Looks like we will have same problem as last year....

[willyclyde]

Ya never know with Cal. Could be a possible 40-0 could be a possible nit. All depends on how the freshmen adapt to the college game and what returning players do to improve. Won't know until the season is underway, but I like our chances.

 

[screwduke]

The OP has to be joking.

Bam alone is better than any big men we had last year.

 

[PositivePete]

Zaytoven, you sir, are a douchebag.

 

[bucsrule8872]

In reference to your comment about Willis, UNC had one shooter last year, and they were a possession away from a national title.

Villanova had one big man, with virtually no front court depth.

I mean, last year's title game pretty proved all the remaining stereotypes false when it comes to what a team needs in order to win a championship.

Last year was a year without any dominant teams. It was really wide open.

This year will be more like 2015. There will be three or four teams with very balanced squads that will be dominant throughout the year. They will have very few weaknesses. I would be surprised if one of those does not win.

 

[screwduke]

Kenny Payne is soo OVERRATED

Very bad post.

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

You're no where near as smart as you think you are. I get your "irony" but you evidently can't read. I never said anything about needing a back to the basket player in my post. All I've said is that our frontcourt is weak again and that we don't have hardly any interior offense outside of just dunks and lay ups.

You agreed with the OP who said we have no back to the basket player. My point, obviously, is that we don't need one. You claiming we are weak in the interior is supposition at best. You may be the single worst, most dense poster on this forum. But I do appreciate your ability to amuse me.

 

[Poetax]

Actually no. There was times I was highly pissed during Tubby and Billy's time but my expectations were so much lower then that it didn't feel like a failure if we didn't win a title like it did in 2015.

But you make no sense. I agree, my expectations got to that point to with those two coaches but we could never have dreamed how Cal recruited. His time here has been anything but failure, some of his tough losses came from injuries others came because he wanted his more experienced players to take the reins over the youth on the team and it didn't always work. He's rolled the dice and got burned a couple of times but if you can't find some joy in the last 7 years, you need to walk away and get a new hobby.

 

[UKCAT5FAN]

None of those guys was a dominating center and that was what I was saying. Antoine was more of a three than a four most of the time and Nazr was good but not great. The bigs for this year's team have the potential to be better, if they will be or not remains to be seen.

Nazr was pretty damn good. His teeth were really jacked up but the boy could play some basketball. He was one of the best bugs in the country at the time, as was Magloire.

 

[brianpoe]

Your center usually isn't just standing in the paint, and even if he does, that doesn't help floor spacing either. It would just make playing a zone even easier.

I disagree.

The center spends the majority of their time on the block.

5 guys outside of the paint against a zone makes no sense, even for spacing.

Spacing, especially for the dribble drive, is one on the block and 4 guys out.

Good face up centers are typically paired with strong PFs. Something this team lacks.

Our PFs will be Willis, SKJ, and WG, nothing strong about these guys - not a Malone, Grant, Mason type in that bunch.

Our 5 will be in the triangle of block to FT line to block which is why I was such a proponent of Bolden or hope that Hump can be the man down low.

I agree Bam is much better with room to work.

 

[TruBluCatFan]

Magloire was "docile", do you even know what that word means? Magloire was a lot of things but docile was never one of them.

Pope, McCarty, Walker all roamed the perimeter and ran just as good as a guard.
Magloire was no chump in his ability to run the floor. He was a very docile player.

Nazr was a huge project but had good feet. Many questioned why he had brought such a fat guy in the program. Nazr never contributed on the '96 team as he played on the JV squad. Was very serviceable in '97 and proved to be a talent in '98. Nobody will forget his ability to go from one end of the court to the other in a short time.. just ask Vandy.

The main theme is that their is more than one way to skin a cat. You do not need a lumbering center to be dominant.

 

[rabidcatfan]

Huh?!?!? Really OP? Here's a comparison of last seasons frontcourt versus next seasons:

2015-2016 - Skal Labissierre, Alex Poythress, Derek WIllis, Isaac Humphries, Marcus Lee

2016-2017 - Bam Adebayo, Derek WIllis, Isaac Humphries, Wenyen Gabriel, Sacha Killeya-Jones, Tai Wynyard

Poythress and Lee were both guys that had question marks on them. WIllis wasn't expected to contribute and Humphries was green. Skal was the only one expected to make much noise and he fizzed out early.

Next season we will have a much more athletic frontcourt with big's who can stretch defenses and put the ball on the floor. They won't be 2014-2015 good, but they won't be as bad as we were last season or in 2012-2013 either. In fact, we should have a better frontcourt than we had in 2010-2011 too and that one took us all the way to the Final Four.

 

[weatherbird]

People get too hung up on preferences for building a team. In order to win a championship, you have to score more points than your opponent for 6 straight games. Beyond that, there is no hard fast rule, or trick to building a championship team other than preference. And in fact, most every team ever assembled has a weakness which can be exploited in certain matchups. Now those teams may or may not have to face the type of team that would give them trouble while trying to win a championship. In fact most championship teams either don't face a team with the type of style to give them trouble, or face a team that plays the right style, but not enough talent to beat them.

In the end, it doesn't matter if you win playing games in the 60's, or the 90's, whether you do it in the paint, or from the outside, just as long as for 6 straight games you score more points than the team you are facing. It doesn't require 40% three point shooters, or a dominant post player, that is just a preference.

 

[AllBall]

Wings dont normally play with their backs to the basket, thus the name wing....

Unless Bam has seriously improved his post game and Hump has made great strides, then we will be lacking a true post player.

I think both have the ability to become solid.

Bam is a beast in the open floor and room to move thus my hopes for Bolden.

With Bam alone in the middle and Willis in the corner he will have a tall task of owning the boards by himself, with some help from Briscoe.

If Bam is the 5 please do not compare him to Randle - huge difference in PF with a big bodied Center like Julius had and playing the 5 on an island.

Bam's game would be much better showcased if Hump can man the block.

That does not mean that is the best lineup for UK overall.

I think a critical coaching point for Cal will be to get Wenyen G to position rebound on both ends of the floor. Given his motor and athleticism, he can give us help on the boards. Just because he has a desire to play more on the perimeter doesn't mean he won't be required to do the dirty work. It will be a challenge early on but if Wenyen watches film on the way Gilchrist did it he'll have a blueprint.

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

Magloire was "docile", do you even know what that word means? Magloire was a lot of things but docile was never one of them.

I think, in context, he was trying to say agile but maybe his autocorrect went wild. It's put crazy words in posts of mine.

 

[*Bleedingblue*]

Magloire was "docile", do you even know what that word means? Magloire was a lot of things but docile was never one of them.

lol yes I know what it means my phone autocorrected it to docile. lol Supposed to say agile.

 

[TruBluCatFan]

lol yes I know what it means my phone autocorrected it to docile. lol Supposed to say agile.

LOL. I'm glad. Given some of the takes on this board lately you never know what someone will say.