Jacob Toppin Transferring....

[NYGFan_Section208]

I think Kentucky is 4-9 now

They lost at 8-4 Georgia at the buzzer, we lost to 3-5 Duquesne without their best player.

If this is a troll job, it's a good one.

If you're actually serious, and think we would have any sort of chance against Kentucky, you're just another one added to the list of people with ridiculous Keaney Blue Blinders on.

i dont agree on a lot of things with Rhody15, but he's spot on here. The way Rhody is playing now, we would be the Fordham of the SEC. Yes, is Kentucky having a shitty year, of course its pretty obvious...but we would get run outta the gym

woodshed game

[bigappleram]

Hard disagree UK hasn’t proven they can run anyone out of the gym at this point, so simply saying that Bc they are UK. Richmond ran them out of their own gym and we were down a bucket in the last 5 vs UR. I’m not saying we would win but THIS YEAR Wisconsin, Seton Hall and possibly Richmond are all better than UK at this juncture and none of them ran us off any court.

[Rhody15]

Hard disagree UK hasn’t proven they can run anyone out of the gym at this point, so simply saying that Bc they are UK. Richmond ran them out of their own gym and we were down a bucket in the last 5 vs UR. I’m not saying we would win but THIS YEAR Wisconsin, Seton Hall and possibly Richmond are all better than UK at this juncture and none of them ran us off any court.

Are you really comparing last years Richmond game to this years Richmond team / our team? Surely you’re not.

Kentucky has also been without Terrance Clark, a top ten freshman, for about a month.

[bigappleram]

Hard disagree UK hasn’t proven they can run anyone out of the gym at this point, so simply saying that Bc they are UK. Richmond ran them out of their own gym and we were down a bucket in the last 5 vs UR. I’m not saying we would win but THIS YEAR Wisconsin, Seton Hall and possibly Richmond are all better than UK at this juncture and none of them ran us off any court.

Are you really comparing last years Richmond game to this years Richmond team / our team? Surely you’re not.

Kentucky has also been without Terrance Clark, a top ten freshman, for about a month.

Heh? Nothing about last years Richmond team. This year UR beat UK in convincing fashion. There is zero evidence that suggests UK would run us off the court this year.

[Obadiah]

In 13 UK games so far, Jacob Toppin's stat line is very similar to his year at URI, other than a little better FT shooting and less 3 point shot attempts.

[Rhody15]

Hard disagree UK hasn’t proven they can run anyone out of the gym at this point, so simply saying that Bc they are UK. Richmond ran them out of their own gym and we were down a bucket in the last 5 vs UR. I’m not saying we would win but THIS YEAR Wisconsin, Seton Hall and possibly Richmond are all better than UK at this juncture and none of them ran us off any court.

Are you really comparing last years Richmond game to this years Richmond team / our team? Surely you’re not.

Kentucky has also been without Terrance Clark, a top ten freshman, for about a month.

Heh? Nothing about last years Richmond team. This year UR beat UK in convincing fashion. There is zero evidence that suggests UK would run us off the court this year.

If its nothing about last years Richmond's team, then what do you mean by "we were down a bucket in the last 5 vs UR."

[bigappleram]

Uh this years UR vs Rhody game

[SmartyBarrett]

Hard disagree UK hasn’t proven they can run anyone out of the gym at this point, so simply saying that Bc they are UK. Richmond ran them out of their own gym and we were down a bucket in the last 5 vs UR. I’m not saying we would win but THIS YEAR Wisconsin, Seton Hall and possibly Richmond are all better than UK at this juncture and none of them ran us off any court.

Are you really comparing last years Richmond game to this years Richmond team / our team? Surely you’re not.

Kentucky has also been without Terrance Clark, a top ten freshman, for about a month.

Heh? Nothing about last years Richmond team. This year UR beat UK in convincing fashion. There is zero evidence that suggests UK would run us off the court this year.

NET Rankings
Rhode Island: 69
Kentucky: 95

Teams higher than 95 in NET that URI has played: Wisconsin, St. Bonaventure, Seton Hall, Richmond, VCU, San Francisco, Davidson, Western Kentucky.

So URI is 4-4 against teams that are "better" than Kentucky.

[Rhody15]

Uh this years UR vs Rhody game

Complete brain fart on my part, no clue why I was thinking back to last years game.

[reef]

We usually play to the level of the competition so I think on a neutral floor I think we give them a game but I think UK would win

[ramster]

16 points tonight vs. Vanderbilt

[NYGFan_Section208]

16 points tonight vs. Vanderbilt

we don't miss him

omfg.....

