Skj transferrin
- Thread starter WCS15UK
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Its not who Cal recruited , its how patient Cal can be with some players while just a couple others get the cold shoulder . I trust Cal , but sometimes he can seemingly bury a player and SKJ fits that description . I dont have any delusions of grandeur about SKJ , we wasnt great , but IMO he was showing good improvement and we needed the experience .
Sophomores, mistake on my part, but it doesn’t change what I said. Strike the juniors, and it just further proves the point.
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Matthews would have played more than Hami, but he has the same flaws that limited Diallo’s effectiveness.
You always need experienced players in the front court for depth if nothing else, and just because he averaged those numbers last year doesn't meant he wouldn't improve on those next year which he certainly would as he's still young and improving. It seems like you contradict yourself in this post. One or two experienced players off the bench can mean everything in the tournament.
He would not play next year. Something would have to go terribly wrong for him to get meaningful playing time next year.
You don't have a "point of view." You have an agenda which is to attack Kentucky basketball and John Calipari. Everyone who pays attention on this site knows that. Why a person would constantly waste time on something that gives them no pleasure, other than the perverse pleasure of being an agitator, is a mystery. It's a sad way to live.
So, by 'patient' do you mean that Cal should have sat out the recruiting cycle last year and this year to give SKJ a clear shot at the job? Should he not have recruited Washington or Vanderbilt or Richards, and then passed on Montgomery? Or having Washington, Richards and Vanderbilt on the team, should he have kept them on the bench to play a less talented and productive player?
Because otherwise he was patient. He brought SKJ along through a freshman season that for whatever reason he wasn't ready to play at all. Then he gave him equal minutes to Richards this year, in which SKJ didn't really produce all that much. How else would you define patience?
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If you say Cal ran a guy off by not recruiting any other post players and giving him equal minutes to a guy he was statistically inferior to, you're delusional and looking for reasons to whine.
Yes, good luck to SKJ, and I hope he will not play for a team we less than like.
I for one can not go against the team he will choose to play for, unless he plays against us.
So he’s scared of a freshman coming in? Why would he transfer? If he worked hard over the summer in the weight room and practice he could’ve been starting. This shows me he doesn’t have the fight to be in the next level in the NBA. If you can’t break out in college around good players how can you do it in the NBA. .
I was really excited to have him back next year. Scratching my head over this one
And who knows how much of the off court controversy affected that team later in the season, it may not have factored in but it might have. Regardless, I think a roster like Michigan States last year is pretty ideal.
A couple past friends wanted to come and say hello.
1. Willie left after his sophomore season
2. Harrelson/Liggins were holdovers from before Cal got here.
I present to you: Kyle Wiltjer, Charles Matthews, Marcus Lee, now SKJ. All guys that coulda been really good for us in their 3rd/4th years. Instead they leave and go thrive elsewhere.
Poythress is probably the only highly rated guy that stayed, and that was after an injury.
Sorry to see him go. He would have played more next year but not enough for him to stick around . Someone had to transfer writing on wall. He worked hard for two years thought he should have gotten more playing time. Richards must have been a better practice player. But like it when SKJ was in and Richards sitting.
Willie played three years here.
He was a freshman with Nerlens and company. He was hurt in the tournament where Randle and company went to the title game. He chased butterflies while Wisconsin ended our perfect season.
He could have gone pro after his second year but came back.
Liggins played two years under Cal even with a family situation that needed the money.
Harrelson could have quit or left but chose to stick it out and he turned himself into an NBA player under Cal.
Once again Cal has done that, and 8 now possibly 9 of those exact players have left the program.
You cant just say recruit these guys and not accept that we already have and they leave anyway.
Yes, I can because those aren't the guys I'm talking about. Those are guys who don't view themselves as 4 year guys and leave. I said recruit accordingly.
Tell us who these guys are then? Because these guys were recruited to stay multiple seasons.
I'm talking about what we need to do going forward to change things up for better success, not lamenting about what guys have done that can't be changed. Not sure what you're even arguing about. None of that is germane to what I'm saying. You want to keep on, have at it.
