Predict last 8 games

[Blue Heaven]

I wouldn't call the SEC an average conference. Some have said it could be the best league when you factor everything in. If the league was just average we would be better in it. There could be 7 SEC teams in the tourney. That's incredible considering the stigma.

[Blue Heaven]

I predict 4-4.

[KevinHall]

Might happen. Knox will go, Shai will probably go, Diallo will go out of spite, and Vanderbilt will go because people "who know" are suddenly saying he should.

These guys play for Kentucky. This is how it works for us.

I think you are right on those four. I'll be mildly shocked if any of those guys come back next season. If Washington,Green,Gabriel and SKJ comeback we will have a small base of veterans to build on. Whether it will be enough remains to be seen.

[Joneslab]

I dont know how many will go but the NBA doesnt draft on how well you understand the game. I said that once too about a guy named Archie Goodwin. Worst decision maker along with being one of the most selfish (non passer) players I have ever seen. I laughed when he declared. The NBA and I do not see the same things. I will add....I hope like hell
you are right.

Archie had a better season than a lot of these guys. He was the go-to guy on a team that had been shelled with a brutal injury. He was on mock drafts pretty much all the way through.

Vanderbilt and some of these other guys are really not comparable to Archie. They would be much bigger surprises.

Knox and Shai have been the only two constants. I think they go. You can't say with any certainty about any player, and that's just not at UK, but you're talking really bad decisions if any of the others go. Historically Kentucky players haven't made bad decisions in terms of where they were drafted. Even Orton and those guys were drafted about where they were projected. There isn't any projection with most of these players because the NBA doesn't know who these guys are. They didn't come in with some of the accolades that Cal's freshmen generally do.

[Joneslab]

I wouldn't call the SEC an average conference. Some have said it could be the best league when you factor everything in. If the league was just average we would be better in it. There could be 7 SEC teams in the tourney. That's incredible considering the stigma.

Agreed. I think the SEC might still get eight. Probably the best the conference has been since it sent two teams to the Final Four in the Florida/LSU year.

This Kentucky team would be pretty middling even if the conference were mediocre though.

[Lighthouse]

I am forcing myself to hang on to this year. When I say forcing I mean I at least check the score. I have watched very few games this year, which is unheard of for me. If we start over again next year I feel it will be over for me for a while. I dont say that out of protest or anger, just having a hard time connecting. I actually hate it too. UK basketball gets me though the winter. I dont want to lose it.

This isn't to make you mad, but to encourage you from one Kentucky Fan to another. Sounds to me like you're not losing it, but are giving it away. I have no idea how old you are, but this isn't the only down year we Kentucky fans have had to endure, but we are still Kentucky Fans. Not one Kentucky fan is pleased with this team or it's record or its sometimes embarrassing performance, but we are still Kentucky Fans. I encourage you and all other disgruntled Kentucky Fans to watch tonight's game and cheer very hard for OUR CATS!!!

[Westtncat]

This isn't to make you mad, but to encourage you from one Kentucky Fan to another. Sounds to me like you're not losing it, but are giving it away. I have no idea how old you are, but this isn't the only down year we Kentucky fans have had to endure, but we are still Kentucky Fans. Not one Kentucky fan is pleased with this team or it's record or its sometimes embarrassing performance, but we are still Kentucky Fans. I encourage you and all other disgruntled Kentucky Fans to watch tonight's game and cheer very hard for OUR CATS!!!

I have posted in several threads about this year but maybe you missed it. I understand what you are saying but my problem with this team is not their record alone. I am having a hard time with getting to know a freshman team again. The way I feel is in no way a protest or a decision I have made its just the way I feel. Not even trying to take a stand against the one and done era, just cant connect to this team. Maybe its just me lighthouse, not sure. Most certainly not giving anything away. I want to like this team , I really do.

