The Good! The Bad! The Ugly! TAMU Edition

[J.Jennings]

For the record, Diallo was actually playing point guard position for about 30 to 45 seconds of that game last night lol lol lol..

[Joneslab]

Individually I only thought one guy was bad last night, and that was Richards. Everybody else who played I thought played at a pretty high level.

I thought we were going to lose when the Quade news came out. When you have to run Brad Calipari out there in the first half and just kind of hold the line you know things are crazy.

This team isn't only young, it's been ravaged by the flu, it's had injuries, it's got guys in street clothes every game...hasn't been an easy year so far. This is the toughest SEC John Calipari has had to play against since he's been at Kentucky. You would hope all these things will lead to a team that's really tested and unafraid come March.

[Catsrock]

Great assessment but I'll also complain about the 1st five minutes when A&M scored on 7 straight possessions I believe. I was late getting out of work so was listening in the car till half way thru the 1st half. Maybe they were just hitting great shots but it sounded more like a stretch of more lazy defense. I thought we may have another Tennessee game on our hands. Then we got going thankfully.

[J.Jennings]

Still not sure i trust this zone we play especially after that Tennessee game, worst zone ever. Last night it was better but i wonder if Cal should try a Huggins 1-3-1 instead?

[catfaninin]

"Junk basketball" gets old but it is what it is....

Turn off that NBA stuff

[KevinHall]

Still not sure i trust this zone we play especially after that Tennessee game, worst zone ever. Last night it was better but i wonder if Cal should try a Huggins 1-3-1 instead?

I really believe the only reason Cal is playing a lot of zone is that they are very thin right now. They only had 7 scholarship players available last night. Also not having Vanderbilt really limits that front line with Richards not coming along as fast as we had hoped. Once they get back some people I think you will see very little zone.

[J.Jennings]

Turn off that NBA stuff

I like to watch the best players in the world go at it and when i hear "they don't play defense", it's obvisously coming from someone who doesn't watch the game. This doesn't mean that throughout the course of a 82 game schedule that some teams/players have off nights but in the prime time games when the light come on, it's a pleasure watching the best players do things with the basketball that will leave you scratching your head...


With that being said, if they start protesting and kneeling bringing politics into a "outlet" for fans who want to relax and watch a game and get away from all the reality of the world, then yes i turn that **** off and never watch it again, i won't support that or any other sport and will go into full boycott mode...

[Joneslab]

I really believe the only reason Cal is playing a lot of zone is that they are very thin right now. They only had 7 scholarship players available last night. Also not having Vanderbilt really limits that front line with Richards not coming along as fast as we had hoped. Once they get back some people I think you will see very little zone.

This, and the fact that TAMU came in shooting like 20% from three over their last few games.

When guys like JJ Caldwell start hitting jumpers that's not a bad thing because it hopefully forces him into bad shots. The problem with the zone is that we weren't putting enough pressure at the top and they were easily entering the basketball. And of course Davis was tearing up Richards for long stretches.

[J.Jennings]

I really believe the only reason Cal is playing a lot of zone is that they are very thin right now. They only had 7 scholarship players available last night. Also not having Vanderbilt really limits that front line with Richards not coming along as fast as we had hoped. Once they get back some people I think you will see very little zone.

If team members will step up and learn how to talk, i think i would much rather see the man to man based off what Tennessee did to us the other night, it was comical. I think Bilas said it best last night, some members think that if you hold your man to low points, you did your job. The truth is it's not all about holding your man as a individual, but rather coming together collectively as a unit and stopping the opponent as a whole which means you have to communicate with one another on defense...

[J.Jennings]

This, and the fact that TAMU came in shooting like 20% from three over their last few games.

When guys like JJ Caldwell start hitting jumpers that's not a bad thing because it hopefully forces him into bad shots. The problem with the zone is that we weren't putting enough pressure at the top and they were easily entering the basketball. And of course Davis was tearing up Richards for long stretches.

Back to the Tennessee game, a pewee team could have made a layup in the paint that game, it was absolutely horrible. Last night i was getting ticked over the spot up wide open jumpshots while in the zone...

[Joneslab]

If team members will step up and learn how to talk, i think i would much rather see the man to man based off what Tennessee did to us the other night, it was comical. I think Bilas said it best last night, some members think that if you hold your man to low points, you did your job. The truth is it's not all about holding your man as a individual, but rather coming together collectively as a unit and stopping the opponent as a whole which means you have to communicate with one another on defense...

I think he should have gone man the other night, but when Washington went out I think Cal felt that Grant Williams would just kill us.

The dirty secret is that Nick Richards can't play at this level right now. He's a total project. They have to do everything they can to help him. He gives you some flashes offensively and rebounding, but defensively he's extremely behind.

Another reason Vanderbilt is so crucial. Badly need another body up front.

[catfaninin]

I like to watch the best players in the world go at it and when i hear "they don't play defense", it's obvisously coming from someone who doesn't watch the game. This doesn't mean that throughout the course of a 82 game schedule that some teams/players have off nights but in the prime time games when the light come on, it's a pleasure watching the best players do things with the basketball that will leave you scratching your head...


With that being said, if they start protesting and kneeling bringing politics into a "outlet" for fans who want to relax and watch a game and get away from all the reality of the world, then yes i turn that **** off and never watch it again, i won't support that or any other sport and will go into full boycott mode...

Sure they play defense. They wave that red cape. And sometimes even shout "ole". You are right they can do some amazing things. But I don't want to sit through 3 hours of going through the motions in hopes of catching a glimpse of some of those things.

[justford]

The crowd shouting "shoot" every time Brad got the ball was ridiculous. This was meaningful minutes not mop up time.

[J.Jennings]

I think he should have gone man the other night, but when Washington went out I think Cal felt that Grant Williams would just kill us.

The dirty secret is that Nick Richards can't play at this level right now. He's a total project. They have to do everything they can to help him. He gives you some flashes offensively and rebounding, but defensively he's extremely behind.

Another reason Vanderbilt is so crucial. Badly need another body up front.

What's crazy about Richards is that he's total opposite and the other way around from what i thought we was getting. I assumed we was getting a long athletic big who could block shots and run but was still very limited on offense. For Richards, he has hit some shots that i didn't think he had in his arsenal but on defense, he flat out sucks, he's very seldom making a difference on that end of the floor. With Noel and WCS, you knew the offense was limited but on defense you had no worries, with Richards, Marcus Lee had more skills....

[J.Jennings]

The crowd shouting "shoot" every time Brad got the ball was ridiculous. This was meaningful minutes not mop up time.

Very ridiculous and stupid. For a moment, i started having flash backs of Saul Smith, was ready to open the back door hang my head out and puke. With all due respect, i have seen high schoolers coming out of the state of Kentucky that would eat Brad Calipari alive. I get it, we want Cal to stay forever and Brad gives us a cushion but wow, not cool at all...