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Posted by SCWC (Member # 2464) on 04-17-2019, 02:57 PM:

From KSR:

quote:

Jemarl Baker confirmed the news of his transfer via a press release from UK on Wednesday. He is now in the NCAA’s transfer portal with no intentions of changing his mind to come back to Lexington. In the release announcing his departure, Baker said, “I want to thank the Big Blue Nation for supporting me during my two years at Kentucky. You are truly the best fans in the country and I’ve enjoyed my time here wearing the Blue and White. “However, after talking with Coach Cal, the staff and my family, I feel it’s in my best interest to continue my academic and basketball career elsewhere. I’ve made life-long relationships with my brothers and the staff at Kentucky and have improved so much as a player. I’m thankful for the opportunities it’s given me to be a part of this historic program.” Coach Cal added, “We haven’t had many players leave us but in all cases we stay in touch and continue to try to help. In Jemarl’s case, his injury in his first year and even the early part of this year set him back a little bit, but I still believe he’s an impact player who can score and defend. He’s a better defender than people give him credit for, and we knew we could play him this season in any situation because we knew he was always going to defend. I appreciate everything he did for this program. Like any kid that leaves us, I’ll be watching his career from afar. We’ll always be here for him.” There are no restrictions on where Baker will land, although he will have to sit out a year per the NCAA’s transfer rules.

quote:

[ 04-17-2019, 02:58 PM: Message edited by: SCWC ]

Posted by Trey Ball (Member # 332) on 04-17-2019, 08:51 PM:

Dang. I was afraid of that. I really like Baker's game. Good size, good defender, and I think he would have really contributed next year. That is a big loss in my opinion. I was hoping having Herro come out and say he was staying in the draft would keep him in Lexington. He is the one guy that I thought should have gotten more minutes all year long.

[ 04-17-2019, 08:52 PM: Message edited by: Trey Ball ]

Posted by SCWC (Member # 2464) on 04-18-2019, 02:51 AM:

I was just not that high on his game. He only played limited minutes in the two years he was at UK and I think he realizes he has already been recruited over. I don't consider his leaving a big loss myself. He got a lot more out of UK that UK got out of him during his two year stay there.

[ 04-18-2019, 02:52 AM: Message edited by: SCWC ]

Posted by PaulCat (Member # 513) on 04-18-2019, 08:00 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by Trey Ball:
Good size, good defender, and I think he would have really contributed next year.

Guys like Baker don't contribute much under Calipari. He's one of those guys that makes one mistake and he rides the pine for the rest of the half.

Posted by Bama Cat (Member # 153) on 04-18-2019, 11:47 AM:

I think Cal gets desperate at times and signs marginal players to ensure he has players on his roster. That is demonstrated this year as he slowly lost his top wants of Vernon Carey, Anthony Edwards, James Wiseman, Cole Anthony, Isiah Stewart, and most likely Jaden McDaniels and Matthew Hurt. These losses are due in part to him signing and having already on the roster players at the positions he is trying to fill. that would be: Nick Richards, Emanuel Quickly, EJ Montgomery, Dontae Allen and maybe some others that you may feel knocked us out of getting these top kids. I think he feels a little deserate at times, just like we do, when he can't convince some of these top guys to come to UK. He is left with a work harder to try to develop these lesser kids into a team of cohesion.

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 04-18-2019, 12:33 PM:

I don't know, Bama. Every school has the problem you describe; very few lose most of the team every year to the draft like Cal used to have happen. A strong NBA draft prospect should not fear competition from guys who didn't quite make that cut before.

But, it seems clear to me that Cal has to make the transition at some point to a mix of one-and-dones and solid upperclassmen (if not to ALL upperclassmen). I think this year might be that transition year. Having more sophomores, juniors, and transfers than freshmen will provide better long-term results, IMO.

Posted by MEL (Member # 141) on 04-18-2019, 01:06 PM:

Bama … isn't developing players into a unit supposed to be what a coach does ??? While Coach Williams does try and get some of the best of the best he still develops teams too. Villanova may be a great example of getting lesser known players and making them into a team as does Virginia. With one and done looking more and more everyday of being thing of the past what will the Cal's and k's do ??? Sure there will be a few players that aren't considered one and done that will leave after one year (example Coby White). I think there will more teams going back to the 3-4 year players which I think will be great. Love players that stay around and become part of a program that we as fans can get to know to some extent and remember them for years afterwards … (Joel Berry, Theo Pinson, Luke Maye and many others). I am sure that uk has many of those type players too.
Just my humble opinion.

