Tai Wynyard

[LadyCaytIL]

Cal expected to play him until he started practicing him. Said so himself. "We may throw him in out there, see what he can do." Could've just said the plan was to red shirt him at the start and been done with it.

Then he got to practicing him.

Yes, it's odd. Team had 4 big men that played, gave ya next to nothing (aside from Poythress' 10 and 6), and stayed in constant foul trouble... yet there's this other 6'10" 260 fella down at the end of the bench, total question mark to us fans, that Cal wouldn't even throw out there for 5 minutes to see if he would fight for a layup and a couple rebounds when it was needed.

Now come on.. you know throwing out proof to win an argument isnt allowed here. What are you thinking? lol

 

[wcc31]

Now come on.. you know throwing out proof to win an argument isnt allowed here. What are you thinking? lol

Proof of what? Calipari says all kinds of stuff all the time. I'm sure he would've loved if Wynyard was ready to play. I don't think he expected it at all.

 

[wcc31]

Humphries who actually showed in-game mettle played a total of 9 minutes in our last 3 games.

 

[LadyCaytIL]

Well Cal knew he'd be behind everyone when he said that WCC31....... the only thing that changed was Cal saw Wyn practice. It had to be a skills thing because Cal knew he'd be behind with plays etc...

 

[wcc31]

Oh okay, so now we're taking everything Cal says completely at face value. Gotcha.

How bizarre is it that some our players actually have ice cream as feces?

 

[yoshukai]

Then why did Cal give him a scholarship?

Because decent big physical practice players are hard to come by .

 

[BBUK_anon]

Because Cal can't take 2 breaths without saying "don't come here if you expect to be a 4 year player" and given the chance to insert Wynyard and see what he could do for the front court when it was DESPERATELY needed, he chose to red shirt him... like's it's apparently gonna matter that he's gonna have that 1 extra year based on Cal's philosophy.

That's odd.

That threw up a red flag to me too. That kid had a golden chance to shine. he could have stepped up. Cal wouldn't have put that kid out there to humiliate himself, he must have the talent but even with that the gumption may be light right now. He had a chance to be part of UK lore for generations if he could have performed but oh well...

 

[BBUK_anon]

Oh okay, so now we're taking everything Cal says completely at face value. Gotcha.

How bizarre is it that some our players actually have ice cream as feces?

I always take everything anyone states at face value until there is a reason not to...after that....[poop]

 

[wcc31]

I'm a little surprised you're on the other side of this debate, really, considering the evidence is stacked in the other direction being as how UK needed ANYONE THEY COULD GET to even give the slightest bit of help on the inside and Cal still chose not to even try him. I'm disappointed TBH.

You shouldn't be. I have been pretty steadfast on my point of view on Wynyard since before he got here and a standard bearer of common sense on this very board for the last 15 years.

 

[T-Bickle]

Side note: whatever happened to Cal taking an Asian player? Seemed like he had an idea years ago to take an Asian player with the thought that it would globalize the UK brand. I actually thought it was a great idea. Cal has certainly had some diversity on the team but yet to have seen an Asian player.

I haven't read the whole thread so sorry if this is a repeat: my guess is it is harder to get an Asian player eligible, especially a player from China. Most European schools teach English, but not in China.

 

[BBUK_anon]

I haven't read the whole thread so sorry if this is a repeat: my guess is it is harder to get an Asian player eligible, especially a player from China. Most European schools teach English, but not in China.

Huh? Got a little Dunnstan going on?

 

[BBUK_anon]

You shouldn't be. I have been pretty steadfast on my point of view on Wynyard since before he got here and a standard bearer of common sense on this very board for the last 15 years.

So you state...[winking]

 

[catswin]

Really? Cal did, however, have the chance to choose who to take between either Jon Hood and Nolan Dennis, who he had committed at Memphis, and who could've followed him to UK if he wanted. Similar players. Cal chose Hood. He could've taken Dennis instead and let Hood know he'd be better served going somewhere else just like he did Pilgrim, Euton, Ross-Miller, Avery, Zollo, etc.




you must've missed my post above where I made light of the fact that coaches offer and sign players all the time that never end up contributing and either transfer or graduate having scored 50 total points for their careers.

Cal offered Wynyard, if memory serves me right, without ever having seen him play in person. He was going on the recommendation of one of his coaching buddies who coaches internationally. Can't remember the name. I thought it was a weird story all around.

