Here is what's wrong with this team

[Ima Alien]

This is from a Basketball Bennie with little technical knowledge of the game.

There are certain factors that contribute to the success of something, some of which are subjective and may be difficult to pinpoint exactly. We can call these collectively the "it" factor. We can say that something has it or doesn't have it. This team does not have it.

That's all I've got to say about that.

 

[HerrosHeroes]

Toughness-they lack it
Not a very bright bunch either

 

[carolinacat]

We just don't have elite talent other than Cason. Oscar is undersized and being exposed. Livingston is talented, but has been underutilized and is still raw. Toppin is decent, but not great. CJ and Reeves are streaky good shooters but not particularly athletic. Collins and Wheeler are just OK. Ugonna hasn't been developed....I think that's a mistake. We desperately need quality size and have ignored him. We're just one of many pretty decent teams on the bubble.

 

[AGEE11]

They are not being put in a place to succeed.

CJ and Reeves are knock down shooters and below average defenders yet we only play man to man and don't have them on the court together enough to create spacing.

Wallace scored at will last night as a score-first PG, yet was told to slow it down and feed Oscar over and over

Toppin looked good attacking the rim, but stop that and feed Oscar

Collins has his best game so far in the first half, rides the pine in the second.

Ugonna is a rim protector we sorely need, no where to be found - effects the whole team

Thiero provide positive minutes and some fight when he's in, but isn't being put in.

Oscar is a great rebounder but undersized C, asked to post up over and over and over and over with out our shooters on the floor together for spacing

Oscar cannot defend the pick and roll, but we never change defense

The guys all have their flaws and that is evident. A decent coach makes changes and evolves his plan to compensate for those. See what Mark Few did with Wiltjer after he transferred, hid his defensive limitations in a zone.

Add a zone, lay more people and the right lineups and this is a 3-4 loss team at the moment.

 

[know1]

The coach is wrong with this team.

The talent is assembled by the coach and supposed to be developed by the coach. It's also supposed to be motivated by the coach. And the coach is supposed to give it tools to succeed such as fundamentals, game plans, scouting, adjustments, etc.

The coach isn't doing any of those things. So the talent looks like it's not very talented.

And furthermore, the future talent likely notices those deficiencies at this point and that makes them hesitant to come here.

 

[4Frusciante#]

I can only see two ways to go with this team:

1. Play Ugonna and Oscar together and play a 3-2 zone and get all the rebounds.

2. Give all the 4/5 minutes to Oscar, Toppin, and Livingston and most of the three minutes to Reeves with Wallace and Thiero in the backcourt. Give Wheeler and CJ the reserve 24 minutes or so.

What is there to lose? Right now we are not good.

 

[jameslee32]

Defense.

 

[Blue Wildcat]

I believe I could fix this team fairly easily and it’s all on the defensive side of the ball.

Man to man, help defense is atrocious. I’ve never seen a team at this age leave the ball handler help side and go find their guy instead of stopping the ball. Similarly, we give up straight line drive after straight line drive without anyone sliding over to help-when they do help they leave their feet and try to block everything. We are a fundamentally inept on defense…

 

[Shaudylo]

Coaching . They also seem kind of soft and too nice . Once I saw Missouri punk us that told me all I needed to know .

 

[Cawood86_rivals]

Coaching . They also seem kind of soft and too nice . Once I saw Missouri punk us that told me all I needed to know .

Yep. Ain't no Magloires this team. No James Lee's either.

 

[Shaudylo]

Yep. Ain't no Magloires this team. No James Lee's either.

I’ll take Bruce Lee at this point

 

[catswin]

CJ/Toppin/Reeves/Ugo/Thiero being 3 stars and Wheeler being a 5’7” 3/4 star is what is wrong with this team.

 

[Emarc]

anyone thought that along with other issues we just arent very talented Or high on the bball IQ register? Awful turnovers last night. Looked like middle school ball handling.

 

[WeWant9]

I’ll take Bruce Lee at this point

I’d take a Marcus Lee right about now.

 

[TheBlueMist]

Coaching. It affects everything else. Change the coach and this team would be top 20, maybe top 15.

