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With Murray is UK preseason #1?

KWilt43atbuzz

All-American
Nov 18, 2012
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I know alot of you guys dont care about the preseason polls so dont reply with your smart ass remarks just leave this one for the ones that dig being ranked #1 all the time.
I think we will be #1 just ahead of the cheaters.
 
Yes:

#1 Kentucky
#2 UNC
#3 Maryland
#4 Kansas
#5 Duke
#6 Virginia

Darryl
 
Probably, and that is remarkable. We just sent 7 players to the draft and we're talking about beng ranked #1 preseason. All I care about is being ranked #1 postseason, but it is still incredible.
 
And it matters one Hell of a lot to be ranked that high. The publicity of being the only program besides Wooden's
UCLA teams to be ranked pre-season #1 3 straight years is very important. Cal is doing everything he can to ensure
UK stays at #1 for all time program status.

By the way, historically pre-season #1 teams have a remarkable success rate.

Darryl
 
There's an argument to be made, but it won't happen. UNC, KU, and Maryland have more experience coming back and that will give them the edge preseason. Luckily by March it will be negligible.
 
I think many voters will be scared off by how much UK lost, so I expect UK to be anywhere from 2-4. UK might be the betting favorite, though.

How would you rank the top 5?

Thanks, Darryl
 
How would you rank the top 5?

Thanks, Darryl
Not sure how I would rank it. I have huge hopes for this year's UK team, but after 12-13 and 13-14, I'm hesitant to declare UK the favorite until we see how all the shiny brand new parts will fit together.

How I think it will be ranked is UNC 1, UK 2, Maryland 3, Kansas 4, Duke 5.
 
Hell yeah we're preseason number 1. This is going to be a fun year in college basketball. There's going to be about 6 dominate teams, then a handful of good teams after that.

1) Kentucky
2) North Carolina
3) Duke
4) Maryland
5) Kansas
6) Arizona
7) Virginia
8) Iowa State
9) Gonzaga
10) Villanova

I don't know why people are down on Arizona. They're going to be one of the best teams in the country all year long. A freshman class of Allonzo Trier, Justin Simon, Ray Smith, and Chance Comanche. A stud transfer PF in Ryan Anderson, then they return Kaleb Tarczewski, Gabe York, Parker Jackson Cartwright, and Elliott Pitts. That's a really, really good team with really, really good depth. Guys like York and Cartwright should break out. But Ryan Anderson is better than Ashley honestly. On another note as bad as I hate to say this Louisville will be right there too. They'll be somewhere in between 11-15 preseason. Indiana will be too. they may actually be a consistent top 10 team.
 
My guess:

1. UNC
2. UK
3. Maryland
4. KU
5. Duke
6. Michigan St.
7. UVA
8. Iowa St.
9. Gonzaga
10. Zona

UNC returns 4 starters and all of their key reserves from a Sweet Sixteen team. I have to think they will be Preseason #1 based on experience.
 
I personally would absolutely rank us #1. Deep, historically talented backcourt plus best lockdown defender from one of the best defensive teams of all time plus #1 recruit/projected top draft pick, all in a down CBB year?

Long long way to go but on paper, a priori, and relative to the field, 1 through 5 our guys coming in may be set up better than any group Cal has brought in yet.
 
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I personally would absolutely rank us #1. Deep, historically talented backcourt plus best lockdown defender from one of the best defensive teams of all time plus #1 recruit/projected top draft pick, all in a down CBB year?

Long long way to go but on paper, a priori, and relative to the field, 1 through 5 our guys coming in may be set up better than any group Cal has brought in yet.

Great post.

I wouldn't trade this team for any other team out there.

College bball is down a bit talent wise. No one looks dominant.

Our ceiling is the highest. We are young, but have the most talent, especially our starting five (with a healthy Poy).

I like our chances.
 
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We were #1in the first pre-season poll this year and that was without Murray! I strongly feel that we're easily the best team with one the the top 2 Coaches in the country.
 
