I’m interested to see the chemistry

[Kybluedude]

And if our on court demeanor changes?
More urgency, more fight, more physicality, toughness plus a chip on the shoulder attitude. UK of my youth was tough and prideful. Aware of the tradition and always intimidating.
I may be wrong but we seemed to be a bit soft recently and some players entitled or not focused on strictly winning. Immature.
Will CMP be able to mold these guys together into a smooth unit quickly? I expect them to improve throughout the entire season.

 

[BBNinSC]

I believe Coach Pope has selected this roster with team chemistry as a high consideration

 

[Elliott Tim]

And if our on court demeanor changes?
More urgency, more fight, more physicality, toughness plus a chip on the shoulder attitude. UK of my youth was tough and prideful. Aware of the tradition and always intimidating.
I may be wrong but we seemed to be a bit soft recently and some players entitled or not focused on strictly winning. Immature.
Will CMP be able to mold these guys together into a smooth unit quickly? I expect them to improve throughout the entire season.

I hope you're wrong.

 

[TM2013]

Pope has assembled a hungry group of hard-nosed veterans. It will be a night and day difference.

 

[blue cincy]

And if our on court demeanor changes?
More urgency, more fight, more physicality, toughness plus a chip on the shoulder attitude. UK of my youth was tough and prideful. Aware of the tradition and always intimidating.
I may be wrong but we seemed to be a bit soft recently and some players entitled or not focused on strictly winning. Immature.
Will CMP be able to mold these guys together into a smooth unit quickly? I expect them to improve throughout the entire season.

I think with coaching change all the past 15 years is thrown out the window, since we lost all the players under the last coach.

New coaches, that know what it means to play for KENTUCKY. New players that I believe CMP picked because they are the type of guys that can play for a team with our tradition. I think all will embrace the fight including all the coaches.

 

[Kybluedude]

I think with coaching change all the past 15 years is thrown out the window, since we lost all the players under the last coach.

New coaches, that know what it means to play for KENTUCKY. New players that I believe CMP picked because they are the type of guys that can play for a team with our tradition. I think all will embrace the fight including all the coaches.

Hope so. I omitted that I felt Cal lost his chip on the shoulder attitude. Got soft and didn’t recruit the tougher kids he built his early UK on. Money, title and the HOF plus age took him out. We kept wanting to see 2009 Cal but he vanished and the team reflected him.

 

[kennyskywalker34]

I doubt we will see a well oiled machine from day 1. But I definitely don't think it will take long.
We will likely have one player that not many are expecting to get much playing time that will break out.
Chances are one player will be a disappointment. That happens to most teams every season. Not just a UK thing.

 

[CoachsmithCats]

I don’t know what the wind and losses will be the first year, I mean dang he had to throw a team together for a team he has never coached. He hit a grand slam to me in regards to what he has accomplished. I guess time will tell when we see him coach his first game and going forward. But I love him being here

 

[Bluegrassking]

The chemistry will be key but it is also probably just grasping at straws to speculate on it.

We won't know how this cake tastes until it bakes and it may take well into the season for it to be ready to take out of the oven.

The experience will help but not one stone was left on top of another. New coach going up in class, all new players some of which are taking a level leap too that need to learn a new and far from a "roll the balls out" system.

There will probably be somewhat of a same as always factor as far as consistency until everything gels, there will be no headstart of summer play to help so some of the development of the chemistry will almost have to be in game action.

 

[JPFisher]

The chemistry will be key but it is also probably just grasping at straws to speculate on it.

We won't know how this cake tastes until it bakes and it may take well into the season for it to be ready to take out of the oven.

The experience will help but not one stone was left on top of another. New coach going up in class, all new players some of which are taking a level leap too that need to learn a new and far from a "roll the balls out" system.

There will probably be somewhat of a same as always factor as far as consistency until everything gels, there will be no headstart of summer play to help so some of the development of the chemistry will almost have to be in game action.

One of the hallmarks of Cal's early years was getting a brand new group of guys to buy in to the same goal and accepting their role on the team. Cal was the best in the country at that for a while.

I say that because I suspect we'll be unpleasantly surprised as the season starts. Much like we were in those Cal years. Experienced guys trying to figure out how to play as a team with each other, after being at different collegiate stops and in different systems, will take time. There are bound to be bumps and bruises along the way.

That said, the goal is winning, and these are guys who've put in the hours to become the best they possibly can be at their craft. I have no doubt that they and Pope will work diligently to cultivate a winning chemistry.

