Florida @ Kentucky Game Thread.

[justford]

Our woes in the last four minutes of games can also be attributed to some questionable play calling.

[GOCAT15]

Think a lot of it goes back to erratic point guard play. The shots don't come in the right spots for certain stretches of the game and that's when we hit those lulls. That's mostly on the point guard.

We had a conversation about Cade Cunningham at one point this season. He had 40 the other night. I think this team is probably at least two players away from being a bona fide Final Four threat, maybe three. But if Cunningham were on this team we definitely wouldn't be sweating the NCAA Tournament right now for sure.

That was the "Big" miss this year, unfortunately it seems there has been one of those major type misses on at least one player the last few years.

[Joneslab]

Lets face it....Wenyen Gabriel got a contract. In fact, almost ALL these guys that left early are playing pro somewhere...G league, European, Asian, you name it. Getting paid to play basketball.
It really has left the university struggling for now.

Yes, this is the major issue.

Cal created a total monster with the one-and-done ordeal. It has started to devour him.

What will really hurt is if more kids jump the shark than is realistic. Truth is, I saw NO ONE yesterday that looked like they were ready for any steps higher. Not basketball IQ wise, not physically, not mentally.

Jackson is a pro. I think he's starting to look like one of these players who could be a total superstar in three or four years.

Hard to see it with anyone else. Boston needs another year badly if only to learn how to finish at the rim.

He'd be drafted though, at least in the second round...so again, we see how the experiment Cal helped create really has started to hurt Kentucky. It has to be turned back somehow but I don't know if Cal can do it at this point.

[DA#23]

It also shifted from "guaranteed 1st rounder" to guys finding almost any level of pay for play to be acceptable. Terrence Jones would leave after a year, that is, if he had even chosen to come here. He likely goes to Washington in 2021's rules of recruiting.

Couple that with a loss of accuracy on the recruiting front and we have a circus of sorts with Calipari looking out of his prime, it's as though the carnival master has lost the attention from his audience to some extent.

In the first half of this run we basically didn't miss on Cade Cunningham or if we did, then we had another option that was basically as good and in hindsight we came out for the better. Now we aren't.

[Joneslab]

It also shifted from "guaranteed 1st rounder" to guys finding almost any level of pay for play to be acceptable. Terrence Jones would leave after a year, that is, if he had even chosen to come here. He likely goes to Washington in 2021's rules of recruiting.

Exactly. This is the monster I'm talking about. It got bigger and bigger until it became what we see now, which is basically "If you can possibly leave early and get a contract, do it." Virtually no one stays past their second year if they make it there.

That system only works if you get super-elite talent. If not then you're running your program on hopes and prayers.

[DA#23]

That system only works if you get super-elite talent. If not then you're running your program on hopes and prayers.

Coupled with experienced high level returnees. Where Calipari likely is frustrated with fans regarding Dontaie Allen is that the echo chamber of disgruntled fans seriously makes it difficult to keep a guy like him in the program.

All he and esp. his family are hearing is how he deserves time to play into the rotation and how he doesn't get a chance to play through mistakes the same as the more highly rate guys do with Calipari, and so it's easy to see how that throws even more difficulty into the equation.

Calipari has to large extent created that issue, but the fans definitely have taken exception with that motif and fanned its flame. As you've said, the program can devour you and that's one example.

I think that as soon as fans start doing anything publicly like they did with Coach Smith especially and to some small extent BCG (that was earned though), then Calipari and family will have had enough. That might happen sooner than he realizes.

[Lighthouse]

Cal hears the fan criticism and while his ego makes it hard for him to change, he has to realize Kentucky Fans know basketball and he should at least listen and consider what's being said.

[justford]

How would Cal answer this question: Why are some players allowed to make mistake after mistake and still play 30+ minutes a game while others make one mistake and get benched while playing only 3 or 4 minutes?

[Joneslab]

How would Cal answer this question: Why are some players allowed to make mistake after mistake and still play 30+ minutes a game while others make one mistake and get benched while playing only 3 or 4 minutes?

Regarding Askew, I think he tries to ride him because nobody else on the team can play point guard. Mintz can do it but he's much better off the ball.

Askew really should be playing about 5 minutes a game but the fact that he has to play about 30 is a major reason we're 8-14.

[40bill]

I think we all agree it is a case where Calipari used a rule he did not create to an advantage that turned on him (us).
but you know early early on in the one and experiment, I believe it was Roy William's that said the only out was a coach NOT go so hard for the one year superstar...and like he said, you wouldn't be coach for long.

In retrospect....a top notch program needs two to three 'stars' and a solid supporting crew...the Jackson Chicago Bulls. Trouble with that is those 'stars' have to be guys willing to sacrifice some stats for good of the team.
good luck with that.

Dunno if John Calipari gets through this...which is a shame.
Bad thing is if we go a couple more years like this, I ain't sure the program will recover real soon.

Ah well...we"re a football school anyway.😜

[Joneslab]

I don't think Calipari envisioned a situation where LSU, Oklahoma State, Washington, etc. landed one-and-dones.

Really he should have seen that coming and then immediately adjusted. Instead he saw it coming and doubled down.

It used to be, way back in the days when Dontonio Wingfield was a one-and-done, that those players were trouble. Very few programs would touch them. Then Dajuan Wagner came along and the thing started to grow. Then D. Rose hit and everybody wanted in on the action.

Cal is lauded as a visionary but he missed on this one. The field for these players is way too dispersed and elasticized. Kentucky could get theirs when it was just a handful of the big boys, but now everybody is angling for those elite players--and there are relatively few of them each season.

Cal has done some things this past year like shaken up his assistant staff, tried to make it younger, tried to isolate players who are a little younger...but as long as he's losing this many players to the draft/transfer *and* missing out on this many elites, Kentucky is going to have a hard time becoming the program we all want it to be.

[lilproUK98]

Cal hears the fan criticism and while his ego makes it hard for him to change, he has to realize Kentucky Fans know basketball and he should at least listen and consider what's being said.

That will never happen.

[lilproUK98]

Regarding Askew, I think he tries to ride him because nobody else on the team can play point guard. Mintz can do it but he's much better off the ball.

Askew really should be playing about 5 minutes a game but the fact that he has to play about 30 is a major reason we're 8-14.

This is 80% of the problem with this team ...we only have two true guards at all. Allen is much more comfortable at the three, his ball handling just doesn't lend itself to the 2 guard spot. And Askew is literally the ONLY guy you can have at pg for extended mins. Mintz is by far more effective at the two playing without the ball unless a play breaks down and he needs to make a play. It's no coincidence that Cal's worst two teams were '13 (after Nerlens got hurt) and this one. Very flawed and overwhelmed point guards running the show.