Would any of Kentucky's freshmen start for us?

[Madbiker]

Sure Randle would start and play 38 minutes a game. CJ would be the other forward playing 40 minutes. So Grant would have been on the bench for all but 2 minutes the way JB coaches. Young is far better than Cooney but as a freshman he might not get any PT.

 

[Francis03]

Sure Randle would start and play 38 minutes a game. CJ would be the other forward playing 40 minutes. So Grant would have been on the bench for all but 2 minutes the way JB coaches. Young is far better than Cooney but as a freshman he might not get any PT.

LOL it's so funny because I could've seen things actually play out 100% like that.

 

[orangefan13]

Name the last bench player that should have played more, and it ended up costing us for them not doing so?? (any year in the last 20 years.)

If your gutsy enough to go this route then you should be able to answer that question. Everyone that thinks they have a answer will be proven wrong by someone else on the board other then myself.

 

[BostonOrange]

Name the last bench player that should have played more, and it ended up costing us for them not doing so?? (any year in the last 20 years.)

If your gutsy enough to go this route then you should be able to answer that question. Everyone that thinks they have a answer will be proven wrong by someone else on the board other then myself.

That is an unanswerable question. The only way to know whether it cost us is to magically replay the season.

 

[OrangeFoo]

Name the last bench player that should have played more, and it ended up costing us for them not doing so?? (any year in the last 20 years.)

If your gutsy enough to go this route then you should be able to answer that question. Everyone that thinks they have a answer will be proven wrong by someone else on the board other then myself.

There is logic trap built into that question... How are you supposed to determine whether it would have cost us or not? This is the point I and others have been trying to make regarding bench use... You don't know what you have because they don't get a chance to prove it...the only way to know for sure is to let players consistently get minutes without the fear of the quick hook to prove that they deserve playing time.

This year our ooc schedule had more name teams on it and we played much closer games against cupcakes which caused JB to tighten his rotation much much earlier than ever. The bench never ever got a chance to prove themselves and I bet it hurt us when we had a basically a 6 man rotation which was exhausted and no one could hit a shot and our D gave up points in bunches. But can I say 100% that is the case, nope

Historically I can point to Josh Pace as an example of a player consigned to few minutes who played because of an injury. What if the injury never happened and JB never played him as was the plan? Would we have our 1 title?

 

[pfister1]

This year our ooc schedule had more name teams on it and we played much closer games against cupcakes which caused JB to tighten his rotation much much earlier than ever. The bench never ever got a chance to prove themselves and I bet it hurt us when we had a basically a 6 man rotation which was exhausted and no one could hit a shot and our D gave up points in bunches. But can I say 100% that is the case, nope

I think this is absolutely true, but in JB's defense there were a couple of additional factors that played into the equation this season. First, he also began the season trying to work DCII into his rotation and that came off the tracks when DCII was injured, so basically any developmental time that was used on him was wasted as it pertained to developing the roster for this season.

Also, we had Ennis and Gbinije as new players. We had Cooney, Grant and Christmas stepping up considerably in terms of the minutes they were going to get and the importance of the roles they were playing. We also had Fair stepping into a new role as the primary weapon. My point is there was a lot of change in our primary rotation and I think that may have also caused JB to play those guys more because he needed to become more comfortable with them, they needed to become more comfortable in their roles and with each other before he was willing to use minutes developing guys further down the bench.

I'm not saying I necessarily agree with the approach, just think that this impacted JB's use of his deep bench in the early part of the season also which ultimately led to it not being used late either.

 

[RF2044]

That's true but would he have started over Grant and Fair? Wouldnt have played Center in our zone. As crazy as it sounds im not 100% sure Randle would not have started for us this year.

Yes he would have. And that would have enabled coach to bring Grant [a scorer] off of the bench to spell either forward position, and continue the trend of us having double figure scoring caliber bench firepower.

 

[CusefanATL]

So many on this board wear orange glasses it's a wonder why the question wasn't "how many players on the Heat would start for SU? "

Probably Lebron, but thats about it.

 

[PoppyHart]

Probably Lebron, but thats about it.

Seriously? He's nothing but Roberson with a jump shot.

 

[BostonOrange]

Yes he would have. And that would have enabled coach to bring Grant [a scorer] off of the bench to spell either forward position, and continue the trend of us having double figure scoring caliber bench firepower.

And also give us the flexibility to play small with Randle in the middle. All in all I think we would have found a use for him...

 

[SoBeCuse]

And also give us the flexibility to play small with Randle in the middle. All in all I think we would have found a use for him...

Seriously. Give me some guys who can make plays with high basketball IQ. Think about the passing on offense he could bring.

 

[BostonOrange]

Seriously. Give me some guys who can make plays with high basketball IQ. Think about the passing on offense he could bring.

His passing has really impressed me over their last couple games...very unselfish when he has been doubled (which is almost all the time).

 

[orangefan13]

outside of ron patterson or tyler ennis jacking more jumpshots off the dribble nobody could have helped this team more. BJ and roberson clearly weren't ready to.

