1998 team…

[sportspm]

Had a Sheppard and Edwards. Had two 7 footers Maglore & Nazr. Had a quick PG Turner, that teams had trouble staying in front of. Had a bad home loss to ole miss before they made their run.
I know that team was 32-4, won the sec regular season and tournament, but still interesting to me with some similarities

 

[BigKari]

Had a Sheppard and Edwards. Had two 7 footers Maglore & Nazi. Had a quick PG Turner, that teams had trouble staying in front of. Had a bad home loss to ole miss before they made their run.
I know that team was 32-4, won the sec regular season and tournament, but still interesting to me with some similarities

Lol Nazi

 

[247CATS]

Doesn’t mean much and college basketball was a completely different game back then. You had a handful of teams with a legit chance to win and now you have triple the amount of teams that’s capable of winning in March with the transfer portal and NIL available now.

 

[BigTyrone]

Lol Nazi

People have been spelling it that way for 25 years. I don’t freak out over misspelling or bad grammar (except “I seen”), but I cringe every time I see this.

 

[BlueBomb]

People have been spelling it that way for 25 years. I don’t freak out over misspelling or bad grammar (except “I seen”), but I cringe every time I see this.

My dad called him Ozzy. I just decided not to correct him.

 

[Wonky]

Here’s a stat for you: no Kentucky team has won the title that didn’t have players with Final Four experience on it since 1958.

 

[sportspm]

Here’s a stat for you: no Kentucky team has won the title that didn’t have players with Final Four experience on it since 1958.

That is an interesting stat

 

[CELTICAT]

36-4

 

[Wonky]

36-4

And that team was a #2 seed!

 

[BlazerHallsBallsN96]

Here’s a stat for you: no Kentucky team has won the title that didn’t have players with Final Four experience on it since 1958.

Or a KY boy that played with heart

 

[dcw62]

That team played defense, that's the big difference and with less talent

 

[BlazerHallsBallsN96]

That team played defense, that's the big difference and with less talent

Magloire was a total monster he completely obliterated souls on the regular

 

[sportspm]

Magloire was a total monster he completely obliterated souls on the regular

What’s he doing to wojo!? 😂

 

[nickhorvathsuxazz]

Had a Sheppard and Edwards. Had two 7 footers Maglore & Nazr. Had a quick PG Turner, that teams had trouble staying in front of. Had a bad home loss to ole miss before they made their run.
I know that team was 32-4, won the sec regular season and tournament, but still interesting to me with some similarities

Differences though. Our centers were big ol' stout upper classmen w/ a fair sized mean streak in one of them and the point guard was a hellacious on-ball defender who was hard to drive on.

 

[nickhorvathsuxazz]

Here’s a stat for you: no Kentucky team has won the title that didn’t have players with Final Four experience on it since 1958.

Well then, the only thing we can do is lay the groundwork for next year's title by getting to the final 4 this year

 

[Kyhoward]

1998 team - one of my favorites, no superstars but they were experienced, hard nosed, and played together. Nazr and Jamaal were the only ones to have lengthy NBA careers. Wayne Turner was one of the best point guards ever at UK despite not being a good shooter. What he could do was drive to the basket, handle the ball w/o turnovers, and get in the opposing players grille and stay there. Cameron Mills only skill was shooting but we don’t win the title without him. Allen Edwards much like Adou now - could do about anything the team needed, really an unsung hero. Scott Padgett could shoot and rebound well. Heshimu Evans was a Swiss Army knife. Could lead the team in scoring or not score and still have a great game. Finally, Jeff Shepherd - Reed plays just like him. Father and son were/are winners. The Comeback Cats were a great and much revered team and were also great people. This years team seems to have great kids too who play for each other. This is rare and refreshing in today’s college basketball. No matter how the rest of the season unfolds, this team will be remembered for that

 

[JC CATS]

Everybody here loved Tubby huh? 😂🤣

 

[Montana81]

That team also had 7 juniors and seniors in the rotation and like a million combined games worth of tournament experience.

 

[$Z71$]

That team also had 7 juniors and seniors in the rotation and like a million combined games worth of tournament experience.

Total games played experience by rotation players before the 1998 season started was 482. This year prior season experience was 261 games. This years team has two fifth year seniors in Mitchell and Reeves plus sophomore Thiero and UGO. More experience than we are used to having.

 

[WeWant9]

Total games played experience by rotation players before the 1998 season started was 482. This year prior season experience was 261 games. This years team has two fifth year seniors in Mitchell and Reeves plus sophomore Thiero and UGO. More experience than we are used to having.

Would be interesting to compare the NCAAT experience, that is one thing lacking with our more experienced guys.

