"He Was Awful Defensively. Pitiful."

[JohnnyGentle]

you missed the point

this place is terrible, and it's not because of me

it's because of people who ***** and moan about the same stupid things every game and bail on the team every time they lose on the road in conference

i don't care about you, or your approval

i love kentucky. i hate most of you people

 

[JohnnyGentle]

Johny Gentle is obviously a UL fan

you brag about ignoring me

but then make a diagnosis anyway

it's almost as if you legitimately are as full of yourself as i pretend to be

 

[brianpoe]

I love Cal but he maybe setting up his defense to start the Freshmen next year and not Willis. I think he promises playing time to the 5 stars. I have seen bad defense from all 5 starters at different times.

Wall, Cousins, Beldsoe, D Rose, Knight, Jones, Lamb, AD, MKG, Noel, Wiltjer, Lee, Poythress, Harrison's, Randle, Young, Kat, WCS, Booker, Ulis, Dakari, Trey:

"Cal does not promise playing time"


etowncatfan: "I think he promises playing time to the 5 stars"

Lets go with the guy who gets his information at Las Chalupas on karaoke night, not the actual 5 stars who played here...



"Ask any of his players, be it Davis, Rose, Wall or the guys who don't get off the bench, and they've all gotten the same speech: When they're at Kentucky, it's all about the name on the front of the jersey. Calipari doesn't promise shots, he doesn't promise minutes, he doesn't promise starting jobs. He insists his phenoms do the dirty work on defense — "If you don't play defense, you're not allowed to play," future first-rounder Terrence Jones said Sunday — and has no room for egos or personal agendas."

 

[brianpoe]

you missed the point

this place is terrible, and it's not because of me

it's because of people who ***** and moan about the same stupid things every game and bail on the team every time they lose on the road in conference

i don't care about you, or your approval

i love kentucky. i hate most of you people

See many of us were here before you, here when you were first banned, and here today as you have decided to crawl out from under your rock.

You dont like it here?

You dont like the people here?

Roll the hell out whiny ***.

As you can see, many dont like you either.

 

[brianpoe]

Johny Gentle is obviously a UL fan who's baiting every poster on this board. I'm not a mod and don't wanna be, but damn, what exactly would it take to ban someone? At least a few months I would think is necessary. They guy is going thread to thread looking for fight damn near ALL posters.

love our mods, I'm just sayin...

He's been banned before, and no doubt Marty, Jed or John will get him sooner or later.

 

[rudd1]

-leave johnny alone. He funny.

 

[Jamal Mercer]

This team is not good on D with or without Willis on the floor.

Therefore I'd rather have him on the floor to score.

 

[bvmcmanus]

Willis got lost on multiple pick and rolls. So did Lee. That will be a death knoll against IU if it doesn't improve.

 

[DCFseattle]

Cal needs to quit harping on his defense.

If Cal quits harping on his defense, then he accepts it as fine. If he does that, then Willis thinks it's fine, so he doesn't put in the work to improve it.

It's called coaching. What makes Cal so successful at developing talent is he doesn't accept their weaknesses. He's constantly pushing them.

 

[jc2010]

Willis has his problems on defense but so do a lot of the others. It is very hard for me to believe that he is the sole reason for poor defensive rating. Does anyone know what our defense was rated when Derek's azz was glued to the pine?

Cal knows Derek has defensive problems, Derek knows Derek has defensive problems so why don't they put in some serious work on it and just STFU

 

[SilentsAreGolden]

Haven't watched the whole game again to look at Derek's defense specifically, but in the OT he made two key plays. The defensive stop on Jones's drive, and slapping the ball of their leg when they were gonna get a loose ball.

 

[Uk1111]

N

Blaming Willis for the defensive deficiency of the entire TEAM is BS. Everyone knows certain players struggle on defense. Not everyone can be as good as Ulis and Briscoe, and everyone else on the team has defensive lapses. Willis needs to be in there for his scoring, and Cal needs to quit harping on his defense. Willis did not give up the 32 points to House yesterday. He does have some lapses, but so does everyone else as evidenced by the team's poor rating overall.

NOBODY, and I mean NOBODY, has EVER said that about Wiltjer LOL, only he's way better on offense.