And it matters one Hell of a lot to be ranked that high. The publicity of being the only program besides Wooden's
UCLA teams to be ranked pre-season #1 3 straight years is very important. Cal is doing everything he can to ensure
UK stays at #1 for all time program status.

By the way, historically pre-season #1 teams have a remarkable success rate.

Darryl

And yet... UK is the only program to be ranked pre-season #1 2 years in a row, and fail to win a title in at least one of those years. That sort of takes the bloom off the rose of being ranked pre-season #1 to me. I'd much rather be ranked pre-season #3, and post-season #1. I would imagine that little piece of trivia doesn't get lost on rival recruiters.
 
And yet... UK is the only program to be ranked pre-season #1 2 years in a row, and fail to win a title in at least one of those years. That sort of takes the bloom off the rose of being ranked pre-season #1 to me. I'd much rather be ranked pre-season #3, and post-season #1. I would imagine that little piece of trivia doesn't get lost on rival recruiters.

It's post like these that I don't understand, no offense intended. I see people say "I would rather be post season #1", or "I'd rather win a title", when posed questions such as this. The problem is that most of the time, the original thought has no connection whatsoever to the statements made. Of course, if you gave me the option of either preseason #1, or postseason #1, I am going to pick postseason #1, but there is no direct connection between the two. It's like people who say they would rather have lost a few games during the season and win a title, but the problem is that losing a few games during the season not only doesn't guarantee a title, but they really have little to do with each other.

Kentucky will be the best team, regardless of whether they are preseason #1 or not. And if they aren't, people will find out right around the time we play Duke.
 
Carolina is the number 1 team, no ones knows if the new guys will be that good for the cats, You will find out when you guys play Duke.
 
I think UNC is #1, only guy they lost is Tokoto, and they return everyone else who now has a good amount of experience under their belts.

My top 5 are: UNC #1, UK #2, Maryland #3, Duke #4, Kansas #5

Which honestly is more than fine with me. Would like to fly a little under the radar for a part of the season next year, give our guys some breathing room.
 
Hell yeah we're preseason number 1. This is going to be a fun year in college basketball. There's going to be about 6 dominate teams, then a handful of good teams after that.

1) Kentucky
2) North Carolina
3) Duke
4) Maryland
5) Kansas
6) Arizona
7) Virginia
8) Iowa State
9) Gonzaga
10) Villanova

I don't know why people are down on Arizona. They're going to be one of the best teams in the country all year long. A freshman class of Allonzo Trier, Justin Simon, Ray Smith, and Chance Comanche. A stud transfer PF in Ryan Anderson, then they return Kaleb Tarczewski, Gabe York, Parker Jackson Cartwright, and Elliott Pitts. That's a really, really good team with really, really good depth. Guys like York and Cartwright should break out. But Ryan Anderson is better than Ashley honestly. On another note as bad as I hate to say this Louisville will be right there too. They'll be somewhere in between 11-15 preseason. Indiana will be too. they may actually be a consistent top 10 team.
No LSU in 10?
 
I don't get all the UNC** love. They didn't look good at all for most of the season. Finished with double digit losses, lost an NBA draft pick, didn't bring in any elite recruits. I mean, I can see them being top 10, but not #1.
 
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nothing wrong with the thread kwilt. what people would take issue with is guaranteeing an undefeated season all season long. this is why baseball players don't talk to their pitchers on a no hit streak after 7 innings. you are the type that would go up look him in the eye and say "it's in the bag mofo". we all like making predictions. keep it at that and there's no issues here. it's the agenda stuff. btw yes we should be #1.
 
Gary Parrish had us #1 assuming we added one more elite recruit like Brown, Diallo, or Zimmerman. He bumped us down to #4 after we struck out on those three. That was in mid April. He didn't even have Murray as a possibility at that time. Well, we added one more elite recruit, so when he updates his rankings, i'll bet he has us 1 or 2. Of course that doesn't really mean anything. Just giving you the opinion of one of the top College Basketball writers
 
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No LSU in 10?