[ramster]

Very efficient 22 minutes tonight. Pushing for more playing time

Kentucky fans are saying about Toppin after tonight’s game

https://kentucky.forums.rivals.com/thre ... in.339051/

[Jersey77]

Very efficient 22 minutes tonight. Pushing for more playing time

0343F7E0-175B-41C2-9418-E6C62F7E5BE1.png



Kentucky fans are saying about Toppin after tonight’s game

https://kentucky.forums.rivals.com/thre ... in.339051/

I said Toppin will become an impact player at Kentucky and got jumped on here, many said he will get lost on the bench. He has length and talent which will show through regardless of where he plays.

[KingstonLane]

Very efficient 22 minutes tonight. Pushing for more playing time

0343F7E0-175B-41C2-9418-E6C62F7E5BE1.png



Kentucky fans are saying about Toppin after tonight’s game

https://kentucky.forums.rivals.com/thre ... in.339051/

I said Toppin will become an impact player at Kentucky and got jumped on here, many said he will get lost on the bench. He has length and talent which will show through regardless of where he plays.

You’re allowed an opinion, but I wouldn’t go around declaring victory quite yet. He’s more or less averaging the same stat line he did for us last year. Not to mention he’s primarily only getting playing time because this Kentucky team is the worst in a long time

Last point of my rant - he put up 16 points vs the worst team in the SEC. The same Vandy that lost to Davidson by 20 and Richmond by 11. Not exactly great competition

I want the kid to succeed because why should I root against him? But let’s not act like he’s an All American yet

[Jersey77]

Very efficient 22 minutes tonight. Pushing for more playing time

0343F7E0-175B-41C2-9418-E6C62F7E5BE1.png



Kentucky fans are saying about Toppin after tonight’s game

https://kentucky.forums.rivals.com/thre ... in.339051/

I said Toppin will become an impact player at Kentucky and got jumped on here, many said he will get lost on the bench. He has length and talent which will show through regardless of where he plays.

You’re allowed an opinion, but I wouldn’t go around declaring victory quite yet. He’s more or less averaging the same stat line he did for us last year. Not to mention he’s primarily only getting playing time because this Kentucky team is the worst in a long time

Last point of my rant - he put up 16 points vs the worst team in the SEC. The same Vandy that lost to Davidson by 20 and Richmond by 11. Not exactly great competition

I want the kid to succeed because why should I root against him? But let’s not act like he’s an All American yet

I didn't quite elevate him to that elite level and who knows what may happen down the road. But, I always felt with his body and skills he would shine where ever he went, he just seemed like a very special athlete to me.

[ramster]

Nice comments from Calipari. Jacob found loose change in the couch this season.

Huge 4-4 FTs in the last 30 seconds of the game.

[Billyboy78]

The reason he left here and went to Kentucky is that he felt that the coaching staff at Kentucky would be much better at developing him than the coaching staff at URI would. That's what is happening. It looks like a very smart move on his part.

[SGreenwell]

The reason he left here and went to Kentucky is that he felt that the coaching staff at Kentucky would be much better at developing him than the coaching staff at URI would. That's what is happening. It looks like a very smart move on his part.

I mean, that *may* happen, but saying that it *is* happening seems pretty premature to me. His offensive rating and defensive rating have both degraded so far at Kentucky, and per 40 minutes, his stats are basically the same. I don't know if his transfer to Kentucky will ultimately be good for him, but one year into it for Toppin, it's pretty much a neutral move. (And if he had stayed, you can argue he's probably averaging more than his 18 MPG from 2019-20 at URI, or his 16.1 MPG this year at Kentucky.)

[PeterRamTime]

The reason he left here and went to Kentucky is that he felt that the coaching staff at Kentucky would be much better at developing him than the coaching staff at URI would. That's what is happening. It looks like a very smart move on his part.

I mean, that *may* happen, but saying that it *is* happening seems pretty premature to me. His offensive rating and defensive rating have both degraded so far at Kentucky, and per 40 minutes, his stats are basically the same. I don't know if his transfer to Kentucky will ultimately be good for him, but one year into it for Toppin, it's pretty much a neutral move. (And if he had stayed, you can argue he's probably averaging more than his 18 MPG from 2019-20 at URI, or his 16.1 MPG this year at Kentucky.)

My money is on him probably progressing at roughly the same rate here as he would there.

[Rhody15]

The reason he left here and went to Kentucky is that he felt that the coaching staff at Kentucky would be much better at developing him than the coaching staff at URI would. That's what is happening. It looks like a very smart move on his part.

I mean, that *may* happen, but saying that it *is* happening seems pretty premature to me. His offensive rating and defensive rating have both degraded so far at Kentucky, and per 40 minutes, his stats are basically the same. I don't know if his transfer to Kentucky will ultimately be good for him, but one year into it for Toppin, it's pretty much a neutral move. (And if he had stayed, you can argue he's probably averaging more than his 18 MPG from 2019-20 at URI, or his 16.1 MPG this year at Kentucky.)

