With near equal talents at each position,
- Thread starter 1 for the Blue
- Start date
No I don't believe so. I don't think the positions are close enough for that. After the starting 5, it drops off imho. The only guys I could see getting close to starting mins beyond the starters is Matthews and possibly Lee.
Starters
C Skal
F Poy
G Murray
G Briscoe
G Ulis
Why does everyone think Alex will start...hell he cant even run full speed yet
It's only June. If he's healthy he obviously starts.
Whee is the equal talent at each position?
Ulis - ?
Briscoe - Mulder (maybe?)
Murray - (Matthews, hopefully)
Poy - ?
Skal - Marcus (maybe?)
Actually, because he is running with the team now and he is projected to be cleared for all activities towards the end of August. He will be close to 100% by the time the season starts. I think its safe to say that he will be starting come opening night.
NO! NO! NO! We will not be platooning ever again. You will not hear Cal say that word in the same sentence with anything about this team or any other. He is done with the word platoon.
It's harder to be a troll after the Murray signing and positive reports on Matthews and others. The efforts have been weak and lame. But some people just can't give it up.
Agree with your take,I think Cal will try to keep at least 2 of the following 4 players on the floor all the time(Ulis,Briscoe,Murray and Mulder) I don't think we see a platoon of any sort(and if we do he won't call it that)
Good point. I didn't even notice that this guy was that. His sign up date threw me off a bit, but yeah usually when you start a lame/short/curt thread like this it is a troll attempt.
If Briscoe, Murray, Poythress, and Skal all somehow return and we get more recruits for next season, we will platoon 16-17, but that obviously won't happen, so I don't see platooning happening in the near future... Definitely not this coming season, though we definitely have a solid bench in Lee, Mulder, and Matthews. I'm rooting for Willis and Hawkins, but they have to take the next step to be able to steal minutes from the others. And hopefully Tai Wynyard can contribute at least a few minutes when he comes in.
Cal used the platoon because he had 10 players with the potential to be in the NBA some day. We know that 7 just left, so that leaves Lee, Poythress and Ulis. He added Skal and Biscoe and Murray that all have a chance to be NBA level talents someday. Not sure I can find 4 more that will ever make an NBA roster amongst Hawkins, Willis, Muldar, Floreal, Wynyard and Matthews. That means 6 possible NBAers this year versus the 10 they had last year.
So....no, there will not be a platoon in 2015-16.
So....no, there will not be a platoon in 2015-16.
I think the whole platoon thing was just a 1 time thing dictated by the depth he had. Cal has always preferred a 6-8 man rotation as he's said many times. It's just foolish how the media has locked onto that like it's somethings he's always done or will do again. Personally I wouldn't care if I never heard the word mentioned again.
There are still enough "Cal can't coach" or "Cal doesn't care about winning" or "Wisconsin blah blah blah" posts around here to paper my living room.
Apparently one loss in 39 gave them all the necessary fuel to last a year.
Check that...last until we win another title.
Which of course Cal can only do if he has a transcendent player.
Which Skal might be. So maybe we can win one this year, giving Cal 2 in 7 years.
2 that he can't really take credit for because, you know, winning with great players doesn't completely count.
Also he let the air out of the ball and almost let Kansas come back.
Which means that ring double almost doesn't count.
Here's looking forward to a national title in 2016 and all the reasons that Cal didn't really earn it.
Which should hold everyone over until the next shot clock violation in a Final Four game.
-
Fran Fraschilla, College Basketball
I'd look at him as a top-25 player in this current high school junior class.
........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.If Poy cannot immediately play, either Mattews, and potentially Wynyard.(too early to ascertain}. could be our options.
I hope I never hear the word platoon uttered in conjunction with UK basketball again. Even last year the platoon thing was dead after Poythress' injury. I think Calipari should have scrapped the whole platoon thing right after Poythress' injury. I will have to admit however that it might have worked and gotten UK a national Championship if Poythress had not gotten injured.
