Man, some of y’all are insanely pessimistic. I don’t get it.
Dante
- Thread starter gobigblue26
- Start date
Kids don't want to come play and compete when a team already has 3 players that will get minutes at that position. If EJ had gone pro, Richards had transferred, Sestina didn't join the team... we probably would have gotten one of the players that we recruited. People want multiple year players, AND top recruits at every position, but it usually doesn't work like that.
guards win championships
we have guards in bunches
we have guards in bunches
You didn't ask me, but good recruiting is getting the pieces needed to complete a team. Opinions are OK, but just for talk.
Coaching is using the pieces right. That's why great coaches have success.
I'll give you my opinion in April.:stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
Before the FBI scandal broke in 2017, I thought a lot of talk of money for recruits and their handlers was just sour grapes. I don't believe that any more. Really, why would Dante go to Oregon?
Please don’t take offense because this not direct at you but a lot of people say final 4 is the ceiling which is a bit ridiculous . I think if you make it to the last week in then any final 4 team can win.
You people that believe 3 bigs is enough watch what happens if we have an injury or a couple of those guys get in foul trouble 2 out of every 3 games. We need 1-2 more bigs to finish the job this year. Cannot believe we didn’t get Blackshear or Dante but money talks and these kids just can’t say no.
He has more competition at Oregon then here. Oregon has high 4 star pf CJ Walker 4 star center Isaac Johnson top 3 grad transfer pf/c Shakur Juiston, 4 star pf/center Francis Okoro 4 star pf Chandler Lawson. His choice had nothing to do with playing time.
We aren't as good as last year but neither is college basketball. I think it will depend mostly on the freshman, we need 2 of them to play like lotto picks.
Scratching my head at this.
Scratching my head at this. Why in the world would he commit to Oregon? Also have we ever struck out on all six big targets? That is crazy.
With the success of our bigs doing well in the league , and several over achieving players , its baffling these kids are going elsewhere . The list that said No is just way way too long . We have a very good mid major transfer , Nick and Ej .. that just doesnt sound too appealing for a deep March run , let alone the growing pains we go thru most years. Prob more of the same , be near the top of the SEC , win 25 games or so , make or win the SECT , lose a couple to bad teams along the way, burn out before the FF . Man i pray I'm wrong ... But EJ , Nick and Sestina are all three going to have to perform far above expectations for that to happen .
It's weird that Cal is 0'fer on bigs this year but the sky is not falling!
We're loaded with guards and forwards and have experienced, talented players returning. As long as there are no significant injuries our bigs are more than sufficient for this team to win it all.
We're loaded with guards and forwards and have experienced, talented players returning. As long as there are no significant injuries our bigs are more than sufficient for this team to win it all.
I think we will be totally fine and come tourney time our guards will put on a show and carry this team for a deep run. I also really think EJ will be much improved and will be a major part of this team success and we should get good productive minuets from NR and Sestina.
To be honest if he came in this late in the year it may have messed with team chemistry.
To be honest if he came in this late in the year it may have messed with team chemistry.
Don’t know about his choice but Bol Bol developed very nicely and dominated to the tune of 21pts 10reb and shot 52% from three. He did because of injury concerns, had nothing to do with talent or development
Yes. They lost to Indiana and it was due to mediocre play in the post. I don't believe all is lost and I think they have three good pieces in the post, but this forces Whitney and Brooks to steal some minutes at the 4 and an injury could be a really big blow. I don't think they necessarily needed another star in the post, but they could've used 5 fouls and someone that can catch a lob, grab a few rebounds, and block a couple of shots.
The beauty of it being another lost year is that you shouldn’t want to tune in and watch any of the games then give your idiotic opinion during and afterwards.
Chicken little the sky is falling. Wow, I like players that really want to be at UK versus those that care less, or players who are afraid of competition/playing time. Many of these players have too many hanger ons/handlers that Don't have the child's best interest at heart. We are better off for them to go elsewhere many times.
I guess that could be true, but I also think you should take off the blue shaded glasses and try to see from someone else's perspective. Maybe he just developed better relationships with the coaching staff at Oregon. Maybe he had better relationships with the current Oregon recruiting class. Maybe he only plans to spend 9 months wherever he goes to school and decided he liked Eugene better than Lexington. Maybe the Nike relationships he can build there can help him with a shoe deal down the road sometime. Who knows. I'm sure the kid has his reasons and just because someone goes to a different school doesn't mean they had their hand out looking for money.
These are kids who mostly think they are the greatest thing since sliced bread. In their head, they don't need Kentucky to get them ready for the league. They believe they are 1st round/lottery picks wherever they go. Something about Oregon was more comfortable than something about KY. It might be that simple.
"Handler$" win out again. They want the money now and don't care about the kids future. But I'm happy with who we have, our backcourt is legit and will take us a long way!!!
No I realize when its odd that Cal didn't add a big man in a recruiting class
Dante might have received 5-7 minutes this year so if you think he would have been the key to a championship you are dreaming. Richards will be fine.