My money is on him probably progressing at roughly the same rate here as he would there.

You are absolutely out of your mind if you think a player would develop at the same rate at URI, with Cox and our facilities, as they would with Calipari and the facilities at Kentucky.

Come the hell on man.

[KingstonLane]

I mean, that *may* happen, but saying that it *is* happening seems pretty premature to me. His offensive rating and defensive rating have both degraded so far at Kentucky, and per 40 minutes, his stats are basically the same. I don't know if his transfer to Kentucky will ultimately be good for him, but one year into it for Toppin, it's pretty much a neutral move. (And if he had stayed, you can argue he's probably averaging more than his 18 MPG from 2019-20 at URI, or his 16.1 MPG this year at Kentucky.)

My money is on him probably progressing at roughly the same rate here as he would there.

You are absolutely out of your mind if you think a player would develop at the same rate at URI, with Cox and our facilities, as they would with Calipari and the facilities at Kentucky.

Come the hell on man.

Really seems like it had more to do with exposure than development. His brother was THE guy in college basketball last year. Ride that gravy train and try to carry the momentum under the bright lights of UK. He’ll get all the chances in the world to be seen. I think whether he progresses is irrelevant of that

[rambone 78]

I have moved on from this....he's gone from here, so.....

[Billyboy78]

My money is on him probably progressing at roughly the same rate here as he would there.

You are absolutely out of your mind if you think a player would develop at the same rate at URI, with Cox and our facilities, as they would with Calipari and the facilities at Kentucky.

Come the hell on man.

Really seems like it had more to do with exposure than development. His brother was THE guy in college basketball last year. Ride that gravy train and try to carry the momentum under the bright lights of UK. He’ll get all the chances in the world to be seen. I think whether he progresses is irrelevant of that

He was the one who said he'd be developed better at Kentucky.

[rambone 78]

Calipari>Cox. By a mile.

[KingstonLane]

You are absolutely out of your mind if you think a player would develop at the same rate at URI, with Cox and our facilities, as they would with Calipari and the facilities at Kentucky.

Come the hell on man.

Really seems like it had more to do with exposure than development. His brother was THE guy in college basketball last year. Ride that gravy train and try to carry the momentum under the bright lights of UK. He’ll get all the chances in the world to be seen. I think whether he progresses is irrelevant of that

He was the one who said he'd be developed better at Kentucky.

I mean that’s hope. Whether is happens or not remains to be seen

[SGreenwell]

I mean, that *may* happen, but saying that it *is* happening seems pretty premature to me. His offensive rating and defensive rating have both degraded so far at Kentucky, and per 40 minutes, his stats are basically the same. I don't know if his transfer to Kentucky will ultimately be good for him, but one year into it for Toppin, it's pretty much a neutral move. (And if he had stayed, you can argue he's probably averaging more than his 18 MPG from 2019-20 at URI, or his 16.1 MPG this year at Kentucky.)

My money is on him probably progressing at roughly the same rate here as he would there.

You are absolutely out of your mind if you think a player would develop at the same rate at URI, with Cox and our facilities, as they would with Calipari and the facilities at Kentucky.

Come the hell on man.

Eh, here's the thing - Calipari is a hell of a *scout*, I'd argue, but there isn't a ton of evidence that he's incredible at *developing* players. I don't think this is a specific knock on him, though. Ultimately, talent evaluation is more important than talent development. Like even freshmen players are more of a "finished" product than most people realize - it's much more common for a player to marginally improve each year he's in school, vs. having a huge breakout. Parfait Bitee is the exception, not the norm.

Complicating the matter is that Kentucky pretty much doesn't have four-year scholarship players in the Coach Cal era. They have two scholarship seniors on the roster right now - both are transfers in their first year. Nick Richards stuck around for three years at Kentucky, and while his points jumped his junior year, his other stats were otherwise flat, suggesting it was more a matter of how he was being used that changed, vs. new skill acquistion.

[rambone 78]

No matter the talent level, it's not easy to make a TEAM out of a bunch of strangers in a short time.

[Rhody15]

My money is on him probably progressing at roughly the same rate here as he would there.

You are absolutely out of your mind if you think a player would develop at the same rate at URI, with Cox and our facilities, as they would with Calipari and the facilities at Kentucky.

Come the hell on man.

Eh, here's the thing - Calipari is a hell of a *scout*, I'd argue, but there isn't a ton of evidence that he's incredible at *developing* players. I don't think this is a specific knock on him, though. Ultimately, talent evaluation is more important than talent development. Like even freshmen players are more of a "finished" product than most people realize - it's much more common for a player to marginally improve each year he's in school, vs. having a huge breakout. Parfait Bitee is the exception, not the norm.