 

[Runnin'Ramel]

And if our on court demeanor changes?
More urgency, more fight, more physicality, toughness plus a chip on the shoulder attitude. UK of my youth was tough and prideful. Aware of the tradition and always intimidating.
I may be wrong but we seemed to be a bit soft recently and some players entitled or not focused on strictly winning. Immature.
Will CMP be able to mold these guys together into a smooth unit quickly? I expect them to improve throughout the entire season.

Chemistry is everything with rosters made entirely of transfers/new players. Compare the KState squad that beat UK in the tourney two years ago to last year’s Arkansas team.

 

[Eight_Banners]

I doubt we will see a well oiled machine from day 1. But I definitely don't think it will take long.
We will likely have one player that not many are expecting to get much playing time that will break out.
Chances are one player will be a disappointment. That happens to most teams every season. Not just a UK thing.

I disagree with the highlighted sentence. Freshmen disappoint. Returning sophomores who don't progress disappoint. Pope has assembled a team that is not dependent upon freshmen to carry the load. Here is this current roster:

Koby Brea: Selected for his three-point shooting abilities. He is a career 43% three-point shooter. He could disappoint, like CJ Fredrick, but Brea hit 100 three-pointers in 2023-24. CJ Fredrick only attempted 102 (freshman year) and 107 (his junior year) for his career highs.

Lamont Butler: He won't fail because he was chosen for his defense. Defense is about effort. He will give the effort.

Andrew Carr: Carr is probably the most likely candidate for disappointment, but he's going to be a 5th year player. I think he has an opportunity to thrive in Pope's offense.

Brandon Garrison: Expectation for Garrison shouldn't be too high since he's only going to be a sophomore. I think he will thrive by learning behind Amari Williams.

Otega Oweh: Same thing as Butler. He's a defensive-minded player. Those dudes usually do what they need to do.

Amari Williams: He's the best pick up from the portal. He's a senior. He's a defensive juggernaut. He'll be fine.

Kerr Kriisa: I think Pope will get him filling his role the way he needs to. His numbers last year were pretty bad, especially defensively, but he was also on a terrible team. It's hard to play good, hard-nosed basketball, or any sport for that matter, on a terrible team. I think he will be a surprise.

Travis Perry/Collin Chandler/Trent Noah: They are freshman who don't have to carry the team. They will grow and progress without the expectations of being the "it" guy.

I am certainly open to being wrong in this assessment, but I hope I'm not. I see Pope having all of these guys ready to fill a specific role on the team, and I would assume that was his pitch recruiting each of them, so they already know what to expect.

 

[Bleedin Blue in Ohio]

I really like what Coach Pope has done building this roster but and it is a big but. Rebuilding a roster from scratch and adding 11 to 13 new players and trying to form a cohesive unit in 1 year is a tough ask. It is more of an experiment than anything else. Teams are built when players play together and know what each other are thinking, what they are doing, and how they will respond play to play from experience. Even coaching is knowing your players so well and knowing from past experience how they will respond in situations. I am excited to see this team play, and I have guarded optimism. But I worry about the intangibles of team play. Many rosters have successful been overhauled in a year but with 3 to 5 pieces in place to teach the new players. Not 11 to 13 new players trying to mesh on the same team. The Perry, Chandler, Noah recruiting class is very important to ensure the following years are not a complete overhaul again.

 

[wkycatfan]

This season may not be a true indication of how Pope will build rosters, he has kind of had to scramble around this season and he has done quite well given the circumstances IMO.

 

[UKSanders]

I really like what Coach Pope has done building this roster but and it is a big but. Rebuilding a roster from scratch and adding 11 to 13 new players and trying to form a cohesive unit in 1 year is a tough ask. It is more of an experiment than anything else. Teams are built when players play together and know what each other are thinking, what they are doing, and how they will respond play to play from experience. Even coaching is knowing your players so well and knowing from past experience how they will respond in situations. I am excited to see this team play, and I have guarded optimism. But I worry about the intangibles of team play. Many rosters have successful been overhauled in a year but with 3 to 5 pieces in place to teach the new players. Not 11 to 13 new players trying to mesh on the same team. The Perry, Chandler, Noah recruiting class is very important to ensure the following years are not a complete overhaul again.

One intangible that I haven't seen mentioned but am hopeful about is this:
due to most of these guys being upperclassmen, teaching multiple offensive / defensive sets SHOULD be easier b/c they have likely run those things (or something similar) before... so, even though they weren't playing together, they may still know what to do at their respective positions.

If that's the case, it's just working on nuances and communication rather than building from ground zero.

 

[dl51344]

Chemistry is the reason I think it is bad for a team to pay one recruit, like Washington did, 2- 4 times more than any other player. He might be much better than anyone else but how does that work in developing team chemistry? They expect that in the NBA , but college?

