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That's another one on Cal

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UK90

Heisman
Dec 30, 2007
31,460
27,815
0
There's no rational explanation for Cal not playing Mulder on that final possession.

8 seconds left, you desperately need a three, and ONLY a three will save you. Yet you put in Bam--who's never made a three--while leaving your best three point shooter on the bench??????

How do you defend that decision? I'm, of course, a big Cal fan, but his strategic decisions sometimes just leave me shaking my head and wondering WTF? is he thinking?
 
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Seckatz

Seckatz

Senior
May 21, 2002
1,281
971
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Bluegrass79 said:
Won't play zone ? You will lose games even when your 38-0. Figured he'd learned something about Zone after 30 years. Nope.
The "best" coach possible would switches defenses depending on the team and how that team does against certain defenses. Fact. I'd tell him that to his face.
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All great college coaches study game film and make game plans designed to stop their opponents' strengths. Cal seems to focus on what UK does best and rolls with it. Which he believes is always switching man to man defense. Our guys must play like the NBA.
 
U

UKCAT5FAN

All-Conference
May 9, 2010
5,269
3,796
113
calsgals said:
100%. Flashbacks from the Wisconsin game .
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No, No, No, No, No...........


 
5

51stFan

Junior
Dec 30, 2005
405
341
0
When you get to the top level of college basketball anything can happen. The hardest sport out there to win a national championship in. Golden State dominated the NBA season and still couldn't do it. Imagine how hard to do it in a one and done scenario. Just got to be hot and stay hot for the most part like the last two UConn national championships prove.
 
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UKCAT5FAN

All-Conference
May 9, 2010
5,269
3,796
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4UK said:
Cal did not cost the team the game; that's nonsense.

But there is room for criticism. As others have said, the switching every screen has to stop. For someone who professes to not have a style and to coach to the players he has, Cal is incredibly stubborn in this area. You can play that way if you have an Anthony Davis, Willie Cauley-Stein, Nerlens Noel, or even Terrence Jones - big guys who move their feet like guards and can close space even when they get blown by. There is nobody on this team who fits that description - nobody even close, really. Bam is a "step slow" in everything he does.

The other thing is there is no explanation for the lineup we had on the floor on the last possession. We had to have a three, and there was not enough time for a shot, offensive rebound, and another three. So why was Bam on the floor? It's not like they even used him to set a screen. You had to have Mulder on the floor at that point. Is he the savior? Of course not. Would he have made the shot? Who knows. But he has to be on the floor in a 3-point game with 8 seconds left. If he's not on the floor in that situation, then I'm not sure why he's there.
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We werent switching every screen. Looked like a couple guys were able to switch but alot of times we were trying to get through the screen. This is where my criticism of Mulder comes into play. He was ATROCIOUS on defense tonight and his defensive performance directly led to several UL points, either through FG or FT. That's why he couldn't stay in the game. Hell, he was 2-3 from deep and I'm sure Cal would've liked to play him more. I said before the game that I thought Dom, Derek, and Mulder would all play alot more than usual and log significant minutes. But Mulder was just so bad on defense. He would either get blown by on the dribble or would just look dumb on a pick and roll and force a switch, only to be backed down in the paint or backdoored for an easy bucket for UL. It was just bad tonight.
I don't mind criticism if it is legit but whomever blames this on Cal is just a flat out idiot. We couldn't hit the broad side of a barn tonight while they seems to play out their ***. No player for Louisville has had a 20 pt game yet this year and Snider goes for 20 and they had another at 18 pts. They shoot well above their average from deep. Not to mention that Malik went 1-9 from deep and Bam missed 6 FTs down the stretch. How many times have you heard Cal tell Malik NOT TO SETTLE FOR THE THREE? Yet, he continued to jack them up time and time again instead of going to the rim. So, I'm not sure how anyone could say this one is on Cal. The only criticism I have for Cal is that I think Mulder shouldve been in the game at the end. That would have given us 3 shooters on the court and probably could've gotten a better shot than Malik. That would be my only gripe with Cal but that, by no means, puts the loss on Cal. Not at all!
 
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Poetax

Heisman
Apr 4, 2002
29,410
20,887
0
StevieJFTW07 said:
Only thing I will say about Cal..he needs to get back to recruiting for basic needs..a great hard nosed lock down defender like MKG, a rim protector like AD or Terrence Jones or WCS, great shooters like Knight or Lamb or Young, or a beast skilled offensive player and rebounder and defender like Randle or KAT or Cousins. Fit real needs..not just get or or go after the highest rated players because they're so highly rated or basing it off pure athleticism and then having to mesh them all together..like he's done the last two years. Last year's team really didn't have defensive chemistry or basic defensive skills...same as this year. Poor rebounding last year..same as this year.
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If that's what you saw last year, I take it you know nothing about basketball.
 
