After the game on Saturday I have been doing some thinking. Something that stood out to me was the glaring fact that the bench players (Jon Hood, Jarrod Polson, Stacey Poole and Eloy Vargas) didn't get into the game as a unit until there was about 1:50 left on the clock even though the game had been decided for some time.
Calipari defended this decision by saying that South Carolina continued to press and with his team's history of blowing leads, he decided to keep his starters on the court. This allowed the starters to A). Figure out how to finish strong and B). Continue a good chemistry into the final stages of the regular season.
As I kept thinking, I came up with a question: Should Hood and Polson both be on the team? Both are Kentucky natives and one was a former Mr. Basketball in Kentucky. But it has become blatantly obvious that neither is the type of athlete that Calipari wants or needs for his system of play.
I do agree that there should be at least one scholarship for a Kentucky born white kid in order to keep the Rednecks happy out in the sticks. (Yes, I know I am crushing part of the fan base and I think it is well deserved). This team has two of this type of player and maybe, just maybe, one of them can come off of the bench and contribute at some point in their career.
Here is the tale of the tape:
Jon Hood:
Birth Place- Madisonville, Ky
High School- North Hopkins
Position- Guard
Height/Weight- 6-7/202
High School Senior Year Stats- 29.4 points, 12.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 3.1 blocked shots
Stats for this current season at UK- 1 point, 0.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists
Heartthrob Index Score- 2
Jarrod Polson:
Birth Place- Nicholasville, Ky
High School- West Jessamine
Position- Guard
Height/Weight-6-2/185
High School Senior Year Stats- 18.2 points, 6.4 assists, 4.-9 rebounds
Stats for this current season at UK- 0.4 points, 0.1 rebounds and 0.0 assists
Heart Throb Index Score- 9.5
With these numbers I guess you would assume that I would choose Jon Hood, right? Wrong. I would rather have Polson. My reasoning is that nobody expected Polson to come in and be a star but Hood was expected to come in and at least contribute in some capacity, mainly in scoring. Thus far Hood has been a disappointment. He is a black hole on defense and barely shoots whenever he gets the ball. And when he does shoot he misses in 9 out 10 times.
While we all cheer when Polson goes in and we all like to yell "Shoooooooottttt!!!" at him so he can score, the general mood is disdain and depression when Hood comes off of the bench. Polson is like a team mascot. Everybody loves him; he's so darn cute; and he gives the crowd and his teammates a lift. And when he comes in UK is usually up by like 1,000.
Hood is supposed to be a guy that comes in and consistantly nail three pointers or give a max effort. Instead he ruguarly comes in, looks confused, turns the ball over and misses a shot or two, only to be yanked by Calipari for blowing a defensive assignment.
I'm not saying Hood should be cut but I find it hard to believe that he does not transfer during his time at UK. He does not fit in Cal's system. He could be a very decent player at another school but UK is not the place for him. His high school stats say that he can play but the competition at the high school level in Kentucky is much different than some of these AAU teams and other academies around the country.
What do you think? Would you rather have Polson or Hood? Or would you rather just keep both of them?
Boogie...I would like to take this time to say, "I told you so" about Hood. I remember you showing me videos of him when he committed, trying to convince me of his greatness, and I told you I was unimpressed, and that he would suck at the college level. Spin away and say you never said those things...but I told you so. :) (As an aside, I didn't know you wrote this until I signed in to comment...It read to me as though it was written by MM, mostly b/c of the homosexual innuendo about the "heartthrob index" and Polson being "so darn cute."
ReplyDeleteI can say the exact same thing about Mike Marra. I've been saying that guy sucks for a loooong time but you were convinced that he was good. He's terrible. He is about as effective as Hood is on defense and he shoots the ball just as well. And don't say that you are relieved or excited when Marra comes in. 99.999% of the Card fans cringe when he gets into a game. At least Cal never hyped Hood as "the purest three point shooter I have ever seen". And who could forget the greatest "I told you so" moment? DeMarcus Smith. I have to admit that I let you off easy in my write up about that.
ReplyDeleteAnd I stand by my comments on Polson. It's not everyday you have mini-Bieber on the team. If you zip over to your favorite website The Card Chronicle, they recently had votes on the cutest Cardinal on the team. Kuric, Siva or Marra. Yes, Mike Marra, possibly the ugliest human being on planet earth, was among their heart throbs.
Maybe you should write a post about kicking Marra off of the team.
I think you should add Stacey Poole Jr. in the mix. I'm wonder what's going on with this guy. He was a highly touted recruit that has seen almost no minutes this season. The only thing I have heard from an big names in media regarding Poole, was from Oscar Combs, as he reported that Poole had trouble remembering plays. He looks like he is the type of athlete that Calipari wants. I just don't understand!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.everythingkentuckyonline.com
The only reason I didn't add Poole into the is because he is the kind of athlete that Cal is looking for, where as Polson and Hood are not.
ReplyDeleteIf he is having trouble remembering plays then that is something that can eventually be corrected. Not having athletic ability is not correctable.
I still have hope for him but I would really like to see him play. I was a bit frustrated that those guys didn't get more clock on Saturday, but Cal knows his team better than you or I ever will.
P.S. I really like your website Sam!
ReplyDeleteYou can say it but that doesn't make it true. I didn't know anything about Marra til he started playing. You were showing me highlight vids of Hood dunking on kids talking about how he was gonna dominate (you had legitimate reasons to be pumped b/c he came in with the stud class of last year). I remember telling you everyone else might be studs, but that Hood would suck. Granted, I'll give you Rick's boneheaded statement on Marra being the best shooter out of h/s he's ever seen...that's funny stuff. The only recruits I can ever remember even being excited about before they came to campus would be Siva and Dieng.
ReplyDeleteI'm not trying to be a jerk, just saying, "I told you so." lol.
And actually, fyi, about D. Smith...apparently he is trying to get out of his LOI and back to the Cards...so we'll see who has the last "I told you so" on that one.
ReplyDeleteFYI" No matter what Smith does at this point I was right. I said he would seek other options and possibly sign with a different team. I was right. End of story.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Marra was concerned, I'm sure as a diehard UofL fan you had no idead about Marra and you were not excited about him at all. Just like I'm sure you weren't excited with Buckles or any of the other recruits you had coming in. In the words of Keyshawn Johnson...Come on Man!