GYERO ARCHIVE

Status
Not open for further replies.

anthonys735

Heisman
Jan 29, 2004
62,831
51,918
113
So, what are the lineup options? Go with Willis more at the 4? Give Mulder 5-8 mpg for nothing but getting up a few 3s? Pop Skal out more instead of trying to make him a low post?
I'm insane for lineup combinations. I hate when he has players out there that don't compliment each other or at least 3 players that can actually put the ball in the net. We ran some Hawkins, Matthews, Humphries, Poythress combos last night and I just can't understand that. I know he wants rebounding and D but who scores? Not really fair to Murray when he's got 3 guys that the defense doesn't have to pay attention to. Gotta have some combo of Ulis, Briscoe, Skal, Willis and Murray out there at all times.

However, as we saw last night Poythress guarding a beefy center is going to result in fouls. He and Lee are almost interchangeable and should probably not be out there much together.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stonewall12

UKwizard

Heisman
Dec 11, 2002
21,312
13,876
113
Like I said earlier that is probably the best UCLA will play all year.

Lee going down hurt us big time defensively.
 

BBdK

Heisman
Sep 21, 2003
159,783
74,127
0
Pretty crazy that Lee is probably our best big man.

I gave it a 0% chance a month ago, but is it possible Wynyard could help in situations like last night? Still doubt it, but beginning to wonder.
 
Dec 18, 2004
64,461
16,914
0
Lee is easily the best big. Only competition is Skal who obviously was overrated. If Skal is indeed 1 and Done regardless, that is concerning. Worst motor ever. Not a lot of motivation there.
 

anthonys735

Heisman
Jan 29, 2004
62,831
51,918
113
Other than Skal and Murray finding the light bulb, the season really may depend on Willis. We need another scorer and he can do that in a number of ways. I think he absolutely earned some minutes last night.
 

assistbyhawkins

All-Conference
May 22, 2002
12,041
1,444
0
Ulis being in charge is my main reason for optimism.


My main reason for optimism is that Skal HAS TO get better. I mean, he cant possibly play any worse. We know what we have with Lee and Poythress, neither are game changers. But if Skal can play up to even half of his potential then this team can be pretty good. If something finally clicks with the guy and he takes off, then the sky is the limit for this team.

Skal is going to be the difference between a good season and a great one. Until he steps up and plays like a top 5 pick that he was projected to be, this is a top 15-20 team.
 
  • Like
Reactions: anthonys735

gattongrad09

All-Conference
Jan 29, 2006
4,239
4,312
0
Our entire team was out of position the entire night. No blocking out. Simple offensive sets were resulting in complete breakdowns on D. Fundamentally we were bad which I did not expect from this group.

I was waiting for someone to ask me to direct my attention to the east end zone or get hit in the head with a beach ball.

2 seed chill?

Anyone notice the influx of terrible callers to Mags show lately? It's like Larry Glover Live has unleashed the hounds. I know he doesn't want to screen but seems like he could with how popular it is.

Back to lurk.
 

mashburned

Heisman
Mar 10, 2009
40,283
49,516
0
We sub too damn much, tbh. Murray hit 2 early, and Cal benched him...for that oop, I think...where the defender played it well, but Alex was not even thinking about receiving a pass, stopped running, etc... Murray should have taken the layup which the defender gave him, but oh well....Murray was visibly confused as to why he was taken out. He disappeared after that.

Briscoe was on a tear at one point. All we had going. Cal took him out. Wtf? Briscoe was visibly confused on the bench.

Run em in and out. Mistake? GTFO! Next! It doesn't make sense. It's like Cal is treating these games like practice....which I guess they are. We fans are crazy. Sigh.

He should have pointed Skal to the bench and told him to take notes all night as the big boys played. That was pathetic, but what's worse is the fact he showed no emotion. He looked like "what? Huh? This is for funsies right? What are y'all doing. Slow down. Chill".

