EJ/Brooks/Whitney

[Cawood86_rivals]

What are your thoughts on what is going on with them and what can be done to get them playing better?

Do you think it's mental or physical? Is it effort or ability? Do you feel they will eventually get going?

Can UK have the season we all hope for if they keep playing at their current level?

 

[Crawfords Corner]

2 of them Im not worried about. The other one is playing in nearly his 50th collegiate game and he's as inconsistent now as when he first arrived on campus.

 

[Titpwhami2014]

Brooks - physically not there. Tries hard. He will be key next year. Has some Gabriel in him.

Whitney - mental and not very skilled

EJ - he’s tall, I guess? Complete bust in my opinion.

 

[RoyKent]

My thoughts?

Pretty simple, they are not good at basketball.

 

[MychalG]

Right now we are getting nothing out of either of them. I was hoping by now that the light would have come on for EJ but that has not happened. Whitney is completely lost on the court. Anyone NBA GM that thinks this kid has NBA potential at this point is out of their mind. Brooks tries hard but he too looks lost at times. We need some kind of production from them. Not sure what the roster will look like next season as Cal has a loaded class coming in so some will have to depart.

 

[fatguy87]

EJ needs to accept being a 5. For whatever reason, he feels like he has to get his own offense. That leads to making horrible shooting decisions. Sestina is better than him because he doesn't take bad shots.

Brooks and Whitney are young and not terribly skilled.

 

[UK_fan_41102]

Not too worried about Brooks, as the kid plays hard and with energy. The other two could possibly learn something from Brooks, since neither play hard or with much energy.

 

[KyFaninNC]

Wasn’t EJ our highest rated recruit last year? WTF did Cal see in him, other than the five stars by his name.

 

[Crawfords Corner]

EJ needs to accept being a 5. For whatever reason, he feels like he has to get his own offense. That leads to making horrible shooting decisions. Sestina is better than him because he doesn't take bad shots.

Brooks and Whitney are young and not terribly skilled.

And Sestina doesn't miss lots of free throws. EJ barely even helps the Cats out when he shoots free throws.

 

[KyFaninNC]

EJ wants to roam around outside and shoot jumpers, which he can’t hit.

 

[westerncat]

Whitney.. light just as not come on yet. Will be back next year and be a hoss.

E.J. i think is mental. Just trying to hard and not letting the game come to him.

 

[UK_fan_41102]

Wasn’t EJ our highest rated recruit last year? WTF did Cal see in him, other than the five stars by his name.

To be fair, Cal wasn't the only high profile coach after him. I seem to remember that Duke was going hard after him as well.

 

[Cawood86_rivals]

Maybe I'm just hoping really hard, but I am expecting Whitney to break out of it and begin to be a contributor. Same for Brooks.
However, I have pretty much given up on EJ. There's just not much I can see that has improved since he's been here. Just makes zero impact on a game on either end.

 

[Bratkartoffeln]

What are your thoughts on what is going on with them and what can be done to get them playing better?

Do you think it's mental or physical? Is it effort or ability? Do you feel they will eventually get going?

Can UK have the season we all hope for if they keep playing at their current level?

The level of production is shockingly low with EJ and Khalil. EJ lacks explosiveness and a high energy motor. Khalil seems truly confused, but like today's dunk attempt, he needs one of those to go down--the infusion of confidence with just one play like that can turn your mind around. EJ looks like a player who may care about how he looks and the outcome of the game, but may just lack the skill physically and mentally to do much about it. At one point, I counted three major errors he made in about 10 seconds. His shot is still off, and at times he handles passes as if they were hot potatoes. Some of his offense is not his fault, but he again lacks skills in creating his own shot and lacks explosiveness to enhance his chances of a made basket. Some drastic action needs to be taken to get these guys more confidence...one motivator is the bench and possibly some public embarrassment to get some adrenaline flowing. Tarzan playing like Jane comes to mind.

I feel better about the lowest rated recruit of the three. Brooks has a game. I would design some offense down low for him. But, I don't like his adding to our woeful percentage from the arc. Right now, he needs to post up on the block.

 

[Montana81]

Brooks has not been bad for a freshman. 6 and 4 in 18 minutes. He plays hard.

EJ’s 8 and 6 in 23 minutes wouldn’t be terrible either if not for all the off season draft talk and hype.

but when it leaks that you think you’re a pro, expectations change.

 

[JesusCal91]

Brooks will contribute soon. the other two any production you get is a bonus they're lost

 

[GonzoCat90]

You know how you felt about Nick until this year? That's EJ.

Brooks and Whitney just aren't ready at the positions we need them to excel at, and the team isn't good enough to let them play through their mistakes.

Truthfully, they're both college 4s right now but don't really know how to be that and we can't afford to give either of them enough reps there to figure it out.