Complicating the matter is that Kentucky pretty much doesn't have four-year scholarship players in the Coach Cal era. They have two scholarship seniors on the roster right now - both are transfers in their first year. Nick Richards stuck around for three years at Kentucky, and while his points jumped his junior year, his other stats were otherwise flat, suggesting it was more a matter of how he was being used that changed, vs. new skill acquistion.

Let’s check in on Cox’s short track record of developing players.

Harris - lol

Fatts - love the kid, legend, and yes he’s hurt, but compared to his sophomore year with Cox, he’s more or less the same player

Walker - slight improvement, looks more comfortable

Tyrese at UConn - better than he was here last year

So saying Jacob would have developed the same here as Kentucky is just a wild wild take.

[bigappleram]

You are absolutely out of your mind if you think a player would develop at the same rate at URI, with Cox and our facilities, as they would with Calipari and the facilities at Kentucky.

Come the hell on man.

Eh, here's the thing - Calipari is a hell of a *scout*, I'd argue, but there isn't a ton of evidence that he's incredible at *developing* players. I don't think this is a specific knock on him, though. Ultimately, talent evaluation is more important than talent development. Like even freshmen players are more of a "finished" product than most people realize - it's much more common for a player to marginally improve each year he's in school, vs. having a huge breakout. Parfait Bitee is the exception, not the norm.

Complicating the matter is that Kentucky pretty much doesn't have four-year scholarship players in the Coach Cal era. They have two scholarship seniors on the roster right now - both are transfers in their first year. Nick Richards stuck around for three years at Kentucky, and while his points jumped his junior year, his other stats were otherwise flat, suggesting it was more a matter of how he was being used that changed, vs. new skill acquistion.

Let’s check in on Cox’s short track record of developing players.

Harris - lol

Fatts - love the kid, legend, and yes he’s hurt, but compared to his sophomore year with Cox, he’s more or less the same player

Walker - slight improvement, looks more comfortable

Tyrese at UConn - better than he was here last year

So saying Jacob would have developed the same here as Kentucky is just a wild wild take.

You conveniently left off Makhel who has probably improved as much as anyone in the conference from Game 1 to now. Walker has also noticeably improved. But why do players improve? They work hard and they get game experience. The weights at UK weigh the same, the hoops to shoot are the same, yes the barber shop in the practice facility is nice but has zero correlation to a player improving.

If Jacob improves there it will be bc he plays to the level of being surrounded by better talent. It won’t be anything Cal specifically does. Like a student going to public school or say Lasalle - for some it won’t matter they will have succeeded or failed regardless, others in a more competitive environment will rise to the level. Way too much credit given to coaches for player development. It’s just not the case. So we credit Anthony Grant for making Obi an unknown to a lottery pick? I don’t. The kid had talent intangibles and worked hard.

[steveystuds06]

You are absolutely out of your mind if you think a player would develop at the same rate at URI, with Cox and our facilities, as they would with Calipari and the facilities at Kentucky.

Come the hell on man.

Eh, here's the thing - Calipari is a hell of a *scout*, I'd argue, but there isn't a ton of evidence that he's incredible at *developing* players. I don't think this is a specific knock on him, though. Ultimately, talent evaluation is more important than talent development. Like even freshmen players are more of a "finished" product than most people realize - it's much more common for a player to marginally improve each year he's in school, vs. having a huge breakout. Parfait Bitee is the exception, not the norm.

Complicating the matter is that Kentucky pretty much doesn't have four-year scholarship players in the Coach Cal era. They have two scholarship seniors on the roster right now - both are transfers in their first year. Nick Richards stuck around for three years at Kentucky, and while his points jumped his junior year, his other stats were otherwise flat, suggesting it was more a matter of how he was being used that changed, vs. new skill acquistion.

Let’s check in on Cox’s short track record of developing players.

Harris - lol

Fatts - love the kid, legend, and yes he’s hurt, but compared to his sophomore year with Cox, he’s more or less the same player

Walker - slight improvement, looks more comfortable

Tyrese at UConn - better than he was here last year

So saying Jacob would have developed the same here as Kentucky is just a wild wild take.

Harris- He's not an A10 level player and one of the biggest busts in the history of our program.

Fatts- I remember when Fatts was a freshman, and Hurley would always tell him to calm down or pull him if he forced a bad shot. Obviously it's easy to bench Fatts when you had the guards Hurley had, but I really loved how Hurley would coach him during the games.If Fatts had a coach that forced him to focus on his strengths like driving and dishing, he could have been one of the best guards we've ever had. Instead, he had the green light to do whatever he wanted and looked like he was on a CYO team.

Walker- I disagree. I think he's been a much better player this season. He's become a leader and solid finisher around the hoop. He's smarter on the defensive end, and I think his shooting form looks better. Props to Walker and the staff on his improvement.

