Sims Vs Crawford

[T75]

With our brilliant array of guards, I'm thinking that Joe Crawford will see time at the small forward position. He is a big 6' 4" and strong. Crawford is a much better outside shot than Sims (or so it seems from what I read) and he's been around Tubby's system for a year. I see Joe being our starter on the wing, playing a role very similar to Azubuike's, with Sims never making it into the starting line-up.

Tubby's options at the 4 are not nearlyso good as they are at the 3 where he can use Perry, Crawford, Sims, Moss. So somebody, possibly Sims, will have to help there. If Thomas is our best PF, then that may be the only weakness on an otherwise very strong team. Wouldn't it be great if Woo would come on strong and then Morris could play the 4 rather than the 5? Or possibly Woo could play PF for some periods of time? I'm believing that Morris has learned some valuable lessons and will be a different Cat next year---eager and hungry.

Actually, after the Antwain Barbour fiasco, I'm surprised that Tubby would go for another player with similar credentials and skills as a JUCO.

[Will Lavender]

I agree that Crawford will start on the wing. Tubby loves height, and Sims is pretty big (6'8" or 6'9"?) so I think he'll be playing on the block so as to not waste his length.

And I agree that the PF will be our weak link. Sheray, who I think will be the starter there, has to not only get his body back, but he has to improve his post skills and his passing skills (because you know the high-low's gonna be run with our 7 footers). I think Woo will play a little 4, because Tubby's already talked about it during the off-season. But I don't believe that Morris will play there; I think his quickness is a big question mark, as is his rebounding acumen. It's tough to rebound consistently from the 4 spot unless you've got a big-time hunger, and Morris doesn't have that.

And I don't think you stay away from JUCO players just because you've had one bad experience. That's like saying a team shouldn't take transfers because they had a dud transfer once in the past. Every player is his own man.

Two things about Barbour that worked against him:

1) Barbour was a Kentucky boy, and that opened up a whole new level of pressure.
2) Barbour broke his hand early in his career, and that set him back quite a ways. Then he had the suspension his senior year, and that set him back.

Barbour let the pressure of being a former Kentucky Sweet Sixteen star dictate what he did on the court. He just never did get into the game mentally. When he did just play the game and not worry about trying to do too much, he played well. I don't think Sims, a player who comes from across the country, is going to have to face the same sort of pressure that Antwain Barbour faced.

[Buddah]

Barbour was just in the wrong system for his talents, yes i mean he is a runner and so forth.... He almost went into the NBA draft right out of JC, so the kid didn't fall that quickly from possible NBA lottery pick to an also ran. If any of you have watched his films from his JC games, it is like night and day, as far as his play, though the style they ran at wal bash was different than tubbys.

[wildcatfanman3pt]

Barbour was never thought out to be a lottery pick. Junior College is totaly different as far as tallent goes. I think Sims will be better then Barbour was.

[AlaCat]

Sims will be much better.

[Buddah]

wildcatfanman3pt wrote:
Barbour was never thought out to be a lottery pick. Junior College is totaly different as far as tallent goes. I think Sims will be better then Barbour was.

may want to go and re check your archives dylan ol buddy. he was thought of before he played on one of those over seas teams with other college players as a possibly lottery pick and then first rounder. it was always iffy, but at one time, albeit, a short time, he was thinking of entering the NBA and being a mid first rounder. that is a fact, though his play and stock cooled, but based soley on his first two years in jc, it was uk , u of l and the nba, that was the choices.

[Will Lavender]

I heard that Barbour was possibly a draft pick. Having seen him play, though, I suspect that it was another internet rumor (one of thousands) that was bogus.

The day he was drafted in the first round will be the day I'm drafted. He was one of the worst fundamentally I have ever seen at the University of Kentucky. Poor shooter; poor handler of the ball; solid athlete=role player.

The system is inconsequential if you don't have solid fundamentals.

[Buddah]

keep in mind this was when he was in JC ( draft pick talk) and not while he played at UK mind you. Though he was consider a mid to late first rounder, and it was only after he played on that all star overseas team( can't remember the name of it) that he came to UK.... I am just saying dylan is wrong that he was never consider a lottery pick or even a draft choice in the first round while Ab was coming out of JC, thats all. I agree, but AB played in a system totally out of touch with his talents. I hate to say this, but in a system such as Pitino's AB would have shined, and i think someone like Ravi Moss would as well.

AB showed all the fundmentals jones, at JC... they just don't disspear. It was the system, make no bones about it. don't believe me, watch some films of him in JC...i do think confidence had alot to do with it.

GO UK though.

[Will Lavender]

Barbour couldn't shoot, Buddah. How can you play in a system like Pitino's and not be able to shoot? He had a flat jumper, he didn't have an explosive first step, he dribbled the ball too far from his body, he couldn't for the life of him make a floater in the lane, which is the shot he wanted to shoot. He had BIG-TIME trouble with physical, strong guys in the middle. He was a little bit skinny. He just had all kinds of problems. Nothing I ever saw in Barbour impressed me too much.

Again, the lottery pick out of JC was a RUMOR. Nothing more. Barbour had good stats out of jc, not great but he turned it on when Wabash played in the post-season tournament.

This has been hashed and rehashed. We're talking about an average player here. It was said that Pitino was going to make Marvin Stone into a walking beast of a center, too, and that never happened...

Systems and styles are overrated. If the player is good, he'll shine. If he's average, he'll be average.

[KapitalCat]

Sims can play, is vesatile and can play the 3 or 4. He's a better shooter than Chuck, but not as agressive and of course doesn't know the system. Joe should start at the 3 and Thomas at the 4, once Sims is comfortable with the system, he could move into the starting line up.

