Calipari Done With Platoon System
- Thread starter NYCRedmen
- Start date
basketballjones
Well-known member
I think it's ridiculous of Cal to say last year's deep team and guys "platooning" hurt this year's recruiting. These kids see the roster. They know who's leaving and what positions are open. It's not likely Cal is going to recruit 10 new players that are capable of starting over whomever is coming back. Last year was an anomaly mostly because Stein and the Harrison twins didn't leave as expected.
I think it might have hurt. blue chippers want to play and play a lot. Not all are like Briscoe or the ones he had last year. Although recruits saw who was leaving, they also knew who was staying and who had already committed. What they didn't know was who else might be coming. The number of who else might come this year and the could have turned off some players because it could have had a negative influence on the minutes they might have gotten.
Was it the only reason, no. It was up to the kids and what they wanted and were looking for. Kentucky still got some pretty good recruits.
I don't see how the platoon system hurt potential power forwards, and centers. If they showed even anything in brief playing time, they are going up there in the draft. Heck, Karl Anthony Townes is likely going to be #1 overall, coming out of that platoon, because we all saw his potential, even in short doses.
I do see how incoming guards could be put off by it. Guards generally have to put up good scoring and/or assist numbers before NBA teams even take a look at them, and the Wildcats system prevented that from occurring. I mean, you could project the numbers out over 40 minutes, but some guards wear down, and others get stronger. I don't really recall an NBA guard whose college numbers weren't at least very good.
jumbo_peanuts
Active member
The only reason Calipari did the platoon system was because he was forced to. He had the old problem of having too many good players. I think he was anticipating a few more players leaving, and that never happened. As a result, he ended up with a roster with 10 all Americans on it. What was he going to do, bring in these kids and have them sit on the bench? Not really the best strategy for future recruits. Could he really have told Briscoe that even though he was one of the best players in the country, he might not see the court all that much his freshman year? But now that all of their players left, he can go back to the norm of having 3-4 top freshman every year, and then mixing in some other very good upper classmen.