Lee looked good
- Thread starter ulismyman
- Start date
This is exactly what I said to my sons as we were watching this. One asked about Lee and I said he will likely be a backup. But when I thought more about it the only thing I could say is that Lee is gonna get a lot of minutes this season. He definitely is ahead of Alex right now. He's got that 7-3 wingspan and ridiculous 43 inch vertical. He's gonna be on the floor, especially early in the season while Alex is still regaining his confidence.
The thing that would be best for out team is if Lee and Poythress to both play so well that Cal doesn't know who to start. Lee's shot look much better and he he's clearly gotten stronger. And he's still like a jack rabbit bouncing around out there. He and Skal together would be a great shot blocking tandem, too. This could be a great year for Lee.
I heard once that he used to play volleyball.
Yeah but did you know that Anthony Davis took the 4th most shots in 2012?
I bet you didn't.
Willie Cauley-Stein was a wide receiver in high school.
Wait, what? Surely you're not advocating that Willis should be ahead of Poythress in the rotation???
That's understandable though - and for someone like AP it's going to be worse. I've always though Poy's biggest problem is that he thinks too much when playing. He's a really smart guy - as I'm sure everyone heard once or twice last night - and I'm sure that he's overthinking this issue as well. I bet anyone who's had the injury Poy had is similar; he's just got to develop confidence.
I would rank Lee right up there with Skal, Murray, and Ulis as the most impressive players last night. Cal has got to find a way to get him on the floor.
Briscoe showed flashes, but I think nerves got the best of the rest of the guys. Poy was playing at about 50%. I think Cal will bring him on slowly. By the time SEC season rolls around, he should be fine.
Briscoe showed flashes, but I think nerves got the best of the rest of the guys. Poy was playing at about 50%. I think Cal will bring him on slowly. By the time SEC season rolls around, he should be fine.
No reason for Poy to go all out for BBM. Really - as always - no real reason for any of them to. It wasn't even an official scrimmage. I'm sure we'll see more at the B/W scrimmage, and, of course games as they start.
These are amazing. Also Heshimu means "warrior".
On topic, if Lee can develop any sort of offense other than catching alley oops, he will play his way right into the first round of the draft. And it will be absolutely huge for this team.
I don't want to draw too much from a ragged, 15-minute pick-up game...but I agree that Lee was impressive.
It's good and bad. Good because it shows that he may've improved significantly. Bad because I saw him bullying Skal a couple of times. Not sure what that says about Skal's strength, but it can't be great.
The jumper Lee showed is a good sign. In the Yum! practice last year before the NCAAs I watched Lee consistently nail 17-footers. Open-gym, wide-open shooting is obviously different, but I was pretty shocked.
I've always been impressed, strangely, with the way Lee passes. Where he's always been a void is when he has to play with his back to the rim.
It's good and bad. Good because it shows that he may've improved significantly. Bad because I saw him bullying Skal a couple of times. Not sure what that says about Skal's strength, but it can't be great.
The jumper Lee showed is a good sign. In the Yum! practice last year before the NCAAs I watched Lee consistently nail 17-footers. Open-gym, wide-open shooting is obviously different, but I was pretty shocked.
I've always been impressed, strangely, with the way Lee passes. Where he's always been a void is when he has to play with his back to the rim.
I thought Lee looked very good last night and seemed to be playing with much more confidence than I've seen him before. He also seems to enjoy taking a leadership role with this team and I think he will become very valuable in this role during the season. Alex was a bit timid last night but, coming off the type of injury he had, it is very understandable at this point in time. As he gains more confidence in his recovery and allows himself to just play I think we'll see a different guy and, hopefully, very soon.
let's see - that's Skal, an emergent, newly confident Lee finally coming into his own, Poy once he gets comfortable with his knee and returns to beast mode, a promising young 7-footer with an already mature offensive game, and another promising young kid PF on the way - and hopefully an improved Willis.
But we're a guard team?
But we're a guard team?
I thought it was an honest assessment. To go from a very good team to an elite team, we need Alex Poythress in beast mode.
Once again, the key for Lee is foul shooting. If he can knock down free throws, then he can be on the court a lot. If not, he becomes a liability and that will keep him on the bench.
To start the reason - Lee at the 5, Skal at the 4 on offense, and on defense, reverse the matchup. Alex will be fine by SEC play, but I'm not counting on him before that.
