When was the last time Cal developed an player? | Page 3 | The Boneyard

When was the last time Cal developed an player?

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partyATkemba said:
As bad as Calipari is at in-game coaching, you can't argue his development of his players, especially for his freshman. The learning curve in college basketball is tremendous (see Rudy Gay, Andre Drummond). Towns turned into an absolute stud, from just an athletic big in the beginning of the year
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When was Gay ever not great?
 
We'll never know if he can develop players because they are not there long enough.
 
CallMeBruce said:
When was Gay ever not great?
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I could be in the minority here, but I don't think he lived up to the hype his Freshman year. He stayed to develop, and that was a great decision.

Remember, Drummond is our only one and done so we aren't used to the short development phase. Who was our last big man that was dominant his freshman year? Not Oriakhi, Thabeet, Armstrong, or Okafor. Those guys all grew hands, strength, post moves over the course of their respective careers in college.
 
partyATkemba said:
I could be in the minority here, but I don't think he lived up to the hype his Freshman year. He stayed to develop, and that was a great decision.

Remember, Drummond is our only one and done so we aren't used to the short development phase. Who was our last big man that was dominant his freshman year? Not Oriakhi, Thabeet, Armstrong, or Okafor. Those guys all grew hands, strength, post moves over the course of their respective careers in college.
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What did you expect from freshman Rudy? He was extremely effective right out of the gate, and was able to steal a starting job from an established veteran.
 
UConnSwag11 said:
You take the best players you can but you do also need those 3-4 year players. He gets the best players and the media and recruits thinks he's good at X's and os as well as a developer. I only brought it up because I really didn't know
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No. My selfishness stems from wanting the best players to stay all four years. At the end of the day, all I really want is to be entertained. I feel that the college game far more entertaining than the NBA and UConn is my favorite program (and Alma Mater).

I want the best players to play for my favorite team for as long as they are allowed. Realistically, that is not going to happen. So if a great player is only going to contribute for two years, I don't think it matters if those years are while he is a Freshman/Sophomore or Junior/Senior, while sitting on the bench his first two years. (a la Frank Kaminsky).
 
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We've ventured off course. Someone give me a guy or two that went from ok/good to first round lottery
 
UConnSwag11 said:
We've ventured off course. Someone give me a guy or two that went from ok/good to first round lottery
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Cauley-Stein. He was a raw 7-footer with no elite skills when he got to UK, and he'll go in the lottery as a hybrid version of Robin Lopez/Birdman Andersen, a destructive defensive force who blows up pick'n'rolls, protects the rim, is only ok on the boards, and gets what few points he can muster on lobs & put-backs.

Most kids who play for Cal don't appreciably improve, but it's disingenuous to say that WCS hasn't. He's not an all-star at the next level, but on the right team - even a good team - he can definitely be a difference maker.
 
UConnSwag11 said:
We've ventured off course. Someone give me a guy or two that went from ok/good to first round lottery
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What do you mean by, "ok?" Like T-SAM? When would a guy like that ever see time on any of these Kentucky rosters.
 
yea i mean its a loaded question. all the guys he brings in are better than ok/good to begin with. patrick patterson is a guy who played two years under gillepsie and was quoted as saying he came back for a 3rd year with calipari because he wanted to develop into a more complete player and knockdown shooter. he did, and its the reason hes in the NBA now as a stretch 4
 
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msgordon said:
yea i mean its a loaded question. all the guys he brings in are better than ok/good to begin with
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It is, but more of the guys he's brought in - the twins, Poythress, Johnson, etc - see their stock slip than see it improve. Those guys were all supposed to be lottery picks, but of the four, only Johnson looks like a borderline first rounder at this point.
 
CallMeBruce said:
Isn't this the exact opposite of the argument you were just making?
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I meant just the opposite sorry. I meant to say can you really tell me Facey and Nolan HAVEN'T gotten any better since their freshman years?
 
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JimOllie said:
I meant just the opposite sorry. I meant to say can you really tell me Facey and Nolan HAVEN'T gotten any better since their freshman years?
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I can absolutely say that Nolan has not improved. This was his worst season by any measure.
 
