Florida at Kentucky Game Thread.

[lilproUK98]

When I think about it, at least among the community of fans/followers, there really hasn't been anyone that has overwhelmingly endorsed Skal.

My point being, I also made a comment about this issue of who's ready to play with regards to Skal, and what I realized is that I'm not telling anyone who doesn't know. You know. I know.

So, why did I say it? Because the person that, the entire time, has been the person we've gently stepped around in this assessment has been the ONLY person that we have really been arguing with: John Calipari.

Here's what I think: I think the simple fact is that Skal has been playing because of Cal, and not Skal. I think he talked this guy into coming to this university by selling the fact that this is the stage, and that Cal would put him there. Absolutely agree with his position, because it is part of the allure and why we have success. But, I think he's worked himself to death trying to put on stage a guy who was a highly touted recruit, but is, in fact, a terribly undeveloped player. He slotted him as a starter, hoping he would develop, and he was so bad that he couldn't do it anymore. But, since he has a reputation and probably a degree of a promise to keep, he put him on the bench, said it was his own fault that he pushed so much on the player, and tried to do the one thing he always says he won't do: "Hide" him. Give him enough minutes to at least marginally honor commitments, but try to limit his damage to the team. That was also a failure.
Today, I THINK (I do not know, but I surmise) that Cal's hand was forced because of Alex being out. He was forced to play Humphries, against a good conference foe, and we all saw the truth. And, the truth is ***NOT*** that Humprhies is a NBA player, or a savior. It's that he's a college player that, while he may not necessarily be what causes you to win, he won't, as is simply true of Skal right now, be a huge reason you struggle and/or lose.

Everyone saw it. And, in the postgame, when there was no getting around it, Cal is forced (heck, maybe relieved) to have to concede that Humphries has "earned" PT. Which is a tad strange, since most coaches would refer back to consistency in practices, commitment, or work ethic, and would be unlikely to just change an opinion on readiness to play just because a necessity mandated some positive game time.

Bingo.

I have been pretty critical and vocal about about Humpries (and Wynyard) not getting game action and raising their confidence through "demonstrated performance"....

Ever since Lee started to disappear and become a foul factory... It has been obvious that we needed more depth and we always have needed bulk. Cal is just so stubborn. He does not develop a bench unless they are projected draft picks. You need guys to do the dirty work. That's exactly what Humpries did when he was in. I watched him exclusively and he was only caught out of position twice and also managed to do many good things and make instinctive plays....which is amazing given his lack of game time.

Cal was sort of exposed like you say. When you have two big bulky guys who play with no fear of contact (Wynyard is evn stronger and athletic) you HAVE TO give them a shot when you have two soft as butter stick men out there trying to hold down the paint....especially when it is the most obvious weakness on the team.

Like I said in the Tennessee game thread, Cal was just obsessed with turning Skal into KAT and getting Lee into the league after this season...

It might be a little late for Wynyard this season (but maybe not) but hopefully Humpries continues to be given opportunities to contribute like he did yesterday. Hopefully it wasn't just because Alex was out....

[SCBlu]

.....

.......I have been pretty critical and vocal about about Humpries (and Wynyard) not getting game action and raising their confidence through "demonstrated performance"........

Help me out. I don't have a clue how good/bad Wynyard is right now. Is he better than Humpries?

[Joneslab]

Help me out. I don't have a clue how good/bad Wynyard is right now. Is he better than Humpries?

Believe Wynyard was more about him coming in so late and being out of shape. By the time he got in shape he basically had a month and a half. Would a month and a half of play be worth burning an entire freshman year? I think the staff felt like the answer to that was no.

There is no salvaging this front line. Best-case scenario is we get Good Poythress and a couple of jumpers out of Skal and Lee/Humphries give us just enough to hold the line.

[lilproUK98]

Help me out. I don't have a clue how good/bad Wynyard is right now. Is he better than Humpries?

Very hard to know. Just judging from video of him, he looks to be pretty mobile and athletic, has a good midrange jumper, and is aggressive and plays with emotion and fire. All traits that we are missing on the floor but all you hear is "he is still way behind"....

