We don't know if any of this will happen though. It’s all just a guess. We have seen guys get it going in year 1 many times and I don't mind retaining guys like JJ and MM, they will be very good players, maybe even this year.
I hope they’re not because I don’t see any good basketball players. I see average and poor. Not a few average and really good / great players. Their misses aren’t even close. They clang offf the rim or air ball. They have trouble hitting wide open layups. They remind me of women’s basketball. I mean, that Indiana team wasn’t a good team. No way they’ll be quality win. No height and wildly unauthentic. Hell, Wilkerson didn’t look like the hype to me at all. Typical UK teams would have beaten that Indiana team by 40 and we struggled a large part of the game with them. You can see marks face at the presser. He knows it. He’s done this a long time as a coach and a player. This team just isn’t good.
Right, but my hope is that these guys eventually start playing to their potential and JJ has plenty of that.
In his defense for that IU game Enright could not hold his jock so he was abusing him that second half.
He at least puts pressure on the defense to generate open looks.
Which is why I want JJ to hopefully learn what a great shot is and to start passing. He really is a good offensive player and helps us in that regard massively. One of the only guys that can score off the dribble shooting the ball.
There was good reason for all that flexing. And we need a lot more of it. Go listen to him in postgame last night and you’ll see why
That’s exactly what the staff should be reigning in. For all of Calipari’s flaws, he would have molded Johnson into a beast by now IMHO. He would at least look like a guy ready to play 25+ minutes a game by now.
If Garrison plays like he did against IU I have no problem with him subbing in for 10-15 minutes a game.
Yeah, but Cal will sacrifice an entire season to get a guy going just because the ratings say that kid is a lottery pick. Meanwhile, players that were better suited to help us win games now, sat on the bench.
Yeah that is true, but the vast majority of his largely talented guards to play well over his career. I feel like someone with Jasper’s raw offensive talent he would be very good under someone like Cal.
Every player with immense skill didn’t get transformed into a superstar either. Jasper is a freshman and for some guys it takes a lot of time. Patience, Padawon.
He’s the only point guard on the team.
I don't know how anyone could've watched the Cal era, especially the last 5 years, and conclude that Cal has a magic wand with guards. Cal certainly had some studs at the guards position, but there were some clear misses.
He did it because his decision making can be suspect on occasion. But he is Magic Johnson compared to anyone else on the roster trying to play point guard- that is how badly this team was put together.
I see a lot of guards do that. I think that is a way to reset themselves, but that's just a guess.
I actually love JJ being out there with Lowe. I feel like he’s not as rushed to shoot the 3 and also penetrates more. I agree with Barkley on how we need to play fast and push the ball more. I feel like our defense is just gonna keep getting better as the season goes on. We could end up being really really special but we have to get out into transition. We cannot play half court basketball and I hope Pope will realize this. Less 3s and just get to rim.
There is a natural phenomenon that occurs. The farther people get removed from a situation, the more people remember the parts of that memory that had emphasis to them and they forget the rest. This is why people forget how rough patches of the 2017 regular season were and why people remember the 2020 team being “the best team in the country by the end of the season.” People will forget how dominant the 2022 team was at one point. The only reason I remember these things is I’m not a healthy person lol —- I regularly rewatch old games from all eras and study those teams years later. As for Calipari, yes he worked magic with some players, but people forget that other players didn’t get it right away. Immanuel Quickley was a very inefficient player his freshman season. A year later, he was SEC POY. Other players like DJ Wagner, Justin Edwards, Charles Matthews, Skal Labissierre, and BJ Boston struggled to various degrees. None of those things mean one thing or another about Calipari to me — some players are going to excel and others are not in a dribble drive motion offense. Cal gets too much credit and too much blame in this area imo.
Jasper and Mareno have plenty of talent for sure. And Oweh my God, he was 10 times better last year. How in the world could is be this bad? But it’s weird because they don’t look like they can really improve much. It almost looks like it who they are. You can always see it when a player has talent but hasn’t put it together. Like JJ. But I don’t see that anywhere but with the 2 I mentioned. Maybe MO.
Yeah, thank God we have a good defense and Mo came back, because something crazy happens when our guys come down on offense.
