Grady needs to run point

[Runt#1969]

I just cannot go along with thinking anything but getting our team back to where everyone knows the roles they are responsible for and doing it. This isn't particle physics.

Grady needs to move more to get open shots. He had to be dog tired after the amazing run to beat LSU and Bama. Give him a break for that. But him AND MINTZ both need to work hard to get that open shot, because they can make the deep shot and THAT is what makes Kentucky deadly this year.

Remember that the knock on us early on was NOT having any three shot point makers. Well, no. We got them. They just all need to work extra hard to get open enough to make them.

Everyone has an important role on this team.

Wheeler - lead the team, on ball pressure and establishing / maintaining up tempo.

TyTy - mixing in scoring with ball handling and smart, smooth play. Mr. Intanglible.

Grady - Hitting the 3 ball isn't all he does. Good defense, good at driving to the rim. But his primary importance is scoring for us. No doubt about it. We need his scoring punch.

Brooks - Hit the catch and shoot mid range, stay active on both offense and defense. Defend and rebound. Stay within himself.

Oscar - Just keep on being himself.

Mintz - great to have him both offensively and defensively. Love his shot to fall just like Grady's. When him and TyTy hit 3's, it makes it really tough to beat Kentucky.
Toppin - AWESOME bounce and athletic prowess. REALLY impressive defensively, and has come around offensively as well.

Mintz and Toppin have been crucial to have coming off the bench all year. I would really like to see Hopkins, Ware, or Collins (or how about all three?!?) come in and make a meaningful impact when they get their chance, even if they only get 5 or 6 minutes, it can make all the difference in a game.

Mainly, just get back to everyone being comfortable with and knowing everyone's role in the machine we got going this year.

It's an unstoppable machine when it's at 100% and firing on all cylinders.

Go Big Blue !

 

[LowCountryCat]

Some of y'all don't watch the games or it's over your head.

I watched the games. Show me, ON VIDEO, where what I said was incorrect.

 

[LowCountryCat]

This is such a bad take.

If you think Grady struggles to get open threes now, wait till we run your offense where we "Don't need anyone else to get to the rim because we have Oscar".

Grady is 2-0 in those games at point.

 

[LowCountryCat]

I know you think you're correcting everyone on the internet. I have a feeling you were a hall monitor.

I'M correcting everyone? This is MY thread, Skippy. You came in here throwing your dick around, I'm just stepping on it and you're getting pissy. Get over yourself.

 

[KYWildCatsFan]

Grady is 2-0 in those games at point.

That's great and not even close to acknowledging the point of what I said. We'd be 0-2 if our guards refused to get into the lane.

Even if we took Wheeler out, our guards still need to get penetration.

 

[kb22stang]

1. He's careful with the ball. Wheeler is too reckless and now there's a book on him; he can't get the easy layups he was getting early in the season. Plus, Wheeler is getting direct drives into his face and he can't defend because of his lack of height.
2. Gives him more opportunities to shoot. Against Bama and LSU he got a lot of runners and floaters. He might not get as many threes but he barely got any standing around at Arky.
3. Gives TyTy and Wheeler a chance to move without the ball. TyTy can spell him now and then. Should free Oscar up more as well.
4. Grady has emerged as the leader of the team. He's even doing some coaching alongside Cal during timeouts. He should be running the offense.

Yes, because Grady looked like a true pg against the LSU pressure.


You people need to stop overreacting to game/play. Wheeler is the key to our high scoring offense. Sure, he's going to have some TO's but he pushes the pace relentlessly.

 

[kb22stang]

Grady is 2-0 at point this year. We're already on the edge of a 3 seed. Do you smoke weed?

You run around being so arrogant, but you don't understand the basics of basketball. Stop acting like you're a boss and maybe you'll learn something. Grady is a classic 2, period. He isn't a point guard. Wheeler averages over 2 assists per turnover, that number isn't bad when you're constantly pushing the tempo.

 

[ImUTGagain]

I watched the games. Show me, ON VIDEO, where what I said was incorrect.

I'm supposed to explain the game of basketball to YOU? Lol no thanks. I will let you know you can breathe in and out of your nose as well. Hope that helps

(lol means laughing out loud)

 

[LowCountryCat]

That's great and not even close to acknowledging the point of what I said. We'd be 0-2 if our guards refused to get into the lane.

Even if we took Wheeler out, our guards still need to get penetration.

Wheeler gets penetration but now he is starting to throw up prayers and getting them swatted.

 

[LowCountryCat]

You run around being so arrogant, but you don't understand the basics of basketball. Stop acting like you're a boss and maybe you'll learn something. Grady is a classic 2, period. He isn't a point guard. Wheeler averages over 2 assists per turnover, that number isn't bad when you're constantly pushing the tempo.

Your point is irrelevant and your emo is childish. Sorry you're so angry, maybe your life will get better if you stop kicking the dog.

