Cal & PT for 4* Players

[bballcat4]

It was a crappy year, and I think most people agree that emotion causes us to throw some reality (history) out the window when we're unhappy.

Cal is accused by many posters of playing favorites with 5* players. I questioned some rotations this year, but facts do not back up the emotional accusation that Cal plays favorites based on recruiting services. Recent history (I'm too lazy to research past the last few years) shows that Shail G Alexander passed up Green and Diallo. Both of them were much higher recruits than SGA. The very next year Herro surpassed Green and Quickley. Herro ended up at 32 mins/game while Quickley avgd 18 mins/game & Hagans 28 min/game. Green was down to 17 mins/game before leaving.

Yes, I agree Cal needs to change roster development to improve retention.

No, Cal does not show favoritism to players based on recruiting ranking.

Cal has always used summer & pre-conference schedule to figure out rotations and minutes. Most years he has his top 8 figured out by SEC and will narrow down to 7 by NCAA. This was a crazy year for several reasons, but no summer and lack of normal pre-conference games (COMBINED) with a bad roster makeup led to horrible results.

While I'm on my history high-horse I'll add my thoughts about Juzang. He didn't show me anything that caused me (or most people on this board at the time) to think he deserved minutes over Maxey or Quickley last year. But ... I agree 110% with people who say Cal needs to find way to keep the Juzangs of the world from transferring. The thought that Juzang (or any good player) is a failure when they have a normal freshman season is a narrative that Cal is responsible for changing. Sure, we fans jump on the hype train. Coach is responsible for changing the hype-train. I fault Cal for creating unreal narratives for players who attend UK. I have NEVER faulted Cal for playing the best 5 players. History shows he will put out his best 5 regardless of their recruiting ranking.

 

[Cats_2010]

Cal showed major favoritism to BJB all year long despite his less than stellar play in 80% of games. There is zero denying that.

 

[kennyskywalker34]

It was a crappy year, and I think most people agree that emotion causes us to throw some reality (history) out the window when we're unhappy.

Cal is accused by many posters of playing favorites with 5* players. I questioned some rotations this year, but facts do not back up the emotional accusation that Cal plays favorites based on recruiting services. Recent history (I'm too lazy to research past the last few years) shows that Shail G Alexander passed up Green and Diallo. Both of them were much higher recruits than SGA. The very next year Herro surpassed Green and Quickley. Herro ended up at 32 mins/game while Quickley avgd 18 mins/game & Hagans 28 min/game. Green was down to 17 mins/game before leaving.

Yes, I agree Cal needs to change roster development to improve retention.

No, Cal does not show favoritism to players based on recruiting ranking.

Cal has always used summer & pre-conference schedule to figure out rotations and minutes. Most years he has his top 8 figured out by SEC and will narrow down to 7 by NCAA. This was a crazy year for several reasons, but no summer and lack of normal pre-conference games (COMBINED) with a bad roster makeup led to horrible results.

While I'm on my history high-horse I'll add my thoughts about Juzang. He didn't show me anything that caused me (or most people on this board at the time) to think he deserved minutes over Maxey or Quickley last year. But ... I agree 110% with people who say Cal needs to find way to keep the Juzangs of the world from transferring. The thought that Juzang (or any good player) is a failure when they have a normal freshman season is a narrative that Cal is responsible for changing. Sure, we fans jump on the hype train. Coach is responsible for changing the hype-train. I fault Cal for creating unreal narratives for players who attend UK. I have NEVER faulted Cal for playing the best 5 players. History shows he will put out his best 5 regardless of their recruiting ranking.

BY the 20th game last year if not soonier. Quickly should have been the PG. Maxey and Juzang at the 2 and 3 with Hagans playing 20 minutes backing up in a 4 man rotation of the 3 spots.
Quickly did fine running the PG when Hagans rested. Hagans play was bad after the first part of the season and he became a cancer.

 

[bballcat4]

BY the 20th game last year if not soonier. Quickly should have been the PG. Maxey and Juzang at the 2 and 3 with Hagans playing 20 minutes backing up in a 4 man rotation of the 3 spots.
Quickly did fine running the PG when Hagans rested. Hagans play was bad after the first part of the season and he became a cancer.

UK was reaching peak performance heading into March. I think your desire for more Juzang mins is based on his performance this year and not last year.

Last year wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t deserving of taking mins away from Quickley, Maxey and Hagans. Hagans was turning green from jealousy over Richards and Quickley getting promoted for SEC POY. I would have been fine sitting Hagans for that reason, but Juzang wasn’t lighting basketball world on fire.