H

Hoskins91_rivals

All-Conference
Jun 12, 2011
6,750
1,619
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BoNicholas said:
i love the man and wouldn't want any other coach. However, he is going to play "his" guys come he'll or high water. I will never understand leaving your best chances to win on the bench.
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Are you talking about Mulder? You want to lose by double digits? You can argue he should have been in on that last play but I can remember several plays where it was his fault Louisville scored.
 
P

Poetax

Heisman
Apr 4, 2002
29,410
20,887
0
Hoskins91 said:
Are you talking about Mulder? You want to lose by double digits? You can argue he should have been in on that last play but I can remember several plays where it was his fault Louisville scored.
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Hoskins you can't win, the bo's know's.
 
Tannerdad

Tannerdad

Heisman
Mar 30, 2002
55,573
60,371
48
Have to hit shots.
Have to grab rebounds. Especially loose ball ones.
Have to hit FTs.
Have to stop playing hero ball at crucial times.

None of those are on Cal.

Cal's "fault" is always having young teams and rebuilding every year. And if you think that is a fault then you are going to hate next year. A lot.
 
J

JohnBlue

Heisman
Jul 22, 2003
188,376
14,335
0
kycatw\claws said:
He should start developing all his guys then. Are Willis, Humphries, Briscoe, Hawkins, Wynyard any consistently any better than the day they stepped on campus? Only returner that is is Mulder and Cal barely plays him.
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Uh, he coaches every single one of them but if you think any coach can take a Willis, or a Wynyard and turn them into a Monk, or Bam you really have some unrealistic expectations. People wanted some recruits that would stick around, those are the one's that are not one and done.
 
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Yahtzee43

Junior
Sep 2, 2014
321
218
0
Cal is 8-2 now v. Louisville.


I will give him the benefit of the doubt on his decision making.
BoNicholas said:
i love the man and wouldn't want any other coach. However, he is going to play "his" guys come he'll or high water. I will never understand leaving your best chances to win on the bench.
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megablue

Heisman
Oct 2, 2012
15,973
16,329
113
We didn't play well, but still had a chance to win. That's encouraging, but our defense is really pretty bad right now. If our success story will always be based on shooting well, then we'll have some bad losses and can't expect to go far.

Fox and Monk are fabulous talents on the offensive end. I've not seen anything out of either on the defensive end, especially when we are going to be 99.9% man defense. Fox uses his quickness to get a steal every now and then, but his straight-up man defense is bad and he gets beat practically every time, either in switch or straight-guard situations. Clearly, Briscoe and Hawkins are our two (2) best defenders. Why Hawkins only guarded Snider for about 2 or 3 minutes in the game is mind-boggling, although I know he was matched against Adel (much taller) and held him in check. Sometimes you have to give up a little offense for solid defensive effort .... addition by subtraction.

Probably, Fox and Monk were never taught or allowed to play defense because their high school coaches didn't want them fouling out .... far too valuable on the offensive end for their teams. They have the skill set to be good defenders. They need to be. They must.

This team has length and is well-suited to play some quality zone defense. That may be the answer to success on the defensive end, if our man defense cannot improve enough to be consistently effective and reliable. We are simply not going to have great shooting nights every game. Everybody knows that. No team does ....
 
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O

OHcatfan

Junior
May 22, 2002
1,323
359
0
It's Cal's fault because he recruits athletes over shooters. However, I wouldn't trade Cal for any other coach. There are just some things that you have to live with.
 
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Ukblue12

Sophomore
Mar 3, 2014
156
194
0
I'm sure in every loss Cal has had since he's been here there has been somebody who has started a thread with "I love Cal and I wouldn't want any other coach here...BUT....".

We get it, you want to justify you really like him but you know more about basketball than him so if he'd just change 1 or 2 things we'd never lose.

We get it.
 
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MarkPftw

All-American
Nov 19, 2016
5,253
6,782
96
Poetax said:
If that's what you saw last year, I take it you know nothing about basketball.
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We had 3 great shooters in Murray, Ulis, and Willis..so I did see that..but besides Murray, nobody could really create their own shot. And something with last year's team just didn't click or even mesh well together. The defense was like watching a scrimmage game for the most part..it was so bad that a ten point lead would disappear in a matter of 2-3 minutes..just like this year's defense..except this year's defense is even more soft, more undisciplined, more inept, and more horrible. The rebounding was also an issue all last year..it's even worse this year..so yeah. Listen, bud..this year's team has given up 270 freaking points combined vs. UL, UCLA, and UNC..that's 90.0 ppg..that's a huge problem. It's not great offense from the other teams..it's horrible defense from us and horrible defensive in game adjustments from Coach Cal. I mean, Cleveland St., Hofstra, and UT Martin all scored 70+ on us. Those teams shouldn't have sniffed 60 on us, period. Coach Cal has not been the same since Bo Ryan roasted him in 2015, period.
 
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