 

[LowCountryCat]

I'm supposed to explain the game of basketball to YOU? Lol no thanks. I will let you know you can breathe in and out of your nose as well. Hope that helps

(lol means laughing out loud)

Thanks for admitting you can't back up your assertions. NEXT.

 

[LowCountryCat]

Yes, because Grady looked like a true pg against the LSU pressure.


You people need to stop overreacting to game/play. Wheeler is the key to our high scoring offense. Sure, he's going to have some TO's but he pushes the pace relentlessly.

I don't care what he 'looks like,' emo. He was EFFECTIVE and he moved and scored as opposed to standing in the corner picking his nose.

 

[turkeywildturkey]

Do us all a favor and let Cal do the coaching.

1. He's careful with the ball. Wheeler is too reckless and now there's a book on him; he can't get the easy layups he was getting early in the season. Plus, Wheeler is getting direct drives into his face and he can't defend because of his lack of height.
2. Gives him more opportunities to shoot. Against Bama and LSU he got a lot of runners and floaters. He might not get as many threes but he barely got any standing around at Arky.
3. Gives TyTy and Wheeler a chance to move without the ball. TyTy can spell him now and then. Should free Oscar up more as well.
4. Grady has emerged as the leader of the team. He's even doing some coaching alongside Cal during timeouts. He should be running the offense.

 

[DanStewart]

1. He's careful with the ball. Wheeler is too reckless and now there's a book on him; he can't get the easy layups he was getting early in the season. Plus, Wheeler is getting direct drives into his face and he can't defend because of his lack of height.
2. Gives him more opportunities to shoot. Against Bama and LSU he got a lot of runners and floaters. He might not get as many threes but he barely got any standing around at Arky.
3. Gives TyTy and Wheeler a chance to move without the ball. TyTy can spell him now and then. Should free Oscar up more as well.
4. Grady has emerged as the leader of the team. He's even doing some coaching alongside Cal during timeouts. He should be running the offense.

Agree except replace Wheeler with Toppin. I liked the look against Bama and LSU

 

[KYFOSSIL]

Well putting someone at PG that cant get to the rim would be problematic in itself.

He got to the rim plenty at LSU or was it Alabama. I do think he would be a defensive liability as a pg

 

[LowCountryCat]

He got to the rim plenty at LSU or was it Alabama. I do think he would be a defensive liability as a pg

Fair point, but I saw Notae on Saturday driving the ball right up Wheeler's nose, and he's too short to block the shots. In the tournament they did the same thing to Ulis.

 

[RalphDaltonFan]

Grady and Mintz need to start realizing that it's not acceptable for their combined 11 yrs of CBB experience to sit out tough road games and be bystanders. Mintz did a fine job filling in his role while starters were out but this team isn't nearly as good without the starters, so go back to your role and take it on. Grady is fantastic in Rupp and then kind of hit/miss or completely absent in road games/neutral site games away from Rupp.

This is time of year where we've seen Dom Hawkins play a level so strong that you could've made a strong case for him replacing Briscoe as a starter. He knew it was coming to an end. Grady and Mintz no showed a big time game. Hear the talk of minutes....well earlier in the year it was talking of why Grady wasn't playing more.....so it all evens out and this time of year a basketball player is in such shape that shouldn't matter--TV timeouts are enough to get their legs.

 

[EliteBlue]

It was the first game in 2 weeks with everyone back playing their normal position. It is expected that it may take a week of being back together and practicing at full strength to get back to the flow they had after they were forced to play different roles and a different style for a couple games.

 

[K_TIME]

Grady and Mintz need to start realizing that it's not acceptable for their combined 11 yrs of CBB experience to sit out tough road games and be bystanders. Mintz did a fine job filling in his role while starters were out but this team isn't nearly as good without the starters, so go back to your role and take it on. Grady is fantastic in Rupp and then kind of hit/miss or completely absent in road games/neutral site games away from Rupp.

This is time of year where we've seen Dom Hawkins play a level so strong that you could've made a strong case for him replacing Briscoe as a starter. He knew it was coming to an end. Grady and Mintz no showed a big time game. Hear the talk of minutes....well earlier in the year it was talking of why Grady wasn't playing more.....so it all evens out and this time of year a basketball player is in such shape that shouldn't matter--TV timeouts are enough to get their legs.

I just think we are making this way to simplistic that Grady just stands there.

