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Several notes:
1.) I do think Cal is doing a good job. I love that he's finally putting in plays. They actually ran an inbounds play at least twice today and Nate scored on both of them. What I still don't like is the 2nd half kill the clock half-court offense. That offense is going to cause them to lose in the tournament.
2.) Brooks - I thought Brooks played great and was struggling to get on the floor. Toward the end of the 1st half, he played about 3 minutes and was doing great only to be pulled for EJ... EJ basically provides nothing for this team. I don't understand why he is out there so much. He had a break away once up the court if he had been running but he was doing that stupid jog up again. I would be playing Brooks more right now.
3.) Richards - Really love the improvement on Richards but he is so lost so many times on the court. He still is most often late to rotate, late to jump for rebounds, etc. He did have one great block but about 5 minutes before that, he should have blocked another shot and just didn't get there. He often is not even looking where the ball is. He's improved, he's been a great surprise but he still does a lot of NIck Richards bad stuff out there.
4.) DEF --- in the first half - when they fell way behind, they absolutely locked down Auburn. This was when they made their run to take over the game. They all on the floor were really locking it down. Hagan, Quickly, and Maxey were fantastic. It lead to a lot of fast break offense.
5.) OFF - See above - 1st half it starting rolling and they were pushing the ball and really creating tempo and pace. 2nd half - Cal takes the air out of the ball again and the offense struggles. You are playing 3 point guards, let them run and play.
And last - Hagans --- So many things I do like, so many I can't stand... His hands are ridiculous. His knack for the ball is ridiculous. He can't shoot a lick and I can't stand his constant complaining to the refs instead of hustling down the court. I did like him and Nate with the 2-man game in that one sequence. OH and Maxey - I thought he played so much better and under control today.Last edited by Ratt; 02-29-2020, 09:24 PM.Comment
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A major thing about this team is the way it shoots free throws.
We've had teams really have a hard time holding on to leads because we'll have key guys get fouled at key times and they'll just not convert from the line. Very hard to ice games that way.
This team, because it can't really get any separation from many teams, has to have those end-of-game points from the stripe. And it gets them consistently. That's why you see us just taking the air out of games night after night. It's proof that free throws are an essential part of the game of basketball, particularly in Calipari's system where you're going to get to the line a lot.
The thing you worry about with Kentucky is that we go on these offensive lulls where we'll go minutes without a field goal. Part of this is our inability to consistently shoot from outside; part of it is we have a point guard who's really scuffling to score the basketball from any angle.
You have to worry Kentucky is going to run up against somebody and have a 2-20 night from the three point line and get knocked out.Comment
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Only 7 turnovers ðŸ‘Comment
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With two regular season games left, I'm looking back and I TRULY believe the only loss we should have is to OSU; we were not better than them at that time (and they have since melted for the most part). Utah, first Auburn game, of course Evansville, South Carolina at the buzzer...should not have lost any of those gamesComment
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The problem is where to play him. We've got a couple of guys coming in who are very similar to E.J.
If he returns, and he should, then Cal will have to play him like a stretch center. Because I don't see him playing power forward on that team next year.
To be a center, even a stretch type of center, he'll have to get A LOT stronger. We talk about the pump fake thing and the fact that he's offensively raw and all that--and it's all true. But E.J.'s main problem is that he gets pushed around like crazy and has virtually no back-to-basket game as a result.Comment
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