Elephant in the room

[KerryRhodes]

The recruiting of the 4 and 5 spot has been lacking.
Losing Onuaku hurt, however his mind was set on the pros, so he had to go.

Next year is remedied, yet theyll be freshmen.

Manok has the weight but no skills.
Anas and Ray have some skills, but no weight.
JJ is limited.
Matz belongs at Campbellsville.

Unless one of the 4 or 5s become consistent, its going to be a long season.

 

[ShortCreek]

Rick should do Scotty D a favor and ship Matz to Newburg Road.

 

[T-Bone74]

The inability of our 5's to finish at basket is rivaling the frustration I have for our O-line

 

[lawsonhawk]

I didn't watch it because I was watching a football game, but . . . . I think it's gonna be a fun season so yeah, I hope it's long. They had a big lead; they need to learn how to play with the lead. This won't be the only game they get a lead 'cuz they're hard to figure out how to score against. This is an offensively challenged team, so what? Who thought a team w/ a 7' 180 lb center and no fwd that can shoot could be a top ten team? They're already better than I thought they'd be. The Cards have insane length on the perimeter so no team is gonna have fun playing against them even if they win. Hate to break it to you, but the NC isn't the barometer every year. Rick has a lot to work w/ if these guys stay unselfish. In the tourney it's match-ups that matter and the Cards have a strange build to them. It's a long season. Why get frustrated so early? Go Cards!

 

[earsky]

if these guys stay unselfish.

The half court sets need only for guys to think pass first.It's not a hard game,but our guys are making it hard.Watch the NBA for gosh sakes.Seriously,the NBA.Ball movement that leads to better isolations or an easier shot. The team is thinking shot,not pass.When they understand basketball 102 a little better,the offense will shine.PASS THE BALL!!

 

[zipp]

I like the mindset of our frontcourt guys. It's mostly to rebound, play defense, and rim protect. They're going to be effective offensive rebounding and passing back out for threes.

There's a little bit of a scorer's mindset in Johnson and Spalding, and it appears that even Mahmoud will suck a guard in to help defend the post. He has to be respected down low even if he's not a score-first post player.

Rebounding doesn't look like it's going to be a problem, and we're blocking a lotta shots which will help our backcourt guys defend the perimeter. Our inside guys are not big scorers, but I don't think they have to be. Onuaku barely averaged double figures. What you want is consistency...

 

[Birdie King]

The inability of our 5's to finish at basket is rivaling the frustration I have for our O-line

They have no offensive moves and It's heart wrenching to watch them throw up some of their shots.It will take a long time for me to get that Old Dominion game out of my mind.

 

[beasleythecard]

The recruiting of the 4 and 5 spot has been lacking.
Losing Onuaku hurt, however his mind was set on the pros, so he had to go.

Next year is remedied, yet theyll be freshmen.

Manok has the weight but no skills.
Anas and Ray have some skin, but no weight.
JJ is limited.
Matz belongs at Campbellsville.

Unless one of the 4 or 5s become consistent, its going to be a long season.

rick should send mango and deng to campbellsville, sad thing is they would pass on them.

 

[shadow force]

The inability of our 5's to finish at basket is rivaling the frustration I have for our O-line

It's maddening how many layups and point blank looks our bigs miss. I think that is the most frustrating thing I see from them. Sometimes I wonder if they are just in too much of a rush or are they really that uncoordinated because some of those point blank shots go WAY off target. Actually most of the team seems bad at finishing layups most of the time even on fast breaks.

Makes you appreciate, and miss, the likes of Harrell and his ferocious, rim rocking dunks, and Russ with his ability to finish fast breaks even by himself. It's still very early in the season though and I hope the team learns from this experience. I think they will.

 

[Boonesboro]

Any truth that the VJ camp is unhappy? Kid's got game.

 

[Knucklehank1]

Any truth that the VJ camp is unhappy? Kid's got game.

No. First off there is no VJ camp. Secondly, he is very happy at UofL although learning the defense has been tough. Now move along.

 

[Cards1261]

Any truth that the VJ camp is unhappy? Kid's got game.

No. Now go chew on your catnip and play with your fake mouse.

 

[rockycard]

Any truth that the VJ camp is unhappy? Kid's got game.

"Camps" are for your guys, run along little fella.

 

[Cue Card]

A tale of two halves yesterday. The first 14 minutes of the first half was simple the best defense I've seen played by any UofL team in recent memory. It was a thing of beauty. The last 6 minutes of the first half wasn't as good but still satisfying.

The second half was not good. The hustle, the defensive rotation off the ball, the movement without the ball on offense all gone. Baylor uses the obvious advantage inside to take control and steal the game late.

The only thing good about this game is the teaching moments captured on film. The first half showed how to get it done. The second half showed what happens when you do things the wrong way. Coach has plenty to teach from with this ONE game of film.

 

[EasyCard]

Thankfully we have the most skilled center in this years class signed.

 

[n4cer2ad]

We sure need one.

 

[yum center]

What scares me the most is that our bigs have been here for some time now and haven't developed. Even under the best teacher in college basketball.

 

[earsky]

We've seen flashes from all of them.Like zipp said,it's consistency we're looking for.As long as guys play hard and unselfishly,I'll try to avoid calling out players.

 

[ShortCreek]

They're all softer than a baby's butt.

 

[beasleythecard]

They're all softer than a baby's butt.

there is no way you can make a sheep teach a kid how to be a lion. Dave Padget is a good kid, but no one that learns from him will ever play with fire. the sooner we get over that, the better.

 

[vegasville1]

there is no way you can make a sheep teach a kid how to be a lion. Dave Padget is a good kid, but no one that learns from him will ever play with fire. the sooner we get over that, the better.

Is Mango still ahead of Gorgui Dieng?
Piss poor that Rick can't recruit a decent 5 and year in and year out UK's 5 spot freshmen kill ours.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

The recruiting of the 4 and 5 spot has been lacking.
Losing Onuaku hurt, however his mind was set on the pros, so he had to go.

Next year is remedied, yet theyll be freshmen.

Manok has the weight but no skills.
Anas and Ray have some skills, but no weight.
JJ is limited.
Matz belongs at Campbellsville.

Unless one of the 4 or 5s become consistent, its going to be a long season.

It's the biggest elephant I've ever seen.

Rick likes himself a challenge.

Like you said, the Onuaku to the pros was in no way a surprise, and we responded by adding nothing to the interior. Maybe we just whiffed in recruiting, it's hard to really know.

Whatever it is, these guys make Hajj Turner look like Trez.

They are so bad offensively (excluding Ray), I have a hard time holding them accountable.

You just kind of look the other way when we throw it to any of them.

But in March, we'll defy all things that compute, and win a few post season games. I guess.

 

[beasleythecard]

Is Mango still ahead of Gorgui Dieng?
Piss poor that Rick can't recruit a decent 5 and year in and year out UK's 5 spot freshmen kill ours.

mango is older than gourgi thats all

 

[Boonesboro]

"Camps" are for your guys, run along little fella.

Tough crowd.

 

[Birdie King]

Is Mango still ahead of Gorgui Dieng?
Piss poor that Rick can't recruit a decent 5 and year in and year out UK's 5 spot freshmen kill ours.

I'm sure he has his eye on one over in some Third World country.

 

[Morgantown Card]

Any truth that the VJ camp is unhappy? Kid's got game.

The "VJ camp"? LOL. The dude is a freshman, not Shaq with his 20 person entourage.