It is laugh out loud funny that someone on here is bringing up Nolan and Facey to prove the point that UConn develops players and Calipari doesn't.
 
Cauley-Stein is a great athlete for his size. But he has not developed any offense since he's been there.
The Harrison's were top-5 recruits. Now they are 2nd round picks.

Yes, they played unselfishly. But they only cracked 70 points twice in the tournament.
 
huskyblooz said:
Cauley-Stein is a great athlete for his size. But he has not developed any offense since he's been there.
The Harrison's were top-5 recruits. Now they are 2nd round picks.

Yes, they played unselfishly. But they only cracked 70 points twice in the tournament.
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The Harrisons were top-5 recruits until everyone saw them in live college competition. I would argue that they were always 2nd round talents that would have been lottery busts. And both will probably stick at the end of an NBA bench somewhere.
 
huskyblooz said:
Cauley-Stein is a great athlete for his size. But he has not developed any offense since he's been there.
The Harrison's were top-5 recruits. Now they are 2nd round picks.

Yes, they played unselfishly. But they only cracked 70 points twice in the tournament.
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This is what I'm trying to say but nobody wants to listen. Cauley-Stein has not developed any offense through his three years at Kentucky and the NBA these days is such a scoring league. It will be difficult for anyone who can't score to make it in the league today. Do you see any successful PF/C in the NBA today who can't score? No.
 
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JimOllie said:
Do you see any successful PF/C in the NBA today who can't score? No.
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Depends upon your definition of "success." As I mentioned, WCS is a Birdman Andersen-type, and without Birdman LeBron still has zero titles.
 
Matrim55 said:
Depends upon your definition of "success." As I mentioned, WCS is a Birdman Andersen-type, and without Birdman LeBron still has zero titles.
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How did Andersen help the Heat win the 2012 title?
 
JimOllie said:
Can you honestly tell me Facey and Nolan have gotten ANY better since their freshman years?
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Nolan obviously has some mental issues going on. He progressed and then regressed. That is on him and not the coaches. There's some underlying things going on that we don't know about. Facey can't put on weight. Hes only been playing basketball for 5-6 years and so hasn't developed a skill set for the 3 and simply isnt heavy and strong enough to play the 4. If facey suddenly added 20 pounds of muscle, then he could average a double double. He has shown the rebounding potential and flashes of what he can do offensivey. He needs to get bigger to get consistent playing time. There's not much the basketball staff can do about that.
 
Sportsman5 said:
Nolan obviously has some mental issues going on. There's some underlying things going on that we don't know about.
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Gosh, such certainty! In no way do I doubt your credentials to be evaluating individuals' mental health. </s>
 
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They had some white center during their 2011 run that was not very talented or highly touted so i would say he was developed
 
I'm no Kentucky fan, and agree that Cal gets out coached on a regular basis. And it's tough to guage his development of Players. But, he's had about as many McDonald's All-Americans as coach K, yet far better NBA success, at least at the star level in my opinion. cousins, Rose, Wall, Camby - plenty of busts too, but K has had over 40 McDonald's AA's with a handful of stars like Hill and Brand, but his guys don't develop for an NBA game very successfully.
 
CTBasketball said:
Definitly not Poythress, went from a lottery pick to an afterthought.
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Lefty2one said:
I wonder if Lee and Dakahri Johnson regret going to UK. Lee would be an animal playing 32+ minutes per game at any other blueblood program in America.
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This needs to be said (but the talking heads wouldn't dare say something that would damage Calipari's recruiting). These kids are sold a bill of goods that they get a ton of attention and hype, play as part of talented enough group of players that they'll always look good and when they decide it's time to enter the draft, they'll be lottery picks. The truth is that the three names above would have been better served if they took a year off from basketball and then entered the draft as they may never sniff the contract they would have gotten if they didn't go to Kentucky.
 
UofCT2009 said:
Will Cauley Stein
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So a tall, athletic kid who always hustled on defense but had no discernible skills when he came out of high school hits the draft three years later as a tall, athletic kid who always hustles on defense but has no discernible skills and this is evidence that Calipari develops talent?
 
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