I agree! We need vetren's as much as anything? I know some of these new kid's are talented. but are that much better than SKJ?
opcorn:Skj transferrin
- Thread starter WCS15UK
- Start date
opcorn:Yes he was homesick. I know Tai's former GF (you can search where I subtly broke the Tai story earlier this year, that is where i received the info), she is friends with Isaac's "friend", not necessarily full time GF. He definitley was ready to go home at any time.
When the pro team offered him good money he jumped at it.
Or, maybe he knew this team was not that good, since they were so young, not likely to get very far no matter what. So, he gets as much game experience as he can for the frosh and is building a team for next year that will be much better; one that will combine a good core of returning players with experience to be joined by 3-4 elite recruits to make a run. That's how I think Cal rolls.
Trust in Cal.
Again, you are missing the point, he was rated a five star by the rating system. Are all five stars alike, no, I never said that. Someone claimed he was a four star. He wasn't . Facts are facts buddy. Just cause it doesn't fit the narrative you and others are pushing doesn't change it, no matter how hard you cry to mommy, facts will remain facts. Sascha was rated a 5 star, he was invited and participated in the McDonald's All-american game featuring 5 star players. It's a highschool ranking. Now if you said that SkJ, in college, didn't play like a five star, we can agree, but does not change the FACT, coming out of HS he was a 5 star recruit. It is gonna be okay, Cal won't be here forever and you and others will have your day again when we lose a game next year.
Again cool story pal
There is a definite sweet spot for Roy Williams and now Jay Wright. Let Ky and Duke fight over guys they'll have one, maybe 2 years, we'll build a team of 3/4 year guys with maybe the occasional kid that jumps pro early.
See how it shakes out over a 5-7 year period.
If I remember correctly both SKJ and WG saw their ratings blow up after signing with UK, not sure if they were 4 stars but they were not close to being elite before hand.
I value returning players but it's entirely possible EJ is better than Sacha right now. He seemed like a nice kid and I wish him well, but I don't think Jones is or will be an impact player.
Possibly.
But again, every player that has left the program to go elsewhere other than the NBA was a 3-4 year player.
I don't think SKJ has had many conversations with Cal this year that were to his liking.
This is a valid point and probably true. Cal loves to talk about being the youngest team and starting five freshmen. It has to be by design because it happens often.
If the last two goes we are not any better off than this season IMO!! :scream:
as I said, that really isn't a positive for UK. UNC/Villanova are starting with these kids and convincing them they will be valuable in years 3/4
I won a lot of free beers betting he would fumble the ball or drop it out of bounds. I always placed that bet before most games with the crew I hung out with.
We have no idea how good EJ is right now and how good he’ll be against D1 players this coming season. I used to buy into the hype of every McDonald’s AA coming in, but know better now. I do think having a core returning helps incoming players.
He's losing a year sitting out transferring. Of course it's a negative for the player. Fans liked him because he was part of the program. However, a strong percentage felt he was a role player at best and knew he would be behind several better players. From the perspective of losing a member of the program, sure some will be disappointed. Yet, as far as the production on the court, it's not much of a negative. He didn't play much and when he did he wasn't impactful other than a few moments in his career here. Not really sure where you get it's much of a negative for anyone but the player in this case
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anon_013cn8yrfncx2
Guest
"Why do you want Cal to stop recruiting elite players? I personally like competing for Final Fours and playing our best ball in March every year, but I guess some just prefer the occasional great team every 4 years strategy like you do."
Do you see this problem? If you don't play your best ball until March, your ability to compete for final fours is going to be hampered by poor seeding.
Had this discussion in another thread about "being in a position to win it all".
Don't know what that means to anyone else, but for me, unless you are a 1 or 2 seed you're not really in that position and you rarely will win it all.
Do you see this problem? If you don't play your best ball until March, your ability to compete for final fours is going to be hampered by poor seeding.
Had this discussion in another thread about "being in a position to win it all".
Don't know what that means to anyone else, but for me, unless you are a 1 or 2 seed you're not really in that position and you rarely will win it all.
Seeding is one qualifier, I guess.
Unless you lose in the first weekend for 6 straight years.
Getting a team to the EE is putting a team into position to actually win it.
Season starts over when tourney starts, everyone is 0-0.
No one hangs banners for their seed.... (I'll have to double check Indiana to be sure)..
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that is what is maddening about this - no one is going to confuse SKJ with Darius Miller, but I think everyone is in agreement we aren't going to win a national championship with 4 freshmen on the court - and Cal trying to sort thru a rotation of freshmen and sophs who are trying to get it figured out in mid February.
For our national championship aspirations, I think you could argue that building a veteran core team is just as important as bringing in talented freshmen.
As opposed to transfers that happen at every other school? Like Duke for example?
What do you differently?
We have had 8 players transfer or leave the program not for the NBA, all of them were 3-4 year players.
Most of our success has been with freshman and sophomore dominated teams.
Richards averaged almost double the points and rebounds on the season as SKJ on nearly same minutes per game. Richards has way more upside than SKJ.
Yep but I'm talking more about kids like Hawkins and Willis who are expected to contribute by the time they are juniors. In regards to them two, I'm still convinced they stuck through because they are from KY. A kid born and raised in KY often lives his dream by playing at UK. Out of state kids don't typically have that allegiance to our university.
First of all, good luck Sasha and hope you succeed wherever you go!
Second, he isn’t necessary for a deep run next year. At all.
Third, certain posters are just looking for any reason to ***** about Cal no matter the circumstances.
Second, he isn’t necessary for a deep run next year. At all.
Third, certain posters are just looking for any reason to ***** about Cal no matter the circumstances.
I agree that KY boys are more likely to stay.
The passion is surely greater, but KY players also realize they will always have a job in their HOME state after basketball.
If a role player is going back to another state its not the same.
Your numbers may be true, but I put more faith in my eye test. Maybe that's ignorant, but I simply didn't see anything impressive with NR last season. Hoping that changes.
with Cal as our coach, most of our failures have been with freshmen and sophomore dominated teams. its about all we have.
Jorts and LIggins as Seniors with Miller as a Jr. beat Ohio St and UNC - one of the most exciting runs in under Cal and our first final four with him.
The point is that people are just convinced the only chance we have to win is with a heavily OAD system, yet other teams are having just as much success as we are without it.
The OAD is our system, but its not the only system that results in wins, and if we can't figure out a way to retain kids and let them mature (like Gabriel is doing right now) and provide a consistent level of play, then the odds are heavily stacked against us in tearing off 6 wins in the tournament against increasingly better (and most likely veteran ) teams - not to mention the added frustration of losing meaningful games in December and having to justify with the often empty promise of "Wait until March!"
My rant isn't about SKJ, its just about how we're going to keep finding ourselves in this same position over and over again. We could be having this same conversation about Richards 2 years from now.
Let's put it this way.
Yes, it is disingenuous to say that SKJ was a 4 star recruit.
It's also disingenuous to deny that he was right on the borderline between 4 star and 5 star, because it's a FACT that guys generally rated 20-30 are exactly in that range.
As for the rest: huh?
I disagree that he is horrible but even if he is horrible, he is still better than SKJ.
Izzo had the exact team you wanted- top freshmen and top returning players who could have gone pro. He won 30 games in the regular season. Then didn’t win his conference title and didn’t do **** in the NCAA tournament. And Izzo has found himself along with Self and other top coaches over and over in the same position.