From Matt Jones: the best explaination for a disasterous month

[J.Jennings]

You think Matthews can be that guy? You are willing to believe that an incoming freshman will be able to contribute more than a guy who has practiced against pros the last two years? You think Willis is trash then. You probably won't cheer for him and dont like him. It is obvious because you think Matthews is a better option. That means you don't think the white kid from Kentucky is worthy of playing at UK. Willis had the potential to play every position in high school. If given the minutes instead of earning them he could be the next Ron Baker. You people just need to give him a chance.

What he said..........

[J.Jennings]

All he was doing was proving you wrong that he shot the ball well in the Bahamas. I guess he just needed more shots to get in a rhythm.

I can tell you have no faith in Willis which is fine, your opinion is your opinion. I would also bet that you would have never guessed that Avery Johnson, Steve Francis, John Starks, Ben Wallace, and even Scottie Pippen weren't even recruited to play D1 basketball because they where told they weren't good enough. Then you have the Matt Walsh's of the world, the Rod Grizzards's, the Omar Cook's, and Rinardo Sydney's of the basketball world. No clue as to how good Willis can or not be until he gets a chance to get some real minutes and see what he can do period. No way you would have ever predicted Ron Baker to be the college player he is because like everyone else, no one had even heard of Ron Baker out of high school because no one recruited him. Daniel Orton, Lamb, and Teague where the next big thing and look at them now. Remember all the talk about Liggins and Darius Miller prior to junior seasons? Some considered them to be a bust at UK. Even Perry Stephenson had some moments once he got a little time to shine. Say what you want, some players need minutes to gain confidence and a coach that is willing to let them play through some mistakes period. If Willis never gets that shot at Kentucky, then yes he should leave and transfer out and not let the door hit him where the sun don't shine......

[lilproUK98]

Goodness gracious. I wish more than anything that people would stop living in this fantasy world where Willis plays any significant role on the UK Basketball team. Aint gonna happen. I will eat my shoe if he plays more than 2 mins in more than 10 games this year. Unless Mulder and Matthews get injured and/or there is catastrophic foul trouble Willis is not seeing significant mins.

I know where the infatuation comes from for him by some fans, but people need to just forget it. I honestly wish he wasn't on the team so this silly stuff wouldn't exist.

[Joneslab]

Going back to the original point of the thread:

I wonder how much the Steph Curry phenomenon has changed recruiting?

There's been a lot of talk the last couple of days about Curry and Davidson. Golden State's enormous success behind Curry and Klay Thompson (Washington State) has maybe made guys feel like they don't have to go to Kentucky to be an NBA star.

[J.Jennings]

Goodness gracious. I wish more than anything that people would stop living in this fantasy world where Willis plays any significant role on the UK Basketball team. Aint gonna happen. I will eat my shoe if he plays more than 2 mins in more than 10 games this year. Unless Mulder and Matthews get injured and/or there is catastrophic foul trouble Willis is not seeing significant mins.

I know where the infatuation comes from for him by some fans, but people need to just forget it. I honestly wish he wasn't on the team so this silly stuff wouldn't exist.

No Infatuation whatsoever. We are thin at the 3 and 4 spot and the kids is right at 6'10 and can actually play. Derek Willis could be born and bred in Mexico for all I care. Remember how UK fans ran off Wiltjer because he couldn't jump high enough or defend well enough to play at Kentucky????

[lilproUK98]

How do we know Derek "can actually play"????

And UK fans ran off Wiltjer??? LMAO

[lilproUK98]

Going back to the original point of the thread:

I wonder how much the Steph Curry phenomenon has changed recruiting?

There's been a lot of talk the last couple of days about Curry and Davidson. Golden State's enormous success behind Curry and Klay Thompson (Washington State) has maybe made guys feel like they don't have to go to Kentucky to be an NBA star.

They don't...

[BobS]

Going back to the original point of the thread:

I wonder how much the Steph Curry phenomenon has changed recruiting?

There's been a lot of talk the last couple of days about Curry and Davidson. Golden State's enormous success behind Curry and Klay Thompson (Washington State) has maybe made guys feel like they don't have to go to Kentucky to be an NBA star.

Really good point. And the answer is they don't have to go here. Other schools have given up fighting the Calipari formula and are embracing it, IMO.

I think the 2016 recruting class will be very telling. We are on a TON of really good players. How many do we land in that class may tell us that Cal and UK is still right there or the bloom is falling off the rose a bit.

[J.Jennings]

How do we know Derek "can actually play"????