Maybe we should practice in the carrier dome 5-6 times a season so the fans could get a taste of our underclassmen and how ready they are. I think it would be good for the program.

 

[SoBeCuse]

outside of ron patterson or tyler ennis jacking more jumpshots off the dribble nobody could have helped this team more. BJ and roberson clearly weren't ready to.

Maybe we should practice in the carrier dome 5-6 times a season so the fans could get a taste of our underclassmen and how ready they are. I think it would be good for the program.

I think so too. The entire roster had some serious flaws and/or were under-developed or over-hyped maybe. I don't know. I just have been seeing teams all Tourney long with rosters so much more skilled with more versatile parts.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Remember when our freshman got better as the year went on?

 

[NineOneSeven]

I think so too. The entire roster had some serious flaws and/or were under-developed or over-hyped maybe. I don't know. I just have been seeing teams all Tourney long with rosters so much more skilled with more versatile parts.

So much. Multiple guys who can put the ball on the floor, take it to the rim or hit a jumper. Athletes everywhere. Great interior passing. Give and gos actually being executed off ball screens. The more I watched, the more it seemed we weren't close.

 

[orangefan13]

I think we we were frustratingly anywhere from #3 - 16 when fairs scoring isolation was on, to #20-75 when it was off.

Ennis was close to becoming the guy but wasn't quite there yet.

 

[NineOneSeven]

His passing has really impressed me over their last couple games...very unselfish when he has been doubled (which is almost all the time).

From game one this year, when Kentucky was on ESPN, I said randle was for real. Somehow he stayed under the radar all year with all the wiggins, embiid, Parker, hell even Aaron gordon, talk.

Randle is legit, and has been a year. The kid understands the game. He is what I hoped Coleman would be.

 

[orangejunkie]

Are you kidding, Kentucky has more talent at several positions, including off guard (one of the Harrisons or Young), power forward (Randle), and center (either Dakari Johnson or their starting center who is a sophomore).

 

[SoBeCuse]

From game one this year, when Kentucky was on ESPN, I said randle was for real. Somehow he stayed under the radar all year with all the wiggins, embiid, Parker, hell even Aaron gordon, talk.

Randle is legit, and has been a year. The kid understands the game. He is what I hoped Coleman would be.

Randle is one of the best freshman pure PF's I have ever seen. His passing, touch around the basket, and power is freaking ridiculous.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Are you kidding, Kentucky has more talent at several positions, including off guard (one of the Harrisons or Young), power forward (Randle), and center (either Dakari Johnson or their starting center who is a sophomore).

I was impressed all tourney with Young when he decided to go to the basket. No problem. SMOOTH game. A 6-6 Young at the 2 for us would be NICE and I am a Cooney fan. Andrew Harrison is grossly underrated as a PG on this board. Makes the right plays and is unstoppable getting to the basket. Good size, finisher, and touch around the basket.

 

[PoppyHart]

Are you kidding, Kentucky has more talent at several positions, including off guard (one of the Harrisons or Young), power forward (Randle), and center (either Dakari Johnson or their starting center who is a sophomore).

Dakari Johnson is the starter since January.

 

[DoctorBombay]

Here's the thing about Randle's passing. Go to any UK board from mid-DECEMBER on, and the general theme is that Randle can't handle double-teams and is a black hole on offense. The passer you see now is not the same kid who was playing earlier in the year. But, and this is important...PayPal LET HIM FIGURE IT OUT...instead of giving him the short hook for every mistake. He actually got more comfortable, and BETTER, just in time to be a factor when it matters.
I'm sick and tired of JB's "hell-bent-for-leather" philosophy of win today, and not prepare for tomorrow. We whup teams in November because they're not ready to face our quirky system, but by March most every team has...wait for it...GOTTEN BETTER! Develop a damn bench already, play kids who may NOT always be ready, get them comfortable, hell, even lose a game in January if it means we'll be a deeper well-rested team come March...which is all that matters in cbb!!!
What a concept! :bang:

 

[sufandu]

That's true but would he have started over Grant and Fair? Wouldnt have played Center in our zone. As crazy as it sounds im not 100% sure Randle would not have started for us this year.

Why wouldn't he have played center in our zone? Christmas is PF sized center with no offense.

 

[rrlbees]

Here's the thing about Randle's passing. Go to any UK board from mid-DECEMBER on, and the general theme is that Randle can't handle double-teams and is a black hole on offense. The passer you see now is not the same kid who was playing earlier in the year. But, and this is important...PayPal LET HIM FIGURE IT OUT...instead of giving him the short hook for every mistake. He actually got more comfortable, and BETTER, just in time to be a factor when it matters. I'm sick and tired of JB's "hell-bent-for-leather" philosophy of win today, and not prepare for tomorrow. We whup teams in November because they're not ready to face our quirky system, but by March most every team has...wait for it...GOTTEN BETTER! Develop a damn bench already, play kids who may NOT always be ready, get them comfortable, hell, even lose a game in January if it means we'll be a deeper well-rested team come March...which is all that matters in cbb!!! What a concept! :bang:

How did we go to the F4 last year and E8 year before?