[outdoorsman43]

Anyone who knows me knows I am not a big fan of Coach Cal. I could not stand him for his "Teflon Don" image and even though charges could never stick, the image he portrayed before arriving at UK just sickened me. Now that he is at UK, my gut still does not like him, but just like the President that I did not vote for, I have to wish him the best, because if I wish him the worst, then it hurts "My Team".

That said, Cal has never been a fan of the Post up Center, or the Camped out perimeter shooter. His teams are athletic and can play end to end basketball. The closest we will get to a perimeter player is someone of the ilk of Darnell Dodson. Someone who can shoot from the outside, but also play defense and perform in the dribble drive. There are not too many players that will shoot 45%+ from the arc but also be athletic enough to play in the style that Cal plays. Thus, I don't think we will ever see a Scheyer of dUKe, Acker of Marquette, Canaan of Murray St. Fredette of BYU, but I am OK with that. I think we can win with a Dodson or Miller type of player if we can get a player to consistently hit 30% of their threes. Our problem this year was that Miller, Dodson and Bledsoe could all go 8-10 in one game and 1-10 in the next three. That is not going to make you successful. I'll take the 30% guy from the arc if he can shoot 30% consistently.

Cal does not need to change his style of play or recruit a different type of athlete than what he has been successful with, he just needs to find the one guy each year that can play his style of basketball but shoot a consistent enough % to keep the other team honest. In fairness to Cal, Dodson was supposed to do that. Miller was given the chance to start, not because of his defense, but because of his ability to shoot the three. Neither gave the team what we hoped for. Bledsoe was a pleasant surprise at times behind the arc, and if he sticks around next year, may well be able to improve upon his consistency.

I agree with all of this.

Some may not like Coach Cal and the way he carries himself, but the man can coach. And the man can recruit. I don't care who you're playing, five straight 30+ win seasons sounds like a pretty good mark to me.

But to get to the recruiting of consistent shooters, players like Bledsoe, Dodson, and Miller would hit 4-5 from beyond the arc one game (usually the same game) and go 1-6 the next couple of games. Their percentages were in the 30's because they would be red hot one out of every five games. You can't have that.

Still, like you SD, I like the players Cal recruits. They are more athletic than anyone in the country and are best suited for the dribble-drive offense. Long wing men like Darius Miller, DeAndre Liggins, and Darnell Dodson are perfect. Some of the kids he is/has recruiting for the upcoming classes (C.J. Leslie, Mike Gilchrist, Doron Lamb, Stacey Poole, etc.) are prime examples as well. Cal knows what he wants and is very good at finding out who fits the system best. A lot of players want to play the way UK plays because of the freedom in the offense. It is very appealing. That's a big reason why the Wildcats have got/are getting these big named recruits. It's only going to continue. Cal, Antigua, and the rest of the coaching staff just have to find some guys that can consistently shoot as well. There are some out there and Cal will discover and pursue them.