Jason, you are truly clueless if you think Cal chose Hood over a Memphis recruit. There is NO WAY Cal would have let go a white kid from the state who was Mr. Basketball. I'm sure he probably didn't want him, but his hands were tied.

 

[armchairpg]

To me he has good size and decent mobility that is at least on par with Jorts. Granted we did not have tons of options in 2011 but Jorts was able to play at a plausibly high level when given the chance. During the next couple of seasons there will be times when a freshman hits a slump, is (god forbid) injured or something and he will get a chance. He has already gotten a head start on learning the system, etc so I think he is in a decent position to get on the floor. With big men I think you can see a change more easily than with guards. If you are 6'11, 260 then really just move your feet on defense and be able to hit a lay up and you are pretty good. I think he can pull that off.

 

[UKGrad93]

3 Pages about a recruit that has never seen the floor. [laughing]

There will be at least 6 guys ahead of him on the depth chart next year. IMO, he is a mop up guy that might fight his way into a 10 mpg guy his Jr. or Sr. year. Seems as likely to transfer by then too.

 

[yabbadabbadoo_rivals213851]

I think the jury is still out.
Lord, give the kid a chance.
Could turn into a monster, could not. Let's just wait and see.

 

[UKCAT5FAN]

We just don't know. Period. There might be some validity in drawing a conclusion from the fact that Cal didn't play him last year, but it is also valid to just accept the most simple answer, that Tai wasn't ready enough in the middle of the year to waste a year of eligibility over garbage minutes. That doesn't mean he can't be an excellent player as soon as this coming season. And please stop citing some comment Matt Jones made. I very much doubt anyone associated with the team disparaged Tai to Jones, and any personal observations he might have from watching a scrimmage or whatever are worse than useless.

Kinda hard to just dismiss his comments though. We haven't seen Wynyard play a lick of ball yet and Jones has seen his play a lot more than any of us. So, there aren't too many people out there that have anything more than a guess since nobody has seen him play. I have a hard time just dismissing his comments when there are probably only a handful of people who can give us an assessment of where he is at with his skills.

 

[yabbadabbadoo_rivals213851]

I'd give Matt Jones' assessment of an actual basketball game and the intricacies within the game an AVERAGE at best, so I'd take what he said about a player with a grain of salt. A small grain.

 

[T-Bickle]

Huh? Got a little Dunnstan going on?

I was replying to Cut-Nets. Safe guess you have him on ignore.

Also, Dunn is my all-time favorite poster. I only wish I could go full Dunn mode.

 

[T-Bickle]

Cal expected to play him until he started practicing him. Said so himself. "We may throw him in out there, see what he can do." Could've just said the plan was to red shirt him at the start and been done with it.

Then he got to practicing him.

Yes, it's odd. Team had 4 big men that played, gave ya next to nothing (aside from Poythress' 10 and 6), and stayed in constant foul trouble... yet there's this other 6'10" 260 fella down at the end of the bench, total question mark to us fans, that Cal wouldn't even throw out there for 5 minutes to see if he would fight for a layup and a couple rebounds when it was needed.

My only guess to the contrary is that Tai specifically told him he didn't want to play. Ironically, Cal might've been staying "player's first" by not playing him.

I do know he was at the scorers table once but didn't make it out there. Maybe at that point he was willing to see what he could give, but after that maybe didn't want the perception he burned a redshirt for a few mop up minutes. Obviously this is all speculation.

We can safely assume that Tai didn't come into practice and light the world on fire. Still might be a serviceable player in a couple years, and definitely a banger in practice.

 

[docholiday51]

I always take everything anyone states at face value until there is a reason not to...after that....[poop]

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

You never know how these things turn out.

There was a story linked on here yesterday about Derek Willis thinking the coaching staff hated him for the first 2 years he was here. Then look what happened this season. You never know.

 

[.S&C.]

Don't want to get into the topic at hand here (I do agree it seems unlikely Wynyard is ever a major contributor for us, I'd just hope he can be a backup role player his Junior/Senior years so in this case, tick a mark on the "ganner said he agrees with you" list) but just thinking of our past interactions, have you considered that maybe your antagonistic style of posting has something to do with people frequently picking your posts to respond counter to? I know it's why I've found myself quoting your posts several times to argue against. Not trying to start a fight here and I've not ever intended to follow you around and "pick you out" but you make your posts stand out from the crowd.

