This Team....

BlueRunner11

Heisman
Mar 26, 2011
11,563
35,624
0
How about running a defensive scheme that actually mitigates their most glaring weakness and the most probable and universally known reason they’ll get sent home early.

You know…the thing called coaching.
 
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jmw23712

All-Conference
May 9, 2009
1,668
4,915
81
My lord how are there still Cal defenders left? There’s no way anyone is both a Cal defender and a UK fan at this point. There’s just no way.

Maybe the team is bad at defense because their coach hasn’t taught them to be better defenders.

If they aren’t athletic enough to keep up with their man, a good coach teaches them zone.

If they get caught with their hands down or not putting forth the effort on D, a good coach benches them for someone who gives a damn.

And if no one on the bench is willing to put for the effort, a good coach recruits players who will.

Cal is the problem. Unbelievable someone thinks otherwise.
 
Sep 13, 2003
23,905
33,655
0
My lord how are there still Cal defenders left? There’s no way anyone is both a Cal defender and a UK fan at this point. There’s just no way.

Maybe the team is bad at defense because their coach hasn’t taught them to be better defenders.

If they aren’t athletic enough to keep up with their man, a good coach teaches them zone.

If they get caught with their hands down or not putting forth the effort on D, a good coach benches them for someone who gives a damn.

And if no one on the bench is willing to put for the effort, a good coach recruits players who will.

Cal is the problem. Unbelievable someone thinks otherwise.
THIS X 1,000!!!!!

Cal is making $8+ Million/year and can't teach future NBA players how to play defense!!!!

This is ALL on Cal!!! He has had an ENTIRE season to get the defense lined out with EXCEPTIONAL players that are MORE THAN capable of defending!!!!
 

ChicagoCat90

All-American
Oct 12, 2014
1,975
5,660
97
If one or two struggled with defense I would blame those players. What are the odds though that 10 high level D-1 basketball players would suck at defense? My finger is still pointed at the head coach.
 

wldktz1

Senior
Dec 12, 2013
1,628
958
113
My lord how are there still Cal defenders left? There’s no way anyone is both a Cal defender and a UK fan at this point. There’s just no way.

Maybe the team is bad at defense because their coach hasn’t taught them to be better defenders.

If they aren’t athletic enough to keep up with their man, a good coach teaches them zone.

If they get caught with their hands down or not putting forth the effort on D, a good coach benches them for someone who gives a damn.

And if no one on the bench is willing to put for the effort, a good coach recruits players who will.

Cal is the problem. Unbelievable someone thinks otherwise.
If you haven’t learned to play defense by college there isn’t much you can teach at that point.
 

VAWildcat15

Heisman
Oct 9, 2015
4,800
11,000
0
Fine, they’re fundamentally flawed players and it’s not the coach’s fault they can’t play defense. Coach doesn’t pick his own players after all.

Who does make those personnel decisions? Is it the GM?
 
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Bluesbrother

All-American
May 23, 2002
4,603
6,534
113
REFUSES to play Defense!

Blame Cal all you want, but not playing Defense is on this team.
If Pitino coached this team ... they would play defense. If Tubby Smith coached this team ... they would play defense. These OAD NBA wannabes do what that want because there is no consequence to doing otherwise. They will soon be gone to the draft ... it's just easier than working that hard. Besides, they don't play defense in the NBA and they're finished with UK ... no more marrow in the bone.
 
Nov 15, 2008
38,645
57,515
0
Lazy fat *** = head coach jackass

 

UKNothinButNet

All-Conference
Aug 31, 2012
2,581
2,704
0
THIS X 1,000!!!!!

Cal is making $8+ Million/year and can't teach future NBA players how to play defense!!!!

This is ALL on Cal!!! He has had an ENTIRE season to get the defense lined out with EXCEPTIONAL players that are MORE THAN capable of defending!!!!

Apparently the NBA is playing even less defense nowadays to the point he doesn’t have to teach any defensive skills (along with Zone). SMH
 
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NoDef

All-American
Sep 1, 2001
5,148
7,091
113
Cal gets too spread out on defense. He wants his guards to pressure thirty feet from the basket. They end up getting beat and we get broken down all over the court. Our rotations are horrible and it's just a bad ending waiting to happen.
 
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NociHTTP

Heisman
Mar 8, 2023
12,167
19,076
113
If Pitino coached this team ... they would play defense. If Tubby Smith coached this team ... they would play defense. These OAD NBA wannabes do what that want because there is no consequence to doing otherwise. They will soon be gone to the draft ... it's just easier than working that hard. Besides, they don't play defense in the NBA and they're finished with UK ... no more marrow in the bone.
I personally don't care to ever hear about this team again, once the season is over. Title or not. What they're doing, what the coach is doing, is NOT UK BASKETBALL. They can move along to the NBA with their broccoli and cauliflower haircuts, and go beg for the ball from someone else. Leave, transfer, I don't care.
 

NociHTTP

Heisman
Mar 8, 2023
12,167
19,076
113
Cal gets too spread out on defense. He wants his guards to pressure thirty feet from the basket. They end up getting beat and we get broken down all over the court. Our rotations are horrible and it's just a bad ending waiting to happen.
Rarely this season have they actually pressured. It's half-*** traps that they abandon every single time. Just like the pathetic screens they set.
 

Trinity45

All-American
Oct 26, 2005
3,349
5,203
113
REFUSES to play Defense!

Blame Cal all you want, but not playing Defense is on this team.
Cal's team, Cal's fault, he had an entire season to fix this problem, and has done nothing, he said he should have played zone but they had not played zone very much, well guess what the Cat's have had this problem all season and he never addressed this problem, never really worked on a zone, it looked to me like they don't teach any form of help defense outside of hoping a big can block a shot every once in a while. Man to man is still a team defense, how many times has a player and I mean everyone of them been taken off the baseline, I can tell you it is over 20 times per game, and that is the easiest to stop. Hell in college if we gave up a baseline drive we ran sprints in the next practice.
 

WeWant9_rivals

Heisman
Dec 18, 2013
6,868
18,240
113
Good lord, some of you will bend over to try and take any heat off Cal. I don’t blame him for every issue with this team, but there are many patterns that happen and the only common denominator is Cal.
 
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LexCatnOhio

Junior
Mar 27, 2009
732
259
36
Back in the day, freshman didn’t get much pt because they hadn’t learned what it takes to be a good defender.
I think about this all the time. This team does have experienced players as well. Probably on paper 1 of the most balanced Kentucky teams in one n done era. They have a stud freshman class with 1 being a hometown guy playing for the front of the jersey.They’ve got great grad transfers and returning players in Thiero and Onyenso. Plus Z is just icing. Need to buy in on D to win. If they do though watch out.
 

Trinity45

All-American
Oct 26, 2005
3,349
5,203
113
REFUSES to play Defense!

Blame Cal all you want, but not playing Defense is on this team.
So we have a 9 million dollar coach, which means he should be the best of the best and none of this is his fault. The fact that this game looked exactly like the last time we played A and M, he changed nothing, he prepared nothing, he made no adjustments except to throw different players out there. Sorry this is all on Cal.
 
Feb 24, 2018
1,014
909
0
When you have played organized basketball at ANY level one thing becomes very obvious, if you cannot stay in front of anyone you need to have a coach or coaches that can TEACH EFFECTIVE ZONE DEFENSE. Can anyone here a book on "Zone Defense for Dummies" we can send our brilliant HOF coach?