Baloney....

When people say that they mean way behind in learning where to be on both ends of the floor and learning how to play at this level, etc. That's a well and good but Humpries showed yesterday that you can be a contributor if you just play hard and have size and bulk, good instincts, and a soft touch. We need big bodies and guys that don't wilt when banged on. Wynyard is an aggressive, pretty athletic and big woodchopper for Pete's sake....

At this point, I'm just happy Humpries got a shot...

[Joneslab]

Like I said in the Tennessee game thread, Cal was just obsessed with turning Skal into KAT and getting Lee into the league after this season......

Skal has been yanked out of a ton of games. It's happened again and again and again. We've had games recently, like in the last two and a half weeks, where Skal literally couldn't get off the bench.

The idea that Cal is somehow coddling Skal was thrown out the window very early on...but Cal had to give Skal at least a little leash because of his offensive gifts. You've got a guy who can shoot like he can, that's an amazing thing to have. The trouble, as we all know, is that Skal won't do anything else. Cal has adjusted to that and has played Skal basically spot minutes for the past three months.

As far as getting Lee to the league, the issue with that is that Lee has given us high-level play this year. For the first eight or so games that guy was very good. He's regressed but I think so often we just give up on these players. As a coach you can't give up; if we could see the Lee we saw from the first of the year, think about how much that would help this team. It would completely rearrange the team.

Maybe Humphries is the guy who can fill that void. He definitely deserves a look after yesterday. But I think the idea that Cal is protecting guys to get them to the league is something that UK fans have run out since the John Wall days and it's just flatly incorrect. Cal is a crazy, almost diabolical competitor. Guy wants to win.

This team just has so few pieces. That's what happens when you lose an entire team to the NBA.

[lilproUK98]

Bottom line is, I want guys on the front line that will bang, fight, and give all out effort, BLOCK OUT, and clog the lane, snatch rebounds, block a few shots, and play with fire. Humpries (and I believe Wynyard) do exactly that. I don't care what anyone says.

Skal and Lee are exactly NOT that.

[Joneslab]

Bottom line is, I want guys on the front line that will bang, fight, and give all out effort, BLOCK OUT, and clog the lane, snatch rebounds, block a few shots, and play with fire. Humpries (and I believe Wynyard) do exactly that. I don't care what anyone says.

Skal and Lee are exactly NOT that.

What's the difference between banging and playing above the rim as long as it works? Lee clearly isn't a banger, but somebody tossed out early this season that Marcus Lee might be the best player on the team. That was in the halcyon days of December.

You might not ever get that player again. But you just can't shuffle him to the end of the bench.

I actually thought when he and Skal were in there together yesterday we looked alright. But you have to wildly adjust your expectations at this point. Humphries comes in and grabs six rebounds, scores two baskets and there's jubilation.

That's how mediocre this front line is.

[lilproUK98]

Skal has been yanked out of a ton of games. It's happened again and again and again. We've had games recently, like in the last two and a half weeks, where Skal literally couldn't get off the bench.

The idea that Cal is somehow coddling Skal was thrown out the window very early on...but Cal had to give Skal at least a little leash because of his offensive gifts. You've got a guy who can shoot like he can, that's an amazing thing to have. The trouble, as we all know, is that Skal won't do anything else. Cal has adjusted to that and has played Skal basically spot minutes for the past three months.

As far as getting Lee to the league, the issue with that is that Lee has given us high-level play this year. For the first eight or so games that guy was very good. He's regressed but I think so often we just give up on these players. As a coach you can't give up; if we could see the Lee we saw from the first of the year, think about how much that would help this team. It would completely rearrange the team.

Maybe Humphries is the guy who can fill that void. He definitely deserves a look after yesterday. But I think the idea that Cal is protecting guys to get them to the league is something that UK fans have run out since the John Wall days and it's just flatly incorrect. Cal is a crazy, almost diabolical competitor. Guy wants to win.

This team just has so few pieces. That's what happens when you lose an entire team to the NBA.

