Love Cason Wallace but...
- Thread starter revcort
- Start date
Your point guard being 5’8 and not being able to hit an open 3 is a problem. It doesn’t matter how fast he is, or how creative with the ball. Legit teams(which i’m sorry but none of these teams in the bahamas were playing us like they will in the SEC) will back way off and dare him to shoot it unless they’re just dumb like UNC was when we played them.
THAT SAID, by the end of last season he was at least shooting respectably and expecting some degree of off season improvement isn’t unreasonable so i’ll just wait and see. I’m hoping he was just cold. He’s still got 3 more months to work on it. But you will not win a title with your point guard shooting the 3 the way he did in the bahamas.
This is a common misconception. No “legit” teams ever do this unless the guy is near. Ben Simmons level type of shooter.
I don’t know what sport you’re watching but plenty of teams defended wheeler that way last season. They did it to archie goodwin. they did it to isaiah briscoe.
It’s also compounded by the fact they all know Cal has a history of being super conservative when it comes to the 3 point shot as it is. We had a stretch of about 4 years in a row where we finished close to or below 300th in 3pt attempts. A lot of times other teams do not respect the 3 against us period let alone a 5’8 guy shooting sub 30%. Wheeler’s gotta be able to hit them.
Now, i’m not on the “bench him” train yet. He’s a senior. He does a lot of other things well. And i don’t like depending too heavily on any one freshman, especially at point guard. So i’d rather give wheeler a chance to show he can continue to improve where he needs to than just throw early games once again hoping a freshman will be the answer at the end.
No, no teams will pack the paint and just allow him open looks. Ive done this before, someone said thats how we lost to St. Peters. I went back and watched the full game 2nd half (torture right?) and they actually were literally picking him up at full court and almost trapping him. Just right now I skimmed through the 2H of the UT loss in the SECT. Zeigler had his feet on the halfcourt SEC logo most of the time defending him.
Right, but don't speak of the facts of those games. I think there was actually 1 game all last year when the team actually backed off him and dared him to shoot.
And, as I've said many times, only to be ignored entirely and never addressed, Wheeler is not the reason we lost that St Peter's game. We lost that game because our 2 wings couldn't make open shots.
TyTy shot 2-10
Brooks shot 2-7
Grady shot 1-9 (1-7 on 3s)
Wheeler shot 4-8 (1-2 on 3s), had 6 assists, and finished with 11, which was 2nd highest scoring behind Oscar.
I didn’t think wheeler was that bad in the st. peter’s game. He had a lot of turnover but some of them were more a product of just bad offense all around. They tried to post up oscar against a 2-3 zone late in the game. Wheeler did what he was told to do and tried to force it to oscar and it just didn’t work. Ball sailed out of bounds and wheeler got charged with a turnover.
That whole game was a **** show tbh. We just weren’t prepared.
That said i think y’all have got blinders on when it comes to wheelers shooting and height not being a weakness. One of them is fixable though and not that far off from being a non issue imo. We don’t have to play dumb about it. Which seems to be what you guys are doing solely for the sake of “supporting the team” or some other brain dead homer bs. Done wasting my time with now. As a parting gift here are some pom poms. Enjoy. Yay team.
Wheeler will be the downfall as this team if he’s given the opportunity.
Maybe so, but your response is probably more typical of UK fans who post here... just an opinion with no substance or real rebuttal. Just attacks and barbs and one liners. Now that's typical.
It's okay to admit wheeler needs to be a much much better shooter.
It's also okay to admit that wheeler needs to keep himself under control better.
That's the 2 issues with wheeler, he can get out of control, he also is a pretty bad shooter for a guard.
Doesn't mean we don't like him! He does other stuff well, also seems like a great kid
It's also okay to admit that wheeler needs to keep himself under control better.
That's the 2 issues with wheeler, he can get out of control, he also is a pretty bad shooter for a guard.
Doesn't mean we don't like him! He does other stuff well, also seems like a great kid
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Lmao @ Mitch McConnell keeping a basketball player from the KY program.
Man some of you way off in the imaginary world let me tell ya.
