Cal's Flaw

[Jazzycat]

Calipari knows these young men best and will always have their best interest in mind whether in the preparation of that player for his NBA future and/ or encouraging him in his academic pursuits. He is uniquely qualified to do the shaping of these guys into the type of player they need to be to reach their bb goals, if this is their core objective. He is getting paid a significant amount of money to accomplish these goals and has been fairly successful statistically in reaching these mandates.

That game last night was marred by whistles and playing to everyone's "super bowl" effort. It is also an excellent object lesson on how defense is a 40 minute process and how important communication becomes when the other team mounts a comeback. Cal will use this game to emphasize his talking points and they will learn to overcome or sit the bench. This team is improving, despite being young and undisciplined at times. I am grateful for the road win and look forward to see how this team grows and develops over the next month.

 

[KMKAT]

Last night was a learning experience for Monk. Sure he had an off night, but who hasn't?

That said he still had 14 points, 5 boards and 4 assists.

Games like this help him learn and move on from mistakes and he'll be a better player for it come March.

Agreed; I'd like that to be my off night, and go ahead and include those TOs.

T was a reactive ref control call; Cal was wrong, as he was trying to get some momentum established, but the reffing crew was having none of it.

 

[Anon1712931820]

So are you suggesting that Cal should have sat Monk just because he was having an off night?

Monk has to learn how to play in tight games. You can't pull him based on one bad game. It's very short sighted thinking.

We are going as far as Monk takes us.........not Mulder.

Haven't read past this post, but no...he shouldn't have pulled him for having an off night. He SHOULD HAVE pulled him for the careless passes and bad shot selection. He also should have never saw the floor again after he visibly yelled at Cal after he started chewing him for the technical.

 

[The_Answer1313_rivals]

Haven't read past this post, but no...he shouldn't have pulled him for having an off night. He SHOULD HAVE pulled him for the careless passes and bad shot selection. He also should have never saw the floor again after he visibly yelled at Cal after he started chewing him for the technical.

People harp on bad shot selection but he's been taking those shots all year long and making a decent % of them.

As far as him yelling at Cal apparently Cal didn't have much of an issue with it or else Monk wouldn't have played 34 mins. Too much is being made of that honestly.

 

[Goingfor13]

I see what OP is saying. Cal himself said he should have had Booker and Ulis in for the Harrisons.

You don't pull Monk for having a bad night. You pull him for swinging on the rim, loafing back on transition D several times, shooting bad pull up jumpers (good shots in rhythm he should shoot all the time even when he is off), trying to do to much instead of making easy passes to better ball handlers, and the other mental mistakes.

Don't sit him long, but just a few minutes to get his attention. He is the scorer on the team and we need him. Not the version we got last night though. Of nights are ok, those multiple mistakes are not.

And I agree with what was said earlier, Cal going off on him like that rattled him and shook him for the rest of the game.

Do you see any Bookers or Ulises on your bench? I'll admit I'm not 100% familiar with your team, but I don't think so.

 

[KYCAT78]

Yes, and it's a random game in January that doesn't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things. If monk is having an off night on the tournament, that is not a good time to flail a bit and learn what to do and what not to do. A random game in January is a GREAT time to flail and bit and learn that. Live with a player learning in January to have a better player by March. I don't care if Mulder could come in and steady the ship in a January game that means almost nothing. I do care about getting Monk, a supreme talent who can take over any game in March, learning to handle these situations.

Now, if Monk is flailing and taking bad shots in March, then we're in trouble. But he at least has the potential to carry us to



a title. Mulder, even at his best, does not. Do you care more
about winning in Starkville in January (which by the way we
DID), or do you care more about preparing your young stars
for the NCAA tournament?

I did not say one thing about Mulder playing. My point was that Monk was all about him last night when he should have stepped back and became a role player since he was off his game.

 

[Comebakatz3]

I think you have to realize that in most games it likely isn't going to matter that Monk is struggling and that is because it is pretty unlikely that Monk, Bam, and Briscoe all struggle in the same game. That happened last night. The three gave us a combined 31 points, which isn't terrible, but we've typically seen two of our big four really putting up big numbers, even if one has an off night.

That being said, in years past this team may not have won a game like this where 3 of our best scorers struggled. However, in this game both Gabriel and Willis stepped up to combine for 26. That was huge, and that is what needs to happen if we want to go deep into the tournament. Those two don't have to be superstars, but if they can at least step up in the games where the top 3/4 are struggling then it makes us that much harder to beat.

Look at last year's Indiana game as an example (as tough as that it). Ulis put up 27 points and Murray 16. After that, no one had over 10. Skal had 4, Briscoe had 7, Poythress had 6, Lee had 4, Hawk had 3, and Willis had 0. UK struggled with foul trouble with Briscoe and Murray having 4 fouls and Ulis fouling out. It was a close game, but UK just couldn't find that third scorer to step up. Right now we have 3 or 4 guys that can consistently be the ones that score, and last night showed that even our 5th and 6th guys can step up and fill a scoring gap if our main guys are having bad games. We need to avoid it happening in the NCAA tournament, but if it does happen then Willis and Wenyen need to have games like they did last night to help carry us to victory (and we need to take better damn care of the ball. haha).

 

[AGEE11]

Do you see any Bookers or Ulises on your bench? I'll admit I'm not 100% familiar with your team, but I don't think so.

No, they are not on our bench, which is why I say you can't sit Monk long. Just needs to know he will come out when gets out of control. We can slide in Hawkins or Mulder and be ok though. Not as good, but ok.

We just can't afford Monk doing this against a Sweet 16 or further opponent. That stretch when he had 2-3 in a few minutes time loses a game to a better team.

 

[Riverslynn010]

You laugh now but when the boat was sinking at 66-62...hawkins took and made key 3 for breathing room

You're a hater bro... and I'm correct, Dominique made some key turnovers as well.. basically what I'm saying is that one bad game by the "STARTERS " isn't doesn't mean you bench'm and expect to win the game..

 

[JayCatz44]

Lebron has a long established history. Monk does not.

Cal has a pretty good established history of being a really good coach.

 

[StubbornPenny]

I did not say one thing about Mulder playing. My point was that Monk was all about him last night when he should have stepped back and became a role player since he was off his game.

And my point is that you don't teach a kid how to fight through adversity that way. Instead, you ding his confidence. We will not win in March if Monk is having a bad game and we tell him to take a backseat.

 

[catsfan3383]

So are you suggesting that Cal should have sat Monk just because he was having an off night?

Monk has to learn how to play in tight games. You can't pull him based on one bad game. It's very short sighted thinking.

We are going as far as Monk takes us.........not Mulder.

No question Monk is ONE of the keys to how far we will go and I agree with your statement of him having to learn how to play in tight games but, five straight jacked up shots that barely drew iron and three or four turnovers - all of which played the major part in their 14-0 run - it was WAY past time for him to be on the bench. The op is right, we've seen this movie far, far too many times and it's put us out of the tourney way too early some of those times. Cal simply will not sit any of the precious five stars for any extended period of time no matter what they do. Yes, you need to let them learn from their mistakes but there should be a limit and last night Monk was past that limit. He should've been on the bench and someone else should've been in.