Tyrese- I do think Tyrese improved from his freshman to sophomore year, so credit to Cox and the staff for that. He clearly has made a big jump under Hurley but I think he would have done that here as well. Cox not keeping him here is how he failed.

Makhel and Ish- These two look better and better. It took forever for Cox to play Ish more but I'm happy he finally did.

[Rhody15]

Eh, here's the thing - Calipari is a hell of a *scout*, I'd argue, but there isn't a ton of evidence that he's incredible at *developing* players. I don't think this is a specific knock on him, though. Ultimately, talent evaluation is more important than talent development. Like even freshmen players are more of a "finished" product than most people realize - it's much more common for a player to marginally improve each year he's in school, vs. having a huge breakout. Parfait Bitee is the exception, not the norm.

Complicating the matter is that Kentucky pretty much doesn't have four-year scholarship players in the Coach Cal era. They have two scholarship seniors on the roster right now - both are transfers in their first year. Nick Richards stuck around for three years at Kentucky, and while his points jumped his junior year, his other stats were otherwise flat, suggesting it was more a matter of how he was being used that changed, vs. new skill acquistion.

Let’s check in on Cox’s short track record of developing players.

Harris - lol

Fatts - love the kid, legend, and yes he’s hurt, but compared to his sophomore year with Cox, he’s more or less the same player

Walker - slight improvement, looks more comfortable

Tyrese at UConn - better than he was here last year

So saying Jacob would have developed the same here as Kentucky is just a wild wild take.

You conveniently left off Makhel who has probably improved as much as anyone in the conference from Game 1 to now. Walker has also noticeably improved. But why do players improve? They work hard and they get game experience. The weights at UK weigh the same, the hoops to shoot are the same, yes the barber shop in the practice facility is nice but has zero correlation to a player improving.

If Jacob improves there it will be bc he plays to the level of being surrounded by better talent. It won’t be anything Cal specifically does. Like a student going to public school or say Lasalle - for some it won’t matter they will have succeeded or failed regardless, others in a more competitive environment will rise to the level. Way too much credit given to coaches for player development. It’s just not the case. So we credit Anthony Grant for making Obi an unknown to a lottery pick? I don’t. The kid had talent intangibles and worked hard.

To say a coach is given way too much credit for developing players (which is literally part of his job) is ridiculous.

I left off Makhel because he hasn’t even been here a year, I was using multiple year players.

If you want to use Makhel as an example, I’ll give you Carey Betrand Martin who haven’t developed whatsoever this year.

And of course you have to give Grant credit for developing Toppin into an NBA player. Grant has NBA experience, knows what it takes to become an NBA player. Toppin improved from year one to year two, and you think it had nothing to do with Grant, who’s literal job is to coach and develop the players he gets?

Saying “it won’t be anything specifically Cal does” in regards to Jacobs development, are you serious? So no coach should
Ever be given credit for, uh coaching to develop players? What the hell are you talking about?

[DC_Rams]

Let’s check in on Cox’s short track record of developing players.

Harris - lol

Fatts - love the kid, legend, and yes he’s hurt, but compared to his sophomore year with Cox, he’s more or less the same player

Walker - slight improvement, looks more comfortable

Tyrese at UConn - better than he was here last year

So saying Jacob would have developed the same here as Kentucky is just a wild wild take.

You conveniently left off Makhel who has probably improved as much as anyone in the conference from Game 1 to now. Walker has also noticeably improved. But why do players improve? They work hard and they get game experience. The weights at UK weigh the same, the hoops to shoot are the same, yes the barber shop in the practice facility is nice but has zero correlation to a player improving.

If Jacob improves there it will be bc he plays to the level of being surrounded by better talent. It won’t be anything Cal specifically does. Like a student going to public school or say Lasalle - for some it won’t matter they will have succeeded or failed regardless, others in a more competitive environment will rise to the level. Way too much credit given to coaches for player development. It’s just not the case. So we credit Anthony Grant for making Obi an unknown to a lottery pick? I don’t. The kid had talent intangibles and worked hard.

To say a coach is given way too much credit for developing players (which is literally part of his job) is ridiculous.

I left off Makhel because he hasn’t even been here a year, I was using multiple year players.

If you want to use Makhel as an example, I’ll give you Carey Betrand Martin who haven’t developed whatsoever this year.

And of course you have to give Grant credit for developing Toppin into an NBA player. Grant has NBA experience, knows what it takes to become an NBA player. Toppin improved from year one to year two, and you think it had nothing to do with Grant, who’s literal job is to coach and develop the players he gets?

Saying “it won’t be anything specifically Cal does” in regards to Jacobs development, are you serious? So no coach should
Ever be given credit for, uh coaching to develop players? What the hell are you talking about?

So using your logic, you can’t give DH credit for Tyrese.