 

[UKSanders]

Chemistry is the reason I think it is bad for a team to pay one recruit, like Washington did, 2- 4 times more than any other player. He might be much better than anyone else but how does that work in developing team chemistry? They expect that in the NBA a but college?

The difference is the financial game has now changed in college, so I wonder if the college guys can adjust to that?

Not sure how it will affect chemistry in season, but I think so far what we are seeing is the players' adjustment... the transfer portal. Even if they are content with the coaching and the school itself, they enter the portal school to see if what their market value is. Either their current school is going to pay up, or the player may decide to transfer if another school offers more.

 

[Elliott Tim]

I disagree with the highlighted sentence. Freshmen disappoint. Returning sophomores who don't progress disappoint. Pope has assembled a team that is not dependent upon freshmen to carry the load. Here is this current roster:

Koby Brea: Selected for his three-point shooting abilities. He is a career 43% three-point shooter. He could disappoint, like CJ Fredrick, but Brea hit 100 three-pointers in 2023-24. CJ Fredrick only attempted 102 (freshman year) and 107 (his junior year) for his career highs.

Lamont Butler: He won't fail because he was chosen for his defense. Defense is about effort. He will give the effort.

Andrew Carr: Carr is probably the most likely candidate for disappointment, but he's going to be a 5th year player. I think he has an opportunity to thrive in Pope's offense.

Brandon Garrison: Expectation for Garrison shouldn't be too high since he's only going to be a sophomore. I think he will thrive by learning behind Amari Williams.

Otega Oweh: Same thing as Butler. He's a defensive-minded player. Those dudes usually do what they need to do.

Amari Williams: He's the best pick up from the portal. He's a senior. He's a defensive juggernaut. He'll be fine.

Kerr Kriisa: I think Pope will get him filling his role the way he needs to. His numbers last year were pretty bad, especially defensively, but he was also on a terrible team. It's hard to play good, hard-nosed basketball, or any sport for that matter, on a terrible team. I think he will be a surprise.

Travis Perry/Collin Chandler/Trent Noah: They are freshman who don't have to carry the team. They will grow and progress without the expectations of being the "it" guy.

I am certainly open to being wrong in this assessment, but I hope I'm not. I see Pope having all of these guys ready to fill a specific role on the team, and I would assume that was his pitch recruiting each of them, so they already know what to expect.

I hope not too.

 

[Haggin_Hall_1983]

And if our on court demeanor changes?
More urgency, more fight, more physicality, toughness plus a chip on the shoulder attitude. UK of my youth was tough and prideful. Aware of the tradition and always intimidating.
I may be wrong but we seemed to be a bit soft recently and some players entitled or not focused on strictly winning. Immature.
Will CMP be able to mold these guys together into a smooth unit quickly? I expect them to improve throughout the entire season.

Great post and question. Every team in the country will be asking themselves this question with NIL, and 40% + of your teams roster changing every year. It takes real games to develop chemistry, so I think we will see a lot of slow starts.

What I am really interested in seeing is how many of our guys come back for 2025-2026.

 

[kennyskywalker34]

I disagree with the highlighted sentence. Freshmen disappoint. Returning sophomores who don't progress disappoint. Pope has assembled a team that is not dependent upon freshmen to carry the load. Here is this current roster:

Koby Brea: Selected for his three-point shooting abilities. He is a career 43% three-point shooter. He could disappoint, like CJ Fredrick, but Brea hit 100 three-pointers in 2023-24. CJ Fredrick only attempted 102 (freshman year) and 107 (his junior year) for his career highs.

Lamont Butler: He won't fail because he was chosen for his defense. Defense is about effort. He will give the effort.

Andrew Carr: Carr is probably the most likely candidate for disappointment, but he's going to be a 5th year player. I think he has an opportunity to thrive in Pope's offense.

Brandon Garrison: Expectation for Garrison shouldn't be too high since he's only going to be a sophomore. I think he will thrive by learning behind Amari Williams.

Otega Oweh: Same thing as Butler. He's a defensive-minded player. Those dudes usually do what they need to do.

Amari Williams: He's the best pick up from the portal. He's a senior. He's a defensive juggernaut. He'll be fine.

Kerr Kriisa: I think Pope will get him filling his role the way he needs to. His numbers last year were pretty bad, especially defensively, but he was also on a terrible team. It's hard to play good, hard-nosed basketball, or any sport for that matter, on a terrible team. I think he will be a surprise.

