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UK Basketball 2015/16 - re-loaded (1 Viewer)

S

Sinn Fein

Footballguy
Well, its about that time of year again.

1st team practice was this weekend - coaches get 2 hours per week.

Here is a good write-up of the practice.

Team is not quite as deep as last year, but despite a "slow" recruiting year last season, it picked up over the summer - with the additions of Murray and Humphries.

Roster
Tyler Ulis - 5'9" sophomore point guard, small in stature, big on the court

Isaiah Briscoe - 6'3" freshman guard - "It appears Coach Cal wants Isaiah Briscoe to be a shooter and driver"

Jamal Murray - 6'4" freshman guard - coming off a big summer with Team Canada

Alex Poythress - 6'8' Senior forward - coming off the injury, expected to be full speed by the time the season starts

Skal Labisierre - 6'11" Freshman forward - still have not seen anything official on his eligibility - but I presume he will play at this point - shot blocker

Marcus Lee - 6'9" Junior forward

Mychal Mulder - 6'4" Junior guard - 46% 3-point shooter as a JUCO.

Charles Matthews - 6'6" Freshman guard/swingman

Isaac Humphries - 7'0" Freshman forward

 
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Updates from 2nd week:

Charles Matthews has been the forgotten man in the recruiting class, but his skill and athleticism continues to wow his coaches and teammates. John Calipari wants him as a finisher around the rim, but Matthews is showcasing a nice little jump shot to compliment his game. The buzz around this kid continues to grow.

Marcus Lee has been a vocal leader at practice, encouraging his teammates and letting them know where to be during practice. I am happy to see Lee take this role. I would love to see this kind of leadership transfer to his play as well.

Apparently Mychal Mulder has the green light to shoot whenever he is open. That's a great sign that he is as good of a shooter as advertised.

Jamal Murray is still learning, but he's doing it at a fast clip. Calipari wants him to see all of his options before making a final decision with the ball. His court vision is there but he needs to hone it.

Cal wants the team throwing lobs to Skal Labisierre, Marcus Lee, and Alex Poythress. They are three of the most athletic big men in the country and he wants his guards to use them appropriately. He focused an entire drill session on lobbing the ball correctly.

Like the previous report, it points out that Tyler Ulis is another coach on the floor and Cal is treating him as such. He is sharpening his point guard's mind in anticipation of letting him run the team during the season. Ulis continues to make "Wow" plays at practice.

Alex Poythress participated in all of the five on five drills on Saturday. Really great news.

Briscoe and Humphries are works in progress. Cal wants Briscoe to shoot the ball more, continuing his transition into more of a shooting guard role. Humphries has a ton to learn but his jump shot is a nice weapon for a seven footer to have.

 
Non-conference schedule includes a few marquee match-ups:

Nov. 17 v. Duke in Chicago

Dec. 3 @UCLA

Dec. 19 v. Ohio State in Brooklyn

Dec. 26 v. Louisville

Jan. 30 @ Kansas - rare non-conference tilt in middle of conference schedule

 
Someone I actually know committed to UK for next year (Wenyan Gabriel). My son plays for the same local organization and has the same coach. I'm guessing notamy people know many five star recruits that go to Kentucky.

 
Sinn Fein said:
Non-conference schedule includes a few marquee match-ups:

Nov. 17 v. Duke in Chicago

Dec. 3 @UCLA

Dec. 19 v. Ohio State in Brooklyn

Dec. 26 v. Louisville

Jan. 30 @ Kansas - rare non-conference tilt in middle of conference schedule
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Well done, UK. The sport is so much better when intersectional powers challenge each other. Rock Chalk will do its part to make that visit to Lawrence as inhospitable as possible.

Going to skip that one, but mainly because I'd rather put that money towards finally making a trip to Lexington and go to a game at Rupp. Never been to a game there, and KU's return visit on that home-and-home in January 2017 seems perfect to finally see one of CBB's great cathedrals in person.

 
I missed it, but UK held its second annual scouting combine/ESPN promo show a couple of weekends ago.