[bigappleram]

Let’s check in on Cox’s short track record of developing players.

Harris - lol

Fatts - love the kid, legend, and yes he’s hurt, but compared to his sophomore year with Cox, he’s more or less the same player

Walker - slight improvement, looks more comfortable

Tyrese at UConn - better than he was here last year

So saying Jacob would have developed the same here as Kentucky is just a wild wild take.

You conveniently left off Makhel who has probably improved as much as anyone in the conference from Game 1 to now. Walker has also noticeably improved. But why do players improve? They work hard and they get game experience. The weights at UK weigh the same, the hoops to shoot are the same, yes the barber shop in the practice facility is nice but has zero correlation to a player improving.

If Jacob improves there it will be bc he plays to the level of being surrounded by better talent. It won’t be anything Cal specifically does. Like a student going to public school or say Lasalle - for some it won’t matter they will have succeeded or failed regardless, others in a more competitive environment will rise to the level. Way too much credit given to coaches for player development. It’s just not the case. So we credit Anthony Grant for making Obi an unknown to a lottery pick? I don’t. The kid had talent intangibles and worked hard.

To say a coach is given way too much credit for developing players (which is literally part of his job) is ridiculous.

I left off Makhel because he hasn’t even been here a year, I was using multiple year players.

If you want to use Makhel as an example, I’ll give you Carey Betrand Martin who haven’t developed whatsoever this year.

And of course you have to give Grant credit for developing Toppin into an NBA player. Grant has NBA experience, knows what it takes to become an NBA player. Toppin improved from year one to year two, and you think it had nothing to do with Grant, who’s literal job is to coach and develop the players he gets?

Saying “it won’t be anything specifically Cal does” in regards to Jacobs development, are you serious? So no coach should
Ever be given credit for, uh coaching to develop players? What the hell are you talking about?

Then I guess Jim Baron was the best shooting coach of all time bc his son is the best shooter we have ever had. I wonder why he didn’t parlay that into a prosperous career teaching the pros how to shoot it like Jimmy.

[Rhody_NYCT]

Jumping back into the Toppin talk...isn't he averaging just 5.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per game on the worst Kentucky team in our lifetime? What is so good about that? I still believe he has great potential. He just has a long way to go.

[bigappleram]

CBB coaches spend majority of in season time coaching the team concepts, putting their guys in spots to excel/shine, teach the mental aspect of the game and instill discipline and decision making. In terms of individual skill development they don’t have the time to do that times 12 players. A guy becoming a better shooter or ball handler or a big guy expanding his game outside is largely done at the player level through their own hard work on their own time.

[PeterRamTime]

You are absolutely out of your mind if you think a player would develop at the same rate at URI, with Cox and our facilities, as they would with Calipari and the facilities at Kentucky.

Come the hell on man.

Eh, here's the thing - Calipari is a hell of a *scout*, I'd argue, but there isn't a ton of evidence that he's incredible at *developing* players. I don't think this is a specific knock on him, though. Ultimately, talent evaluation is more important than talent development. Like even freshmen players are more of a "finished" product than most people realize - it's much more common for a player to marginally improve each year he's in school, vs. having a huge breakout. Parfait Bitee is the exception, not the norm.

Complicating the matter is that Kentucky pretty much doesn't have four-year scholarship players in the Coach Cal era. They have two scholarship seniors on the roster right now - both are transfers in their first year. Nick Richards stuck around for three years at Kentucky, and while his points jumped his junior year, his other stats were otherwise flat, suggesting it was more a matter of how he was being used that changed, vs. new skill acquistion.

Let’s check in on Cox’s short track record of developing players.

Harris - lol

Fatts - love the kid, legend, and yes he’s hurt, but compared to his sophomore year with Cox, he’s more or less the same player

Walker - slight improvement, looks more comfortable

Tyrese at UConn - better than he was here last year

So saying Jacob would have developed the same here as Kentucky is just a wild wild take.

No its not.

Tyrese was way better as a sophomore here than he was as a freshman.

I've seen a bunch of Kentucky games this and there is very little difference.

He is a little bigger and stronger and looks a tad more comfortable. It's actually really hard to tell the difference at all if you actually watch him.

So I say, we would likely see the same thing here. Slightly bigger, stronger and more confident. No way he stays the same. Perceptually there may be no difference what so ever.

I'm sure though over time, him competing with the kind of players Kentucky gets will get him more pro ready faster than at Rhody maybe.

You can also get a shot in the league just because you play for KY.

[Billyboy78]

Assistant coaches have a lot to do with player development. I don't even know who the Kentucky assistants are, but I' think it's a safe bet to say they're better than ours.

[NYGFan_Section208]

The reason he left here and went to Kentucky is that he felt that the coaching staff at Kentucky would be much better at developing him than the coaching staff at URI would. That's what is happening. It looks like a very smart move on his part.