That’s a normal freshman year. Cal needs to figure out how to keep that kind of player around instead of the hype machine making them feel like failures.

 

[tls]

It was a crappy year, and I think most people agree that emotion causes us to throw some reality (history) out the window when we're unhappy.

Cal is accused by many posters of playing favorites with 5* players. I questioned some rotations this year, but facts do not back up the emotional accusation that Cal plays favorites based on recruiting services. Recent history (I'm too lazy to research past the last few years) shows that Shail G Alexander passed up Green and Diallo. Both of them were much higher recruits than SGA. The very next year Herro surpassed Green and Quickley. Herro ended up at 32 mins/game while Quickley avgd 18 mins/game & Hagans 28 min/game. Green was down to 17 mins/game before leaving.

Yes, I agree Cal needs to change roster development to improve retention.

No, Cal does not show favoritism to players based on recruiting ranking.

Cal has always used summer & pre-conference schedule to figure out rotations and minutes. Most years he has his top 8 figured out by SEC and will narrow down to 7 by NCAA. This was a crazy year for several reasons, but no summer and lack of normal pre-conference games (COMBINED) with a bad roster makeup led to horrible results.

While I'm on my history high-horse I'll add my thoughts about Juzang. He didn't show me anything that caused me (or most people on this board at the time) to think he deserved minutes over Maxey or Quickley last year. But ... I agree 110% with people who say Cal needs to find way to keep the Juzangs of the world from transferring. The thought that Juzang (or any good player) is a failure when they have a normal freshman season is a narrative that Cal is responsible for changing. Sure, we fans jump on the hype train. Coach is responsible for changing the hype-train. I fault Cal for creating unreal narratives for players who attend UK. I have NEVER faulted Cal for playing the best 5 players. History shows he will put out his best 5 regardless of their recruiting ranking.

Just taking one of your examples. Why did Green start day 1? In the Derby Classic SGA played better than Quade has ever played. I don’t believe for a second that Green ever performed better than Shai in practice or anywhere else.

 

[bballcat4]

Cal showed major favoritism to BJB all year long despite his less than stellar play in 80% of games. There is zero denying that.

There’s also no denying Cal has a history of playing what he thinks are the 5 players that give him best chance if winning.

I agree 110% with you that BB was given long leash, but there was NO ONE to take his minutes. Allen showed a few flashes, but had long stretches of no impact on either end of floor. (Similar to Juzang last year.)

I also believe Allen can be a great contributor the rest of his career at UK. Cal needs to find way to balance roster with Juzangs and Allens of world along with few top tier recruits. Some top recruits will not be as good as advertised (Boston) But, there needs to be solid players waiting in the wings who are valued by the program.

Cal won his only championship because he had a Darius Miller on the team. We need the find way to make sure that type player doesn’t leave. A team of Good veteran players will beat a team with 1-2 excellent freshmen most times. A team with both is nearly unbeatable.

 

[bballcat4]

Just taking one of your examples. Why did Green start day 1? In the Derby Classic SGA played better than Quade has ever played. I don’t believe for a second that Green ever performed better than Shai in practice or anywhere else.

I’m guessing it was based on summer play. No coach figures it out on day 1. Everyone begins with assumptions. Yet, Cal has proven to make adjustments regardless of recruiting rankings. Whitney is another example of Cal reducing his mins by mid Feb.

Roster development is on Cal and I blame him for this year. (I think he would own up to it.) I just don’t think favoritism was the problem. We had a major lack of talent and depth.

 

[Whatsup]

There’s also no denying Cal has a history of playing what he thinks are the 5 players that give him best chance if winning.

I agree 110% with you that BB was given long leash, but there was NO ONE to take his minutes. Allen showed a few flashes, but had long stretches of no impact on either end of floor. (Similar to Juzang last year.)

I also believe Allen can be a great contributor the rest of his career at UK. Cal needs to find way to balance roster with Juzangs and Allens of world along with few top tier recruits. Some top recruits will not be as good as advertised (Boston) But, there needs to be solid players waiting in the wings who are valued by the program.

Cal won his only championship because he had a Darius Miller on the team. We need the find way to make sure that type player doesn’t leave. A team of Good veteran players will beat a team with 1-2 excellent freshmen most times. A team with both is nearly unbeatable.

What year of school was Miller in when Cal took over?

