker]

16 minutes ago, futurecoach said:

You very well could end up being right. However, no one could ever honestly say after Quickleys freshman season. That they would have seen anything after his freshman season, to indicate he could end up being a guy who wins the SEC player of the year the very next year. 
 

Which gets back to we have been so spoiled having freshman who come in looking great. We forget what freshman who may not come in great right away, and forget most of the time players improve a great deal after their freshman year, or sometimes maybe after a sophomore season like Nick Richards. There was zero indications players like Quickley or Richards would end up being what they became at first either. Yet they ended up being two of the best players in college, and were positioned to lead a team to the final four. 
 

Point is how Askew is after a poor freshman season, is no indication on what he may become. Much like there was no indication that Quickley or Richards would become what they did. People seriously seem to forget players can improve, and improve drastically in some cases. 

Make no mistake...I hope Askew proves me wrong.  I don't wish him any ill will at all.  I just don't see a skill set that will enable him to be the lead guard on a contender. 

[The Flea Market]

Should have hired his brother?

[MBWC41]

6 hours ago, The Flea Market said:

Should have hired his brother?

Should have hired his brother or paid him directly...

UK lost a ton of close games this year. Cade could have been the difference between 9-16 and 20-5...

I really believe Cal thought he had the kid locked up and when he didn’t get him, he had to scramble to get Mintz and have Askew reclassify.