Thanks for the clarification. If only I didn’t touch on that in my last post. Wasn’t just Dok who got schooled in that game.
Udoka Azabuike / Reid Travis
- Thread starter ThroughBlue
- Start date
Does Kentucky (or anyone else this year) have 5 starters that can rain threes? If an opponent does have a big who consistently sinks the three, Lawson will guard him.
The frontcourt will be tough to stop, period. Double team Udoka and a potential All American will tear you up. Double Lawson and it's dunk city for Udoka.
Another factor that most don't consider is that Azubuike was clearly coached to play soft last year due to lack of depth, leading to far fewer blocks than he's capable of, fewer rebounds and many relatively uncontested scores. That won't be the case this year.
Right on - haven’t watched him much but for some reason I didn’t think he appeared explosive. Now, Reid - dude is strong an ox and really knows how to block out but he makes Demarcus Cousins looks Anthony Davis when it comes to getting off the ground.
Green is much better than decent as a shooter. He’s a very good shooter. Quickley is known as a good shooter as well (and backed it up during the Bahamas trip). For once UK will actually be a threat from three from at least four different players (Johnson would be considered decent)
The UK Vs KU game should be epic, Richards wasn’t mentioned, and rightfully so before the Bahamas trip based on last season, but he has taken that freshman to soon step and has actually earned that starting spot at center. There aren’t two other teams that won’t have much of any drop off from player 1-9
The UK Vs KU game should be epic, Richards wasn’t mentioned, and rightfully so before the Bahamas trip based on last season, but he has taken that freshman to soon step and has actually earned that starting spot at center. There aren’t two other teams that won’t have much of any drop off from player 1-9
In the last game Washington hit 2-2 and Travis 2-3 threes. 6 different players hit 3's.....
They might have better shooting than usual, but I don't think they'll be feared in that dept. We'll see.
People need to pump the brakes a little regarding the Bahamas. Last year's roster would've rolled those teams too.
I don't think so. This team has a lot more energy and confidence. More and deeper talent. This team would roll last year's team.
Its also a great sign to win the games you are supposed to. Extra games always help. Were any of them close?
Did you copy and paste this 9 years ago? I swear it sure seems like this is posted every August.
Ah rocky, I feel bad for you. All you got now is failed attempts at demeaning our basketball team and fans.
You want to place an early bet for UK vs UoL?
Their consensus has been wrong six straight years. The last three were gonna be elite, 2015 would roll to a title, 14 was going 40-0, '13 was going to be a high seed in the tourney. But every year we're supposed to believe they're onto something.
Maybe they'll be really good, or just one in a fairly large group of final four contenders. But we sure as hell won't get any objectivity out of that camp.
Maybe it wouldn't be as annoying if they didn't nitpick and downplay everybody else's talent at the same time.
That isn't true. Most UK fans knew we wouldn't be that good last year. It's not really even close on paper.
That doesn’t mean that they didn’t easily have the talent and athleticism over the Bahama teams.
Bologna. All we heard last year when you all started heating up late February and into the SECT was to “watch out”
It’s the same hype every year Bling..
Exactly. Those posts were everywhere.
And they sure as hell weren't low on their preseason top 4 team at this time last year.
Actually it's fairly close on paper. You added Reid Travis to a group with similar experience and rankings. And personally I think Travis is way overhyped and somewhat inefficient.
Reid Travis is a first team all PAC-12 performer. He's a proven commodity. Last year, we were dependent freshmen PJ Washington and Nick Richards to anchor the front court. Richards was extremely raw (and already showed to be much improved) and PJ was good but not AS good as we needed to be an elite contender. Now, each of them have a year of training to complement Travis AND we add 6'10 EJ Montgomery. Clear advantage: 2019.
At PG, Quade Green has another year under his belt AND we add Quickley & Hagans to handle PG duty. Last year, with Quade Out, we needed Gilgeous-Alexander to play PG, which then created problems due to Hamidou Diallo lacking shooting ability. This year, we can play 3 deep at PG, with both Quickley and Hagans able to play SG. That's on top of Tyler Herro, who can flat out shoot and score the ball (and who will definitely do that this year). We've gone from Green, SGA, Hamidou Diallo to: Green, Quickley, Hagans, Herro and Jemarl Barker (who was injured last season).