 

[PhattyJ4UK_rivals309166]

I love how so many are up in arms about cal hating on willis, yet in the article Derek himself was quoted about how many mistakes he made.

Cal criticizes the guys he knows need it and can handle it

Did yall who are complaining even read the article?

 

[Anon1636989421]

Is it 32 for 35 at the free throw line now?

 

[JohnnyGentle]

Is it 32 for 35 at the free throw line now?

if you really want to play this game where it can't be accepted that willis was awful defensively even after he himself acknowledges it, then i get to pretend to be just as dumb and say he missed the biggest free throw

 

[Bluegrassking]

I love Cal but he maybe setting up his defense to start the Freshmen next year and not Willis. I think he promises playing time to the 5 stars. I have seen bad defense from all 5 starters at different times.

At times? I'm sure. I saw Jordan and Pippin play poor D at times but it would be nitpicking and being ridiculous to bring it up in comparison to Tom Chambers.

In general Ulis and Briscoe are elite for college basketball on defense comparing to either of those guys is rationalizing and essentially fictionalizing.

It would be like comparing Briscoe to Willis in shooting because you can say you've seen him make a couple. It is exactly or more that goofy.
Overall, I think Murray is consistently better and is not a liability.

After that the other starter is random but all better man defenders than Willis but he makes some plays and I think continues to get better.

One thing that is easy he can do to help is to do a better job getting hands up on 3's especially on a close out.
I don't want silly fouls on jump shooters but I believe it is important to take advantage of his length when defending them to make those shots just a wee bit more difficult.

In fact, maybe he needs to do more of that in general.

Back off a bit, be long, maintain good position, funnel to where you have help.

Defense isn't all physical talent, it helps mightily but a smart guy that gets angles with length he can take advantage of can work himself into solid in college especially.
Willis isn't even that screwed physically he isn't slow, he lacks lateral quickness sure but point to point he is okay and he has decent hops.

Cal is right to stay on him, Willis needs to put in the consistent effort as much as anything and while he does that he can put in work on #2 which is develop better reactions (instincts) simply the kind that come with playing and instruction/correction.

Because of his knack for blocks and being a solid rebounder he can switch flip his rep from liability to "sneaky good" and it will make a difference to us, to his basketball career, and his mentality as person moving forward in life.

He can do it so don't fret Cal helping him develop to his potential too much.

 

[Hjack]

i love kentucky. i hate most of you people

??:flushed:

 

[etowncatfan]

Wall, Cousins, Beldsoe, D Rose, Knight, Jones, Lamb, AD, MKG, Noel, Wiltjer, Lee, Poythress, Harrison's, Randle, Young, Kat, WCS, Booker, Ulis, Dakari, Trey:

"Cal does not promise playing time"


etowncatfan: "I think he promises playing time to the 5 stars"

Lets go with the guy who gets his information at Las Chalupas on karaoke night, not the actual 5 stars who played here...



"Ask any of his players, be it Davis, Rose, Wall or the guys who don't get off the bench, and they've all gotten the same speech: When they're at Kentucky, it's all about the name on the front of the jersey. Calipari doesn't promise shots, he doesn't promise minutes, he doesn't promise starting jobs. He insists his phenoms do the dirty work on defense — "If you don't play defense, you're not allowed to play," future first-rounder Terrence Jones said Sunday — and has no room for egos or personal agendas."

Lamb Wiltjer and Young weren't very good on defense but got lots of PT. The Harrisons werent so great their first year on defense as well. Dakari like Skal couldn't stay out of foul trouble. And look how long he went with the Skal experiment before he sat him down. But part of Calapari's recruiting pitch is the position is yours because the guy who used to be there went to the NBA. All players get beat on defense. Some get in trouble because they are helping out because of others bad defense. Bad defense and all I doubt many disagree that we are a better offensive team when Willis is on the floor. Las Chalupas has Karaoke?? I don't eat there. What do you sing??? Maybe I will come listen to you!!

 

[KopiKat]

All that matters is Willis hit the "3" in overtime. Derek's job is to hit shots and rebound. He did his job when it counted the most.

Which would never have happened had Derek not fought for the rebound on the previous play, scrapped afterward for the loose ball, making it go off the A&M player, retaining possession for us . . .