5’7” maybe 5’8”. Lacks the fitness to run 40 games. Is an awful shooter. Has other limitations due to size. Athleticism isn’t there. These are facts. No way cal lets Wallace watch from the bench when he is actually the entire package for a pg. if wheeler is the guy going into March we will go home early again. I hate to say it but when a guy is small he better be able to fill it up or have some insane athletic abilities. I completely believe cal is going to supplant wheeler with Wallace mid way through December. We have a roster capable of winning a title I don’t see cal relying on wheeler like he did last year. Early on maybe but I’ve seen Cason Wallace make wheeler look like a pylon one on one Cal and the other coaches have seen it too
There's always one. Willis, Allen ect. I think that most fans non objectiveness (if that's a word) is why cal doesn't or is reluctant to bring some local kids on unless they are sure fire studs.
I mean hell Cal could've offered me a scholarship out of HS. I would've came, I probably would've been one of those brad calipari types that gets in only in 40 poin games for the last 40 seconds and I know that, but guarantee that fans would be clamoring just like they did Willis, Hawkins, Allen and several others.
If your talking about the NCAA Tournament
This is who didn’t play last year during crunch time! CRUNCH TIME NO SHOWS
Tyty
Grady
Sharpless
Mintz
Dontaie’s Girlfriend
Dontaie
We got players this year
We still have got some idiot fans
But at least we got some great players
Year of Redemption Baby
Go Cats!!!!
I like that we've got options this year. Last year we had no small forward unless you count the hybrids Allen and Hopkins.
Now we've got Reeves and Livingston, and even Toppin is more fluid.
Now we've got Reeves and Livingston, and even Toppin is more fluid.
Cal will start Wheeler and Wallace. He's not an awful shooter, either. He's not a good 3pt shooter. Inside the arc, he's not bad, shoots about 50% on 2pt fgs. He was one of the few guys who didn't look gassed in the 4th game in 5 days on Sunday. Did you watch that game? He is the fastest guy on the team and is pretty much always the fastest guy on the floor. His conditioning has never been an issue and he goes 100% the entire time he's on the floor. I've never once seen him loaf around or appear disinterested. You can't say that for every player we've had.
Hey man, I know you're just yanking my chain. We can agree to disagree on him. If you actually watch the games, I hope you enjoy watching him start EVERY game this season. Get ready. It's coming. You don't sit the assists leader for 2 straight seasons for his senior season unless you're a complete fool idiot. He will be out there, likely averaging 7-8, maybe more assists per game. I would not be surprised to see him become the all-time leader at UK for assists in a season this year. That way, you people who refuse to see his ability will have to look at his name on the top of that list for the rest of your lives. It's likely to happen my friend. If his supporting cast didn't get injured last season and stop making wide open shots down the stretch, he would already have that record. Get ready. It's coming. Enjoy!
I love what Wheeler brings to the table. He is a jitterbug that is really hard to stay in front of
He got that bucket just before halftime yesterday with 6 seconds left. That was amazing and nobody else in cbb does that.
Wallace is going to make mistakes too. He's going to make some bad plays in key situations, even Tyler Ulis made mistakes, so we shouldn’t hold Wheeler to a higher standard.
The problem will come when UK gets into a grinder. If we ever square off with UVA, or a team that plays a similar pack line defense, Wallace needs to play. I'm not sure Wheeler is your guy in that type of game.
But that's okay, this team, if all key guards stay healthy, is incredibly versatile. Cal and the staff deserves a ton of credit for putting this team together. It's got every ingredient needed and more, to win a title.
The best thing is, the top teams we will face (Gonzaga, KU, Louisville, MSU, UCLA etc… )are all going to run. I'm interested to see hiw Few defends our guards. I'm not sure they have a guy that can stay in front of Wheeler + double Oscar + guard our shooters.
He got that bucket just before halftime yesterday with 6 seconds left. That was amazing and nobody else in cbb does that.
Wallace is going to make mistakes too. He's going to make some bad plays in key situations, even Tyler Ulis made mistakes, so we shouldn’t hold Wheeler to a higher standard.