Here's how next season will likely go in my mind
Cal will run a 3 guard lineup early on and go with Willis, Hawkins, Matthews, and Lee coming off the bench. By the middle of Dec you will see less and less of the bench and by the time conference play begins you'll likely just have Lee and Matthews coming off the bench. I'm expecting Cal is going to have the majority of the starters playing 35-40 minutes a game and use a 6-7 man rotation. Also, expect plenty of "where's Willis?" Threads throughout the year.
Cal will run a 3 guard lineup early on and go with Willis, Hawkins, Matthews, and Lee coming off the bench. By the middle of Dec you will see less and less of the bench and by the time conference play begins you'll likely just have Lee and Matthews coming off the bench. I'm expecting Cal is going to have the majority of the starters playing 35-40 minutes a game and use a 6-7 man rotation. Also, expect plenty of "where's Willis?" Threads throughout the year.
Thanks UKCATSFREAK. ulismyman gave me a scare. I hope Lee gets lots of minutes early. I'd like to see Poy given plenty of time to get completely healthy. To me that's going to be the only question and my only worry. If at the end of the year Poy is 100% healthy I expect many to be comparing his game to Randle's. That means #9
Not expecting much from Mulder? Not sure Hawkins beats him out for those backup minutes.
I'm still waiting for someone to point out the "near equal talents at each position" on our new squad that would facilitate a platoon.
Some of the guys are interchangeable at certain positions. But we don't have a 2nd five that is "equally as talented" as the 1st five. We will have a nice 7-8 man rotation with some other talented (but near as talented as the 1st 7-8) guys that are good fill in players in spot duty.
By the way, I don't consider this a bad thing. I am looking forward to watching this team grow and compete for a national title this upcoming season. If they stay healthy, they most certainly will be in the hunt.
Some of the guys are interchangeable at certain positions. But we don't have a 2nd five that is "equally as talented" as the 1st five. We will have a nice 7-8 man rotation with some other talented (but near as talented as the 1st 7-8) guys that are good fill in players in spot duty.
By the way, I don't consider this a bad thing. I am looking forward to watching this team grow and compete for a national title this upcoming season. If they stay healthy, they most certainly will be in the hunt.
PG- Ulis/Briscoe
SG-Briscoe/Murray/Mulder
SF-Murray/Matthews
PF-Poythress/Lee
C-Skal/Lee
Small minutes for Hawkins for defense, breathers and foul trouble. Cigar minutes for Willis and Floreal.
That's 8 players getting the bulk of the minutes and really 5 or 6 (Matthews or Mulder) getting starter minutes.
SG-Briscoe/Murray/Mulder
SF-Murray/Matthews
PF-Poythress/Lee
C-Skal/Lee
Small minutes for Hawkins for defense, breathers and foul trouble. Cigar minutes for Willis and Floreal.
That's 8 players getting the bulk of the minutes and really 5 or 6 (Matthews or Mulder) getting starter minutes.
to be honest I had forgotten about Mulder since he is transferring in. Yeah, I think he'll get the backup minutes over Hawkins but I think by March Cal is going 7 deep unless Mulder just super impresses Cal and the staff.
Mulder and Mathews will back up the 2/3,Lee and eventually Wynyard will back up the 4/5. This will be a flexible squad of "positionless"players with only Ulis and perhaps Skal/Wnyard playing one position. Actually, I think Skal can easily play a stretch 4 and Poythress can probably play the 3 but will not be asked to do so given the size and skill of Murray, Mathews and Mulder.
Its so obvious we'll roll with an 8man rotation its pathetic. Most of us agree the starters will be Ulis, Briscoe, Murray, Poy, and Skal. With Mulder, Mathews, and Lee off the bench. Other than that no one will get more that 2-3 minutes a game. Your going to see guys playing 32-35 minutes a game this year bro. Ulis, and Skal for sure, and maybe J-Man to.