The Annual Who Goes & Who Stays Thread (UPDATE: Everyone to Enter the Draft)

[Joneslab]

I think this upcoming team can definitely get to a Final Four if the frontcourt situation is cleared up.

And actually this past team was probably one player away from being #1 in America all the way through. Imagine if Khalil Whitney was as good as advertised. I'm not sure who beats us.

I'm not telling anybody here anything they don't know, but basketball isn't like football, where you have to have these large swaths of talent to compete at the upper levels of the sport. In basketball it just comes down to a single player sometimes. Whitney being a bust was hellaciously devastating to this past team.

I think the margins will be that tight again for this upcoming team, where just one player could make or break us. In that way it's not too dissimilar to 2009-'10, where Jodie Meeks leaving turned a national title team into an Elite 8 team.

[DA#23]

I can't help that the coaching staff ignored 3 first round draft picks and tried to 3 point shoot their way into the FF in 2010.

Joe Mazzulla was allowed to make Bledsoe look rough. Sometimes you have to adjust things to help offset advantages.

The same scenario has been repeated over the years.

[Joneslab]

I can't help that the coaching staff ignored 3 first round draft picks and tried to 3 point shoot their way into the FF in 2010,

Yep.

And I've said this before, but I didn't love that team like many other UK fans did. I thought Cousins was too erratic and always in foul trouble, but more than that they were just a group of clankers. Really hard to win titles in this sport when you can't shoot.

I agree with the coaching failure against West Virginia though. No question.

I'm not as convinced there were coaching failures against Wisconsin in 2015, except maybe slowing it down there at the end when we got the lead. But dangit if we get that blown shot clock call I think we win.

Cal's "coaching" blunders a lot of times come back to having teams that don't have a lot of great shooters. Starting with the Memphis collapse, Cal could easily have four national titles over the past 12 seasons. Many of those missed opportunities come back to shoddy free throw and three-point shooting.

[JFCats22]

Borrowed from another site on Mintz:

His analytic ratings for the 2018-19 season

Here is how he rated on Creighton
(Out of 13 players)
3rd in Minutes Per Game
8th on their team in defensive rating
9th on their team in offensive rating
8th in box plus/minus
8th in Win Share per 40 minutes
9th in turnover % (which means highest)
11th in effective FG%
11th in true shooting %
9th in Player Efficiency Rating

This was on an NIT team, not a loaded team...

[Joneslab]

Mintz will be two years removed from his last game action. At his age you have to hope you're getting a more mature, well-rounded player than we saw at Creighton two years ago.

More than that thought this roster move was essential in the same way Nate Sestina was. Imagine last year's team without Sestina. You wouldn't have even been able to run those early practices.

I said this above, but having old players is something we constantly pine for. And more often than not, older guys in this program perform well, from Cauley-Stein to Richards to Derek Willis to Dominique Hawkins and even down to somebody like Julius Mays.

When you're afflicted by mass youth going the grad transfer makes a lot of sense. It's really the only way a program like Kentucky can create some semblance of veteran leadership.

[Lighthouse]

Stats certainly tell a lot about a players past, but this kid has something we need. Maturity, experience and seemingly a great work ethic. If he only plays a back up role in games, his value at practices should be great. And we do have room for him.

[DA#23]

Quickley will enter the draft.

[KCKUKFan]

Richards expected tomorrow, per reports.

We better hope these freshman are really good. We're one or two Skal/EJs away from seeing a season like UNC saw this year.

[JFCats22]

Richards expected tomorrow, per reports.

We better hope these freshman are really good. We're one or two Skal/EJs away from seeing a season like UNC saw this year.

If Brooks is the only player returning, we will have lost:

94% of scoring
91.3% of rebounding
98.5% of assists
92.3% of steals
91.8% of blocks
92.7% of made Field Goals
96.8% of made 3 pointers
97.7% of made FTs

I don't care who you bring in, I simply do not believe you can have that sort of turnover/departure and compete for a Final Four/National Title the following season.

[Joneslab]

Quickley had the kind of year where he almost had to capitalize on his success. He's likely never going to be higher than he is now in terms of his stock.

[KCKUKFan]

Actually, looking over the potential roster, and I think we could be really solid:

Devin Askew
Terrence Clarke
B.J. Boston
Davion Mintz
Keion Brooks
EJ Montgomery (hey, I'm being hopeful)
Matt Haarms
Lance Ware
Isaiah Jackson
Cam'ron Fletcher
Dontaie Allen

That's not a super flashy roster, but it's a very solid collection of talent and experience that will get playing time.

[Joneslab]

Really need Haarms, need a much-improved Montgomery, and need Boston and Clarke to be as-advertised.

That's a lot of what-ifs, but as I said in the other thread most every team will have what-ifs right now.

I can't imagine Kentucky being a real contender if we don't get Haarms. Just not enough inside. But even if you get Haarms, he's got to be a different player than he was last year.

I still like this roster more than I did last year's roster because I really love Boston and Clarke, and I think our fleet of 4's have a lot of potential. But it's got a lot of question marks looking at things on April 13th.

[Lighthouse]

Next season doesn't feel a whole lot different than usual. We have great unproven kids coming in, we need at least one Big and very little returning. However, we will have an exciting season and will be better than most other teams. GO CATS!!!

[lilproUK98]

Really need Haarms, need a much-improved Montgomery, and need Boston and Clarke to be as-advertised.

That's a lot of what-ifs, but as I said in the other thread most every team will have what-ifs right now.

I can't imagine Kentucky being a real contender if we don't get Haarms. Just not enough inside. But even if you get Haarms, he's got to be a different player than he was last year.

I still like this roster more than I did last year's roster because I really love Boston and Clarke, and I think our fleet of 4's have a lot of potential. But it's got a lot of question marks looking at things on April 13th.

I agree we need another big, but Jackson is being slept on IMO.

[85 Fly]

Weak draft...gotta go while his going is hot-good for Quickley!