Great point. I think UK would be fine without Alex against teams like Duke, but if/when we face UNC or Maryland, we would need Alex to offset their physical advantages down low. That and the fact that he is so versatile defensively. He can guard most wing players, which is huge should UNC come calling with a guy like Jackson on the perimeter.
Good point. Some seem to be missing on this one. Poythress is at 75%, according to Cal. He has a few months to get it together for SEC play. I have no doubt that will be the case once January rolls around.
Lee did look good last night.What we saw was everybody going 75/80 % and everyone knew what everyone else was going to do before they did it.We are very skilled (maybe as much as 2012 minus the shot blocking of Davis) If Skal is good to go from day one then we are really good right out of the gate
I think (with this team)Cal has to figure out which is better 3 guards or 3 bigs and that may take some time.I believe this is a different type of team than Cal has had at any time since he got here.I don't see many similarities to previous teams,any thoughts?
I think (with this team)Cal has to figure out which is better 3 guards or 3 bigs and that may take some time.I believe this is a different type of team than Cal has had at any time since he got here.I don't see many similarities to previous teams,any thoughts?
No I don't believe I will. Its a legitimate point.
As for "Never seen Cal seem so desperate"
Another poster explained it perfectly with "ramp up the rhetoric". Those were the words I simply could not find. I think he made a good post. Maybe its not "desperation" (Cal's speech and saying "hopefully) but its definitely born of something that wasn't there before.
I just dont wanna hear in January...well Alex is still not comfortable with that knee...we have other players and yes Willis is one of them that can step up if Poy cany get back
Think we'll go 0 and 30 if Poythress doesn't get better? Somebody needs to expose Cal on this quick. I bet he's getting a kick back on all those NBA contracts. Man you gotta go to Barnhart with this.
*snort*
Pretty sure this is intentional.
He always is careful with his media statements about guys like Poythress, Andrew Harrison, Darius as a junior, etc - because he knows that they're a bit more sensitive. He brings them out at the end of BBM whether or not they're the best and/or most senior player, etc - the other guys can deal.
Poythress has the tools to dominate college basketball - we've seen him absolutely eviscerate elite competition at the D1 level eg dropping 20 and 8 on Duke as a freshman. And last year when he was healthy, he deferred to our crazy number of other scoring options, but he also held his man to 12% shooting, which is 5 levels beyond insane.
Now if he can just decide on this team that he's a 3rd scoring option behind Jamal and Skal - just making quick, thunderous post moves, slamming in peoples' faces, occasionally draining the long jumper to keep defenses from sagging..
And if Lee keeps up with this improved strength and attacking on offense -
We could have a monster on our hands. No guarantees there, but the possibilities are tantalizing.
I think Lee looked better than "good". If he played on some other SEC team sportswriters would be talking possible All-SEC. If his performance the other night wasn't a complete fluke, it's a Kaminsky-lite transformation.
Sorry to be hyperbolic, but he and Willis have always seemed to me to be biding their time.
Sorry to be hyperbolic, but he and Willis have always seemed to me to be biding their time.
Lineup possibilities that haven't been discussed much, but that we could end up seeing more of than expected:
Humphries and Skal together, with 3 of Ulis, Murray, Briscoe, and Matthews.
Skal and Lee together, with 3 of Ulis, Murray, Briscoe and Matthews.
If Poythress is going to play the 4, it's imperative that he's aggressive. If he can't be, for whatever reason, then UK is going to have to turn to someone else.
Humphries and Skal together, with 3 of Ulis, Murray, Briscoe, and Matthews.
Skal and Lee together, with 3 of Ulis, Murray, Briscoe and Matthews.
If Poythress is going to play the 4, it's imperative that he's aggressive. If he can't be, for whatever reason, then UK is going to have to turn to someone else.
If someone who didn't claim to be a UK fan posted the things that you posted, would you think he was a troll?
If a Kansas fan was constantly making the same juvenile, anti-Cal posts, would you think he should be allowed to retain his posting privileges?
This is rhetorical, of course. We all know you would throw your shoulder out of socket clicking the like button as fast as you could.
Another cry to the mods, instead of countering and posting something of substance. Cant imagine the ***-whippings you took growing up.
Lol. Clearly you don't know me. But everybody here knows you too well.
There's no sense trying to appeal to trolls with logic and reason. You aren't looking for a healthy debate. You just want to be a jerk.