 

[Mr Schwump]

We just don't have elite talent other than Cason. Oscar is undersized and being exposed. Livingston is talented, but has been underutilized and is still raw. Toppin is decent, but not great. CJ and Reeves are streaky good shooters but not particularly athletic. Collins and Wheeler are just OK. Ugonna hasn't been developed....I think that's a mistake. We desperately need quality size and have ignored him. We're just one of many pretty decent teams on the bubble.

Re Ugonna....when was the last time UK developed a low post player? If a low post guy used a drop step to get himself open I think I'd faint.

 

[HalHR2500]

When a team comes into your house and 19 of their 32 field goals made were either dunks or layups, it screams soft team, no pride, nobody gives a rats *** including the damn head coach.

The head coach is soft and the team is soft.

Period.

 

[EliteBlue]

They are not being put in a place to succeed.

CJ and Reeves are knock down shooters and below average defenders yet we only play man to man and don't have them on the court together enough to create spacing.

Wallace scored at will last night as a score-first PG, yet was told to slow it down and feed Oscar over and over

Toppin looked good attacking the rim, but stop that and feed Oscar

Collins has his best game so far in the first half, rides the pine in the second.

Ugonna is a rim protector we sorely need, no where to be found - effects the whole team

Thiero provide positive minutes and some fight when he's in, but isn't being put in.

Oscar is a great rebounder but undersized C, asked to post up over and over and over and over with out our shooters on the floor together for spacing

Oscar cannot defend the pick and roll, but we never change defense

The guys all have their flaws and that is evident. A decent coach makes changes and evolves his plan to compensate for those. See what Mark Few did with Wiltjer after he transferred, hid his defensive limitations in a zone.

Add a zone, lay more people and the right lineups and this is a 3-4 loss team at the moment.

Quoting you just so it’s reposted bc it can’t be said any better

 

[Backer cutter]

I’ve watched parts of 3 games this year. I normally don’t post in threads breaking down weakness’s, I’m not Bennie , nowhere near. My take- no cohesion, some afraid of the hook after a mistake, others not worried so they do their own **** knowing they’re not getting the hook. No play’s whatsoever, just street ball. No zone. Too much dribbling. Bigs switching off on speedsters getting burned. Falling for head fake every time. Not understanding time and place. In other words, nothing has changed. Mini rants are all I have left.

 

[Blue Wildcat]

CJ/Toppin/Reeves/Ugo/Thiero being 3 stars and Wheeler being a 5’7” 3/4 star is what is wrong with this team.

This is where coaching comes in. There are a ton of coaches who make much less than Cal that have done more with a roster similar to ours.

 

[anon1751545683]

Lack of take t. No bb IQ to mitigate the lack of talent.

The twins were like that. Except they had exceptional talent. They could run any play you diagrammed. But if the play broke down they were lost.

These guys don’t have the talent to run what’s diagrammed so almost every play breaks down.

On defense they don’t see ahead that their teammate needs help. They react late and foul.

 

[Emarc]

This is where coaching comes in. There are a ton of coaches who make much less than Cal that have done more with a roster similar to ours.

Not sure this bunch is coachable Or coach cant coach this bunch. Combo I’d say.

 

[anon1751545683]

This is where coaching comes in. There are a ton of coaches who make much less than Cal that have done more with a roster similar to ours.

Not with this bunch they wouldn’t.

 

[ala_kat2]

CJ/Toppin/Reeves/Ugo/Thiero being 3 stars and Wheeler being a 5’7” 3/4 star is what is wrong with this team.

Maybe so, but I wonder how many stars the Arkansas players had beside their name when signed. Good coaches develop players and strategize according to their talents. I’m not convinced that CCC does.

 

[Rideordiewildcat]

We looked good the 2nd part of the 1st half with Damion out there. The defense looked worried about him. Like they were thinking is this guys nuts gonna be in my face when I turn around so Wallace make it to the rim easily at times.

7pts and 2rbs in 8 mins and Cal plays him 2 mins in the 2nd half. I will never get over that. I love Oscar but the defense attacks him and knows what he's gonna do. Collins had them guessing and worrying and we looked so more dangerous.

How can Cal not see these very clear and easy things we all seem to see every game?

 

[Emarc]

Maybe so, but I wonder how many stars the Arkansas players had beside their name when signed. Good coaches develop players and strategize according to their talents. I’m not convinced that CCC does.

stars are measured vs high school talent Where 6’5” is tall. Many have been busts.

