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Posted by Trey Ball (Member # 332) on 03-31-2019, 04:43 PM:

Auburn won the guard play and UK once again can’t make free throws in the NCAA Tournnament

Posted by Trey Ball (Member # 332) on 03-31-2019, 04:45 PM:

PJ, Reid, and Johnson should have dominated in the paint today with any guard play at all

Posted by rlt4uk (Member # 3194) on 03-31-2019, 04:54 PM:

Cal says ft's won't get you beat

Posted by CatFanInYankeeville (Member # 2025) on 03-31-2019, 05:09 PM:

Why didn't we post up any more than we did? Travis and Washington looked great when they got the ball on the blocks...but we were content to play Tubby ball...pass the ball around the arc for 20 seconds and throw up a prayer.

Posted by Trey Ball (Member # 332) on 03-31-2019, 05:11 PM:

CFIY,

Just my opinion but that all falls on the guards. I posted it earlier in the year. Our guards were clueless how to throw a post pass.

Posted by EnterpriseCat (Member # 2881) on 03-31-2019, 05:18 PM:

We may as well have left our PG’s in Lexington. They were awful today. Free throws have been a curse for Cal his entire career in the tournament. Left 13 available points at the free throw line. Pitiful

Posted by rlt4uk (Member # 3194) on 03-31-2019, 05:18 PM:

I hope none of our guards declare for the NBA, they're definitely not ready.

Posted by rlt4uk (Member # 3194) on 03-31-2019, 05:19 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by EnterpriseCat:
We may as well have left our PG’s in Lexington. They were awful today. Free throws have been a curse for Cal his entire career in the tournament. Left 13 available points at the free throw line. Pitiful

Just one of those missed ft's in regulation and we win.

Posted by SCWC (Member # 2464) on 03-31-2019, 05:47 PM:

I do not see any NBA material in either Quickley or Hagans. They are too slow and are not good enough ball handlers to run an offense. WE will have both of them back for another year, all we can hope for is that Cal has recruited over them already. Maxey is better than either.

Posted by m hamilton (Member # 127) on 03-31-2019, 08:47 PM:

Our guards were unable to enter the ball to the post all season long!

Posted by m hamilton (Member # 127) on 03-31-2019, 08:49 PM:

It just seems to me like Hagans slowly regressed as the season went on. He had an outstanding game against UNC and it slowly trickled off from there!

Posted by PaulCat (Member # 513) on 04-01-2019, 08:21 AM:

To me, the only player who got better as the season went on was PJ. Every one else played the last game like they played the first.

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 04-01-2019, 09:22 AM:

PJ certainly improved in all facets (except, maybe, turnovers). His focus, effort, court awareness, decision making, and shooting all improved. He certainly strengthened his draft status.

Herro also improved or maintained. He was always one of the best at moving without the ball, and his defense became IMO the best of all the guards. His shooting was a little inconsistent, but I would feel very comfortable giving him the green light to launch in almost any possession. His glaring weakness was passing, especially passing into the post.

Hagans was a good point guard, but Auburn's guards were too fast and had too many weapons to use against him. I guess that makes him good, but not elite. He also was not very good at passing into the paint, and too many of his drives were ill conceived and led to turnovers. I like the fact that his 3-point shot improved over the season. He just needs to learn to make a good (timely) post pass and to make better decisions overall.

Quickly's shot also dramatically improved, but his floor skills were somewhat behind Hagans'. He is a serviceable combo guard who can provide minutes, but is not yet at the "starter" level. He plays good (but not great) defense, passes OK (but not great), and has good (but not great) court vision.

Johnson was just too inconsistent. When he is focused on the game, he can be an effective offensive force, either by driving or shooting the 3. His defense, however, was a problem, especially defense against 3-point shooters. He gave them too much room to shoot. He could develop into a great wing player if he focuses on his defense and his consistency.

Travis was a real 'wide body' -- big, tough, and seasoned. He developed into a reliable rebounder and low-post scorer, but he basically disappeared in the last two games, once PJ came back. We really needed him to work in tandem with PJ like before the injury, but he just deferred to him instead. I think Travis drove this team as a leader and a veteran. I will miss him next year.

Richards and Montgomery will be "the guys" inside next year. They need to work on their offense -- defensively, both showed great promise. Plus, they both need to bulk up and become dominant rebounders. If they want to put in the work, they can become a dominant inside duo.

I didn't see enough of Baker to make much commentary. He seems to be adequate on defense, but one-dimensional on offense. I hope he also comes back as a veteran leader for next year's team.

Posted by PaulCat (Member # 513) on 04-01-2019, 09:43 AM:

I expected Quickley to be a much better shooter from the 3-point line. 34% is just ho-hum for someone described as a shooter who won the McDonald's 3-point contest.

Other than PJ, our 3-point shooting was bad. The thing is, how many times did we miss wide open 3's? You gotta knock those down.

Posted by Bama Cat (Member # 153) on 04-01-2019, 10:19 AM:

Agree with just about everything you said Tip. We are now on the road to the 2020 final four. Hope Cal springs a couple surprises with his final signings for next year.

Posted by ALA_KAT2 (Member # 1559) on 04-03-2019, 11:00 AM:

Tiptree, you stated that Herro’s glaring weakness was “passing into the post”. What does that say about the team as a whole when Herro was undoubtably our best passer into the post?

I think our offense should have run more through Herro, who can create off the bounce, is able to finish multiple ways, and hits free throws at almost a 95% clip.

Posted by ukcatfannfl (Member # 1425) on 04-03-2019, 12:14 PM:

Good defense will stop that since we have no one else who can hit from outside i.e. hero shut down as he was!

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 04-03-2019, 02:29 PM:

ALA_KAT,

quote:

Tiptree, you stated that Herro’s glaring weakness was “passing into the post”. What does that say about the team as a whole when Herro was undoubtably our best passer into the post?

It says nothing good, that is for sure. I remember many of his passes being intercepted, thrown to the wrong hand, or even blocked coming off his hand. Hagans was even worse, simply because he often wouldn't even see the post player had position, or would throw the pass too late.

I am not sure our offense should have run through Hero, because much of his effectiveness was created by his relentless motion without the ball. Hagans should have initiated every possession, Hero should have been second option, and a pass into the post should have been the priority. That was the kind of team we had, but we could not execute much of that.

Posted by PaulCat (Member # 513) on 04-03-2019, 02:58 PM:

It was obvious that we had plays planned to get PJ or Travis the ball in the post. What irked me was we rarely had a play that would free up the outside shooter, mainly Herro. We would set a weak screen that was easily covered by a simple switch. There were no double screens, or double passes, or anything else that I saw that would get Herro an open look for three. I think all of his open looks were created by himself. Although PJ was adequate, Travis was terrible at hitting an open shooter when he was doubled teamed. I just wish we would've had more plays to free up the outside shot.