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Cal is doing his first press conference since the season ended. Should be a lot to talk about, which, of course, means he won't say anything at all.
Also indicates that the roster is pretty much set.Comment
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I can’t help but feel like Bradshaw, Ugonna and Burks are keys to how this all pans out. Bradshaw’s injury/surgery (and Klutch influence), the needs for bigs—is Ugonna ready to step it up? And Burks is intriguing. He’s been playing against Amen and Ausar Thompson and getting buckets. Could he be one the scouts really whiffed on throughout high school? Or is he a minor role player? A true mystery man.
Hope we get true leadership from the old guys—Reeves and Mitchell. Hope the studs are elite. Should be fun. But could be another flop. 🤷â€â™‚ï¸Comment
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Burks is one of the more intriguing players who's signed to play for Kentucky that I can remember.Comment
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He doesn't just have good size. He's got pretty incredible size for the way he plays.
And his numbers scream out at you from up there. The scoring wasn't just good, it was striking.
Really interesting player on paper. I don't believe that all the recruiting services simply missed on him so I would still be surprised if he played anything more than a bit role, but on paper he's a super mysterious guy.Comment
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I’m the first to admit I know zero about minor league basketball—have no interest in watching it. But why would there be no defense? I thought it was a bunch of guys of various skill level doing everything they can trying to prove their way to the big leagues.
If there’s no defense then I get your point. Just, without watching it, I don’t understand why it would be that way. And if those guys were trying to slow him down, then 27/game is pretty impressive. Diamonds find their way out of the rough all the time.Comment
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What's he lacking? Consistency ? Ball-handling skills? Instinct?
He's interesting to me in-as-much as the staff has added a guy who should help with player development, and frankly I feel that's an area that helped lead to so many transfers from UK lately. I think some of these guys realized the staff wasn't as good at developing as some other programs and knew that if they became a fixture on the bench then their opportunity to gain from the UK spotlight would quickly close, so they'd gamble for a year or two then transfer out.
Maybe John Welch helps UK get to where a guy like Burks can grow and find his place here. That's been lacking for a bit and if we regain that ability, then we could really get back to yielding very good teams.Comment
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I've watched a couple OT Elite games, and while there are talented players all over the court, it's not as structured as an AAU game. In the games I watched, it was a showcase first and foremost.
Along with being under-scouted, this is probably the reason why OT Elite players are typically lower in the player rankings. Just no real way of knowing.
In Burks case, the fact that he could score in bunches against other good players is a positive.
Last edited by KCKUKFan; 06-30-2023, 12:35 PM.Comment
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In other good news, it appears that John Welch has brought in the Noah shooting analytics tool for practice. I've heard of this, and hopefully it pays dividends.
And hopefully Welch is able to get Cal to adjust offensively.Comment
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Interestingly Kentucky's downfall recently has been mostly about defense.*
* Oscar covered over a lot of offensive mistakes the last two years. Still, Kentucky's defense has been a tragedy recently and unfortunately there aren't many analytics that will help that. Hopefully having a rim protector will make a big difference.Comment
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I certainly hope so as well, but with recent players it’s understandable that some fans are nervous about the situation. To say that injuries are treated ambiguously here would be an understatement.Comment
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