[Jload]

Its not just you old friend, I have felt this way for a while.Istill watch every game I usually make the 4 hour drive to Rupp 2-3 times a year, but this year I haven’t. Got better things to do with my time and resources, you know me Keith, you ever think you’d hear me say that. The culture change at UK under Cal has left me with a decided lack of passion, a passion that has been with me since I was 8 years old and got to shake Rupps hand after my first game at Memorial.I think all old guys harken back to the good old days but as far as UK basketball is concerned they were better and I don’t mean just in .the context of Ws and Ls

[Joneslab]

If a person could know that these players were going to stick around I don't think many would have a huge problem with bad basketball. They'd chalk it up to youth and rebuilding. That happens with virtually every program.

But I agree that it's hard to get invested in players who might leave after one year when their leaving doesn't feel earned.

When players like Cousins and Wall and Towns and Murray and Fox and those guys go, I have no problem. Great players. They earned it. They're millionaires contributing on NBA teams. Those guys gave their all at UK just like seniors do.

If guys like Vanderbilt go (he won't, IMO), or even a Kevin Knox, it feels empty. Leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

This is what I mean by "peak one-and-done." This is when one-and-done goes haywire. There are good things about it, and it can win. It has won. But the downside is that you could end up with teams like this.

I completely understand when fans say they can't connect with this team and that they don't know the players. Makes perfect sense to me. I'd say in his heart of hearts Cal gets that too. It was never meant to be run quite like this because nobody thought that Cal would strike out on those top players. I'm sure he didn't see this coming.

[Dwight Schrute]

I think the hard part is accepting this year when the very real possibility exists that next year might not be any better, that we might be just as mediocre next year. There is a reason that Archie Goodwin and Nerlens Noel are practically forgotten UK players from the Cal era. Playing on a bad team then immediately bolting afterward doesn't exactly endear you to the fans.

[George]

I think the hard part is accepting this year when the very real possibility exists that next year might not be any better, that we might be just as mediocre next year. There is a reason that Archie Goodwin and Nerlens Noel are practically forgotten UK players from the Cal era. Playing on a bad team then immediately bolting afterward doesn't exactly endear you to the fans.

I don't think it's fair to say that about Noel. He had a pretty significant impact on a lot of games that year, some of which were absolutely tremendous efforts. That Ole Miss game when he managed to block fifty-something shots with four fouls was nothing short of heroic.

[Joneslab]

Noel was one of the hardest workers Cal has had. On a better team he would've been beloved.

[UK8STL11]

Noel was one of the hardest workers Cal has had. On a better team he would've been beloved.

I was at the Waste Management Open last week in Phoenix. We ate at a nice steakhouse one of the nights. As I was standing at the bar, I felt a large presence behind me. Turned around and it was Nerlens. Chatted with him for a few minutes while he waited on some people to show up. Was super nice, talked glowingly about Cal. I asked him who would win a game, his UK team or this year's. He laughed and said his team would beat them by 10+.

[Joneslab]

With a healthy Noel that team would've been okay.

I saw them early in the season in Atlanta and thought they looked really solid. The wheels fell of when Nerlens went down, and then they really fell off when the pressure started to mount.

With a full team that bunch was better than this one, though it's probably close. They would've definitely gotten into the NCAA Tournament. Not sure they would've won a game but they would've gotten there.

[J.Jennings]

I was at the Waste Management Open last week in Phoenix. We ate at a nice steakhouse one of the nights. As I was standing at the bar, I felt a large presence behind me. Turned around and it was Nerlens. Chatted with him for a few minutes while he waited on some people to show up. Was super nice, talked glowingly about Cal. I asked him who would win a game, his UK team or this year's. He laughed and said his team would beat them by 10+.

And last week while i was in New Orleans i was standing outside the Ritz Carlton and watched WCS walk into the hotel with the girls, the day the team bus (Kings) left, i watched WCS kiss another girl goodbye in front of the team bus lol lol lol,, WCS IS A PLAYER MAN!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, i didn't really get to speak to none of the Kentucky players this year but i did tell WCS "Go Big Blue" and he smiled lol lol lol One of the coolest dude's i met was George Hill and G. Temple of LSU. I told Temple "man i hated when you touched the ball" and asked Hill straight up "you getting traded or what?" lol lol lol..