1. Teams are going to switch everything on Grady, overplay screen action, etc... Outside of putting the ball in his hands with a high ball screen and he's going to have to shoot some off the dribble when he gets a big switching out on him and can't react to Grady's shot from deep. What else are you going to do to generate more shots to him?
2. I hate that it boils down to this....but when Wheeler is in the game, if we don't get a fast break open look....in the halfcourt teams are going to lay off Wheeler, go under ball screens, etc... If Cal is going to play Wheeler 32+ minutes....teams are going to nearly force Wheeler to shoot it more....and a ton more of those 16 footers that he struggles with.
3. My main wish is we'd play a ton more of TyTy at PG, Mintz at SG, Grady at SF....to the tune of 25 minutes a game of that lineup. And cut Wheeler down to about 20 mpg to spell TyTy and push pace with the reserves. I think as NCAA is more halfcourt sets....that is the lineup you need to maximize our shooting and playmaking and I'd bet it generates more openings for Grady to shoot.

 

[LowCountryCat]

Everybody that is saying TyTy at point needs to remember, he's STILL INJURED.

We want to win tomorrow.

Playing Grady primarily at point will give us the best chance. TyTy can still be effective.

 

[Catsfan29]

LowCountry Cat: Ya'll don't know anything about basketball!

Also LCC: Let's have Grady start over a Cousy Award finalist!

 

[UKWildcats1987]

It doesn't matter what anyone on here says, Wheeler is going to be the guy at PG with Tyty playing there some as well.

Ole Miss is crap, we should have just rested Tyty & Wheeler last Saturday and then tomorrow and brought them back against FL as Tyty is clearly not 100%.

Grady didn't do bad handling the ball the two games he was asked to do so, and if teams press us we can obviously bring in Wheeler and Tyty to shred it if we so choose. I am ok with him handling the ball more if it means he can drive and get some floaters up...I'd rather see that than Wheeler shooting jumpers and Brooks shooting 18-19 footers. (Same with Oscar on the jumpers honestly...all these guys need to learn to move in a few feet!)

 

[phyrekat]

Did you know there is around 1 million high school basketball teams in the United States. That is girls and boys combined. There is 1 million head coaches right there. Pretty sure there is probably an assistant with that so there is 2 million right there. Just in High School alone there is 2 million more qualified than the OP.
Stick to your day job buddy.
You have no idea what your talking about.

There are only about 130,000 total schools in the US, of which less than 28,000 are high schools.

 

[BigCat241]

He was exposed on defense. Do you not know how to read?

Are you ok? Let me repeat what you said exactly again... "He was unable to get to the rim against Arky. He's exposed." Now a normal person would take away thinking you would be talking about how he was exposed on offense right?

 

[phyrekat]

I just cannot go along with thinking anything but getting our team back to where everyone knows the roles they are responsible for and doing it. This isn't particle physics.

Grady needs to move more to get open shots. He had to be dog tired after the amazing run to beat LSU and Bama. Give him a break for that. But him AND MINTZ both need to work hard to get that open shot, because they can make the deep shot and THAT is what makes Kentucky deadly this year.

Remember that the knock on us early on was NOT having any three shot point makers. Well, no. We got them. They just all need to work extra hard to get open enough to make them.

What I don't comprehend is why none of the teams we play seem to have a lot of problems getting shooters open for 3-point looks multiple times a game. It seems like even the teams that have shot poorly against us from 3 have missed a lot of open looks. Is it just me or are we the only team that can't seem to get many open looks for our shooters?

 

[Catsfan29]

What I don't comprehend is why none of the teams we play seem to have a lot of problems getting shooters open for 3-point looks multiple times a game. It seems like even the teams that have shot poorly against us from 3 have missed a lot of open looks. Is it just me or are we the only team that can't seem to get many open looks for our shooters?

I think we do though and the Arkansas game was just an outlier. Arky stuck to Grady like glue but they also have one of the best defenses in the country. Grady needs to be more confident when he has opportunities to shoot. He can be passive at times and UK can't have that come tourney time.

 

[fatguy87]

What I don't comprehend is why none of the teams we play seem to have a lot of problems getting shooters open for 3-point looks multiple times a game. It seems like even the teams that have shot poorly against us from 3 have missed a lot of open looks. Is it just me or are we the only team that can't seem to get many open looks for our shooters?

We don't get as many wide open 3's as opponents because we don't prioritize 3 point shooting. Our three point shooting rate has been in the bottom 1/3 of college basketball for like all of Cal's tenure. It's a feature of his offensive preferences.

 

[BBNinSC_rivals62411]

I'M correcting everyone? This is MY thread, Skippy. You came in here throwing your dick around, I'm just stepping on it and you're getting pissy. Get over yourself.

Ok. I’ll make you a deal. If you’ll be smarter, I’ll be nicer

 

[LowCountryCat]

It doesn't matter what anyone on here says, Wheeler is going to be the guy at PG with Tyty playing there some as well.

Ole Miss is crap, we should have just rested Tyty & Wheeler last Saturday and then tomorrow and brought them back against FL as Tyty is clearly not 100%.