I'm just not in the mood to write a long rebuttal right now lol, so I will just say you are most definitely entitled to your opinions on this matter. I just happen to disagree...and its rare for me to disagree with you very much.

[Joneslab]

I'm just not in the mood to write a long rebuttal right now lol, so I will just say you are most definitely entitled to your opinions on this matter. I just happen to disagree...and its rare for me to disagree with you very much.

Well I think the only thing Cal could do at this point would be to put Skal behind Humphries. And maybe Lee behind Humphries.

Because Wilis has taken most of Lee's minutes (when Poythress is healthy) and Skal is averaging like 10 or 12 minutes a game. That's basically Ramon Harris territory.

Humphries definitely deserves a longer look because of yesterday, but when you coddle someone or try to get them to the NBA, you don't play it like Cal has with those two. You run them out there a lot.

Cal hasn't run either of those guys out there a lot. Except for yesterday (Poythress) and when Skal had those couple of decent games, they've played out of what looked like necessity. Willis has done a lot to turn Lee into kind of a stopgap. If Cal were determined to force Lee to the pros the Willis thing would've never happened.

Skal essentially ruined this team by being a bust. Only hope we have is that the guards put in the performance they did yesterday and we get a lot of luck in March.

[lilproUK98]

What's the difference between banging and playing above the rim as long as it works? Lee clearly isn't a banger, but somebody tossed out early this season that Marcus Lee might be the best player on the team. That was in the halcyon days of December.

You might not ever get that player again. But you just can't shuffle him to the end of the bench.

I actually thought when he and Skal were in there together yesterday we looked alright. But you have to wildly adjust your expectations at this point. Humphries comes in and grabs six rebounds, scores two baskets and there's jubilation.

That's how mediocre this front line is.

I'm not saying bury Lee on the bench at all. I'm just advocating for Humpries to play the 15 or so mins he played yesterday. That's probably his max efficiency amount of clock he can contribute right now anyway.

Of the 80 mins to played at the 4 and five, Alex playing 25, Wilis playing 15 (10 more at the 3), Lee playing 15-20, and Skal and Humpries playing about 10-15 each seems about ideal.

[lilproUK98]

Well I think the only thing Cal could do at this point would be to put Skal behind Humphries. And maybe Lee behind Humphries.

Because Wilis has taken most of Lee's minutes (when Poythress is healthy) and Skal is averaging like 10 or 12 minutes a game. That's basically Ramon Harris territory.

Humphries definitely deserves a longer look because of yesterday, but when you coddle someone or try to get them to the NBA, you don't play it like Cal has with those two. You run them out there a lot.

Cal hasn't run either of those guys out there a lot. Except for yesterday (Poythress) and when Skal had those couple of decent games, they've played out of what looked like necessity. Willis has done a lot to turn Lee into kind of a stopgap. If Cal were determined to force Lee to the pros the Willis thing would've never happened.

Skal essentially ruined this team by being a bust. Only hope we have is that the guards put in the performance they did yesterday and we get a lot of luck in March.

Yes. I will say that, no matter what we have or don't have down low, we still have Ulis and Murray (and Briscoe too). IF they play their best, we can beat anyone.

[Westtncat]

Not to be a party pooper but I still need to see a win on the road in a hostile environment. The one hope I have for this team is that most of the time our problem has been mental and not just a lack of talent. If these guys can focus the trophy is up for grabs this year.

[Matt Dillon]

I agree with you about wanting to see a road win in a hostile environment. Still, it'll take more than that to get me to thinking we're in the mix for a NC.

[Joneslab]

Not to be a party pooper but I still need to see a win on the road in a hostile environment.

You and me both. But not sure they're going to get one. Florida maybe. They should beat Vandy but if Vandy shoots the ball then we'll get beat there.

Where the need to have that good, solid big man shows up is on the road. That Kentucky is unbalanced and is mediocre defensively is one of the main reasons they've been a hapless road team for the most part.

The only silver lining in that is that the NCAA Tournament isn't played on the road.

[justford]

If he keeps improving, Willis will have a better chance of being in the NBA than Lee will.