 

[DakariOverWCS20132014]

UK was reaching peak performance heading into March. I think your desire for more Juzang mins is based on his performance this year and not last year.

Last year wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t deserving of taking mins away from Quickley, Maxey and Hagans. Hagans was turning green from jealousy over Richards and Quickley getting promoted for SEC POY. I would have been fine sitting Hagans for that reason, but Juzang wasn’t lighting basketball world on fire.

That’s a normal freshman year. Cal needs to figure out how to keep that kind of player around instead of the hype machine making them feel like failures.

Peak performance in March? Did you watch the Tennessee and Florida games?

 

[HagginHall1999]

What year of school was Miller in when Cal took over?

Soph

 

[cats#1again]

BY the 20th game last year if not soonier. Quickly should have been the PG. Maxey and Juzang at the 2 and 3 with Hagans playing 20 minutes backing up in a 4 man rotation of the 3 spots.
Quickly did fine running the PG when Hagans rested. Hagans play was bad after the first part of the season and he became a cancer.

Wrong.

 

[cats#1again]

Just taking one of your examples. Why did Green start day 1? In the Derby Classic SGA played better than Quade has ever played. I don’t believe for a second that Green ever performed better than Shai in practice or anywhere else.

Go back and watch the early season games that year. Kansas game. Neither player looked good. SGA had to find his own speed and it took a couple of months

 

[seccats04]

It was a crappy year, and I think most people agree that emotion causes us to throw some reality (history) out the window when we're unhappy.

Cal is accused by many posters of playing favorites with 5* players. I questioned some rotations this year, but facts do not back up the emotional accusation that Cal plays favorites based on recruiting services. Recent history (I'm too lazy to research past the last few years) shows that Shail G Alexander passed up Green and Diallo. Both of them were much higher recruits than SGA. The very next year Herro surpassed Green and Quickley. Herro ended up at 32 mins/game while Quickley avgd 18 mins/game & Hagans 28 min/game. Green was down to 17 mins/game before leaving.

Yes, I agree Cal needs to change roster development to improve retention.

No, Cal does not show favoritism to players based on recruiting ranking.

Cal has always used summer & pre-conference schedule to figure out rotations and minutes. Most years he has his top 8 figured out by SEC and will narrow down to 7 by NCAA. This was a crazy year for several reasons, but no summer and lack of normal pre-conference games (COMBINED) with a bad roster makeup led to horrible results.

While I'm on my history high-horse I'll add my thoughts about Juzang. He didn't show me anything that caused me (or most people on this board at the time) to think he deserved minutes over Maxey or Quickley last year. But ... I agree 110% with people who say Cal needs to find way to keep the Juzangs of the world from transferring. The thought that Juzang (or any good player) is a failure when they have a normal freshman season is a narrative that Cal is responsible for changing. Sure, we fans jump on the hype train. Coach is responsible for changing the hype-train. I fault Cal for creating unreal narratives for players who attend UK. I have NEVER faulted Cal for playing the best 5 players. History shows he will put out his best 5 regardless of their recruiting ranking.

Green was ranked 22. SGA was ranked 34. Green was technically a 5 star and SGA a 4 star but you're really reaching here saying Cal is not a bigot against 4 stars when their recruiting ranking difference is 10 spots. SGA was just a few spots from being a 5 star himself.

And Herro played 2G whereas Hagans and Quickley split PG duties so you're comparing apples to oranges here. Herro played more minutes because he basically didn't have a backup once Green left the team midseason.

 

[Trinity45]

It was a crappy year, and I think most people agree that emotion causes us to throw some reality (history) out the window when we're unhappy.

Cal is accused by many posters of playing favorites with 5* players. I questioned some rotations this year, but facts do not back up the emotional accusation that Cal plays favorites based on recruiting services. Recent history (I'm too lazy to research past the last few years) shows that Shail G Alexander passed up Green and Diallo. Both of them were much higher recruits than SGA. The very next year Herro surpassed Green and Quickley. Herro ended up at 32 mins/game while Quickley avgd 18 mins/game & Hagans 28 min/game. Green was down to 17 mins/game before leaving.

Yes, I agree Cal needs to change roster development to improve retention.

No, Cal does not show favoritism to players based on recruiting ranking.

Cal has always used summer & pre-conference schedule to figure out rotations and minutes. Most years he has his top 8 figured out by SEC and will narrow down to 7 by NCAA. This was a crazy year for several reasons, but no summer and lack of normal pre-conference games (COMBINED) with a bad roster makeup led to horrible results.