[T75]

My point about Barbour in relation to Sims was simply that you don't have time to work out the kinks with a JUCO before he's done and gone.

I thought Barbour played scared at UK. Just now and then you could see a move than most NBAers would be proud of. Same with some of his few hot-shooting nights. But, I'm not placing blame at all, he just never seemed at ease with Tubby---came in up tight and got jerked early too many times.

[Will Lavender]

T75 wrote: My point about Barbour in relation to Sims was simply that you don't have time to work out the kinks with a JUCO before he's done and gone.

I thought Barbour played scared at UK. Just now and then you could see a move than most NBAers would be proud of. Same with some of his few hot-shooting nights. But, I'm not placing blame at all, he just never seemed at ease with Tubby---came in up tight and got jerked early too many times.

He also got hurt early in his career, which set him back quite a ways.

I always thought Barbour's problem was 1) fundamental (as I said above) and 2) he put too much pressure on himself. Kentucky boys tend to feel a different sort of weight, a different kind of pressure to perform. Barbour definitely, as you say, "played scared," but I also think he played tight, stuffy - he tried too hard.

Now, Sims may not turn out to be better than Barbour. But he definitely won't have the same kind of pressure on him that Antwain did.

[Coldstream]

I see JC starting from the getgo... maybe Sims might start some games down the road. What I really wouldn't be surprised is if Sims becomes the kind of player that throws a monkey wrench to opposing team's strategy when he is inserted.

[Tom Blevins]

As I recall, Barbour was injured early in his junior year. Although he physically recovered in a few weeks, his confidence was shot. he never got it back until about midway through his senior year when Fitch was injured and he started several games. (I'm not sure he EVER completely got his confidence back.) I'm not saying that he would have been a superstar as Kentucky if he had not been injured, but I do think he would have had a much better career. I do remember some speculation about him going to the NBA right out of junior college, but don't remember the details.

[WildFan]

He did suffer his injury early in his Junior year, this was also his first year at UK. By the time he recovered and began to play again, the Cats were playing some of the best team ball I have seen in a long time. The starters and major role players had caught fire (Bogans, Fitch, Daniels, Hayes, Estill, Camara Hawkins, etc..). Barbour just never really found his fit in this team that was playing so well. Perhaps if he had been a healthy part of this team when they gained this collective confidence, he would have been more confortable, and more able to understand his role, who knows. He definitely showed he could take over from time to time, but he just was not integrated into what was going on when the team really blossomed.

[Will Lavender]

WildFan wrote:
He did suffer his injury early in his Junior year, this was also his first year at UK. By the time he recovered and began to play again, the Cats were playing some of the best team ball I have seen in a long time. The starters and major role players had caught fire (Bogans, Fitch, Daniels, Hayes, Estill, Camara Hawkins, etc..). Barbour just never really found his fit in this team that was playing so well. Perhaps if he had been a healthy part of this team when they gained this collective confidence, he would have been more confortable, and more able to understand his role, who knows. He definitely showed he could take over from time to time, but he just was not integrated into what was going on when the team really blossomed.
Well-said.

You touch on some of the exact reasons UK fans should not resign themselves to disappointment with Rekalin Sims. Sims is hiw own player; you can't compare him to another JUCO and just make an arbitrary assumption that Sims' career is going to end up the same as Antwain's.

I think we're going to be surprised with Rekalin. From all reports, he is doing well in the work-outs. And he looks like a man in the team pictures; one of Antwain's problems was that he was skinny, undersized, thus could never consistently finish around the basket.

I would rather compare Sims to another JUCO transfer at UK who turned out well:

Dale Brown.

Brown averaged 7 points and shot almost 38% his first year as a JUCO transfer. If we can get those numbers from Rekalin, then he will help us immensely this season.

[chworld22]

Joneslab wrote: WildFan wrote:
He did suffer his injury early in his Junior year, this was also his first year at UK. By the time he recovered and began to play again, the Cats were playing some of the best team ball I have seen in a long time. The starters and major role players had caught fire (Bogans, Fitch, Daniels, Hayes, Estill, Camara Hawkins, etc..). Barbour just never really found his fit in this team that was playing so well. Perhaps if he had been a healthy part of this team when they gained this collective confidence, he would have been more confortable, and more able to understand his role, who knows. He definitely showed he could take over from time to time, but he just was not integrated into what was going on when the team really blossomed.
Well-said.

You touch on some of the exact reasons UK fans should not resign themselves to disappointment with Rekalin Sims. Sims is hiw own player; you can't compare him to another JUCO and just make an arbitrary assumption that Sims' career is going to end up the same as Antwain's.

I think we're going to be surprised with Rekalin. From all reports, he is doing well in the work-outs. And he looks like a man in the team pictures; one of Antwain's problems was that he was skinny, undersized, thus could never consistently finish around the basket.

I would rather compare Sims to another JUCO transfer at UK who turned out well:

Dale Brown.

Brown averaged 7 points and shot almost 38% his first year as a JUCO transfer. If we can get those numbers from Rekalin, then he will help us immensely this season.
All great point plus I think that a lot of UK fans thought Barbour was going to come in and just set the nets on fire with his shooting. Most of us saw him in high school when he just killed some of the best local players therefore expecting him to do the same in college. I myself was one of the people that expected him to come in and score tons of points and hey I was wrong and I admit it. But I alsothink that the expectations for Sims are more grounded in reason. I don't think that UK fans are expecting Sims to come in and scorefifteen twenty points a game unlike they did whenBarbour came in. I think most of us would be happy with10 pts and5 or6rebounds.