I'd like to apologize for being so harsh on Oscar last night. He's beyond any doubt my favorite UK player in recent history. While his defense is subpar, he by far makes up for it by being a monster in the paint. 

 

I hope to see him back again next year as I feel like if he has a couple better shooters and passing play makers around him that he'd tear it up. If he does leave, I wish him nothing but success. 

Since 2016, UK has had:

— Bam Adebayo
— De’Aaron Fox
— SGA
— Tyler Herro
— Tyrese Maxey
— Jamal Murray
— Immanuel Quickley
— Jarred Vanderbilt
— PJ Washington
— Oscar Tshiebwe

Zero Final Fours in that span.

I think the recruiting part overall has been excellent but the results not so much. 
 

I don’t know how much many on here follow the NBA but Fox, SGA, Maxey, Murray, Quickley are some of the best young talent in the league and are putting up big numbers night in and night out. The others except for Oscar are all good players and ea h contribute to their teams. 

6 hours ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

Since 2016, UK has had:

— Bam Adebayo
— De’Aaron Fox
— SGA
— Tyler Herro
— Tyrese Maxey
— Jamal Murray
— Immanuel Quickley
— Jarred Vanderbilt
— PJ Washington
— Oscar Tshiebwe

Zero Final Fours in that span.

I think the recruiting part overall has been excellent but the results not so much. 
 

I don’t know how much many on here follow the NBA but Fox, SGA, Maxey, Murray, Quickley are some of the best young talent in the league and are putting up big numbers night in and night out. The others except for Oscar are all good players and ea h contribute to their teams. 

I follow it and that’s why it really sucks about the 2020 season being cancelled. Two of the players you listed in Quickley and Maxey were on that team. So we had the guard play that is needed going into that tournament. Then the SGA year it sucked that Vanderbilt was hurt and out basically all year. He was a talented player that is having a nice NBA career and probably makes a huge difference for that 2018 team if he was healthy all year. 
 

Bam, Fox both were one last second shot away from the final four losing to the team that won it all that year. Which that UNC team was all back from being the runner up the year before. Then same for Washington and Herro in 2019 being literally one play away from the final four that year too. 
 

Out of all those players the only one that they have truly underachieved with has been Oscar and Murray. Which Oscar is a great college player, but may not have much of a NBA career like those guys. 

13 hours ago, Kentucky Windage said:

I'd like to apologize for being so harsh on Oscar last night. He's beyond any doubt my favorite UK player in recent history. While his defense is subpar, he by far makes up for it by being a monster in the paint. 

 

I hope to see him back again next year as I feel like if he has a couple better shooters and passing play makers around him that he'd tear it up. If he does leave, I wish him nothing but success. 

I don't think you gotta apologize. I'm a huge Oscar fan too. Speaking truth about his defensive inabilities doesn't mean we are haters.

6 hours ago, futurecoach said:

I follow it and that’s why it really sucks about the 2020 season being cancelled. Two of the players you listed in Quickley and Maxey were on that team. So we had the guard play that is needed going into that tournament.

It really bums me out because we had the type of team that I feel like always has a great chance to make a run. Really wanted to see those guards play in the Dance.

14 hours ago, Kentucky Windage said:

I'd like to apologize for being so harsh on Oscar last night. He's beyond any doubt my favorite UK player in recent history. While his defense is subpar, he by far makes up for it by being a monster in the paint. 

 

I hope to see him back again next year as I feel like if he has a couple better shooters and passing play makers around him that he'd tear it up. If he does leave, I wish him nothing but success. 

Oscar is not a 5.  If you pair him with an athletic rim protector and play Oscar at 4 then you have the makings of a great team.  Cal's insistence on playing 4 out with Oscar inside is a mistake.  In addition, they don't help free up the outside shooters.  Frederick runs around like a crazy man trying to get open and hoping someone passes him the ball.  Maybe they should watch film of Steve Alford at Indiana to see how you get open looks for shooters.  

1 hour ago, REALSPORT said:

Oscar is not a 5.  If you pair him with an athletic rim protector and play Oscar at 4 then you have the makings of a great team.  Cal's insistence on playing 4 out with Oscar inside is a mistake.  In addition, they don't help free up the outside shooters.  Frederick runs around like a crazy man trying to get open and hoping someone passes him the ball.  Maybe they should watch film of Steve Alford at Indiana to see how you get open looks for shooters.  

This is what I'm talking about. He'd be a nightmare matchup for other teams in this scenario. 

3 hours ago, MJAlltheWay24 said:

It really bums me out because we had the type of team that I feel like always has a great chance to make a run. Really wanted to see those guards play in the Dance.

Agreed! Maxey and Quickley were great guards. Both could shoot, Maxey could get in the lane. Quickly was great at drawing fouls. Hagans was very good on defense with putting pressure on the ball handler, plus he was good at driving the lane even though he wasn’t the best at finishing. Then they had a four who could stretch the defense and shoot, and Nick Richards was one of the best centers in college basketball that season. Not to mention they were like the second best free throw shooting team in the country. That team was set up to do damage in the tournament. 

How on earth did covid get into this thread, forget about it.

20 hours ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

A interesting fact I came across: This marks the 4th time since the advent of the Sweet 16 that none of Kentucky, Kansas, Duke or UNC were involved. The other years: 1976, 1979 and 2021.

I do think this will happen more often with the transfer portal and especially with the NIL.

Bilas was talking about this yesterday morning.  None of the four traditional bluebloods in the SS. 

But he doesn’t think it’s the end of the bluebloods.  KU was last year’s champ and a number 1 seed this time around.  UNC was last year’s runnerup and started this season at #1.  
 

He used the term “newbloods” when talking about the state of today’s game.  Gonzaga has to be at the top of that list with eight straight Sweet 16s. The transfer portal and NIL seem to have leveled the playing field.  I have to admit that this development has surprised me. I thought the rich would just get richer like in football.  
 

 

On 3/21/2023 at 9:29 AM, REALSPORT said:

Oscar is not a 5.  If you pair him with an athletic rim protector and play Oscar at 4 then you have the makings of a great team.  Cal's insistence on playing 4 out with Oscar inside is a mistake.  In addition, they don't help free up the outside shooters.  Frederick runs around like a crazy man trying to get open and hoping someone passes him the ball.  Maybe they should watch film of Steve Alford at Indiana to see how you get open looks for shooters.  

So the answer was to put Oscar on the perimeter where he can't shoot or dribble and he's 20' away from an offensive rebound? And which athletic rim protector are you referring to?

On 3/21/2023 at 9:29 AM, REALSPORT said:

Maybe they should watch film of Steve Alford at Indiana to see how you get open looks for shooters.  

I watched Frederick miss a lot of wide open looks this year.

On 3/20/2023 at 6:36 PM, Deaconjim said:

Cal has won one more tournament game in the last 4 years than my 5 year old Granddaughter!!!

And my 95 year-old Aunt Elaine. 

LOVE the hard hedge action Sparty is showing against KState when a 4/5 ballscreens for Nowell, KState has not scored against it yet!!

6 hours ago, MJAlltheWay24 said:

I watched Frederick miss a lot of wide open looks this year.

Agreed, it wasn't getting shots that was the problem...it was hitting them from game to game.