While I'm on my history high-horse I'll add my thoughts about Juzang. He didn't show me anything that caused me (or most people on this board at the time) to think he deserved minutes over Maxey or Quickley last year. But ... I agree 110% with people who say Cal needs to find way to keep the Juzangs of the world from transferring. The thought that Juzang (or any good player) is a failure when they have a normal freshman season is a narrative that Cal is responsible for changing. Sure, we fans jump on the hype train. Coach is responsible for changing the hype-train. I fault Cal for creating unreal narratives for players who attend UK. I have NEVER faulted Cal for playing the best 5 players. History shows he will put out his best 5 regardless of their recruiting ranking.

You are so wrong have you not watched any games over the last 5 years. I am not going by star rankings but big time recruits good or bad got major minutes while lesser known players whose results on the court where just as good or sometimes even better got less minutes and this year really proves that, BJ Boston and Askew got close to 35 minutes a game yet the results were lack luster at best, while other players sat the bench and we just kept losing. I am not one calling for say Allen to start but Allen was a three pt specialist and in games where teams zoned the cats and Allen would have been an asset Cal left him on the bench and played his valued star freshmen and I use star loosely. I almost believe Cal made certain promises to get some of these kids to come here.

 

[ruppsrunt1]

Johnny juzang hit 10 of 20 3P attempts over the last 11 games in 2020!! that is 50% from 3 over an 11 game span. Only the final game at Florida, with hagans pouting, and the Feb 8 game against tenn, did he get more than 16 minutes. Both games were WINS.

Florida--33 minutes--10 points--4/6fg--2/4 3P
tenn--24 minutes--13 points--4/4fg--3/3 3P--2/2ft

given minutes--he produced from the field.

hagans got far too many minutes.

http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/Statistics/Players/Juzang_Johnnygbg.html

rr

 

[KyFaninNC]

It was a crappy year, and I think most people agree that emotion causes us to throw some reality (history) out the window when we're unhappy.

Cal is accused by many posters of playing favorites with 5* players. I questioned some rotations this year, but facts do not back up the emotional accusation that Cal plays favorites based on recruiting services. Recent history (I'm too lazy to research past the last few years) shows that Shail G Alexander passed up Green and Diallo. Both of them were much higher recruits than SGA. The very next year Herro surpassed Green and Quickley. Herro ended up at 32 mins/game while Quickley avgd 18 mins/game & Hagans 28 min/game. Green was down to 17 mins/game before leaving.

Yes, I agree Cal needs to change roster development to improve retention.

No, Cal does not show favoritism to players based on recruiting ranking.

Cal has always used summer & pre-conference schedule to figure out rotations and minutes. Most years he has his top 8 figured out by SEC and will narrow down to 7 by NCAA. This was a crazy year for several reasons, but no summer and lack of normal pre-conference games (COMBINED) with a bad roster makeup led to horrible results.

While I'm on my history high-horse I'll add my thoughts about Juzang. He didn't show me anything that caused me (or most people on this board at the time) to think he deserved minutes over Maxey or Quickley last year. But ... I agree 110% with people who say Cal needs to find way to keep the Juzangs of the world from transferring. The thought that Juzang (or any good player) is a failure when they have a normal freshman season is a narrative that Cal is responsible for changing. Sure, we fans jump on the hype train. Coach is responsible for changing the hype-train. I fault Cal for creating unreal narratives for players who attend UK. I have NEVER faulted Cal for playing the best 5 players. History shows he will put out his best 5 regardless of their recruiting ranking.

Lots of good things in this post. But you are dead wrong on the favoritism. Cal is all about sending guys to the NBA, nothing more, nothing less. While it’s not strictly about 5 stars v 4 stars, it is 100% draft potential.

Cal simply refuses to let bench guys get much PT. Take Juzang, has he stayed he would have had to play behind Boston. No way in hell would Cal play Juzang more minutes than Boston.

If you can’t see or refuse to see Cal does indeed play favorites, then that is on you. It’s been going on for years.

 

[bballcat4]

What year of school was Miller in when Cal took over?

Agree with you 100%. That’s why i said Cal needs to figure out way to keep/develop the Darius Miller’s of the world. Combining good veteran players with a few excellent freshmen is key to winning big. I’d rather recruit and develop them than get them in transfer portal each year ... but getting veteran players from portal is not end of the world for me.