It's not "people" it's you, and a few other nuts.

If you read back far enough, I never made a comment about him really. That's the funniest part. Your reading comprehension is pitiful, and now I'm totally done messing with you. You are a contrarian and your schtick is more than old. Ignored.as I've said, you might want to check the "like" feature. Me being a bad poster and you being the level headed arbiter is only in your mind.

 

[BBUK_anon]

I was replying to Cut-Nets. Safe guess you have him on ignore.

Also, Dunn is my all-time favorite poster. I only wish I could go full Dunn mode.

I liked him too...he could go out there at times to places only a sane man could go.[laughing]

 

[revcort]

I heard he splintered a floor in practice and chopped his way through the post area and removed the nail at the foul line. Also heard he was stacked (Not sure what that meant) BUT, he fixed the floor and has been seen chipping away at his and others game...just a rumor I heard but...

Haha! Touche, my good man.

 

[Bkocats]

maybe Cal just liked his accent

 

[JC43]

Tai comes from a country where the population is 4.5 million, moves to KY, which has 4.4 million. He comes to a basketball program that rivals the NBA in terms of Stardom.
He traveled over tens of 1000's of miles away from everything and everyone he knows, at age 17.
Not only is he coming into a top 3 program already with season in progress, but probably the most rabid fanbase of all basketball sports. Every game is nationally televised. All media is scrutinizing Skal, who is probably showing a lot more skill at the point than Tai is at this point.
If I was him, I would wait to play too.
Crowds for Tai are probably 1000 to 2400 art most. Now he is walking into Rupp Arena, talk about shell shock.
No one is talking about his basketball skill, any mention of him is "lumberjack" related...
Cal asked him if he wanted to go in late January, Tai felt he wasn't ready yet. If I remember, the pressure for the basketball program in January was very intense.
He is 6'10...260... great trunk and strength of lower body. Stable base. He will play at some point. He is a great member of the team to go up against daily. He will only improve against better competition as time goes on.
For Tai, he just needs time to adjust. Adjust to better overall competition, adjust to a whole new language, adjust to a whole new culture/sub culture of the greatest basketball program in the world, The University of Kentucky Wildcats!!!

 

[treyforuk]

Tai comes from a country where the population is 4.5 million, moves to KY, which has 4.4 million. He comes to a basketball program that rivals the NBA in terms of Stardom.
He traveled over tens of 1000's of miles away from everything and everyone he knows, at age 17.
Not only is he coming into a top 3 program already with season in progress, but probably the most rabid fanbase of all basketball sports. Every game is nationally televised. All media is scrutinizing Skal, who is probably showing a lot more skill at the point than Tai is at this point.
If I was him, I would wait to play too.
Crowds for Tai are probably 1000 to 2400 art most. Now he is walking into Rupp Arena, talk about shell shock.
No one is talking about his basketball skill, any mention of him is "lumberjack" related...
Cal asked him if he wanted to go in late January, Tai felt he wasn't ready yet. If I remember, the pressure for the basketball program in January was very intense.
He is 6'10...260... great trunk and strength of lower body. Stable base. He will play at some point. He is a great member of the team to go up against daily. He will only improve against better competition as time goes on.
For Tai, he just needs time to adjust. Adjust to better overall competition, adjust to a whole new language, adjust to a whole new culture/sub culture of the greatest basketball program in the world, The University of Kentucky Wildcats!!!

I wish i could give this more likes. Best post of any on here.

 

[BourbonBalz]

I love how so many on here have already written Tai off while NEVER having seen him play. Maybe he will never contribute. Maybe he will become a dominant starter at some point. NO ONE on here knows one way or another. You might have an opinion, but it is just that, an uninformed opinion. If Cal didn't think he could play at UK, he would have never brought him here, especially in December. Let's just see what he has before declaring him a wasted scholarship. That's the smart thing to do, so some of you will probably do the exact opposite.

 

[Cat Ballou]

Tai is a babe in the woods right now, he will be just a freshmen next year eligibility-wise - by the time he is a junior or senior, he could be a huge contributor. Personally, I'm thrilled we have a couple of guys on the roster who will be here for 3-4 years.

Not to mention - Tai is having a ball at UK, is best friends with Willis, and has already hooked up with a hot Kentucky girl. He's not going anywhere.