 

[Montana81]

Total games played experience by rotation players before the 1998 season started was 482. This year prior season experience was 261 games. This years team has two fifth year seniors in Mitchell and Reeves plus sophomore Thiero and UGO. More experience than we are used to having.

That’s true but it makes a difference when the players have actually played multiple years with each other. This team is still very new to each other.

Secondly, do minutes played. Thiero and Ugo are sophomores that hardly played as freshman.

Lastly, i said tourney games played.

 

[Montana81]

1998 returning minutes played:

Jeff Shepherd 1440
Nazr Mohammed 705
Scott Padgett 806
Wayne Turner 1367
Heshimu Evans 1668
Allen Edwards 1358
Jamal Magloire 626
Cameron Mills 372

Total: 8342

2024 returning minutes played:

Antonio Reeves: 3541
Tre Mitchell: 2840
Adou Thiero: 190
Ugonna Onyenso: 111

Total: 6682

Closer than i thought. But we also only have 4 guys that have played minutes at all before this season. And 96% of those minutes are coming from 2 guys that played the majority of those minutes elsewhere.

i’m not even going bother with tourney minutes played. because that one would be obscenely lopsided and we all know it.

 

[Kyhoward]

That’s true but it makes a difference when the players have actually played multiple years with each other. This team is still very new to each other.

Secondly, do minutes played. Thiero and Ugo are sophomores that hardly played as freshman.

Lastly, i said tourney games played.

Agree with you Montana. - Ugo and Adou played little last year. The only true returnee is Antonio. Although Tre is a 5-year player he is in his one and only year at UK. So we really have no one who, before this year, has played together and very little, if any, tournament experience.

You can’t teach experience nor minimize games played together. Only time gives a player experience and only seasons played together gives a team experience. These are the biggest weaknesses that I see with this year’s team. The talent is there and they are improving as a result of playing 30 games together. Houston, Purdue, UConn, and others (last year’s San Diego State team) have both experienced players that have been together for multiple years. This individual and team experience is a big hurdle for a young team to overcome. Could we beat the above teams in the NCAA tournament? Maybe and that is why the games are played, but I think the possibility is not very good. A 2nd year with this same roster would probably be a juggernaut and the preseason favorite but we know that will not happen.

 

[bigbluedon]

Pretty sure they were 35-5

 

[Montana81]

Pretty sure they were 35-5

35-4

97 went 35-5.

2 of those 4 losses were to really bad teams however. I think we lost in Rupp to a 12-20 Louisville team and another home game to 14-15 Florida.

I don’t remember much about the Louisville game. But Jason Williams went bonkers on us in the Florida game. Cameron Mills went on a tear of his own and nearly brought us back but we couldn’t quite get over the hump.

 

[jeffky]

Here’s a stat for you: no Kentucky team has won the title that didn’t have players with Final Four experience on it since 1958.

No Kentucky kid either

 

[yoshukai]

Well then, the only thing we can do is lay the groundwork for next year's title by getting to the final 4 this year

They will all leave . It’s the culture.

 

[yoshukai]

1998 team - one of my favorites, no superstars but they were experienced, hard nosed, and played together. Nazr and Jamaal were the only ones to have lengthy NBA careers. Wayne Turner was one of the best point guards ever at UK despite not being a good shooter. What he could do was drive to the basket, handle the ball w/o turnovers, and get in the opposing players grille and stay there. Cameron Mills only skill was shooting but we don’t win the title without him. Allen Edwards much like Adou now - could do about anything the team needed, really an unsung hero. Scott Padgett could shoot and rebound well. Heshimu Evans was a Swiss Army knife. Could lead the team in scoring or not score and still have a great game. Finally, Jeff Shepherd - Reed plays just like him. Father and son were/are winners. The Comeback Cats were a great and much revered team and were also great people. This years team seems to have great kids too who play for each other. This is rare and refreshing in today’s college basketball. No matter how the rest of the season unfolds, this team will be remembered for th

I agree . Scott Padgett did play in the nba for 8 years though.

 

[M4CAT]

Had a Sheppard and Edwards. Had two 7 footers Maglore & Nazr. Had a quick PG Turner, that teams had trouble staying in front of. Had a bad home loss to ole miss before they made their run.
I know that team was 32-4, won the sec regular season and tournament, but still interesting to me with some similarities

I like it. Hope the season ends with the same result. The tide has to turn our way soon enough.

 

[BlazerHallsBallsN96]

What’s he doing to wojo!? 😂

Nothing higher One can achieve in life than to snatch the soul of a star Pukeie like wojo haha. Wonder why they don't play the 98 elite 8 game highlights like they do the C.L. shot from 92? That team dry cornholed puke in the second half hahaha!
Same reason the 78 team is my favorite of all time, they squashed PUKes soul out of them haha