Grady didn't do bad handling the ball the two games he was asked to do so, and if teams press us we can obviously bring in Wheeler and Tyty to shred it if we so choose. I am ok with him handling the ball more if it means he can drive and get some floaters up...I'd rather see that than Wheeler shooting jumpers and Brooks shooting 18-19 footers. (Same with Oscar on the jumpers honestly...all these guys need to learn to move in a few feet!)

Exactly. With Grady handling the ball, the defense would actually have to guard him, and he would have more room to find the others.

 

[LowCountryCat]

Are you ok? Let me repeat what you said exactly again... "He was unable to get to the rim against Arky. He's exposed." Now a normal person would take away thinking you would be talking about how he was exposed on offense right?

I referred to his defense in my OP. But he was exposed on offense too. They just play off him and clog the middle. You want to parse words because you have no argument. Explain how Wheeler didn't get to the rim Saturday. I'll give you a hint if you get stumped.

 

[LowCountryCat]

Ok. I’ll make you a deal. If you’ll be smarter, I’ll be nicer

You be as big a dick as you want, I'm sure you can't help it anyway. No more than I can help being smarter than you.

 

[BigCat241]

I referred to his defense in my OP. But he was exposed on offense too. They just play off him and clog the middle. You want to parse words because you have no argument. Explain how Wheeler didn't get to the rim Saturday. I'll give you a hint if you get stumped.

Lol, putting someone who isnt athletic enough to blow by most SEC point guards who isnt great at creating for others or for even himself at PG is such a great idea, right?

 

[LowCountryCat]

Lol, putting someone who isnt athletic enough to blow by most SEC point guards who isnt great at creating for others or for even himself at PG is such a great idea, right?

The record speaks for itself, he's 2-0 as a starting PG here. How many points did Grady score against LSU? He's only run point twice this year, his stats should be easy for even someone as thick as you to find.

Are you even a fan? I expected more than this from you.

 

[BigCat241]

The record speaks for itself, he's 2-0 as a starting PG here. How many points did Grady score against LSU? He's only run point twice this year, his stats should be easy for even someone as thick as you to find.

Are you even a fan? I expected more than this from you.

Thats cool and all, but when you have Wheeler and Tyty available, those are both better options than Grady at PG by far. The gaslighting to question my fandom was cute, ill give you that, but your gonna have to change it up as I see thats one of your go-tos here.

 

[G-Bloo]

I think, this team was built by recruiting the right talent and personnel to fit to compliment the motion offense.
Grady helped running the point was a ‘bandaid situation/ solution’. Yes, we won those 2 games @ home And that is 2 data points. We need to do what was built and practiced rest of the ~ 20 games ( lot of data points)
Grady will be fine and he knows his role ( IDK, curious, why these options are not discussed after Kansas game)
There maybe some adjustments to be made as a continuel improvement to have Grady open, maybe a ‘Spain action’ that was run by 2019-20 team (IQ benefitted a-lot). IMO, both Wheeler and TyTy need to be on the floor and both have pros and cons but they compliment each other..

 

[Nuke99m.]

On Feb 4th the OP said "Grady and Mintz are not PGs. TyTy is injured and has missed 1 1/2 games. Wheeler missed a game. Without those TWO we won't make a run"

 

[LowCountryCat]

Thats cool and all, but when you have Wheeler and Tyty available, those are both better options than Grady at PG by far. The gaslighting to question my fandom was cute, ill give you that, but your gonna have to change it up as I see thats one of your go-tos here.

No, I rarely question people's fanhood unless they show a gross ignorance of games in the last week or so, or if they say stupid things like "Mashburn was overrated lol". You clearly haven't watched any. Wrong again.

 

[LowCountryCat]

On Feb 4th the OP said "Grady and Mintz are not PGs. TyTy is injured and has missed 1 1/2 games. Wheeler missed a game. Without those TWO we won't make a run"

Yep and I stand by that statement. But right now we'll be a 4 seed if we lose any more games, and against Ole Miss and Florida we can get by with Grady at point and let TyTy heal.

 

[Elliott Tim]

He needs to be 'tweaked' to remind him to move. I suggest giving him the point responsibility for at least part of the game to get him motivated.

I wish you the best life has to offer.
May your days be one's of happiness

 

[kybassfan]

1. He's careful with the ball. Wheeler is too reckless and now there's a book on him; he can't get the easy layups he was getting early in the season. Plus, Wheeler is getting direct drives into his face and he can't defend because of his lack of height.
2. Gives him more opportunities to shoot. Against Bama and LSU he got a lot of runners and floaters. He might not get as many threes but he barely got any standing around at Arky.
3. Gives TyTy and Wheeler a chance to move without the ball. TyTy can spell him now and then. Should free Oscar up more as well.
4. Grady has emerged as the leader of the team. He's even doing some coaching alongside Cal during timeouts. He should be running the offense.

Real rocket scientist here. Let’s take a Cousy Award finalist and bench him.