catmandoo
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Member # 1284
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posted 07-06-2014 09:06 PM
Sounds good and can't wait to see the Cats in action.
The story of the summer has clearly been Tyler Ulis. Everyone that sees the young man is impressed with his talent, his work ethic and the words “great kid” are repeated constantly. When he was recruited, many wondered about his size, but I have been told by a couple of different people that this will not be a problem. As one source told me, “I am not sure if he starts because of the Twins, but I guarantee you he plays a lot and will be a major impact.” What has seemed to impress people the most is his work ethic, as he spends countless hours in the gym, with some comparing him to the work ethic they saw early from Brandon Knight. He is a leader in trying to get players to the gym early for workouts (especially the fellow Freshmen) and has become good friends with Devin Booker. Ulis is going to be a point guard unlike anyone we have had here…a true distributor in the classic point guard mold. Everyone around the program was excited to get him and after seeing him, are even more excited now.
— When asked about improvement from returning players, two guys continue to come up, Derrick Willis and Alex Poythress. One very knowledgable source told me, “at the end of last year, Derrick lost a lot of energy and regressed a bit. But he has had a huge summer and has improved more than anyone else on the team. He is still a great scorer and his defense is getting there. He is a different player now than he was back in March and he has worked to make it happen.” As far as Poythress, the one thing he has lacked in his career, consistency, is hard to see in the pickup or workout type setting. But his explosiveness is still there and his biggest improvement has come in two areas, attacking the basket and playing defense. Because a lot of his court time will probably have to be at the “3″, Alex has to be quicker guarding people and he has done a ton of work on his lateral movement. His explosiveness on the offensive attack continues to impress however. As one person told me, “every day he does something that makes the guys stop and go ‘wow’…this could really be his year.”
— Most of the summer for the Harrison Twins has been spent getting stronger so they will better be able to finish at the rim. While both guys were big last year, they weren’t necessarily as strong as it seemed, causing them to have difficulty finishing after absorbing contact. The coaches know that the Twins will be able to get to the rim at will against most players but they want the “And One” to occur much more frequently. I am also told the Twins are putting much more emphasis on the conditioning training, something that at times was an issue last year. As one person told me, “their basketball skills are similar to last year, but they are becoming much better athletes.”
— I am told that there are some physical wars between Dakari Johnson and Karl Towns and that Dakari is doing some work being physical with him. There is apparently a little rivalry between the big guys returning (Dakari/Lee) and the new guys (Towns/Lyles…although Trey hasnt participated as much) and that manifests itself on the court a lot. Dakari is apparently winning some of the early battles. He too is getting in a bit better shape, having lost some weight since last year (around 10 pounds). Shedding that baby fat is huge for the stamina, something that really hurt him last year. I am told that Calipari’s goal this year was for all players to work on stamina training and that has been a big part of what has improved things for Dakari, the Twins and the new guys.
— The only small negative I have heard is that Devin Booker took a bit of time to get used to the college pace. He apparently was a little bit behind when arriving and only in the last week or so has started to find his groove. His shot apparently was off for his first few weeks here, likely in part due to the nervousness and adjustment period. But I am told the last couple of summer games have seen more of the Booker that we will see over the course of his career.
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[ 07-06-2014, 09:10 PM: Message edited by: catmandoo ]
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