 

[502 Wildcat]

Brooks - physically not there. Tries hard. He will be key next year. Has some Gabriel in him.

Whitney - mental and not very skilled

EJ - he’s tall, I guess? Complete bust in my opinion.

Gabriel was a good player for us, but Keion’s ceiling is much much higher.

 

[*CatinIL*]

2 of them Im not worried about. The other one is playing in nearly his 50th collegiate game and he's as inconsistent now as when he first arrived on campus.

This is where I am with these 3. Not every freshman is going to set the CBB world on fire right out of the gate.

 

[Cawood86_rivals]

You know how you felt about Nick until this year? That's EJ.

Brooks and Whitney just aren't ready at the positions we need them to excel at, and the team isn't good enough to let them play through their mistakes.

Truthfully, they're both college 4s right now but don't really know how to be that and we can't afford to give either of them enough reps there to figure it out.

EJ and Brooks are 4's I agree. I think Whitney is more of a 3. All three have the physical talent, but are just not doing it in games.
Had Whitney stopped and did a head fake on that dunk attempt, I believe he throws down a monster. Just needs to understand he is not in high school anymore.
Brooks shows flashes. I wish they would post him up a little.
I have little to no expectations for EJ. All the tools, no results.

 

[anon_013cn8yrfncx2]

Brooks seems to have the most upside.

Whitney may help if he’s willing to stay 4 years.

EJ is plateaued IMO. Will never be significantly better but still have some moments.

 

[uky8unc5]

EJ/Brooks/Whitney
They're liabilities on Offense
But generally assets on Defense, don't you think?

 

[awf]

Right now we are getting nothing out of either of them. I was hoping by now that the light would have come on for EJ but that has not happened. Whitney is completely lost on the court. Anyone NBA GM that thinks this kid has NBA potential at this point is out of their mind. Brooks tries hard but he too looks lost at times. We need some kind of production from them. Not sure what the roster will look like next season as Cal has a loaded class coming in so some will have to depart.

People were saying the same things about Nick Richards...........

 

[DerekMcPwn]

You know how you felt about Nick until this year? That's EJ.

Brooks and Whitney just aren't ready at the positions we need them to excel at, and the team isn't good enough to let them play through their mistakes.

Truthfully, they're both college 4s right now but don't really know how to be that and we can't afford to give either of them enough reps there to figure it out.

EJ came from a basketball family and was a top-ranked player in elementary school, and I think was even #1 or #2 in his class in middle school. Early on, he was classified as a shooting guard, and it was believed that he had legitimate guard skills. He grew significantly, but is not an elite physical specimen in terms of wingspan, vertical jump, etc.

Nick didn’t even start playing basketball until high school, but is a truly elite physical specimen in every imaginable metric. Raw potential.

On paper, the profiles appear to be nearly opposite, and EJ’s lack of early production is much harder to explain.

 

[CincinnatiWildcat]

All of them try to score after they have the ball, they need to be anticipating openings and getting there points that way whether it is cutting to the lane or getting good position for an offensive rebound. For example that play Whitney got blocked on. He needs to finish that smarter but those are the types of plays he should be getting his points from

 

[Cats192]

It took Nick Richards until his Junior year to put it together. I think EJ is still figuring it out. He is determined to show the world he can shoot that jump shot, and he misses most of them.

He looks me comfortable/natural rebounding now. That said, he still only got 4 in 23 minutes. He needs to focus on rebounding/blocking shots.

 

[ib4ky_rivals111873]

Sophomore EJ, stat averages for eight games other than his two best games this season:

8-Games

4.6-ppg (6.2-ppg @ 30-mpg/ 8.3-ppg @ 40-mpg)
4.9-rpg (6.7-rpg @ 30-mpg/ 8.9-rpg @ 40-mpg)
22.1-mpg
​

So, for 20% of the games UK can expect 4.6-ppg/ 4.9-rpg out of EJ and 80% of the time they can get 20.5-ppg/ 8.5-rpg. EJ is what he is and Coach Cal is being "forced" right now by lack of other consistent options on the bench right now.

#DefinitionOfInsanity

 

[Beatle Bum]

. Has some Gabriel in him.
.

 

[UK_27]

EJ drives me absolutely nuts shooting bricks with one foot inside the 3pt line lol

 

[Rupp'sRunt]

Ej tries on rebounds
Brooks plays hard but really is an offensive liability
Whitney is horrible. His best play of the year has been a blocked dunk. He should at least be able to be a good 3spot defender but he can't even do that. Kind of sad.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Man Whitney getting stuffed off that perfect leave is a still image of his season so far.