I mean, that *may* happen, but saying that it *is* happening seems pretty premature to me. His offensive rating and defensive rating have both degraded so far at Kentucky, and per 40 minutes, his stats are basically the same. I don't know if his transfer to Kentucky will ultimately be good for him, but one year into it for Toppin, it's pretty much a neutral move. (And if he had stayed, you can argue he's probably averaging more than his 18 MPG from 2019-20 at URI, or his 16.1 MPG this year at Kentucky.)

My money is on him probably progressing at roughly the same rate here as he would there.

based on what? Please point to some player progress here, could use the cheer up.

[PeterRamTime]

I mean, that *may* happen, but saying that it *is* happening seems pretty premature to me. His offensive rating and defensive rating have both degraded so far at Kentucky, and per 40 minutes, his stats are basically the same. I don't know if his transfer to Kentucky will ultimately be good for him, but one year into it for Toppin, it's pretty much a neutral move. (And if he had stayed, you can argue he's probably averaging more than his 18 MPG from 2019-20 at URI, or his 16.1 MPG this year at Kentucky.)

My money is on him probably progressing at roughly the same rate here as he would there.

based on what? Please point to some player progress here, could use the cheer up.

Almost everyone.

Fatts improved from soph to junior, Rese improved, Cyril, Dowtin (although we took him off the ball) Jermaine Harris has actually improved every year he was just overrated. Jeremy Shep is having his best year.

And I'm basing my opinion about Jacob because you can hardly tell that he has progressed at all at Kentucky, so I imagine it would be more of the same here. I'm not even praising our coaches or saying they're better, but it sure doesn't look like Jacob is all that much better.

[Rhody15]

My money is on him probably progressing at roughly the same rate here as he would there.

based on what? Please point to some player progress here, could use the cheer up.

Almost everyone.

Fatts improved from soph to junior, Rese improved, Cyril, Dowtin (although we took him off the ball) Jermaine Harris has actually improved every year he was just overrated. Jeremy Shep is having his best year.

And I'm basing my opinion about Jacob because you can hardly tell that he has progressed at all at Kentucky, so I imagine it would be more of the same here. I'm not even praising our coaches or saying they're better, but it sure doesn't look like Jacob is all that much better.

Harris has improved every year? What the hell are you talking about?

He’s averaging his least minutes, least amount of points per game, 3 rebounds per game, worst FG%, worst FT%, (70%+ down to 43%), still is slow, unathletic, can’t jump.

Langevine was more or less the same his junior and senior year, no big difference.

And regarding Sheppard, he’s a 23 year old senior. I would hope he’d be improved from his freshman year at ECU. That’s just natural progression.

[PeterRamTime]

based on what? Please point to some player progress here, could use the cheer up.

Almost everyone.

Fatts improved from soph to junior, Rese improved, Cyril, Dowtin (although we took him off the ball) Jermaine Harris has actually improved every year he was just overrated. Jeremy Shep is having his best year.

And I'm basing my opinion about Jacob because you can hardly tell that he has progressed at all at Kentucky, so I imagine it would be more of the same here. I'm not even praising our coaches or saying they're better, but it sure doesn't look like Jacob is all that much better.

Harris has improved every year? What the hell are you talking about?

He’s averaging his least minutes, least amount of points per game, 3 rebounds per game, worst FG%, worst FT%, (70%+ down to 43%), still is slow, unathletic, can’t jump.

Langevine was more or less the same his junior and senior year, no big difference.

And regarding Sheppard, he’s a 23 year old senior. I would hope he’d be improved from his freshman year at ECU. That’s just natural progression.

Yeah Harris has improved. He went from utterly useless to sometimes not useless this year

Like the last game. Had a hook shot and a tip in. That has happened in the majority of his games this year. His hook shot has been aight this year.

Freshman year he had no hookshot whatsoever.

Cyril improved big time offensively from the time Hurley left.

[Rhody15]

It actually hasn’t happened in the majority of games this year, seeing how he scored more points per game the last two seasons. So it’s happened less this season than ever before.

[bigappleram]

He actually had some moments early in season when it looked like it might click. Just looked at his game log and in back to back games against Davidson and Bonnies he was 6-6 from the field with 14 points and 15 rebounds total. He just has never been able to show any level of consistent production.

[reef]

Ultimately I think Toppin made the right move to transfer to Kentucky even though I thought it was a bad move at the time

If he continues to work at it and improve by the time he is a senior he may have a better chance of getting drafted than if he stayed at URI

[ramster]

I like how Calipari says later in the video that "Jacob said I'm good, I got this" as Calipari uses this example to recognize Jacob to the team in the meeting and he gives an example of how confidence plays such a key role in performance. It's why players want to play for this guy.