 

[bballcat4]

You are so wrong have you not watched any games over the last 5 years. I am not going by star rankings but big time recruits good or bad got major minutes while lesser known players whose results on the court where just as good or sometimes even better got less minutes and this year really proves that, BJ Boston and Askew got close to 35 minutes a game yet the results were lack luster at best, while other players sat the bench and we just kept losing. I am not one calling for say Allen to start but Allen was a three pt specialist and in games where teams zoned the cats and Allen would have been an asset Cal left him on the bench and played his valued star freshmen and I use star loosely. I almost believe Cal made certain promises to get some of these kids to come here.

Don’t want to argue, but history is against your theory. I gave plenty examples.

Like most fans, the distribution of mins is not always what I think is best. I agree that Boston got too many undeserved mins. But ... mins have to be taken by a superior player. This is what hs happened in previous years. Unfortunately, there was no one that took mins this year. This roster had lots of problems.

 

[bballcat4]

Johnny juzang hit 10 of 20 3P attempts over the last 11 games in 2020!! that is 50% from 3 over an 11 game span. Only the final game at Florida, with hagans pouting, and the Feb 8 game against tenn, did he get more than 16 minutes. Both games were WINS.

Florida--33 minutes--10 points--4/6fg--2/4 3P
tenn--24 minutes--13 points--4/4fg--3/3 3P--2/2ft

given minutes--he produced from the field.

hagans got far too many minutes.

http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/Statistics/Players/Juzang_Johnnygbg.html

rr

Quickley and Maxey were thriving in their roles playing off the ball. Hagans was the main pg, but was becoming a head case.

If I remember correctly, JJ’s mins ticked up at end of the year. He was getting solid mins in the 7 man rotation. Late Feb and March is bad time to make change at PG, but Cal was finished with Hagans and left him home. They would have needed AH for a deep tourn run, but JJ mins would have been key.

UK has struggled keeping kids on roster from Calif, but his absence really hurt this year.

 

[Trinity45]

Don’t want to argue, but history is against your theory. I gave plenty examples.

Like most fans, the distribution of mins is not always what I think is best. I agree that Boston got too many undeserved mins. But ... mins have to be taken by a superior player. This is what hs happened in previous years. Unfortunately, there was no one that took mins this year. This roster had lots of problems.

What history,

 

[bballcat4]

Lots of good things in this post. But you are dead wrong on the favoritism. Cal is all about sending guys to the NBA, nothing more, nothing less. While it’s not strictly about 5 stars v 4 stars, it is 100% draft potential.

Cal simply refuses to let bench guys get much PT. Take Juzang, has he stayed he would have had to play behind Boston. No way in hell would Cal play Juzang more minutes than Boston.

If you can’t see or refuse to see Cal does indeed play favorites, then that is on you. It’s been going on for years.

Agree with you about Cal pushing NBA draft. But many argue this causes him not to play best players, which does not align with reality.

Again, I agree with you 110% and think this creates narrative that a player like Juzang has failed, thus they leave when they don’t if they don’t go pro. I understand how pushing NBA helps Cal recruit because it is every player's dream. The recruiting pitch needs to change. Shooters and experience will win the tourn. Many of these type of players will not be top NBA picks.

Boston (and maybe Clarke) will go 1st round on potential alone. Neither did much to improve our team.

 

[bballcat4]

What history,

Dude, I can’t help you if you stick your head in sand on history of 4* players getting mins over 5 * players. Maybe you weren’t watching games yet when Cal sat Diallo and Whitney. 4 * player took mins took mins from Hagans and Quickley their freshman year. They returned and Quickley benefited greatly from it.

If you have a predetermined agenda then facts are not your friend.

I don’t have an agenda. I want UK to return to top dog and believe this requires Cal to change. Playing the players that give us best chance to win has never been a problem for Cal.

 

[Dead Cat Bounce]

I almost believe Cal made certain promises to get some of these kids to come here.

I am Cal fan; I hope he stays and rights this ship. But it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that Cal implicitly or explicitly promises playing time. Here’s the thing, though, in a recruiting landscape where other schools are bribing recruits, making kickbacks to handlers, and recruiting with sex workers, I’ve made my peace with Cal promising playing time. His weak point over the past few years has been keeping bench players happy long enough for them to develop into starters, and maybe the transfer portal will help provide a remedy for that. In the meantime, I don’t see another system that offers more consistent success.

