Got a bunch of old/developed guys, and even incoming freshman Noah has a very solid lower body—none of that wiry leg get pushed around stuff in this group. Hope they mentally got the dawg in them to step up and be men.
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Knecht scored 20+ points per game before he went to UT. Not sure anyone thought he would be an All-American but everyone knew he would be a big time scoring threat. We have nobody that has even shown the ability to be elite or a stud at their previous schools (like Knecht did). He was rated as a top 10 transfer guy by just about everyone.
If we want UK to be a top 25 and NCAA team next year Pope HAS to get someone elite - Lanier, Robinson, some other guys we don't know about or he is going to have to get crazy lucky that 2-3 dudes on the roster now vastly exceed expectations.
I think Pope has done a good job so far but I do not think this roster is very good. Maybe a top 40ish team right now.Comment
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I don't know, Brea's shooting numbers are pretty darn elite. Amari Williams' defensive numbers are pretty elite, at least for that level.
As far as a player who's truly "elite" across the board? It's hard to find that in the portal. That was my point on the last page: the portal is a very tough place to go to when you're trying to build an entire team like he's doing. Wasn't supposed to be used that way. It's meant to bolster a roster, not create one. Which is what makes what he's doing so tough. Rather than looking at what elite players we might have on the roster, the hope you have as a fan is that he has *enough* talent, and then they gel as the season goes along through his coaching and then you have (at least an SEC) contender that way. I don't think it's going to be done simply through brute force recruiting. That's a tough ask with so few elite players floating out there for him to possibly grab, period.
And re: Knecht, one of the things I heard about him early in the year last season was that he couldn't guard. In his first few games guys were just eating him up, and then he adjusted. As older players tend to do.Comment
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What's outlandish about this? Where would you rank this team right now? You really think this roster is a top 25 team?
Show me any preseason ranking that has UK even listed. I don't think it exists. I am excited to see what this team can do but they are severely lacking in the scoring department.
#43 - https://www.fanduel.com/research/rot...season-edition
Not in the top 30 - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...2024-25-season
Field of 68 - on their podcast the other day they said UK is not in the top 25, probably in the 35-40 rangeLast edited by JFCats22; 05-10-2024, 02:30 PM.Comment
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UK currently has like seven scholarship players. Why would we be ranked anywhere in any poll?
You keep assuming that he's done. I mean...how could he be done?
When he's got a full team *then* we can start looking for us on those lists.
I will say this: if Pope fields a preseason top 25 team given that he had to replace literally everyone? That's a heck of an accomplishment just on its face. Even with the portal I'm not sure anybody has ever had to do what he's having to do with this team. Just based on that I think he's done a great job so far. I mean of the players we really wanted him to get, honestly only three maybe four of those guys went elsewhere. Brea was a guy I'd personally pretty much given up on.
Also, with the asking prices of some of these guys it's quite possible the entire definition of "recruiting miss" is gonna need to be re-defined. What Arkansas paid Williams for instance...it's possible that he came to Kentucky with that same offer and we just couldn't do it.Comment
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I’m in the school pick-up line and don’t feel like digging into this right now, but as a general rule of thumb, when you rank something, I typically add about 15-20 points just to offset your pessimism.
There are realists, then there are doubters, then there are doomers, and then, waaaaaaaay down there where everyone else discards their worst possible outcomes, there’s you.
And you know this to be true.Comment
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I don’t know whether there are any true game changers currently on the roster—or left in the portal. But I’m also not sure why last year’s BYU 6th man is any more certain to be that than other guys who were solid contributors on their respective teams. I like the possibility some of our guys are chomping at the bit to step up their game.
I very much hope we get Robinson. Would be great to have a guy who knows what’s expected from Pope to lead all the others through the acclimation process. But he may not be anymore ready to be the alpha than Williams, Brea or someone else.Last edited by Catsrock; 05-10-2024, 03:00 PM.Comment
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Whatever kind of roster we have on November 1, it'll come back to buy-in and how much the team gels. To me that's more important than elite players. When you have maximum buy-in you can do some stuff in the game of basketball.
Last year we had a ton of talent but very little buy-in, so we got what happened in the end. Just having a team that's together, that fights on the court, and that's well-coached--even if they don't have literally any NBA players--will be a breath of fresh air. Because teams like that are really pleasing to watch and they always play above their heads.
It's been literally years since we've seen something like that here at Kentucky. Years.Comment
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At the very least we need a couple more proven scorers. The staff clearly went the route of grabbing tough defenders up front, which I think is so interesting if you think about the putrid state of Kentucky's defense for the past almost half-decade. That's left them here at the back end needing a couple who can put the ball in the hoop.Comment
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Do you think you're overly negative, JFCats22? Or do you think you get a bad rap from other posters here?
Seems to me that a person who's had to change usernames several times might chill with that stuff at a certain point. I don't know, just seems like people have tried to give you hints over the years that you've never taken. It's a funny stance to take for a fan.
It's not uncommon. There was once a Reds fan I saw on the old Redszone board who was banned upwards of 30 times for negativity. He just wouldn't stop. Seemed to almost be pathological somehow. Seems like to me after doing it for years and having real-time feedback from fellow posters that a person would say, "You know what? People get a little irked at this, I'ma try something else."Comment
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I tend to believe that for he first time in years we're going to have a well coached team on both ends. Yes, they need to gel and that is so important and could make a huge difference. I'm anxious to have them all on campus.John 3:3
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I think we are pretty good right now but still need that one player, hopefully it's Lanier.
With that being said, Pope went out and landed players he needed to fit his system, big difference than just getting a bunch of players with 5 star bs rankings.
Like I have said for the past 18 years, if the recruiting gurus can ever figure out how to put a numerical number on the heart and will to win factor with these players, it would fix these yearly watered down rankings.
I think we will be a lot better than expected, I don't see a 50 point beat down by Kansas coming...
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