Okay....now calm down but just putting this out there to see what folks think? Should they try adjusting the starting line up? Willis seems slowly to be coming on and progressing. That said I love Gabriel too and the energy he brings. Regardless think they should be looking for Willis more at the end of games and looking for a better shots. Just my take though. Thoughts?
Should Willis Start?
- Thread starter BWCatsFan22
- Start date
It's not starting that counts. It's amount of minutes on the court.
Another poster without any experience playing the game?
Another poster without any experience playing the game?
Willis should start but won't because Cal would rather start the freshman Gabriel. If Willis had secured that pivotal rebound in the Kansas game and then proceeded to hit a game winning shot for us to beat Kansas it would not have mattered. Gabriel is going to start because he is a freshman among other reasons I won't mention.
I think this is correct,we are more likely to get points out of Willis off the bench than Gabriel off the bench
Not if we are playing man defense. Great that he finally hit some important 3's against Kansas. Without him we would have been in even more difficulty. But, he also costs us lots of points. If some of you haven't figured it out by watching; well every opposing coach has. Isolate Willis and drive right by him or pull-up when he retreats for a wide open shot. He is a huge liability on defense and we see other teammates getting beat because they are rotating trying to help side with him out there. Gabriel is not much better on the wing so I guess it is a toss-up and as others have said the minutes matter more anyway.
I think Willis and Gabriel should be out there together or someone other than the 3 guards at times. They do better when they each are doing the help side defense (Gabriel better than Willis) but Willis is the better rebounder. If they were out there with BAM, beating one off the dribble such as Wiilis isn't as problematic because you have two rotating big men to defend behind him. He could then worry less about retreating and turn our defense into a more physical type of game rather than allowing all the open looks.
I think Willis and Gabriel should be out there together or someone other than the 3 guards at times. They do better when they each are doing the help side defense (Gabriel better than Willis) but Willis is the better rebounder. If they were out there with BAM, beating one off the dribble such as Wiilis isn't as problematic because you have two rotating big men to defend behind him. He could then worry less about retreating and turn our defense into a more physical type of game rather than allowing all the open looks.
He can start, but if he misses his first shot he should be benched for the rest of the game bc you know hes off
This is horse ****.
So, who do you want to coach the team? You obviously don't like Cal, so who do you want?
I see the same posters over and over whining about one and done, playing freshmen over seniors, coach yelling too much during the game, etc. but nobody ever steps up and says who they want to coach the team. Who else would you prefer coach the team?
Some of the Calipari criticism is warranted, but since the Kansas game there have been a ton of ridiculous posts over a ton of ridiculous topics. Calipari is not going to play a zone, he will continue recruiting the highest ranked players, he will continue to yell from the sidelines. If any of these aforementioned qualities are not what you like in a coach, follow another team until he is gone.
Very valid points! This will sound very odd for some but he could learn a lot from watching the way they play defense in soccer when facing players with a strong shot on goal. Establish goal side position. Maintain goal side position, move your feet to reestablish goal side position, stay on their feet/up on them, communicate with teammates. He also needs to move in and take the charge as opposed to running along beside them when getting beat and swiping at the ball. Finally.....part of why Willis looks so bad on defense is because other players are not rotating over and helping and Monk could really improve in that area IMO.
Is it really that difficult to get DW caught guarding the other team's 1,2 or 3 ? High pick n roll ... we switch ... DW gets abused and lots of fans cry " DW can't guard " DW got burnt again , Willis sucks ....... but who keeps placing him in situations to get torched by asking him to man up a guy he obviously cant check ? .. he isnt WCS and neither is 90 plus % of all college 3's or 4's.
His D is absolutely no worse than D'Aarons or Monks and better than Gabriels
His D is absolutely no worse than D'Aarons or Monks and better than Gabriels
We know what u meant by "other reasons". Just say it, Gabriel is black with way more athleticism and upside. It's a fact jack.
Upside ? pee pee on upside , we need a 4 to step up and get something done now .. For as bad as DW can be at times on D he's still better than Gabriel . Cmon . I'd take a Chinese , Sudan , Spanish Immigrant if he could rebound and D up .
I wish I could say Willis is better than Gabriel at this point. But I'm just as frustrated with both as the next fan. We need them both to play and play well, period.
Yes. Wenyen will be as good as Derek at some point, but he's not there yet.
Have you noticed anyone else's defense on this team? Or maybe i should say lack of! Willis is just as good as most and better than some. Just about the whole team plays defense like a matador!
I'd be in favor of starting Willis for Briscoe. Briscoe could then come off the bench to sub for 3 different spots on the floor as needed & still play major minutes.
But it will never happen. This is Brisccoe's team, therefore Briscoe shall start. Willis ride'm pine.
But it will never happen. This is Brisccoe's team, therefore Briscoe shall start. Willis ride'm pine.
No, then your second unit gives you no offense at all. Its odd but Gabriel has less pressure starting than coming off the bench IMO. Psychology.
I think he has earned the right to be a starter but I kinda like your reasoning and maybe Cal does too. WG seems to be out of his league right now, especially in big games, but he is a major talent and I don't think Cal wants to bust his confidence so early as he may be an important key coming back next year. just some thoughts.
Doesn't matter who starts, but based on the numbers, I believe Willis should get 25 minutes per game to Wenyen's 15...right now it close to an even 20 min/game. I could make a case for Willis or Muldur getting some minutes at the 3 spot, but that ain't happening. For better or worse, we're going to live or die with a 6-3 guard playing forward.
Gabriel is playing 20.5 minutes per game and Willis is playing 19.6 minutes per game so it doesn't seem to matter if Willis starts or not.I would rather see him come off the bench
Sometimes I wonder if we should continue the 3 guard lineup and change it up and try Fox at the point, Monk the shooting guard, Willis at the 3, Gabriel at Pf, and Bam in the middle. Monk, Willis, and Mulder are all doing well shooting the 3. With Willis coming on late!y with his shooting and 3 point shooting this will help to open up Monk from the outside and from 3 point.
Dave, that is what many of our saying in our posts. Plus, Ky-troutburn, the defense isn't awesome but again you will see other players getting beat (or Matador defense as you say) because others have to try and leach out to the man that beats Willis then leaving their man. It is very easy to see the isolation that has been done and crystal clear when watching the Tenn game. Now nothing is just dimensional but clearly there is an issue. We can play 3 or even 4 guards at the same time at some moments of the game, but we have to get our big men into the game (and I don't mean just Hump).
Agree with this! He's a three not a four. Played the three spot good last year never played four. But now he's forced into it. We have too many kids playing out of position on this team.
Idc if DW starts or not but he has been playing better the last 4 games. Like many have said above he isn't great on D, but others have just as many defensive flaws. Hes playing more efficiently than anyone else in those 4 games and actually becoming one of our better rebounders (I know, with the exception of the one he gave up late to Kansas). In those 4 games he had 25 rebounds in 95 minutes compared to only 20 rebounds in 120 min for Bam. Also in those games he is 16-26 from the field, 9-16 from 3. He is the whipping boy for alot of our fans and sometimes i understand the frustration, but most of the time I dont
I'm one of the biggest defenders of Willis only because so much is blown out proportion, but one good game doesn't make me think he should start. I still believe that Gabiel is one of the keys to how far we go in the tourney and Cal should try to do everything he can to get him ready. Continue on letting him start.