 

[Trinity45]

Dude, I can’t help you if you stick your head in sand on history of 4* players getting mins over 5 * players. Maybe you weren’t watching games yet when Cal sat Diallo and Whitney. 4 * player took mins took mins from Hagans and Quickley their freshman year. They returned and Quickley benefited greatly from it.

If you have a predetermined agenda then facts are not your friend.

I don’t have an agenda. I want UK to return to top dog and believe this requires Cal to change. Playing the players that give us best chance to win has never been a problem for Cal.

You gave me two examples that were weak at best, the difference between those players overall ranking was not much. And I don't think Cal promised any of those kids any thing special, but there are certain players that seem to get more minutes despite their lack of production because they are deemed to be NBA bound. But go back to Baker who left us, he saw limited minutes yet he was a great on ball defender which debunks the can't play defense and a better shooter than most who played more minutes. Hell your first line was you were too lazy to to the research so all of this is just conjecture on your part.

 

[bballcat4]

I am Cal fan; I hope he stays and rights this ship. But it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that Cal implicitly or explicitly promises playing time. Here’s the thing, though, in a recruiting landscape where other schools are bribing recruits, making kickbacks to handlers, and recruiting with sex workers, I’ve made my peace with that Cal promising playing time. His weak point over the past few years has been keeping bench players happy long enough for them to develop into starters, and maybe the transfer portal will help provide a remedy for that. In the meantime, I don’t see another system that offers more consistent success.

Good post! I disagree with promising PT because he brings in top 1-2 class each year and the sheer number of recruits implies no guarantees.

Where we probably agree is the implication of “come to UK and we’ll get you to NBA faster than anyone.” This narrative makes players feel like failures (and letting fan base down) if they’re not ready.

Like you, I trust Cal. But, I’m not blind to our current problem of complete roster turnover every year, then blaming “I have youngest team” for the problem.

My OP is not “everything is great at UK.” My point is that ... Cal playing 5 players that give us best chance to win is least of our problems.

 

[willievic]

Lots of good things in this post. But you are dead wrong on the favoritism. Cal is all about sending guys to the NBA, nothing more, nothing less. While it’s not strictly about 5 stars v 4 stars, it is 100% draft potential.

Cal simply refuses to let bench guys get much PT. Take Juzang, has he stayed he would have had to play behind Boston. No way in hell would Cal play Juzang more minutes than Boston.

If you can’t see or refuse to see Cal does indeed play favorites, then that is on you. It’s been going on for years.

A lot of players are really good college players, but no way their going to make the NBA. Being a good college player, versus a player who is not a good college player, but has a lot of potential to make the NBA, Cal will play the one with the potential to make the NBA. This year was a perfect example. Boston was Cal's favorite, even though he wasn't a really good college player. If Cal had put him on the bench sometime, he would have been a much better player for UK. He was only interested in one thing, impressing the NBA, to hell with UK.

OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!

 

[bballcat4]

You gave me two examples that were weak at best, the difference between those players overall ranking was not much. And I don't think Cal promised any of those kids any thing special, but there are certain players that seem to get more minutes despite their lack of production because they are deemed to be NBA bound. But go back to Baker who left us, he saw limited minutes yet he was a great on ball defender which debunks the can't play defense and a better shooter than most who played more minutes. Hell your first line was you were too lazy to to the research so all of this is just conjecture on your part.

I don’t question my “lazy” research ;-) But, I don’t think my memory is that bad ... or selective.

I’ll list a few that you may think deserved more mins. Feel free to add more, but who should they have passed in the rotation? Baker was injured for much of his time at UK. Who do you think he should have passed in rotation? The rest was going to be spot time based on in game shot making. Now transferring to 3rd team!
Willis - Stayed with the program and ended up being solid contributor last 2 years. Who should he passed in rotation his earlier years?
Hawkins - Became a stud reserve at UK. We need a Hawkins type player on the team. Again, my preference is to recruit and develop instead of using portal to get this kind of player. But, who should ha had taken mins from?

Cal has had 85% of roster made up of 5 * players. (That’s a guess due to lazy research ;-) He has always used summer and preconference schedule to let players earn their time, then he settles in to a 7-8 man rotation.

Would I be fine if he used more players in specific in-game situations? Yes
Do I think he plays favoritism? No

 

[bballcat4]

A lot of players are really good college players, but no way their going to make the NBA. Being a good college player, versus a player who is not a good college player, but has a lot of potential to make the NBA, Cal will play the one with the potential to make the NBA. This year was a perfect example. Boston was Cal's favorite, even though he wasn't a really good college player. If Cal had put him on the bench sometime, he would have been a much better player for UK. He was only interested in one thing, impressing the NBA, to hell with UK.

OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!

Cal has benched (or reduced mins) of several players who were on preseason draft boards. Some returned and got better, and some left.

No other player took Boston’s mins from him. Allen showed flashes, but struggled mightily in some games. He’s a Ky kid and I think he is the exact kind of player we need to balance our roster. Plus, I think his shooting gives him chance at next level.

It is Cal’s fault that there was no player(s) to challenge for mins. Juzang would have made big difference allowing Mintz to play PG from beginning of season.

The bench (reduced playing time) is a real motivator. There was not enough good players this year to make that a real possibility.

Peace

 

[kennyskywalker34]

Wrong.

Nope

 

[willievic]

Cal has benched (or reduced mins) of several players who were on preseason draft boards. Some returned and got better, and some left.

No other player took Boston’s mins from him. Allen showed flashes, but struggled mightily in some games. He’s a Ky kid and I think he is the exact kind of player we need to balance our roster. Plus, I think his shooting gives him chance at next level.

It is Cal’s fault that there was no player(s) to challenge for mins. Juzang would have made big difference allowing Mintz to play PG from beginning of season.

The bench (reduced playing time) is a real motivator. There was not enough good players this year to make that a real possibility.

Peace

I'm not wanting to argue, and I don't think you are. Both of our points are valid. I feel sometimes you may have to bench a player, to make him better. A player knows when you don't have confidence in him, and I think that was the case with Allen. Boston could miss and miss, but stay in the game. When Allen missed, he was on the bench. I think Boston will be a good NBA player, but I don't believe Allen will. I hope I'm wrong about Allen

OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!

 

[TheOtherGreatOne]

I'm not wanting to argue, and I don't think you are. Both of our points are valid. I feel sometimes you may have to bench a player, to make him better. A player knows when you don't have confidence in him, and I think that was the case with Allen. Boston could miss and miss, but stay in the game. When Allen missed, he was on the bench. I think Boston will be a good NBA player, but I don't believe Allen will. I hope I'm wrong about Allen

OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!

From what you seen of Boston last year, what in the world would lead you to believe that he will be a good NBA player. He was a terrible college player. Do you think that the NBA is weaker than College ?

 

[willievic]

From what you seen of Boston last year, what in the world would lead you to believe that he will be a good NBA player. He was a terrible college player. Do you think that the NBA is weaker than College ?

I think the game is completely different. How many white players do you see in the NBA, that aren't at least 6'10". There are a few exceptions, but not many.
Boston is long for a guard, and very athletic. He is not a good shooter, but the NBA can fix that. He has good speed, vertical ability, and is quick. They don't play zone in the NBA, but good coaches in college play zone, as well as "Man to man." I think the NBA is a better judge of talent then you or me. Let's wait and see where he goes in the draft. The NBA looks for two things, primarily. Length and athletic ability. They can't teach those two, but they can teach everything else.

OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!

 

[Mad Max]

Cal showed major favoritism to BJB all year long despite his less than stellar play in 80% of games. There is zero denying that.

Who behind him played more stellar than him in those 80% of games?

 

[3kidsandme]

Cal is not promising playing time y’all are ate up. Literally dozens of elite recruits have cited Cals pitch is I don’t promise you anything UK is not for everyone. We’ve literally had thread after thread complaining about this pitch in the past. Now it’s Cal promises playing time and plays favorites. Every year the goal posts move. If Allen was more consistent he would have played over Boston. No Boston wasn’t good but Allen wasn’t good either. If you have two struggling wings your gonna go with the one that can at least dribble a little bit and that has the pedigree to hopefully get going. Cal plays the players that he thinks has the highest ceiling to be the best by March. If he played favorites guys like Herro Shai Quickley Booker Ulis Liggins Miller Hawkins Willis would have never played prominent roles.

 

[AllBall]

There’s also no denying Cal has a history of playing what he thinks are the 5 players that give him best chance if winning.

I agree 110% with you that BB was given long leash, but there was NO ONE to take his minutes. Allen showed a few flashes, but had long stretches of no impact on either end of floor. (Similar to Juzang last year.)

I also believe Allen can be a great contributor the rest of his career at UK. Cal needs to find way to balance roster with Juzangs and Allens of world along with few top tier recruits. Some top recruits will not be as good as advertised (Boston) But, there needs to be solid players waiting in the wings who are valued by the program.