And UK fans ran off Wiltjer??? LMAO

If he couldn't play then why did Calipari waste a scholarship on him? Do you think Calipari is in the business of bringing in state kids to keep the natives happy?

[Joneslab]

They don't...

Yes but it's been the surest bet for the better part of six years.

That may be changing, not only because Duke has made it more of a priority to cut into those kinds of players, but also (maybe) because of Curry's and Thompson's situation.

Clearly if you're great you're great. The NBA will find greatness. But there've been a lot of players who've had the "great" label handed to them, but when they got to college they've had it far rougher than anybody expected. Kentucky has traditionally been one place that you could be pretty certain the top-ranked players were going to meet their potential.

When a guy from Davidson wins the MVP and leads his team to a historic season, that tends to get people's attention if they were leaning to someplace like Mississippi State or UNLV.

[JFCats22]

No Infatuation whatsoever. We are thin at the 3 and 4 spot and the kids is right at 6'10 and can actually play. Derek Willis could be born and bred in Mexico for all I care. Remember how UK fans ran off Wiltjer because he couldn't jump high enough or defend well enough to play at Kentucky????

As I have said, I like Willis and hope he shows something. But time and time and time and time and time again you keep saying, "he can play"

How in the hell do you know this? When or where have you seen it? You say he was great in the Bahamas - I give you the stats to show he wasn't. You say he has been good shooting the ball when he has played in games for UK - I give you the stats to show you he hasn't.

No, I don't think he is trash and I don't want him to transfer...I just want you to explain how or why you know "he can play."

[Joneslab]

And Wiltjer and his family laid out exactly why he transferred to Gonzaga. It really wasn't a shock and it was a great decision for him. Had nothing to do with Kentucky fans. I think he was pretty well-liked by UK fans. He was criticized but no more than Alex Poythress, and much less than somebody like Andrew Harrison or even Marquis Teague.

Badly wish we had that guy this year, but without the redshirt year he took to get his body right he wouldn't be the same player. Doubt he would've been able to take that redshirt season if he'd stayed at Kentucky and we wouldn't have had him this coming season anyway.

[J.Jennings]

As I have said, I like Willis and hope he shows something. But time and time and time and time and time again you keep saying, "he can play"

How in the hell do you know this? When or where have you seen it? You say he was great in the Bahamas - I give you the stats to show he wasn't. You say he has been good shooting the ball when he has played in games for UK - I give you the stats to show you he hasn't.

No, I don't think he is trash and I don't want him to transfer...I just want you to explain how or why you know "he can play."

How do you know he can't play???????????? Explain why you think he can't, is he too white?????????? Can he not jump high enough??? Does he not run fast enough for you??? Is he a worst defender than Julius Mays????? Is he dumb and not able to remember plays???? Is he a odd ball because he's 6'10 and can actually handle the ball???

You know about as much as I know in reality. If he was flat out trash then chalk it up on Cal for bringing him to Kentucky in the first place. Cal missed on this one big time!!!!!!!!!!! For all the talk about Cal helping kids change there lives, does that go for everybody of just for the McDonald's All Americans???????? If he's not good enough then Cal should do the kid a favor and politely ask him to move on............

[BobS]

The elephant in the room.....

Wiltjer and Willis are/were the great white hope. And to top it off...Willis is a local kid. I get it. I do. I like the kid myself.
But I like Dom Hawkins just as much and there is no conversation about him. I want them both to do really well. I still go back to the fact that our title teams had a strong KY player contributing. Cooincidence?

This is their year at UK. They can stop all the talk and wondering. This is not going to be one of our more dominant teams and there should be opportunities to excel and win some PT. I want to see Willis and Hawkins in that lineup. I honestly think most UK fans feel the same.

[J.Jennings]

Yes but it's been the surest bet for the better part of six years.

That may be changing, not only because Duke has made it more of a priority to cut into those kinds of players, but also (maybe) because of Curry's and Thompson's situation.

Clearly if you're great you're great. The NBA will find greatness. But there've been a lot of players who've had the "great" label handed to them, but when they got to college they've had it far rougher than anybody expected. Kentucky has traditionally been one place that you could be pretty certain the top-ranked players were going to meet their potential.

When a guy from Davidson wins the MVP and leads his team to a historic season, that tends to get people's attention if they were leaning to someplace like Mississippi State or UNLV.

Or maybe there's a lot more talk of Cal to the NBA than we think????? You never know, NBA coaching rumors are just beginning.........