I'd take that bet about Fletcher, though it admittedly is going to be hard for him to get on the floor. I've only seen him once but there's something about him that I like. At Kentucky though it usually comes down to opportunity.
A couple of observations I have about fans:
One thing you notice in the Cal era is fans reading recruiting rankings and trying to make grand statements about them. We've entered a time when, ironically, a player can be ranked in the double digits and he's already dismissed. You see this mostly on Rivals, where people are often talking about things they absolutely have no idea about, but it happens all across the Kentucky fandom.
Herro and Gilgeous-Alexander and Booker etc. are probably "outliers." But with a guy like Fletcher we're likely not talking about a one-and-done star; there is still a place for players who can give you something. One thing Kentucky fans have also forgotten is the need in the sport of basketball for players who can help. We saw how essential those types of guys were at Florida.
With all this said, the Cal era has proven that you can't reset the team totally and be a contender. The sport of college basketball doesn't work like that. You have to have anchors in place to allow the freshmen to blend. In 2014, maybe the most interesting test year of the entire era, we virtually reset the team. People were clamoring for a 40-0 season. We started five freshmen for the first time in the Cal era. Then we went out and looked very rough, not improving a whole lot until the SEC Tournament.
As much as we talk about individual talent and rankings and so on, this game rewards togetherness. I've sat in a ton of gyms over the last couple of years watching AAU and high school ball, and even on lower levels like my son plays on, you see teams stacked with great individuals, but often those teams are handled by teams that are trained to play together and "as a team." This is why Cal's teams usually stumble around until February: it takes a long time to get them to meld.
So more than looking at rankings and YouTube highlights, next year is going to be one of those years (again) where it'll be a question of how the pieces fit. We won't know what's what (again) until February. The only given is that if everyone from this current team leaves (which I don't think they will, but it's possible), history has shown that Kentucky will likely not be a contender.
A couple of observations I have about fans:
One thing you notice in the Cal era is fans reading recruiting rankings and trying to make grand statements about them. We've entered a time when, ironically, a player can be ranked in the double digits and he's already dismissed. You see this mostly on Rivals, where people are often talking about things they absolutely have no idea about, but it happens all across the Kentucky fandom.
Herro and Gilgeous-Alexander and Booker etc. are probably "outliers." But with a guy like Fletcher we're likely not talking about a one-and-done star; there is still a place for players who can give you something. One thing Kentucky fans have also forgotten is the need in the sport of basketball for players who can help. We saw how essential those types of guys were at Florida.
With all this said, the Cal era has proven that you can't reset the team totally and be a contender. The sport of college basketball doesn't work like that. You have to have anchors in place to allow the freshmen to blend. In 2014, maybe the most interesting test year of the entire era, we virtually reset the team. People were clamoring for a 40-0 season. We started five freshmen for the first time in the Cal era. Then we went out and looked very rough, not improving a whole lot until the SEC Tournament.
As much as we talk about individual talent and rankings and so on, this game rewards togetherness. I've sat in a ton of gyms over the last couple of years watching AAU and high school ball, and even on lower levels like my son plays on, you see teams stacked with great individuals, but often those teams are handled by teams that are trained to play together and "as a team." This is why Cal's teams usually stumble around until February: it takes a long time to get them to meld.
So more than looking at rankings and YouTube highlights, next year is going to be one of those years (again) where it'll be a question of how the pieces fit. We won't know what's what (again) until February. The only given is that if everyone from this current team leaves (which I don't think they will, but it's possible), history has shown that Kentucky will likely not be a contender.
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