Willis looks really good at times just for doing simple things like NOT JUMPING AT EVERY DAMN SHOT. Every.damn.time. 2-3 players fly in for the block. Get faked. Layup or offensive rebound. We're just basketball dumb down low. Poythress, you'd think he'd know better. That boy has no basketballs in his blood. Momma should have signed the football slip.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MotorCityKat

PuffyNips

Heisman
Nov 13, 2001
38,024
19,723
82
* Ugh. Flat, ****** performance from tip to horn.

* Murray has the James Young "I'm just going to throw the ball to the other team twice a game" gene. Drives me nuts.

* Ulis needs to find his shot. Now.

* Team simply needs to play hard all the time.

* Most of AP's fouls had nothing to do with guarding a big man. His 5th was when he got posterized by a guard. At least 3 were rebounding fouls.

* Was it just me or were both teams sliding around like they were on ice a lot last night?

* I start Ulis, Briscoe, Murray, Willis, Lee right now until Skal's balls drop.

* Poythress has to stay out of foul trouble, play D, hit the glass and get garbage points. That's it. No more jumpers.

* I like that Hawkins plays hard, but we are not good with him on the floor.
 

BBdK

Heisman
Sep 21, 2003
159,783
74,127
0
We sub too damn much, tbh. Murray hit 2 early, and Cal benched him...for that oop,.

That pissed me off. Finally game out of the gate hot and gets an immediate yank for one bad pass. He wasn't the same after that, either.

For such a confident/cocky kid, he's not as 'tough' mentally as Cal thinks he is at this stage.


Considering our issues and Mulder's one specialty...he must be absolutely awful. Kid was a 1st team JUCO All American and best player on the #1 team in the country... I don't get it. High level JUCO kids make immediate impacts all over the country on good teams every year, and he's sitting down there with Jonny David.
 
Last edited:

buckethead1978

All-American
Oct 6, 2007
15,432
6,589
0
-Murray looks as if he starts all of his running on an invisible treadmill for a second. Dude is not quick on his feet when first getting the ball.

-Let me know what Skal Lapussyhair is good at again. He plays like he is on a 3 second delay.

-The offense stinks. It is becoming borderline Harlem Globetrotters when they run around passing to the different guards. Showy AF but teams can just sit back and let the shot clock run down.
 

Mattox

All-American
Feb 27, 2003
33,817
6,500
66
We've got bigs who can pick and pop but we never do it. Willis, Humphries, Skal and even Poythress can hit from 15-20'. If the guards can't hit a GD jump shot, then let the bigs stretch the defense and open up the lane. Until Ulis and Murray start hitting jumpers, the three guard lineup is not going to work. With the three guards teams will just clog driving lanes and it's a liability on defense and rebounding.

This may sound completely reactionary, but it seems like the big Aussie is picking things up faster than the Haitian. Maybe let him and Ulis/Murray play a little Knight/Harrellson action. I don't think Briscoe really needs the damned screen to get in the paint, but if Humphries can pull a defender away from the rim to help the other two it may open things up.

We have a lot of parts. We have a lot of very good parts. We have a few great parts. It's just figuring out what we do best. Finding guys who can make open jump shots is probably the easiest cure because that allows us to set up a press and try to force turnovers. We are only going to be an average half court defense team at best.

Like Anth, I am relieved in some way that they actually lost before reaching a big number. This team had no chance at 40-0 but if they had gotten to 15-0 or something then a few people would start beating their chest and the whole program would have been the subject of unmerciful ridicule from the media.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Anon1700452283

mashburned

Heisman
Mar 10, 2009
40,283
49,516
0
I was laughing to myself just trying to picture Cal with his 189 bpm TEMPER TANTRUM AHHHH!!!! talking to a 23bpm silent Canadian ninja assassin. Just chill a *little* bit. Maybe let Drake talk softly to him.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigBadBlueDaddy
Feb 16, 2006
17,115
28,974
0
Really do feel for Poythress bc of his injury.

That being said his injury has nothing to do with the kid having ZERO basketball IQ. None. No sense of angles or understanding of how to play the game. Zero skill with the exception of once every blue moon deciding he wants to use his athleticism and finishing a dunk or tip jam. And that's not really skill juts raw athleticism.