 

[KopiKat]

you should be throwing gold at my feet

Does gold urine count?

 

[thecatsareback#8]

Willis has higher ceiling than Murray. He is long, and sometimes he gets block because of his poor on ball defense.

 

[brianpoe]

Lamb Wiltjer and Young weren't very good on defense but got lots of PT. The Harrisons werent so great their first year on defense as well. Dakari like Skal couldn't stay out of foul trouble. And look how long he went with the Skal experiment before he sat him down. But part of Calapari's recruiting pitch is the position is yours because the guy who used to be there went to the NBA. All players get beat on defense. Some get in trouble because they are helping out because of others bad defense. Bad defense and all I doubt many disagree that we are a better offensive team when Willis is on the floor. Las Chalupas has Karaoke?? I don't eat there. What do you sing??? Maybe I will come listen to you!!

Who was going to play in front of Lamb, Wiltjer in 2013, Young or the Harrisons in 2014?

Your argument has no premise.

And if you do not realize why he went with Skal you have an even longer learning curve to this basketball thing.

This defense topic has been beaten to death, everyone knows how this works in regards to what a player offers assuming defense is equal in any given comparison.

We are better offensively with Willis, but you apparently did not read his own words...?


If you come to hear me sing you will never buy a taco at that joint again brother.

 

[brianpoe]

[QUOTE="WildMoon, post:

Willis has higher ceiling than Murray. He is long, and sometimes he gets block because of his poor on ball defense.

.[/QUOTE]


Seriously?

A junior who has started a handful of games has a higher ceiling than an AA, top 5 draft pick, breaking scoring records who should be a high school senior....?

The only ceiling that Willis has higher than Murray is on your personal likability scale.

 

[Jkwo_rivals113955]

There's literally no more common refrain heard from every single recruit than "Cal doesn't offer playing time".

When people ask what they like about Cal, that's almost always the first thing they say - they love that he looks stars in the face and tells them that he's not going to blow smoke up their butts, that he'll give them hell, tell them to sit and earn time on the floor.

They offer it up completely unprompted. Why would they all independently choose to lie about it?

Now obviously, some players manage to be a net positive even despite early-season deficiencies so he gives them slightly more rope - but this notion that he just gives players PT based on their stars is - you're literally calling all of them liars. Unprompted liars who lie for apparently no good reason. What a bizarre claim.

 

[wkycatfan7]

Cal knows what buttons to push with Willis.

 

[DwayneMeighan]

I love how so many are up in arms about cal hating on willis, yet in the article Derek himself was quoted about how many mistakes he made.

Yep. Cal calls out anyone else on the team for their defense, everyone agrees with with Cal and piles on, demanding that they get better as a defender.

Cal calls out Willis for his defense, everyone gers their panties in a wad, questions Cal's motives, defends Willis, makes every excuse in the book for Willis and tries to point fingers at and blame anyone and everyone else except for Willis.

 

[maysvilleky]

Yep. Cal calls out anyone else on the team for their defense, everyone agrees with with Cal and piles on, demanding that they get better as a defender.

Cal calls out Willis for his defense, everyone gers their panties in a wad, questions Cal's motives, defends Willis, makes every excuse in the book for Willis and tries to point fingers at and blame anyone and everyone else except for Willis.

I definitely think Cal motivates different players in different ways. Willis didn't get playing time the last 2 years because of his defense. And I think Cal keeps reminding him of this to keep Willis motivated so he can stay on the floor. I also believe that Cal knows in the back of his mind that he may have Willis back next year and he will need Willis to be a leader preaching defense to all the new guys that will be on campus.

 

[*dezyDECO*]

I definitely think Cal motivates different players in different ways. Willis didn't get playing time the last 2 years because of his defense. And I think Cal keeps reminding him of this to keep Willis motivated so he can stay on the floor. I also believe that Cal knows in the back of his mind that he may have Willis back next year and he will need Willis to be a leader preaching defense to all the new guys that will be on campus.

I think that sums it up^^^

As for Willis' issues on D... the same things could pretty much be said about anyone on this team not named Ulis or Briscoe.

 

[wkycatfan7]

We need Poythress, but I almost didn't mind when he fouled out vs A&M, cause I knew Willis could stretch the D.