Cal won his only championship because he had a Darius Miller on the team. We need the find way to make sure that type player doesn’t leave. A team of Good veteran players will beat a team with 1-2 excellent freshmen most times. A team with both is nearly unbeatable.

Some people don't wanna hear this but one of the biggest factors is signing the best talent from KY. Guys like Miller, Hawkins, and Willis provided Cal with good talent but more importantly experienced leadership. Recruits from within KY are more likely to stick around.

 

[Cats_2010]

Who behind him played more stellar than him in those 80% of games?

Not really the point. My comment was directed to the OP who claimed that cal did not show favoritism to his 5 star recruits. BJB was no better than Allen at any point this year. Who played more, who had a leash 5 times longer than the other? How much PT would Khalil Whitney have gotten anywhere else since he had literally zero basketball skills. We were 12 games into the season before cal finally threw in the towel on him. 12 games fora player who was probably the worst collegiate player I have ever seen.

 

[bballcat4]

Not really the point. My comment was directed to the OP who claimed that cal did not show favoritism to his 5 star recruits. BJB was no better than Allen at any point this year. Who played more, who had a leash 5 times longer than the other?

I think they are the same point. We all agree this year was frustrating to everyone. Cal's history and many player's history at UK is they start to shine in Feb.

My posts related to Cal point out I think he is responsible for roster management and things need to change in this area. I think he needs to change the narrative about coming to UK and going to NBA. Players are not a failure if they stay 3-4 years. He's the only one who can change that narrative.

But ... he's always played the players he thinks will win regardless of their pre-season hype or pre-season NBA draft status.

Boston -vs- Allen is the gas for most of this current fire. Boston struggled! We've had lots of players struggle, but Boston struggled on a losing team! This made it 10x worse. The fact Boston (who struggled) was our best player caused him to draw the emotional ire of our fans. Allen could not take any minutes from Boston. (I think Allen is going to be great player for us.) But, Cal gave him opportunities and he just couldn't become "The Guy." We needed someone to be "the guy" on this year's team and Boston was the closest thing we had. I liked Boston, Allen and Mintz on floor at same time.

I blame Cal for a lot of things. I just don't think playing "favorites" is one of them.

 

[turkeywildturkey]

Cal showed major favoritism to BJB all year long despite his less than stellar play in 80% of games. There is zero denying that.

The difference here is that Cal’s with these players in practice everyday, and you are not. So, who knows better who to play, you or Cal. I’m going with Cal.

 

[Cats_2010]

The difference here is that Cal’s with these players in practice everyday, and you are not. So, who knows better who to play, you or Cal. I’m going with Cal.

Who freaking cares about practice. If you play like **** in games, which I did see, a player doesn’t deserves 30 min a game. BJ might have looked like MJ in practice but that didn’t do squat for the team but cal rode him anyway. Cal sacrificed this team trying to get BJ’s draft stock to stop plummeting. Didn’t work as BJ went from top 5 to lower first round and I think any GM who takes him then is a moron. The kid shouldn’t be drafted period at this stage. Keep on with your trust in Cal’s practice evaluations though, that’s rich

 

[GH_UKBBN92]

UK was reaching peak performance heading into March. I think your desire for more Juzang mins is based on his performance this year and not last year.

Last year wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t deserving of taking mins away from Quickley, Maxey and Hagans. Hagans was turning green from jealousy over Richards and Quickley getting promoted for SEC POY. I would have been fine sitting Hagans for that reason, but Juzang wasn’t lighting basketball world on fire.

That’s a normal freshman year. Cal needs to figure out how to keep that kind of player around instead of the hype machine making them feel like failures.

Not being difficult but Are we now saying that success of other players ran Juzang off?? Yet success of others is what brought him here so he could receive that same type of success. Richards, Hagans and Quickley were all multi year players who developed at different rates over their careers and our fan base complains we don’t have multi year players even though we have. Maybe an argument for more but juzang played quite a bit in his freshman year for a multi year player. Was there actual homesickness or people contacting his family on behalf of UCLA to get him to come back. Paying Cal $9 million to run the program we want championships and wins sometime tough decisions are made that we don’t know the whole story and sometimes kids leave because they don’t want the pressure of UK or don’t want to face and deal with adversity for the first time in their lives as a basketball player. Kids today are different than 10, 20, 30 + years ago.