Can't get over how bad he is. The dribble into the baseline and try to get a shot off behind the backboard deal is middle school stuff.
 

BBdK

Heisman
Sep 21, 2003
159,783
74,127
0
This may sound completely reactionary, but it seems like the big Aussie is picking things up faster than the Haitian. Maybe let him and Ulis/Murray play a little Knight/Harrellson action. I don't think Briscoe really needs the damned screen to get in the paint, but if Humphries can pull a defender away from the rim to help the other two it may open things up.

.

Said it last night, but Izak needs to put last night's tape of Welsh on a loop in his dorm. My God that kid was :fire:. That's *exactly* the game that Humphries should be striving for.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigBadBlueDaddy

wcc31

Heisman
Mar 18, 2002
26,879
88,147
98
I thought Skal would be popping out and taking 15-footers, letting Lee/Poythress just crash and finish. That's how I'd figured this would go. Problem has been Ulis and Murray haven't hit the Js to open everything up and Cal's trying to develop Skal's nonexistent post game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mashburned

mashburned

Heisman
Mar 10, 2009
40,283
49,516
0
Big Aussie has been playing big boy ball for a while. I have no idea wtf Skal was doin in Haiti. Running PG against middle school talent, I assume. He doesn't appear to have basketball experience against players of similar skill.
 

Mattox

All-American
Feb 27, 2003
33,817
6,500
66
Really do feel for Poythress bc of his injury.

That being said his injury has nothing to do with the kid having ZERO basketball IQ. None. No sense of angles or understanding of how to play the game. Zero skill with the exception of once every blue moon deciding he wants to use his athleticism and finishing a dunk or tip jam. And that's not really skill juts raw athleticism.

Can't get over how bad he is. The dribble into the baseline and try to get a shot off behind the backboard deal is middle school stuff.

On the rare occasions when the ball is actually whipping around on offense, it never fails to stick in Poythress' hands. If it's not a lob, a put back dunk, a FT or a wide open corner 3 he basically has absolutely no chance of scoring. We should never, ever run a play for him that requires him to do more than dunk a lob.
 

BBdK

Heisman
Sep 21, 2003
159,783
74,127
0
What makes me even madder than that is his inability to put BACK the offensive rebounds he DOES get. He gets about 1-8 up there, the rest get swatted at an unbelievable clip.
 
May 6, 2002
24,969
50,325
0
I thought Skal would be popping out and taking 15-footers, letting Lee/Poythress just crash and finish. That's how I'd figured this would go. Problem has been Ulis and Murray haven't hit the Js to open everything up and Cal's trying to develop Skal's nonexistent post game.
That's part of the problem... It's a lot more complicated to learn to be that kind of big man than it is to learn and be effective as a back to the basket power big man. It's like calculus vs. algebra. What Skal is trying to learn (from basically square one, I'm glad his handler was too busy hitting people up for money to shag some rebounds and throw out some orange cones, thanks jackass.) is spacing, screening, getting free for hooks and jump shots. It's a lot more complicated than "Use your big *** to get your man behind you, raise your hand, if that doesn't work clap, catch the ball, back that *** up and dunk." (And I'm not saying that's all that goes into being a good interior post player, but if you're talented, that's all it takes to be effective and not look lost.)

Combine that with the fact that Skal is obviously skilled from an individual standpoint but has no previous understanding of offense or defense, and you've got a kid who's not going to make that typical Calipari big man impact for a long time. Hopefully it starts clicking in March, but it might not.
 

wcc31

Heisman
Mar 18, 2002
26,879
88,147
98
On a more important note...

How do you guys feel about the crewneck sweatshirt renaissance?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mattox

MaxPowerrr

Heisman
Feb 9, 2006
38,504
41,065
0
Honestly thought he was already dead. Didn't he come close recently?

IMPORTANT NEED ADVICE: coloring pencils or coloring markers?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.