 

[catzfanjim]

CJ/Toppin/Reeves/Ugo/Thiero being 3 stars and Wheeler being a 5’7” 3/4 star is what is wrong with this team.

How many 3 or 4 star players did St Peters have when they sent us home in the first round? The problem is the coach.

 

[westerncat]

Calipari screaming all the time and acting like he knowns what he is doing is what is wrong with this team !

 

[Shaudylo]

How many 3 or 4 star players did St Peters have when they sent us home in the first round? The problem is the coach.

I definitely agree with this . Serious question how many teams are full of 5 stars ? I’d say Kentucky is near the top if you look at 5 star players on each Roster . We have lost to way more teams with less stars on the roster . The highest paid coach shouldn’t need a team full of 5 stars to succeed

 

[anon1751545683]

How many 3 or 4 star players did St Peters have when they sent us home in the first round? The problem is the coach.

Don't know. But they were a very good team. They also beat Purdue on the way to the E8. They didn't just have one fluke win.

We couldn't guard them. We tried to play them with a team of transfers and our best defender hurting. But we couldn't.

 

[Ima Alien]

Yep. Ain't no Magloires this team. No James Lee's either.

That '78 team was a mean one. I don't know if this is true or not - maybe one of you knows - that Joe B told them to not shower or shave the day before the NCAA games.

 

[catzfanjim]

Don't know. But they were a very good team. They also beat Purdue on the way to the E8. They didn't just have one fluke win.

We couldn't guard them. We tried to play them with a team of transfers and our best defender hurting. But we couldn't.

They should never beat Kentucky according to our coach because we're the gold standard and we eat first.

 

[carolinacat]

We looked good the 2nd part of the 1st half with Damion out there. The defense looked worried about him. Like they were thinking is this guys nuts gonna be in my face when I turn around so Wallace make it to the rim easily at times.

7pts and 2rbs in 8 mins and Cal plays him 2 mins in the 2nd half. I will never get over that. I love Oscar but the defense attacks him and knows what he's gonna do. Collins had them guessing and worrying and we looked so more dangerous.

How can Cal not see these very clear and easy things we all seem to see every game?

Don't kid yourself. Collins isn't that good.

 

[Mike-D]

I’ll take Bruce Lee at this point

I'd take Bruce Jenner.

 

[Rockfly78]

No heart

 

[Sandlers T-Shirt]

I believe I could fix this team fairly easily and it’s all on the defensive side of the ball.

Man to man, help defense is atrocious. I’ve never seen a team at this age leave the ball handler help side and go find their guy instead of stopping the ball. Similarly, we give up straight line drive after straight line drive without anyone sliding over to help-when they do help they leave their feet and try to block everything. We are a fundamentally inept on defense…

Transition defense is atrocious as well. Even Derek Anderson pointed that out. The guys are lazy and undisciplined.

 

[Sandlers T-Shirt]

Don't know. But they were a very good team. They also beat Purdue on the way to the E8. They didn't just have one fluke win.

We couldn't guard them. We tried to play them with a team of transfers and our best defender hurting. But we couldn't.

Maybe we should hire their coach.

 

[the dopester]

This is from a Basketball Bennie with little technical knowledge of the game.

There are certain factors that contribute to the success of something, some of which are subjective and may be difficult to pinpoint exactly. We can call these collectively the "it" factor. We can say that something has it or doesn't have it. This team does not have it.

That's all I've got to say about that.

Honest question here. I thought the whole point of Basketball Bennies was that they HAD technical knowledge of the game. Am I misunderstanding?

 

[Cawood86_rivals]

That '78 team was a mean one. I don't know if this is true or not - maybe one of you knows - that Joe B told them to not shower or shave the day before the NCAA games.

No idea. Never heard that one. I know nobody wanted any part of Lee on the fast break. Robey and Phillips were grown men as well.

We seem to have some guys who are more worried about their appearance than getting gritty and doing whatever it takes to win.

 

[Blue Wildcat]

Transition defense is atrocious as well. Even Derek Anderson pointed that out. The guys are lazy and undisciplined.

Yeah, your man should never beat you down the court. First 2 back get to the paint and don’t it. Person at top, stop the ball, other guy has first pass. Basic **** that I’ve taught my AAU kids to do since they were in the 3rd grade.