Exactly

What I think most people are missing about the Allen situation: His unabashed apologists believe he should be either starting or first guy off the bench, but they are also the ones heaping pressure on the situation, specifically on him. Calipari is going to roll with no more than an 8 man rotation... like virtually every other team. Allen was (deservedly) on the tail end of the rotation last year, on what was arguably one of Kentucky's worst teams ever. The reality is, absent major improvement, Allen was going to be at best the #9 or #10 guy on the roster... That's even accounting for the CJ Frederick loss. As I said last year, coaches have to ask, "what are two things this player can do to help the team win?" Allen has shown he can make wide open three pointers. That's it. Not sure how anyone without a bias lens could say he is good at handling the ball, great distributor, supreme athlete, lock down defender, top notch rebounder, etc. Think of Toppin. Not a world beater, but the guy can guard multiple positions and his athleticism can cause problems for the opponent.

That said, I don't fully disagree Cal leaves in his top guns too long. It becomes uncomfortable at times when he waits until the 30 second mark to put in a walk-on, up 38 points.

I am not sure what is going on with the whole Allen situation, but refusing to go in is not a good look, regardless of who is in the wrong.

I don't want him to start or necessarily play a lot. My gripe is a 30+ point lead and not playing a scholarship player.

3 hours ago, Tigercat said:

I don't want him to start or necessarily play a lot. My gripe is a 30+ point lead and not playing a scholarship player.

That's fine, but if you are subscribing to that then you have not watched Calipari coach a game before. This isn't just about Allen, it's how he has always coached. I honestly think he looks at games as rare opportunities to get his best guys reps since college basketball is played 1-2 times a week. He is not worried about bringing along the 5th or 6th guy on a bench.

Been watching UK BB going back to the Runts, many of whom I knew.

I am always a little squeamish playing starters late in a blowout. Go back and Google Kent Hollenbeck who blew out an ankle starting for Adolph in a blowout. What happens if Wheeler, etc. go down  while we are up 25? Opinions will change.

6 hours ago, Tigercat said:

Some of you missed my point.  Allen,  a scholarship player, could have played at any time during the game up 25+ with  4 starters. Cal did nothing more than embarrass the kid. How long was his leash on Boston? This was a la Billy G.

I'm not going to pretend to know the dynamics of that relationship, nor what goes on in practice.

Billy G?  Not playing Allen is a Billy G move?  Wow.

12 hours ago, Tigercat said:

Some of you missed my point.  Allen,  a scholarship player, could have played at any time during the game up 25+ with  4 starters. Cal did nothing more than embarrass the kid. How long was his leash on Boston? This was a la Billy G.

If Allen wasn’t from Kentucky would anyone care? UK was playing arguably its best game of the year, and the guys that were in were in a great flow. Cal probably wanted to allow those guys to continue to build on that flow. Which then once again comes back to,  no one says a word about this if Allen was a scholarship player from a different state. 
 

I love Allen and want to see him stay at UK and play. With that said, there really isn’t anyone in front of him that he should be playing over. I take that back the only one I think he should see minutes over would be Hopkins. I don’t think Hopkins brings much at all to the floor, especially when playing the three. I much rather see Allen get his minutes. Other than that, there is really no one he should be playing over. 

On 12/19/2021 at 7:35 PM, The Professor said:

It’s amazing to have that much basketball greatness in one family, all from a tiny high school in eastern Kentucky. I saw Bob in an interview on YouTube with someone from the Mountain Sports Hall of Fame (the museum is located at the old Wayland High School gym and high school) and he talked about his early childhood, his high school playing days, his recruitment to Kentucky, and his transfer and play at GW. It was very interesting. 

There was a family from maybe Laurel County that had two play at UNC in the 60’s and another was small college all-American at Georgetown. Maybe Tuttle?  

7 minutes ago, Hatz said:

There was a family from maybe Laurel County that had two play at UNC in the 60’s and another was small college all-American at Georgetown. Maybe Tuttle?  

Also, the Bird family of Corbin. All four brothers were All State and I think maybe All American. I can’t think of all their names but Rodger was the youngest and played at UK. Actually, all played at UK. The oldest, I believe his name is Jerry, played basketball for Rupp and later played in the pros. 

10 hours ago, futurecoach said:

If Allen wasn’t from Kentucky would anyone care? UK was playing arguably its best game of the year, and the guys that were in were in a great flow. Cal probably wanted to allow those guys to continue to build on that flow. Which then once again comes back to,  no one says a word about this if Allen was a scholarship player from a different state. 
 

I love Allen and want to see him stay at UK and play. With that said, there really isn’t anyone in front of him that he should be playing over. I take that back the only one I think he should see minutes over would be Hopkins. I don’t think Hopkins brings much at all to the floor, especially when playing the three. I much rather see Allen get his minutes. Other than that, there is really no one he should be playing over. 

Really, Allen over Hopkins?  I'm a big Hopkins fan, feel like he's always in control and doesn't bring anything negative to the floor.  I've felt that he should play more, though I wish he had a higher motor.  To me, when Allen is in, if he isn't making shots then he's a complete negative.  Fouling jump shooters, turnovers, giving up offensive rebounds.  Interestingly I checked the season stats, and Allen actually averages more minutes per game than Hopkins.  I was surprised by that.

5 hours ago, brown4 said:

Really, Allen over Hopkins?  I'm a big Hopkins fan, feel like he's always in control and doesn't bring anything negative to the floor.  I've felt that he should play more, though I wish he had a higher motor.  To me, when Allen is in, if he isn't making shots then he's a complete negative.  Fouling jump shooters, turnovers, giving up offensive rebounds.  Interestingly I checked the season stats, and Allen actually averages more minutes per game than Hopkins.  I was surprised by that.

I don’t like Hopkins when he is basically playing the 3. Which seems to be when he is in, and the offense is very lacking when that happens. Now if he was in with basically three guards and a big I would like him more. So I guess I should say I don’t like how Cal is using him in regards to rotations currently. 

On 12/21/2021 at 12:38 PM, futurecoach said:

I don’t like Hopkins when he is basically playing the 3. Which seems to be when he is in, and the offense is very lacking when that happens. Now if he was in with basically three guards and a big I would like him more. So I guess I should say I don’t like how Cal is using him in regards to rotations currently. 

So I said that hopkins doesn’t do anything negative on the court. First 2 possessions he’s in the game tonight are turnovers by him lol.

16 minutes ago, brown4 said:

So I said that hopkins doesn’t do anything negative on the court. First 2 possessions he’s in the game tonight are turnovers by him lol.

Haha yeah. Him playing at the 3 is just not a good spot for him, at least not with how this team is set up. I think he is going to be a very good player actually, but I think how he is being used isn’t good for him or the team currently. 

Anyone wanna give any of Grady's mins to Allen? Me neither.

Anyone eanna give TyTy's mins to Allen? Me neither.