Thought Pope did a great job on the rotation. Not too much rotation of players. His rotation of Williams and BG was good. Some contribution off of the bench especially with Oweh's first half foul trouble.
Pope Rotation Today
- Thread starter wccat
- Start date
It was much tighter today as it needed to be. To be honest it was the one thing I was most concerned about before the game. He’s had some of his “analytics” go a bit overboard with “this guy can go 4 minutes at max effort”. We needed no Perry at all today and he didn’t play. In March you have to get max minutes out of your best players and Pope did that today.
GO CATS!!!
Chandler’s emergence has been huge in establishing a reliable set rotation. There’s no longer that big question mark about who should come in when the starting point goes out.
It’s been fun watching Chandler finally get it. He started the season looking behind the other two freshmen, but is ending it as the best of the three.
It’s been fun watching Chandler finally get it. He started the season looking behind the other two freshmen, but is ending it as the best of the three.
Totally agree. Well said.
He inferred on the post game show that Perry wasn't available that's why he didn't play.
Tbh, oh well.
Tbh, oh well.
So yet another injury. Somebody on here alluded to him having an injury of some sort a day or two ago.
Yes. Unfortunately but not surprising, Perry is not ready. Chandler with a bigger body and older player and he has played well. Happy for him.
Perry is going to be good player for us in the next couple years, but tonight and this coming Friday are games that he’s not ready for. Glad to see he tightened the rotation up & the emergence of Chandler has been huge for this team.
His improvement has helped offset the loss of Robinson. Not fully, but at least giving us solid reliable rotation minutes.
To be honest, I don’t think Perry will ever be capable at playing this level of basketball. It’s crazy I thought Noah wouldn’t be but it’s looking like it’s going to be the exact opposite
I mean, dude is getting meaningful minutes and contributions from Trent Noah lol.
Popes coaching style and development seems to really click with the players and that gives me as much hope moving forward as anything
Yeah like Noah's upside but I only see Perry as a spot up shooter via Cameron Mills and that's about it.
The rotation was much better today than it has been over the last few weeks. A healthier Butler has helped. Noah came through when Oweh got in foul trouble. Hopefully, he doesn’t have to play near as much moving forward, but I am glad he can be counted on when we need him.
We have to keep guys like Perry in our program. Guys that can get the ball up the court and relieve starting guards.
I am not ready to give up on Perry yet. There are plenty of freshman who are terrible and then grow into solid contributors or to even great players.
pope had him in early today and it paid off with a couple of big 3’s.
Very true. Perry hasn’t even been terrible, just a normal freshman. He has a spot on this team as long as he continues to progress, which I’m sure he will.
Today's minutes:
Brea 36
Butler 33
Carr 32
Amari 26
That's more like it!
Brea 36
Butler 33
Carr 32
Amari 26
That's more like it!
He could if he could knock down open 3 pointers consistently, but hasn’t been able to.
I think you will be wrong about both
This is true. If you’re as frail and small as Perry is, you need superior quickness to offset that. Perry doesn’t have that either. He will struggle to ever be more than a spot minute guy in the SEC.
He’s simply not big enough, height or weight wise, to shoot over anyone. He’s not and will struggle to ever be strong enough to guard anyone and he’s not nearly quick enough to get by anyone off the dribble. That leaves hoping to make an open three if you get open on a switch - not going to get many minutes with that as your go to
I like Garrison’s energy but that jump shot has to stop. There is a reason your open son. I know he makes a couple, but now isn’t the time to be working on it.
When talking about Perry, what would a lot of these mid major transfers that are juniors and seniors do at major conference d1 as freshman? Like mark sears, or Clayton jr? I’m NOT saying Perry is them but players develop over time. Sears averaged 8 ppg in the MAC. You think Perry could play and score that in the MAC? Clayton 7 ppg in whatever league Iona is in.
Now, he is far from what they are but it’s not out of the realm of possibility he ends up 75% of what they are and at that point, he’s a damn good player.
Now, he is far from what they are but it’s not out of the realm of possibility he ends up 75% of what they are and at that point, he’s a damn good player.