Here is the irony of SKJ.
Roy was desperate for a power forward from the 2016 recruiting class. He did not want walk-on Luke Maye to be the primary back-up PF in 2016-2017. He offered a ton of bigs in the 2016 class, including Chapel Hill native SKJ, and he whiffed on all of them. So Luke Maye became the primary back-up PF for the 2016-2017 season.
If SKJ had just chosen to stay home for college, it would have been SKJ checking into the Elite Eight game in 2017, not Luke Maye. Pretty sure UK wins that game by double digits if that happens.
Another NBA tweener kid at UK that didn't last 3-4 years...but we'll keep defending this crap as "nothing Cal can do about it".
1. SKJ was a better player than Nick Richards last year. He was easily superior to Nick the last half of season. Will have some come on here and debate that opinion...but it's sort of looney to argue otherwise. And to keep starting Nick at tipoff only play him less than 7 minutes was goofy after half way mark of SEC slate.
2. By doing #1 above...it leaves SKJ of a mindset that Nick will get bigger opportunity next year IMO.
3. Last year, we'd have been better had Humphries stayed and given us way better rebounder, better shot blocker, better team defense and about the same low post offense as Nick....but instead he bails after two 'meh' years and we act like it didn't hurt the team.
This is the roster turnover moreso than the Kevin Knox, Monk, etc.. leaving that is hurting our ability to win titles. But Cal has no look to resolve that issue...instead he looks like a man intent on talking up "players first' mantra and stacking up as many high rated kids as he can to only see them leave whether they are ready or not.
1. SKJ was a better player than Nick Richards last year. He was easily superior to Nick the last half of season. Will have some come on here and debate that opinion...but it's sort of looney to argue otherwise. And to keep starting Nick at tipoff only play him less than 7 minutes was goofy after half way mark of SEC slate.
2. By doing #1 above...it leaves SKJ of a mindset that Nick will get bigger opportunity next year IMO.
3. Last year, we'd have been better had Humphries stayed and given us way better rebounder, better shot blocker, better team defense and about the same low post offense as Nick....but instead he bails after two 'meh' years and we act like it didn't hurt the team.
This is the roster turnover moreso than the Kevin Knox, Monk, etc.. leaving that is hurting our ability to win titles. But Cal has no look to resolve that issue...instead he looks like a man intent on talking up "players first' mantra and stacking up as many high rated kids as he can to only see them leave whether they are ready or not.
SKJ's late rise up the rankings was based on his strong offensive play, and the projection that he would continue to excel playing at PF in college.
The thing is, Cal used him as a back-up 5 man this season. He was responsible for patrolling the paint on defense, and on offense he was an afterthought. He never got the chance to play PF, in a two post offense.
Wouldn't shock me if Bill Self goes after him. IF SKJ is going to meet his potential, that high-low offense could do it.
I don't see why some are upset over SKJ.
He's not part of a pattern, he's simply not very good and transfer bait from any blue chip program anywhere.
He's been recruited over. Meaning we have q better player filling the void. I don't want a junior or senior who isn't good. It holds up a scholarship.
He's not part of a pattern, he's simply not very good and transfer bait from any blue chip program anywhere.
He's been recruited over. Meaning we have q better player filling the void. I don't want a junior or senior who isn't good. It holds up a scholarship.
Except there's literally zero evidence to support your claim except how you feel. The numbers say otherwise.
Willie left after his junior year. Lee left after his junior year. Wiltjer would have never played a major role here. We’ll see with Mathews and Jones.
The moment Vanderbilt went down...the void of his minutes SKJ way outplayed Richards in SEC T and NCAA Tournament. Granted an extremely small sample size but that was all the sample SKJ got and he did a solid job of it.
Nick average 3.6 pts a game from start of SEC Play to end of NCAA tournament. Not to mention the constant turnovers due to his weak hands. SKJ was solidly better player at end of season and we don't beat UT in SEC T without him and SKJ was very solid in Davidson game.