[ramster]

My money is on him probably progressing at roughly the same rate here as he would there.

You are absolutely out of your mind if you think a player would develop at the same rate at URI, with Cox and our facilities, as they would with Calipari and the facilities at Kentucky.

Come the hell on man.

Eh, here's the thing - Calipari is a hell of a *scout*, I'd argue, but there isn't a ton of evidence that he's incredible at *developing* players. I don't think this is a specific knock on him, though. Ultimately, talent evaluation is more important than talent development. Like even freshmen players are more of a "finished" product than most people realize - it's much more common for a player to marginally improve each year he's in school, vs. having a huge breakout. Parfait Bitee is the exception, not the norm.

Complicating the matter is that Kentucky pretty much doesn't have four-year scholarship players in the Coach Cal era. They have two scholarship seniors on the roster right now - both are transfers in their first year. Nick Richards stuck around for three years at Kentucky, and while his points jumped his junior year, his other stats were otherwise flat, suggesting it was more a matter of how he was being used that changed, vs. new skill acquistion.

Kentucky is much like Duke, they recruit many players who are "one and done"

While Kentucky is having an off year (so far) their NET is still 76. (URI is 87, PC is 83).
Calipari has a mostly new lineup every year so it takes time to identify the top performers and mold them into a cohesive unit. He has had more challenges with this in 2020-2021 mainly from Boston and Clark not playing to expectations
Kentucky is still very capable of playing well and winning the SEC Tournament

Remaining games and time to move up the #76 NET
Sat Feb 20 @ #19 Tennessee
Tue Feb 23 Texas A&M
Sat Feb 27 Florida
Tue Mar 2 Mississippi

Starting Line Up and minutes vs Vanderbilt (last game)
Minutes/Player/Ranking or Transfer Status
27-Sarr - Transfer from Wake Forest - has not played to expectations
20-Jackson #34 2020 6'8"
36-Mintz - Grad Transfer from Creighton
34-Askew #26 2020 6'3"
28-Boston #7 2020 6'6" - has not performed as expected. Benched by Calipari at one time

28-Brooks #36 2019
22-Toppin - transfer from URI
3-Allen
2-Ware #46 2020 6'8"

Terrence Clark #10 2020 6'7" - has had injuries and been a disappointment to Calipari

Toppin in 22 minutes 5-9 FG, 1-2 on 3FG, 5-5 FT, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, zero turnovers, 1 foul for 16 points. He hit 2-2 FTs with 30 seconds to go and 2-2 FTs with 19 seconds to go to secure the win.

Incoming 2021 Kentucky Recruits
#17 Daimion Collins 6'9"
#25 Bryce Hopkins 6'6"
#28 Nolan Hickman 6'2"

[SGreenwell]

You are absolutely out of your mind if you think a player would develop at the same rate at URI, with Cox and our facilities, as they would with Calipari and the facilities at Kentucky.

Come the hell on man.

Eh, here's the thing - Calipari is a hell of a *scout*, I'd argue, but there isn't a ton of evidence that he's incredible at *developing* players. I don't think this is a specific knock on him, though. Ultimately, talent evaluation is more important than talent development. Like even freshmen players are more of a "finished" product than most people realize - it's much more common for a player to marginally improve each year he's in school, vs. having a huge breakout. Parfait Bitee is the exception, not the norm.

Complicating the matter is that Kentucky pretty much doesn't have four-year scholarship players in the Coach Cal era. They have two scholarship seniors on the roster right now - both are transfers in their first year. Nick Richards stuck around for three years at Kentucky, and while his points jumped his junior year, his other stats were otherwise flat, suggesting it was more a matter of how he was being used that changed, vs. new skill acquistion.

Let’s check in on Cox’s short track record of developing players.

Harris - lol

Fatts - love the kid, legend, and yes he’s hurt, but compared to his sophomore year with Cox, he’s more or less the same player

Walker - slight improvement, looks more comfortable

Tyrese at UConn - better than he was here last year

So saying Jacob would have developed the same here as Kentucky is just a wild wild take.

As others have pointed out, you left off a couple people who don't fit your argument. However, I realize I'm an extremist in my position, in that I believe that no, there probably isn't much difference between Cox, Calipari or any other average or better coach you want to name, when it comes to developing players. I mean, I'm positive there are some that are SO awful that they harm the development of their players, like Jerry D. The vast majority of players improve a small amount, year over year, and big leaps are much more uncommon than people realize. Which, to get back to the original topic, is why I don't think Jacob Toppin is ever a legitimate NBA prospect, whether he's playing at URI, Kentucky or Coppin State.

[Rhodymob05]

Vandy is awful, but good showing for Jacob.

[Billyboy78]

Like I've said before, it's not just a Cox vs. Calipari. Assistant coaches play a huge part in player development.