Minus Owehs first half 6 mins, I think this is what we will see moving forward. Oweh played 25, and you could increase that by 8ish if not for the early two fouls. That reduces Chandlers mins to 10ish. All seems accurate. Garrison was so bad, but we weathered the storm in the first half with Oweh down.
Oweh sitting with 2 early fouls is my pet peeve. As a young coach I always sat guys with 2 fouls in the first half. Legit never played them. Oweh today is why I changed that theory. He played 19 second half mins, and finished with 2 fouls. For the game. I get Pope was playing it situationally, and that’s the right thing to do. But sometimes you just let them go with 2 because it’s all they might foul for the game.
Putting together a patchwork team overnight. More top 15 wins than ever. Evidence of learning on the fly. Overcoming adversity in spades and learning the ropes of being head coach at Kentucky. Handling the situation with class and grace. Evolution of the nitpicky things old blue hair basketball bennie's like us would quibble about .....
Without a doubt, impressive. More evidence of the positive evolution and transition from Cal before our very eyes.
Gotta be making believers out of the critics. Been a wonder to see happen !
Without a doubt, impressive. More evidence of the positive evolution and transition from Cal before our very eyes.
Gotta be making believers out of the critics. Been a wonder to see happen !
That’s why I won’t give up on him. I don’t think he we contribute as early as Chandler and Noah, heck Chandler is contributing now & Noah is solid in his role. But I think he can be a solid player in a couple of years as he adds some size/strength and gets some agility work. We need guys like that and he got some great experience this season.
A little more garrison than we really wanted, but that’s due to Amari’s back too. Garrison had some good plays and some bad plays, but he did give effort. Those threes HAVE to stop unless we’re up 18-19 or so.
Chandler finally getting it as been so huge especially with the loss of Jaxson.
Chandler's defense reminds me of Charles Matthews when he was at Michigan. Both are really legitimate defenders on the wing. They both know how to absorb contact defensively without fouling.
I think Perry will eventually be fine on the offensive end. As he gets older, the turnovers will decrease and the shooting will revert to his norm. But I don’t think he’ll ever be even a mediocre defender. His physical limitations are just too much to overcome, even with time and development. Noah is also physically limited, the difference is he won’t be guarding the quickest opponent like Perry will. Plus Noah just has a sixth sense of sorts, most obviously about rebounds but just in general. Chandler is more athletic than either, and therefore more likely to get a more prominent role.
Perry is still thinking too much and it shows in his defense and offense. Clanking wide open threes and losing his man seem to be mental errors, IMO. He's a quick, smaller guard who can cause problems for larger guards with tenacity like Ulis did. He tries like hell on defense, but again, doesn't seem to have it yet. He's not the quickest, but he is quick. I'm happy to give him time as long as he wants to be at UK. The mental stuff will come at the college level like it did at the high school level. Just takes experience.
Just my 2¢.
Could’ve been protecting him after a “DNP coaches decision”
That would pretty much solve itself if Garrison rolled to the basket after a pick instead of popping out. He’s long and athletic and realistically our only lob threat. Play to your strengths son!
Under Cal, Garrison would've been this year's Wagner (unlimited minutes and shot attempts to keep to the recruiting arrangement).
At least there's some degree of sanity with all that this year. At times, Garrison can be absolutely key. But if I were the coach I'd say I'm sorry dude but you are not shooting 3's in my offense. Period.
Chandler becomes the rotation for both Butler and Oweh. Noah for Brea. BG for Williams. And, Almonor for Carr. In a general sense. Illinois’s backcourt was just too big to play Perry.
Chandler is great the last two games but thankfully teams havent pressured him as a pg. My only concern with Chandler is he's all or nothing but never lacks confidence. So even when hes on a nothing day, he's still going to pull at every opportunity.
Noah also with some very good minutes.
Perry was just way over matched last game and it only gets worse from here. Cant imagine him playing much if at all down this stretch.
I don’t know what you’ve been watching if you think Perry is a “quick” guard in a way comparable to Ulis. Maybe he’s quick by KHSAA standards, but he’s extraordinarily slow by SEC guard standards.