Travis Perry/Collin Chandler/Trent Noah: They are freshman who don't have to carry the team. They will grow and progress without the expectations of being the "it" guy.

I am certainly open to being wrong in this assessment, but I hope I'm not. I see Pope having all of these guys ready to fill a specific role on the team, and I would assume that was his pitch recruiting each of them, so they already know what to expect.

We can agree to disagree on this topic. Not every player will have a good season. I still think one will underachieve and one will overachieve..
However I hope I'm wrong and I hope you're correct. Hopefully every player that gets significant minutes will play great.

 

[Eight_Banners]

Great post and question. Every team in the country will be asking themselves this question with NIL, and 40% + of your teams roster changing every year. It takes real games to develop chemistry, so I think we will see a lot of slow starts.

What I am really interested in seeing is how many of our guys come back for 2025-2026.

2024-25 will be the final year for:

Amari Williams
Andrew Carr
Lamont Butler
Kerr Kriisa
Koby Brea

Unless there's a magical sixth year of eligibility we don't know about.

You're looking at returning:
Travis Perry
Trent Noah
Collin Chandler
Otega Oweh
Brandon Garrison

Hopefully the final few roster spots go to players with eligibility beyond 2025.

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

I disagree with the highlighted sentence. Freshmen disappoint. Returning sophomores who don't progress disappoint. Pope has assembled a team that is not dependent upon freshmen to carry the load. Here is this current roster:

Koby Brea: Selected for his three-point shooting abilities. He is a career 43% three-point shooter. He could disappoint, like CJ Fredrick, but Brea hit 100 three-pointers in 2023-24. CJ Fredrick only attempted 102 (freshman year) and 107 (his junior year) for his career highs.

Lamont Butler: He won't fail because he was chosen for his defense. Defense is about effort. He will give the effort.

Andrew Carr: Carr is probably the most likely candidate for disappointment, but he's going to be a 5th year player. I think he has an opportunity to thrive in Pope's offense.

Brandon Garrison: Expectation for Garrison shouldn't be too high since he's only going to be a sophomore. I think he will thrive by learning behind Amari Williams.

Otega Oweh: Same thing as Butler. He's a defensive-minded player. Those dudes usually do what they need to do.

Amari Williams: He's the best pick up from the portal. He's a senior. He's a defensive juggernaut. He'll be fine.

Kerr Kriisa: I think Pope will get him filling his role the way he needs to. His numbers last year were pretty bad, especially defensively, but he was also on a terrible team. It's hard to play good, hard-nosed basketball, or any sport for that matter, on a terrible team. I think he will be a surprise.

Travis Perry/Collin Chandler/Trent Noah: They are freshman who don't have to carry the team. They will grow and progress without the expectations of being the "it" guy.

I am certainly open to being wrong in this assessment, but I hope I'm not. I see Pope having all of these guys ready to fill a specific role on the team, and I would assume that was his pitch recruiting each of them, so they already know what to expect.

I had a chuckle at Carr being the "most likely candidate for disappointment".

He should put that on his resume.

 

[lwbb]

I believe Coach Pope has selected this roster with team chemistry as a high consideration

You have to have talent

 

[Haggin_Hall_1983]

2024-25 will be the final year for:

Amari Williams
Andrew Carr
Lamont Butler
Kerr Kriisa
Koby Brea

Unless there's a magical sixth year of eligibility we don't know about.

You're looking at returning:
Travis Perry
Trent Noah
Collin Chandler
Otega Oweh
Brandon Garrison

Hopefully the final few roster spots go to players with eligibility beyond 2025.

of those returning, who enters the transfer portal?

 

[Skyguyb27]

I hope you're wrong.

Uh, what?

 

[Bluegrassking]

I had a chuckle at Carr being the "most likely candidate for disappointment".

He should put that on his resume.

I think it may hurt the most if Carr disappoints but a senior coming from the ACC to play a similar role seems closer to least likely to disappoint.

I'd say it is the guys moving up the level of competition ladder that are most likely to not be what we would hope.

 

[Elliott Tim]

Uh, what?

About the team being soft.

 

[megablue]

One intangible that I haven't seen mentioned but am hopeful about is this:
due to most of these guys being upperclassmen, teaching multiple offensive / defensive sets SHOULD be easier b/c they have likely run those things (or something similar) before... so, even though they weren't playing together, they may still know what to do at their respective positions.

If that's the case, it's just working on nuances and communication rather than building from ground zero.

of those returning, who enters the transfer portal?

THAT is the BIG question !! Hopefully, everyone stays and being part of the Kentucky tradition is meaningful to each of them. Still, though, they could get recruited over and that might create disappointment. It seems to me now, with NIL$$$ and the portal, EVERY program faces the tough task of keeping players from year-to-year.