The problem will come when UK gets into a grinder. If we ever square off with UVA, or a team that plays a similar pack line defense, Wallace needs to play. I'm not sure Wheeler is your guy in that type of game.
But that's okay, this team, if all key guards stay healthy, is incredibly versatile. Cal and the staff deserves a ton of credit for putting this team together. It's got every ingredient needed and more, to win a title.
The best thing is, the top teams we will face (Gonzaga, KU, Louisville, MSU, UCLA etc… )are all going to run. I'm interested to see hiw Few defends our guards. I'm not sure they have a guy that can stay in front of Wheeler + double Oscar + guard our shooters.
Where is my pom pom, don't tell me you forgot to mail it.
And don't tell me it's in the mail either.
We must be going to be terrific this year, the player that led the SEC AND the nation in assists two years in a row should barely get off the bench.
Better buy your final four tickets now..
How did Dontaie"s girl friend look? No, no. not how she played, how did she look?
I remember Cal looking scared. First tournament game I can honestly say that. We have played bad or lost to teams we should have beaten but I’ve never seen Cal look terrified like he did that night.
How’s he do against North Carolina? Kansas? Were they overmatched teams? Sure he had bad games as well. So do great players. He turned it over too many times against St. Peter’s. He did match those turnovers with the same amount of assists however. And he was our only guard to score in double figures in that game. In fact he was actually our best guard in that game. Tyty and Grady were horrible. And Mintz wasn’t great either. He also missed key ft’s. And his defense was atrocious.
wheeler btw, isn’t a bad shooter. His 2 pt fg % is actually in line with some of Cal’s best pg’s. Look it up. His 3 point % isn’t great. We’ve had worse 3 point Shooter’s (Hagans, Briscoe), but Wheelers 3 point shot has improved over the last couple years. Here’s the thing, he only shot 1.7 3’s a game last year. If he shoots no more than 2 a game, I’m completely fine with that. Because his strengths outweigh his weaknesses. The things he does well, is as good as any pg in the country. But you won’t admit that. And overall his turnovers aren’t an issue. 7 assists to 3 turnovers is really good. He can average 3 turnovers all day if he’s getting 7 assists. In fact Ulis is the only pg in the Cal era to have more over 4 more assists than turnovers.
I think what some of you are really missing here is Calipari’s coaching. Teams are going to dare Wheeler to shoot from the floor in the tournament. He begins to force things we’re in trouble because there won’t be a lot of adjustments from Calipari. Teams are going to collapse in and we’re going to aimlessly pass around and throw something up or try and get a garbage bucket. Wheeler will be forced to make plays and turn the ball over. That’s not going to work if you want to win a title. And Wheeler in ways exasperates this issue with his late game decision making.
I have no doubts that some teams will try and run with us early and he’ll look great. But in the tournament the issues will present themselves. Wallace will need to be utilized to help avoid it. But I’m afraid Calipari’s coaching will be our downfall like it is so many times. He’s too easy to plan for, his teams get as tight as he does, and there’s no adjustment. How do you win a title like that? You don’t.
He was blown off the floor in both Tennessee games at end of year, Arkansas guards he was overmatch. And in St Pete game all are overlooking he was destroyed on defense end by his man. Teams spread us out and isolated him and he’s too short and a deficient player on that end
Right, like I said he had some bad games like even great players do. But he’s perfectly capable of being great against top notch competition. He has also proven that . So I choose to be optimistic about the season bc I know what he’s capable of and I can see why he’s 2 time all SEC
Did you forget the two NCAA finalists and how he played against UNC and Kansas. I know. It doesn't fit your agenda.
Wheeler is what he is at this point in his career.
What we have seen, is what we will get this season.
If you are good with his performance in his first three seasons, then you should be happy this season.
If you are expecting him to be better, I don’t see it happening.
Hopefully what he is will be enough.
What we have seen, is what we will get this season.
If you are good with his performance in his first three seasons, then you should be happy this season.
If you are expecting him to be better, I don’t see it happening.
Hopefully what he is will be enough.