Sorry Will, Didn't mean to be captain obvious there. What I meant, IMO if Skal were putting up below average numbers I believe Cal would go with him over another player on the bench who could put up similar numbers because of Skals high school ranking. I could be wrong about this but I believe Cal is very loyal to those who will be , or possibly be successful in the NBA. There is no way to prove what I am saying its just something I have felt for a long time. Cal will play a guy who might go to the NBA over a good college player right now. I think most of the time it works out correctly and the future NBA guy is also the best college player at the moment but I do feel on occasion he is too loyal to this train of thought. Even this year I feel like he played Skal too much because he felt the guy just has to be good. Humprhies could have put up similar or better numbers all along. If he cant, we are in trouble.
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Skal is putting up below average numbers and he lost his starting spot is playing like 10 minutes a game.
If he were just putting up average numbers then Cal would have to play him. The reason is that you would hope that he could improve on that and, with his potential, be a guy who could start to really blow up once February and March came along. You absolutely have to play 7-footers with shooting touch and the kind of athleticism Skal has at least a little bit if the guy were doing anything to help you.
But at this point he's hurting us and isn't even performing at an average clip.Comment
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If Skal does bomb out. Cal will have rival coaches trying to use it against us in recruiting..
I have no doubt he knows it would hurt recruiting...Comment
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The problem is that there are too many positives that they outweigh the guys like Skal (and Archie, and Poythress, and the Harrisons).
Not sure it will matter one way or another to Cal anyway. I tend to think he only has a year left in him at UK, and he already has his mega-class for next season.Comment
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Just a hunch. I think next year's class may be the best we've seen in some time. Cal worked ferociously hard to get those guys. He's going to have a couple off this team return. He's always talked about being a short-timer (relatively) at UK. I just think the time for him here is running short.Comment
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I can't really agree with this because you can look at every big name program and name multiple players that were touted as studs coming out of high school that ended up being average or less players. It's impossible for a coach to never miss when evaluating these young kids. It's hard to know for sure how they will perform against 20 year old men when all you see them up against is mediocre high school teams and AAU run and gun ball.Comment
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Really don't see the platoon system resurfacing no matter how loaded we are in the future. Cal always claimed he doesn't promise recruits anything and last year's platooning went against that claim. But--I think in the future he'll play the best 8 or 9 even if it means a 5 star recruit rides the pine. You still recruit with the "don't come here if you don't like the competition" approach. Plus the 5 star bigs will still go to the draft even without college playing time (ala Orton). I think Cal is still learning from experience every season. Just my feeling.Comment
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What do you think he does? I don't think he leaves us for another college team and I honestly don't see him going back to the NBA. I have a hard time feeling like Cal will retire here, but I don't see any other option that he would take. It will be tough to beat the Cleveland deal. I am sure the Suns will make a run at him as it seems Hornacek is about to be gone, but I don't think he leaves after this year. I think Cal realizes he isn't a good fit in the NBA. He is a motivator and developer. There's none of that in the NBA where players would make more than him. I honestly believe he wants to catch UCLA and I think deep down he wants that 40-0. Didn't he also say he wants half of the all-star game? He might be able to make a run at 40-0 next season depending on who returns. And I know that is crazy to say.Comment
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I think his lack of experience gives him a look of confusion and being lost. I don't think at all he is lazy or doesn't care. I think he just needs more TIME. I know that when I'm focusing on something, people read me wrong all the time. He has so little experience in this game and shows flashes of what he can be on offense, but there's obviously alot more about this game than that. His face has started to look worse after everyone has been butchering him in the fan base and the media But not in the peeved off way. We and the press have taken the bounce out of Tigger.
Skal probably needs more than two years at UK to be the best version of himself. But our never ending criticism isn't helping the young man.Comment
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Like I have said several times on here: it is hard for me to phantom that so many so called experts missed on this kid this bad. I don't recall a player hyped as much as Skal performing this poorly. Maybe time is the long-term answer and I am not sure there is a quick fix.Comment
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Skal's whole situation is exceedingly rare.
It isn't like he was playing on the AAU circuit for years and they missed on him. This is a Haitian who was thrown into a weird environment with a guardian who may've seen some issues and tried to hide him.
People crack on the AAU circuit all the time. And for the most part they're right. But what playing that many games can do is that it can get you up there against the best of the best. Skal didn't have a lot of that.Comment
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