 

[Rideordiewildcat]

All 3 need to be lunch pail guys. By that I mean they need to play harder than anyone out there. The effort is completely in their control. They need to focus on defense, blocking a shot, coming up with a steal or a loose ball. Rebound, rebound, rebound and make plays above the rim when they are there. We don't need any of them outside of Brooks maybe occasionally taking jumpers. Let the offense come to them, but don't worry about it. It's not going to be their key to playing time or the league.

Brooks seemed like he was turning the corner, but he's inconsistent which is ok for a Freshman. EJ shows flashes, but I worry that he is softer than puppy poo. If he was aggressive and played inside he could make things happen. You would think he would see what Nick has done and step it up, but he seems to be just fading farther back. Whitney had me worried before the season started, but I didn't think it would be anything like this. I figured he would struggle to shoot, but I thought he would make plays above the rim and in other places. Right now we lean on Nick, Ashton, and Quickly and thank God they all came back. Maxey, when he squares up like in the U6 game, is deadly, but he's back to the leg kick on the 3s. He's deadly at the rim with that floater, but he needs to be more consistent too. Sestina plays hard and I think he will be fine as it's just his 4th game back. That gives us 5 I think we can trust. Outside of that, we need a 6th man to step up and really we will need at least 2 more guys to step up to have a solid 7 man rotation.

At this point, Whitney worries me the most. I'm worried he's going to begin to pout and make it even worse on himself. They all need to take a page out of Nick's book. He's playing confident and loose and not overthinking it. I'm ready for Allen to come back and see if he can handle the moment and give us another shooter and a spark guy off the bench because Juzang looks scared to death.

We are riding Nick as far as he can take us. That's why you saw this team take a step back out West. Nick didn't show up and this team had to search how to play without having him as an option. We figured it out late against Utah, but too late. OHS we did ok, but taking him away kills this team because we just don't have guys knocking down shots consistently enough. Today Quickly and Nick both played consistently and if they can give us that every game with Ashton and Sestina we will be close.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

EJ drives me absolutely nuts shooting bricks with one foot inside the 3pt line lol

Everytime he shoots that I cringe, it’s like he has to make that one shot every game! It’s the worst shot in basketball.

 

[gojvc]

L’s down.

 

[Randy Bob]

I think EJ was way overrated out of high school of course Whitney may have been also Jujang was supposed to be a good shooter have not shown it yet.

 

[STEVECAT]

My thoughts are:
Brooks- love his hustle and size, needs to keep working on that shot. I think he can be a better version of Wenyen. Going to be much, much better next year. I get really excited about his game and every minute he gets this year is going to pay big dividends next year imo.

Khalil- Uber athletic, but not quick so he gets blown by on defense. Doesn't anticipate well so struggles on the boards and to grab steals. Forcing bad shots because he is just trying too hard. Cannot dribble or pass well at all. At this point I am hoping he can become a poor mans Poy and we can get him on the baseline for some slams. The guy is a freak athletically so you gotta think he finds a role/niche eventually. This year idk if that will happen.

EJ- Cal basically had to take him in that class after missing some of the stud bigs, and with Duke being in the chase for him. The guy is plain SOFT and has no kill switch. That is his main problem. Forces shots like Khalil because he is struggling and wants to get "his". You can't teach the kill switch. Kinda like how Pj was just such a killer smelled blood in the water type of player. EJ has got to protect the rim for us. He is tall, long, and bouncy. Hopefully he at least figures that out. But yeah, he is so damn soft. Charmin ultra soft.

 

[carolinacat]

EJ looks like a poor man's Marcus Lee...not much of an offensive threat, poor FT shooter...decent athleticism, not a great basketball IQ guy. Doesn't seem to have much confidence...not an alpha dog.

Whitney is a little more athletic version of Brooks, although Keion has a better feel for the game. They are basically poor man's versions of Alex Poythress. All three are so young you can't write them off. They could mature into good players, but right now we're better off with them being spot players at best.

 

[$Z71$]

To be fair, Cal wasn't the only high profile coach after him. I seem to remember that Duke was going hard after him as well.

Yes he was considered Dukes to lose. Was rated like 9 or 11 I can’t remember and we came in at the end and snagged him away.

 

[Anon1679859502]

It is the one of the things I dislike about basketball at the moment. Bigs thinking they are guards and aau coaches play them as such instead of mastering their craft in the paint and then work on the outside game.
If you watch EJ highlights from high school you would have thought he was next Durant, nothing but three pointers and drives to the basket against inferior talent.
Learn some moves around the basket and a midrange game instead of jacking up three pointers.

 

[bucsrule8872]

Montgomery needs to get it in gear soon. If he can’t make the necessary jump this season, he might want to pay attention to Richards and his development in year three and consider taking the same path. Come back and have a good offseason, and be ready to play next season.