 

[Skyguyb27]

About the team being soft.

He said the the last few years we were soft and he is hoping we have more grit next year as he sees CMP molds them throughout the season and gets better. And apparently you hope that is wrong. LuL

 

[CincinnatiWildcat]

THAT is the BIG question !! Hopefully, everyone stays and being part of the Kentucky tradition is meaningful to each of them. Still, though, they could get recruited over and that might create disappointment. It seems to me now, with NIL$$$ and the portal, EVERY program faces the tough task of keeping players from year-to-year.

Oweh or Chandler are the obvious choice imo for underclassman most likely. The Kentucky kids will likely make more money at Kentucky than anywhere else assuming they play at all. Garrison will be the only returning Center so why would he leave. That leaves you with Oweh or Chandler. I would tend to lean Oweh just because Chandler and Pope have the Mormon thing, but its one of those two imo if we had to pick but I hope we retain them all, that would be a good sign for culture.

 

[Elliott Tim]

He said the the last few years we were soft and he is hoping we have more grit next year as he sees CMP molds them throughout the season and gets better. And apparently you hope that is wrong. LuL

Geez
I meant hope he is wrong about the team coming in.

 

[Bluegrassking]

THAT is the BIG question !! Hopefully, everyone stays and being part of the Kentucky tradition is meaningful to each of them. Still, though, they could get recruited over and that might create disappointment. It seems to me now, with NIL$$$ and the portal, EVERY program faces the tough task of keeping players from year-to-year.

You have to recruit your own team first but in this case the possible returners will all have a fair inside track to a solid role if not being the anticipated starter among those most "at risk".
The field would be clear for Garrison, Oweh should have a good shot at being the 3, and Chandler the 2.

Then the homegrowns can look at expanding their footprints beneath them.

 

[megablue]

You have to recruit your own team first but in this case the possible returners will all have a fair inside track to a solid role if not being the anticipated starter among those most "at risk".
The field would be clear for Garrison, Oweh should have a good shot at being the 3, and Chandler the 2.

Then the homegrowns can look at expanding their footprints beneath them.

Yes. I agree, but … if you want to be really good and compete for banners, it may be necessary to keep recruiting vets from the portal, unless you can expect fans to be patient and allow those you mention to improve and grow into major roles. The thing is … there is huge pressure to WIN and NIL & portal allow you to get immediate impactful help. That could breed dissatisfaction on those who have originally “planned” to stay. I see it that way everywhere, not just here at KY.

 

[Eight_Banners]

I think it may hurt the most if Carr disappoints but a senior coming from the ACC to play a similar role seems closer to least likely to disappoint.

I'd say it is the guys moving up the level of competition ladder that are most likely to not be what we would hope.

I don't think Carr will disappoint. I just think the others have roles carved out that will specifically fit their attributes, and they fit into those roles easiest. Those who are known as shooters are most likely to disappoint, especially if they are not known of their defensive prowess. Brea, Carr, and Kriisa are those guys from the transfer portal so far. I have low expectations for Kriisa, so it will be hard for him to disappoint. Brea, I think, is going to light it up from deep. So, that leaves Carr. Again, I don't think it's likely that he disappoints, but more likely than the rest.

 

[Eight_Banners]

I think it may hurt the most if Carr disappoints but a senior coming from the ACC to play a similar role seems closer to least likely to disappoint.

I'd say it is the guys moving up the level of competition ladder that are most likely to not be what we would hope.

Also, most of the guys aren't moving up the competition ladder. Butler has played in 11 (I think) NCAA tournament games. Oweh, Garrison, Kriisa, and Carr are coming from power conferences. Williams and Brea are coming from teams where they were the focal point of the other team. If anything, being surrounded by the best of the best, will make it easier for all these guys.

 

[Elliott Tim]

Yes. I agree, but … if you want to be really good and compete for banners, it may be necessary to keep recruiting vets from the portal, unless you can expect fans to be patient and allow those you mention to improve and grow into major roles. The thing is … there is huge pressure to WIN and NIL & portal allow you to get immediate impactful help. That could breed dissatisfaction on those who have originally “planned” to stay. I see it that way everywhere, not just here at KY.

Agree.

 

[anonymous_2011]

We have a great leader in Butler and since we don't have any real stars we don't have to worry about attitude issues I wouldn't think.

Can a team with good chemistry overcome the lack of talent though? That will be the question for this season. The Duke game will be a good way to gauge how the season goes. If we can stay within 10 pts we may surprise some folks.