Yeah looking at the stats.. we were pretty bad that game, despite good to elite performances from Murray and Ulis. Still, that's about the only year. Most others we are done in by bad shooting.
Dante would have been good for fouls and depth.. or the very slim chance he showed out as a freshman, but that's VERY rare for a freshman big.
Not too worried about other injuries though. Brooks/Whitney really won't see that much on the 4.. as I think Sestina and EJ will be better fit there.. they both look to be solid contributors. Richards, at worst, will get 16-20 mpg, and the other two can fill in.. then you might see Whitney and Brooks play more of the 4.
.. which, I'm not sure is a bad thing. Small ball lineup would give more minutes to Allen, Juzang and IQ. More opportunities to get shooters going.
I don’t know what stats you were looking at, but nothing about Murray’s performance that game was good to elite. As our best shooter, he went 1-9 from 3 point range. Our front court was terrible that season and is definitely the reason we were never a contender, but a bad shooting night by our best shooter definitely bit us in the *** that night.
Would have been nice to have an extra rim protector for the style of play our guys will run, but it wasn't a necessity as much as it would have been a luxury. This team will be like the Fox team a couple of years ago as far as pace of play is concerned.
He will probably be the day 1 starter at Oregon.
Big stretch to think he would be the starter here.
You see a lot of "how stupid can he be comments" but he probably knows very little about any college program and goes by what he's told.
Guarantee he couldn't tell you anything about what kind of season Nick or EJ had last year.
Hes just been told that UK is returning a JR and Soph former McDonald's AA's and a senior grad transfer and that he could end up playing behind all 3.
Oregon is the path of least resistance.
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Big stretch to think he would be the starter here.
You see a lot of "how stupid can he be comments" but he probably knows very little about any college program and goes by what he's told.
Guarantee he couldn't tell you anything about what kind of season Nick or EJ had last year.
Hes just been told that UK is returning a JR and Soph former McDonald's AA's and a senior grad transfer and that he could end up playing behind all 3.
Oregon is the path of least resistance.
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I wondered if I would need to use the word "respectively".
If the front court is inept it will affect the guards. Murray was good, Ulis was Elite. But our bigs were non-existent. Which is yet another reason that Poythress... not Harrow or Skal or Diallo.. was Cal's most disappointing player.
Agree but the guys at Rivals said they would take Cisse over Dante as a rim protector after seeing both at Nike Skills Acad. Cisse is '21.
Don't know if Dante is ready to be an.impact rim protector at the NCAA level this season.
He may prove me wrong but I don't think he is anywhere close to Nerlens.
Just not the quick twitch athlete and not as long.
This almost has to happen! The “Refs” will know 2 “quick ones” on Nick and EJ will most certainly spell doom to UK winning games against teams with good/ and or multiple bigs.
The question is, who is still available, or possibly available? I’d hate to see a potentially great season railroaded by the officials... again.
I think people need to stop with the "that was a strange recruit" and "he sucks anyways" lines of thinking, and come to grips with the fact that we need a shakeup in our recruiting and development staff. It's not NIKE-related and it won't get better with the 2023 class. There is an internal problem.
Yet another "odd cycle". Even the media must be very slow to see trends, or they're delusional. This isn't odd, what the quick thinkers here are seeing, it's "normal". And, that ain't good.
Thanks for telling me, I’ll tune back in during the 2024 season.
I'm honestly curious: do you ever post anything positive?
Your entire posting disposition since you arrived here has been to bathe in the negative waters.
In fact, I haven't seen another side to your thinking, and that's strange because there's always more narratives available than the negative ones you feast on.
I'm not happy that we struck out on most of our big man targets this year (and the staff should be held accountable if Richards/EJ fail this season), but UK still landed the #2 class in the country and returned four five star players.
So please take my question as an honest one, and not as rhetorical trolling. I'm still wondering what your real outlook is toward UK.
There's also the option that we're simply being outrecruited for certain (not all) players. I don't think a guy like Ron Mercer was drinking the "UK or bust" kool aid when he played for Pitino, but man am I glad we had him. If a kid is only 3/4ths the way committed to Cal's philosophy, I'll take that kid if he's the next Zion, Cousins, Murray, or Wiggins.
I know it's unfathomable that Cal's pitch isn't always perfect with every kid, but this is something that is entirely plausible. I think we actually just lose battles some times because the other staff is selling something we can't or won't (playing time, geographical proximity to families, playing with friends or for relatives).
I still think our staff needs a shake up. If you're not displaying occasional new blood with new ideas, the old ideas can become content and stuck in the mud. Adding a guy like Garnett, Bogans, Prince, Ray Allen, Baron Davis, etc. might be a very cool way to incorporate what is becoming the new trend of having former NBA guys on the staff. Having Strickland here was probably beneficial to snagging guys like Knight, Bledsoe, Teague, etc.
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