The primary talking points:

> Ulis will be the leader of the team

> Labissiere is still not cleared by NCAA

> Murray has looked good

> Poythress still coming back from injury

> Humphries is Jorts II, may get even more minutes if Labissiere

The bottom line: ESPNU signed off with some big-picture analysis of the Cats, who have six new players and lost seven from last season's 38-1 team. Williams believes there's Final Four – but maybe not national title – potential for UK. "They have a chance to really grow into something special," adding that Ulis and Murray are most important and Poythress and Lee are the X-factors. "It looks like a team that has new pieces," Greenberg said. "It looks like a team that only has had six practices. But this team has unbelievable potential, because … the game starts with guards," and UK has great ones.
Click to expand...
 
WampusCat43 said:
Blue-White tomorrow night!
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I watched a little bit of the 1st half.

Its going to be an interesting year. Definitely a talented group, and maybe a bit deeper than expected, but its also a young group, and it will be a guard-oriented team. Skal Labissiere will be a top pick in the NBA draft, but I did not get the sense of dominance like a Anthony Davis, or Karl Anthony-Town (or Cousins, or Noel, etc.)

Ulis is going to have a good year. They look like they will bring back the Dribble-Drive, but like Cal's first year at UK, that may put some pressure on the outside shooting - which was not great last night.

Hard to tell what the starting line-up will be - If I had to guess I'd say maybe Ulis, Murray, Briscoe, Poythress, and Labissiere (that line-up started the 2nd half, and was promptly outscored 8-0), with Lee, Mathews and Mulder in the rotation.

Good game from Derek Willis, but I think Cal goes with a short bench this year, and I don't know where Willis will get his minutes.

FTs were horrific - <50% as a team, defense was non-existent - so hard to judge where they are until they start playing games.

Shot-Clock is down to 30 seconds, and there were a few violations.

 
1st pre-season game was last night, and I had other commitments so I did not watch...

UK beat Ottawa (from Kansas of course) 117-58 - link to boxscore

Jamal Murray finished 1 assist short of a triple-double - only 1 in UK's storied history...

Ulis was the court-general everyone expected - 10 assists, no turnovers.

Overall - a guard-dominated performance - shooting over 50% from 3 (but shooting only 50% at the FT line)

From a consistency perspective, I would rather have seen Labissiere, Lee and Poythress fill the stat sheet from the inside. Labissiere finished with 18 points, but only 5 rebounds, 2 blocks.

 
Took my daughter (7yo) to the game last night...her first Rupp experience. She loved every minute of it.

Skal looked fantastic. Best touch I've seen on a freshman big in a long time, maybe ever. Murray struggled with his shot, but made EVERYTHING in warm-ups. I think i jinxed him by texting that to a friend before the game started.

 
Big games tonight in Chicago - too bad they are so early in the season. UK v. Duke and KU v. MSU

UK has been a mixed bag in both games so far - I think that will be the story all season. The good news is they have so many weapons and ways to score that they can switch gears if something isn't working, the bad news is that inconsistency will make it harder to gel as a team.

 
TLEF316 said:
Congrats on landing bam. Can't believe state blew that one
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Pleasant surprise.

Next year's team could be interesting - won't be as talented as last year's team, but it will have a lot of experience. Both in-state guys, Willis and Hawkins will be seniors - and while neither are world-beaters, both have a chance to contribute - Hawkins has in the past, and all indications are that Willis has finally put in the work this off-season.

Humphries is a project, but he should be in the mix for the Jorts role next year. Tai Wynard is another project from (next-door to) down under - he officially signed this week also, and will join the team in January - probably red-shirting this season - but it will be good experience leading into next year.

Labisierre, Murray, and Poythress are certain to leave from this years team, It would not surprise me to see Lee and Ulis join them - Briscoe is another that will be on the fence. If the later 3 come back, its going to make minutes tough to find again.

 
I mean, seriously. Last year was supposed to be Cal's worst class at UK, and it was ranked 2nd, and just spanked the "top-rated" class.

But, as you noted, now that Duke is recruiting one-and-dones, it's now a legit recruiting strategy, and no longer just gaming the system...

 
I just don't understand why Poythress and Lee aren't just constantly flashing towards the basket for Ulis to feed them easy lobs. Instead, the worst possible thing happened, and Poythress hit a 3 , causing him to blow 3-4 possession pretending he is the next coming of Steph Curry.

And Skal, while it is promising that they've found his best spot in the offensive flow, is allergic to rebounds.

We were totally spoiled by last year's smorgasbord of talent, but this team is still a long ways from the abomination of the Archie Goodwin/Nerlens mess from a few years back, or the coach who shall not be named.

 
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