MEL

[ 04-18-2019, 01:08 PM: Message edited by: MEL ]

Posted by Trey Ball (Member # 332) on 04-18-2019, 01:44 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by Bama Cat:
I think Cal gets desperate at times and signs marginal players to ensure he has players on his roster. That is demonstrated this year as he slowly lost his top wants of Vernon Carey, Anthony Edwards, James Wiseman, Cole Anthony, Isiah Stewart, and most likely Jaden McDaniels and Matthew Hurt. These losses are due in part to him signing and having already on the roster players at the positions he is trying to fill. that would be: Nick Richards, Emanuel Quickly, EJ Montgomery, Dontae Allen and maybe some others that you may feel knocked us out of getting these top kids. I think he feels a little deserate at times, just like we do, when he can't convince some of these top guys to come to UK. He is left with a work harder to try to develop these lesser kids into a team of cohesion.

JMO, but I will take EJ Montgomery over any of the kids that you listed that Cal missed out on playing his position.

I fully expect Montgomery to have a huge year this year.

Posted by Trey Ball (Member # 332) on 04-18-2019, 02:00 PM:

SCWC,

Agree based on his production, but for some reason I just really like Baker. I think because I always felt he played with poise, that may not have been a reality but it was my perception.

I thought there were a handful of games where he played good minutes in the first half and then never got off of the bench in the second half. Cal would even comment in his post games about his effort and production. Oh well, he is gone now.

Posted by SCWC (Member # 2464) on 04-19-2019, 03:08 AM:

Trey, I guess you and I see things from different perspectives. I still feel Baker was a wasted scholorship for two years, he got much more out of UK than UK got out of him. He was supposed to be a great three point shooter but he only made 13 of 42 attempts for 31 percent. He will get a scholorship somewhere, hopefully he gets an education, he will need it because he is not all that talented in my opinion, either defensively or offensively.

His Stats this past season:
Played in 28 of 37 games, ave 9.1 min per game.
Shot32.8 percent for the season.
13 of 42 3 pt attempts for 31percent.
Averaged 2.3 pts per game and 0.5 rebounds per game. He had 12 assists and 10 turnovers for the season.

[ 04-19-2019, 05:50 AM: Message edited by: SCWC ]

Posted by Trey Ball (Member # 332) on 04-19-2019, 07:26 AM:

Oh, I agree based upon actual production it’s not a loss. I just liked the way he played. Similar to how I always liked Matthews as a Freshmen.

The other thing is we talk about wanting more experienced and older players to see them grow and develop as some kids take giant steps forward as junior and seniors, like a Derrick Willis or Dom Hawkins or he could have been a wasted scholarship like a Jon Hood. However, lately Cal has not had a full roster so I’m not sure any scholarship has been wasted lately. I’m not sure the last time UK used them all. I would guess 2014-15 season.

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 04-19-2019, 10:40 AM:

It is interesting how our perspective has changed as fans. There was a time, not long ago, when freshmen and sophomores were not expected to perform at the highest levels; that was left to juniors and seniors.

I don't mean to ruffle any feathers, but consider our comments on Richards, Montgomery, Baker, and others. We are exasperated that these players are not lighting the world on fire. 20 years ago, we would say "well, they are still young. They will develop and show their stuff as upperclassmen". Now, if they don't elect to go into the NBA draft after their freshman year, we consider them disappointments at best, if not outright failures!

Would Baker have grown into a solid starting guard? I think he would become a reliable scorer and defender, a valuable member of a team, perhaps even a starter. Honestly, though, he hardly had a chance to demonstrate his skills, given his injuries.

Can Richards become a top-caliber center? Well, he has a chance to do so, and I think he just might.

Can EJ bloom into our premier big man next season? That is asking a lot of him, but he certainly has provided us glimpses of his potential.

I may be in the minority here, but I like the trajectory of Cal's recruiting. I think he is moving to a mix of players that tilts towards those who will stay for more than one year. While I think getting the very best players that meet Cal's character requirements is important, focusing on building a team with a mix of seasoned veterans and stellar freshman will yield better results going forward.

Posted by rlt4uk (Member # 3194) on 04-19-2019, 03:04 PM:

I think in the right system Jamal will flourish. Just like Charles Matthews at Michigan, and Wiltjer at Gonzaga.