Blackshear

[Joneslab]

I agree about the inability to guard Auburn's guards, but we held them to 60 points in regulation. Our offense failed miserably in the second half. We only scored ONE point from free throws and threes the entire second half. That is one of the most amazing stats in Kentucky basketball history.

Interesting. I didn't realize that.

A big part of that I guess was that Tyler Herro had a really poor game. When your studs don't show up you'll usually get beat in March.

I still thought we were like three defensive possessions away from winning.

Another thing that's sort of outside the stats: third time we'd played Auburn this season. Everybody says this but it's true: really hard to beat a team three times.

Many of these NCAA Tournament games are played down in the 60s. Tight rims, valued possessions, slow tempo, etc. I agree that Kentucky plays tight sometimes in March but I think this is another thing that's happening most everywhere and not just with us.

[Joneslab]

Good for UK....

This sounds good for Kentucky.

Saw on Rivals this same guy said that Blackshear may have given a visit to Arkansas because he has family ties with their coaching staff. The guy didn't think there was much interest.

Tennessee obviously doesn't fit if he wants to make a deep run. They're going to have to fight to tread water. BUT what worries you about them is that they might be able to convince Blackshear he can be another Grant Williams. They're pretty similar players.

[teamchemistry15]

A whole lotta hype for a guy who's going to have to work hard and get lucky to ever step floor on a NBA court, pick a team and be done with it, sheesh.

You do know that there are plenty of VERY good college players who help win championships that never go pro, right?

[SCBlu]

You do know that there are plenty of VERY good college players who help win championships that never go pro, right?

BINGO!

[J.Jennings]

You do know that there are plenty of VERY good college players who help win championships that never go pro, right?

I didn't know that, after 46 years i suppose you learn something new everyday.

I guess if you play 3 to 4 years for a team and learn the system, it's easier to play a role, much easier than learning a complete new system on the fly in one year...

[J.Jennings]

So come on down Blackshear, let's just piss off Nick RIchards and have a complete locker room disaster with players crying over minutes and players taking sides and all that crap. What a great selling tool for incoming freshman, Kentucky is not for everyone, you come here work hard and earn your keep and i will sit you on the bench and recruit over you, that's how it works here.

Blackshear is a good college player but let's go back and look at his stats his first few years. How many minutes did he average, what was his PER per game. I wonder if Nick Richards was allowed to get some solid clock and get a vote of confidence to play through his mistakes if he could be a good college player???

For those who hate RiCHARDS and want to see him fail don't blame Nick, blame Cal, Cal recruited him and brought him here, if he's not panning out then someone hasn't developed him.. Maybe Cal should have just told him to leave and go pro overseas after this season was finished

[Dwight Schrute]

So come on down Blackshear, let's just piss off Nick RIchards and have a complete locker room disaster with players crying over minutes and players taking sides and all that crap. What a great selling tool for incoming freshman, Kentucky is not for everyone, you come here work hard and earn your keep and i will sit you on the bench and recruit over you, that's how it works here.

Blackshear is a good college player but let's go back and look at his stats his first few years. How many minutes did he average, what was his PER per game. I wonder if Nick Richards was allowed to get some solid clock and get a vote of confidence to play through his mistakes if he could be a good college player???

For those who hate RiCHARDS and want to see him fail don't blame Nick, blame Cal, Cal recruited him and brought him here, if he's not panning out then someone hasn't developed him.. Maybe Cal should have just told him to leave and go pro overseas after this season was finished

This isn't a good take.

[J.Jennings]

This isn't a good take.

Well i am not banking on Blackshear and i think our roster is good as it sets, not worrying about it either way and our season is not doomed if he doesn't come here.. If Blackshear does committ it adds depth but i think NICK breaks out this year and becomes a different player, all he needs is confidence and it's a wrap....

[Joneslab]

For those who hate RiCHARDS and want to see him fail don't blame Nick, blame Cal, Cal recruited him and brought him here, if he's not panning out then someone hasn't developed him.. Maybe Cal should have just told him to leave and go pro overseas after this season was finished

Calipari has tried to recruit over Richards every year he's been here.

I think he sees Richards like most UK fans do: as a back-up and a serviceable relief guy. Nothing wrong with that. You have to have players like that.

As a starter and a load-carrier inside? No. I've never seen any evidence Richards can do that at this level.

He would have to completely reinvent himself for that to happen. That said, there were 6 or 8 games last year where I thought Nick was pretty solid. If he's the starter though you can't just bank on 6 or 8 games because we would have nothing behind him.

Frontcourt depth is a major question mark right now.

[Joneslab]

Also, it could be Montgomery at the 5 with Sestina at the 4 even if Blackshear doesn't come.

The long and short of it is, Richards is still woefully behind and hasn't progressed well to this point. He's not even on the WCS track because WCS could guard multiple positions even before his junior year. He's more along the lines of somebody like Lukasz Orbzut.

[Joneslab]

I didn't know that, after 46 years i suppose you learn something new everyday.

I guess if you play 3 to 4 years for a team and learn the system, it's easier to play a role, much easier than learning a complete new system on the fly in one year...

This is a decent point.

I'm still not sure it overrides the fact that Richards is so behind.

HOWEVER, you might see a situation where Blackshear comes, Nick improves dramatically, and Blackshear is the back-up. I seriously doubt that happens but it's not outside the realm of possibility.

To me that's still a win because the point with Blackshear is mostly about depth. I don't like going into a season with two guys who've played in the post at the D1 level, neither of whom have been more than bit players.

[Dwight Schrute]

Hard to see a scenario where Nick Richards is the guy. EJ taking a big leap forward seems possible - but Nick Richards doesn't do anything particularly well and if you can't expect big improvements if they haven't been made already.

[J.Jennings]

This is a decent point.

I'm still not sure it overrides the fact that Richards is so behind.

HOWEVER, you might see a situation where Blackshear comes, Nick improves dramatically, and Blackshear is the back-up. I seriously doubt that happens but it's not outside the realm of possibility.

To me that's still a win because the point with Blackshear is mostly about depth. I don't like going into a season with two guys who've played in the post at the D1 level, neither of whom have been more than bit players.

And yes i agree if Blackshear does come here, it adds depth but hope it won't cause locker room problems, all these players are trying to get to the next level and PT is important....

[J.Jennings]

Calipari has tried to recruit over Richards every year he's been here.

I think he sees Richards like most UK fans do: as a back-up and a serviceable relief guy. Nothing wrong with that. You have to have players like that.

As a starter and a load-carrier inside? No. I've never seen any evidence Richards can do that at this level.

He would have to completely reinvent himself for that to happen. That said, there were 6 or 8 games last year where I thought Nick was pretty solid. If he's the starter though you can't just bank on 6 or 8 games because we would have nothing behind him.

Frontcourt depth is a major question mark right now.

I think Nick is going to pull a 3rd year WCS and Harrellson move, i think he will be better....

[Catsrock]

Hard to see a scenario where Nick Richards is the guy. EJ taking a big leap forward seems possible - but Nick Richards doesn't do anything particularly well and if you can't expect big improvements if they haven't been made already.

While it seems a stretch that Nick will ever be GREAT--it used to be the norm for bigs to improve dramatically as upperclassmen. I hold out hope Nick is just behind his time--an old-school type guy who will be ready to lead this year. He won't be an Anthony Davis or KAT but if he could give us 12 pts 7 boards, defense and leadership we'd be gold with the back court we should have.

Get that from Nick, EJ AND Blackshear...no stopping us.