I think they'll be top 25, but not top 10 to start with anyways. They may find their way into it a some point though. I'd say they should be in the 11-15 range too. If Josh Gray steps up they'll be a load by the time we play them. Their main weakness to me is that they don't have a good big man. Like a solid true post player.
 
Carolina will be one of the best teams in the country. Not average. Paige is a stud. Everyone knows that. The big thing I see is I think Theo Pinson will break out and become a really good 2 guard and even out their lineup a little. But they have Meeks, Jackson, Johnson, Hicks, and Britt too. But yeah look for Pinson to emerge and score 10-12pts a game. If I'm right then their lineup looks devastating.

Paige
Pinson
Jackson
Johnson
Meeks
 
Believe it or not, but I'm more stoked about next season's team than this previous season's squad. Reason being, I feel like a three guard attack wherein all three can create, shoot, and handle the ball on an elite level is more correlative with the college game than having two slower 6'5" guards, a 6'10" three man and a four man who can't score. Poythress at the 4 is perfect for the college game, and obviously Skal is on par with Towns as far as impact in concerned.

Wouldn't surprise me if they win it all next year. Rim protection should even be on par with last year and the perimeter defense will be among the nation's best with guys like Hawkins and Matthews ready to serve up defensive roles.
 
Believe it or not, but I'm more stoked about next season's team than this previous season's squad. Reason being, I feel like a three guard attack wherein all three can create, shoot, and handle the ball on an elite level is more correlative with the college game than having two slower 6'5" guards, a 6'10" three man and a four man who can't score. Poythress at the 4 is perfect for the college game, and obviously Skal is on par with Towns as far as impact in concerned.

Wouldn't surprise me if they win it all next year. Rim protection should even be on par with last year and the perimeter defense will be among the nation's best with guys like Hawkins and Matthews ready to serve up defensive roles.
agreed. not saying we'll be as dominant or intimidating. but when you're nursing a lead and holding the ball in a tense situation what can you do? next year = a lot more than last year. with our penetration/creation ability the offensive possibilities are almost endless. ESPECIALLY in late clock situations. we have more players who can create and score off the dribble and that's pretty much what you need to win in the college game. when all else fails can you guard us? we probably have the best perimeter in the country, and you can bet cal is going to have these guys drive and create/get to the foul line a lot.

with our weak side lob game in play, our guards may be shooting two foot lob shots to win a title. but the options will be there when murray ulis and briscoe put the ball on the floor.
 
Ranking the cheaters number one preseason is lazy. If you look at that team's full body of work and roster you would see that they will have one of the worst shooting teams in Carolina history. Tokoto and Paige were the only guys who could throw it in the ocean and Tokoto is gone. Zero impact freshmen to pick up the slack. They will see a TON of zone which will keep Paige out of the lane.
 
I think it's really important this season to be the top overall seed or at least the second number one seed.

The South Region is in Lousiville, and that's where UK needs to be. We don't want to have to go to Chicago or even worse get shipped out West to Anaheim.

On paper, our top competition for one seeds are all closer to Philly (UNC, Maryland, Duke) or Chicago (KU, Michigan St.). Now if UK is the first or second overall seed, then it's basically two home games for the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight since Louisville is the closest site.

But if we are third or fourth, it could ruin that. Say UNC is the top overall seed (playing in Philly) and Maryland is second, then Maryland is closer to Louisville than Chicago, so they get to play in the Yum! That sends us to Chicago or if we fall to the fourth overall seed, we go to Anaheim most likely.

So hopefully, UK is the top overall seed and gets to play in St. Louis then Louisville. I can't see us losing in Louisville.
 
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Not sure how I would rank it. I have huge hopes for this year's UK team, but after 12-13 and 13-14, I'm hesitant to declare UK the favorite until we see how all the shiny brand new parts will fit together.

How I think it will be ranked is UNC 1, UK 2, Maryland 3, Kansas 4, Duke 5.

Well lets hope that it works more like 13-14 then 12-13, at least we will be in the finals with that guess hopefully.
 
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