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Posted by Trey Ball (Member # 332) on 01-18-2023, 07:58 AM:

I didn't see the second half, but looking at the box score it looks like he exclusively played Oscar, Wallace, Frederick, Reeves, Livingston, and Toppin in the second half.

Looks like he resisted the urge to put Wheeler on the floor for more than 1 minute.

Posted by ukman (Member # 3032) on 01-18-2023, 10:19 AM:

He had Wheeler in some but then pulled him after a couple of bad possessions. Thank God for Oscar. Happy for him, but I don't think he will be able to do that, as we have seen, against top teams with quality big men. We really need to have complimentary scoring from Wallace, Reeves, and CJ. We lose that game probably if Oscar doesn't go off. Our defense has got to do a better job and I wish Cal would work on some zone. It could be a big help at times, and could also help protect some guys if we are in foul trouble. We really struggled against their guards driving to the basket, and we gave up at least 7 points off of simple inbounds plays.

Toppin played well with the exception of a few forced shots, but I think Cal had told him to shoot it, and his defense wasn't great. However, he rebounded really well, made some good passes, and ran the floor well to get some good layups. CJ couldn't hit anything, but he played well on defense, and just having him out there opens things up on the offensive end. That's 2 in a row against power 5 schools. Hope we can keep it going against AM on Saturday.

Posted by ukman (Member # 3032) on 01-18-2023, 10:32 AM:

Also hoping to continue to see more of Livingston, and that Thiero gets more minutes as a backup. Wheeler can help in spurts, and when we have some foul trouble. Make him an energy guy that distributes and looks to get guys involved. Less dribbling. And have him hound the ball handler out high as long as he keeps him in front. Do that in spurts and he could be valuable.

Posted by PaulCat (Member # 513) on 01-18-2023, 10:51 AM:

Georgia was playing two steps off of Wheeler on defense. They were practically begging him to shoot the ball. That's not good.

Posted by Bama Cat (Member # 153) on 01-18-2023, 11:39 AM:

Cal must have been listening a little to our comments. For the most part I think he finally realizes what he was expecting to happen will just not happen. We all know how they should be playing and maybe now Cal also knows. But the biggest problem last night was our shooting percentage in the first half. When all of our guys miss the 3's we are in trouble. Not sure what we could do about it except get better. Oscar could have had a mostly normal day of 20-20 points and rebounds and I think if you check it we would have lost the game. That's not saying much for the rest of the team.

[ 01-18-2023, 11:42 AM: Message edited by: Bama Cat ]

Posted by Bama Cat (Member # 153) on 01-22-2023, 05:55 PM:

I feel I have figured this dilemma out. I don't believe UK's staff is really working hard at their recruiting They just leave it up to the so called experts to project these kids ratings and then they go try to convince the top of the list to come to UK. I don't believe they devote enough time to the rest of the top 100 kids coming out of high school. In a lot of cases how much difference is there going to be between the top 25 and the rest of the top 100? I believe if they were watching some of these 75 kids they'd see that a lot of them could be just as good as the top 25. They must be because some of the lesser schools are getting them and I can see there are a lot of players playing elsewhere that can outplay some of Cal's "diaper dandys" Just check the stats of all these kids and you will see how many have stats just as good or better than some of UK's kids. When all of most you do is work to get the top 25 to sign your job becomes a lot easier.