On paper, if anything, SF would be the closest thing to a downgrade. I loved Knox's game, but Keldon Johnson is legit. Would be unfair to think he'll be as good as Knox, but is possible.
You can only play 5 players on the court at once. SGA was a stud last year so barring unforeseen development, you're getting a downgrade in the PG department with Hagans and Quickley even if Quade has improved a bit.
UK will probably be a better shooting team this year but their defense is suspect at nearly every position. Travis is a mediocre defender at best and Richards has the potential to be a good post defender but he's a liability on offense.
The team they are playing sucks...but just saying...
Also, you're talking about Richards, Green and Washington like they are the same players as last year. Should see a big difference. Can be skeptical of that -- that's fair. But generally the most improvement you see from players comes between freshman and sophomore years. So, what's not fair is making the assumption that they will only be as good as last year.
Why Herro is important is that he can score, meaning he can replace much of Gilgeous-Alexander's production. But with a more reliable frontcourt, we have more scoring options in the post. He won't need to do as much as Alexander
Better rebounding team. Better offensive post team. Better defensive post team. Better PG play. Better shooters. Better depth. Defending - eh, too soon to say. But to say it's just like last year is 100% false.
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Didn't you hear? Richards dropped a few baby hooks over a couple midgets in the Bahamas. He has clearly morphed into Tim Duncan.
In seriousness, yes, the frontcourt is almost certain to be better. Backcourt could be weaker. Expecting any of the guards to duplicate what SGA did is probably unrealistic. And he even admitted that Johnson probably won't measure up to Knox.
Most of the folks I heard were talking about the Sweet 16 as a ceiling. Once the bracket opened up, then expectations changed.
Laughable.
But there's so damn many of you, you can find a post or two to back up any claim.
So much dumb spewing from you throughout this whole friggin' thread. 42 pts and 40 rebounds in 4 games is somehow "somewhat overhyped and inefficient"? You're climbing the DUMB-O-METER and giving Rockycard a run for his money. The dude averaged 19 and 9 last year at Stanford.
It's ok to hate on UK....I get it, they ripped your heart out in 2012. To carry this anti-UK bias in everything you post is another matter. Get over it, dude. At least your squad got to the title game that year whereas in others, little schools like Bradley, VCU, and Northern Iowa derailed your highly-seeded jayhawks from contention.
Ha...right, I'm still upset over a game that occurred over 6 years ago that I didn't expect my team to win. That has to be it. It couldn't just be the fact (which everyone but you guys acknowledges) that we hear the same hype year after year. It's damn near interchangeable.
As for Travis...do you know what efficiency is? Apparently not, because citing his point total doesn't help your case. His career FG% is 54 and last year it was under 53%.
Oh, by the way, in the four games you mentioned, he shot 34%. Oops.
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Honestly, you're an idiot. UK won all four games by an average of 29 points. They were 4 blowouts where games got sloppy (even though UK didn't turn the ball over much). 10 and 10 per game in AUGUST....that'll do just fine. It'll only get better.
19 and 9 (which you continue to ignore), are pretty stout numbers. ANYONE would take that.
As far as annual hyping goes, if you think we don't hear plenty of it from the fans of fictitious birds.....you're sadly mistaken.
Well, we know one thing, Kansas is.never overhyped. Still waiting for that first flameout. Maybe those lardasses, y'all call a front court, can keep up.
No one has said he isn't an asset or a solid player to have on the roster. The statement that twisted your panties in a knot was that he's "somewhat inefficient" and overhyped.
For a frontcourt player who does most of his scoring inside, he hasn't been overly efficient. And he was horribly inefficient in the games you highlighted to show how great he is. Sorry, junior. It is what it is.
This is what basketball has come to folks. Can’t have 6-8 to 7’+ that are 230-250+ down low without getting called “fat.” Game just keeps shying away from big physical bodies down low who have quick feet and post up to 7 footers who love the 3 ball.
It's not unrealistic at all to think a freshman can measure up to Shai Gilgeous Alexander. That's exactly what they said about Deaaron Fox...and Tyler Ulis...and...Brandon Knight...and John Wall...and Eric Bledsoe...and the list could add 5 more players....
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