Aberdeen is a perfect fit with a lot of intangibles

[Digger-Cat]

Bet there weren't too many UK fans that thought Oweh was going to turn into a beast, or that Amari Williams would become so dominant, or predict the team to play so well together.

There are so many guys coming in for Pope's second year that have the potential to become a star.

Guys like Lowe, Mo, Aberdeen, JQ, Kam and Jelavic all have the ability to become a star. Pope's system and his attention to detail give these guys the ability to do big things.

Then we have the returning players that should all make sizeable leaps in year 2.

Just look at how much the defense improved after the Ole Miss game. I've never seen improvement like that mid season.

I expect the shooting percentages for some of these players to go way up given what we saw last season, so we really should relax on worrying about shooting.

 

[doc4UK]

It seems as if Pope has recruited a team of 6'4" and above athletes who can defend interchangeably and who can also get to the rim . In addition they are all 30+ % from 3 so this is consistent with the teams we saw in the final 4. We had trouble getting to the rim and had to rely on the three and when a team got up on us and defended the three we had our worst games

 

[Agent Redbone]

He made some key plays against Houston down the stretch. Huge getting a player with Championship knowledge who has experience in all stages of the NCAA tournament, similar to Butler

He actually took over for a very key point of the game and helped win the championship. I told my wife “they gotta keep going to Aberdeen right now’’. He scored several key buckets to keep it close

 

[Gators1853]

He actually took over for a very key point of the game and helped win the championship. I told my wife “they gotta keep going to Aberdeen right now’’. He scored several key buckets to keep it close

Without Aberdeen the Gators do not win the championship. He was that important. Kentucky hit a home run bringing him to Lexington.

 

[TheAnonymous13]

I started thinking 🤔 Allen edwards is the only Florida native I can think of before Aberdeen's commitment yesterday to play for Kentucky. I know Florida had a center that transfered here but I don't think he was from Florida. I am sure there has probably been more ,but I can't think of one and I go back to the Pratt casey and issel years .

Eloy Vargas was from Florida.
Stacy Poole Jr. was a Florida kid, and a legacy.

 

[Padsfs07]

Eloy Vargas was from Florida.
Stacy Poole Jr. was a Florida kid, and a legacy.

Some others:

Irving Thomas
Johnathon Davis
Junior Braddy
Gimel Martinez
Allen Edwards
Myron Anthony
Desmond Allison
AJ Stewart
Brandon Knight
Stacey Poole
Eloy Vargas is Dominican but played HS in Florida
Kevin Knox

 

[TheAnonymous13]

Some others:

Irving Thomas
Johnathon Davis
Junior Braddy
Gimel Martinez
Edwards
Myron Anthony
Desmond Allison
AJ Stewart
Brandon Knight
Poole
Kevin Knox

Yes- knight was from Florida.

 

[Jsp65]

Eloy Vargas was from Florida.
Stacy Poole Jr. was a Florida kid, and a legacy.

Brandon Knight

 

[Zuma75]

It seems as if Pope has recruited a team of 6'4" and above athletes who can defend interchangeably and who can also get to the rim . In addition they are all 30+ % from 3 so this is consistent with the teams we saw in the final 4. We had trouble getting to the rim and had to rely on the three and when a team got up on us and defended the three we had our worst games

Yeah there were quite a few games where teams were up in our guys' shirts all over the floor, and we couldn't make them pay for guarding that tight. That won't happen next season.

 

[fruitcovewildcat]

Without Aberdeen the Gators do not win the championship. He was that important. Kentucky hit a home run bringing him to Lexington.

Couldn’t agree more. No one knows what the future holds for individual players or for teams and all we know for certain is what has already happened. Florida had a nearly perfect season and Aberdeen was a big part of that, especially down the stretch.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

Kinda mind boggling that Aberdeen in a stretch of 80 minutes on the floor for FL only gave up five buckets and only two shooting free throws when playing defense. And that was against people like Ziegler and Pettiford. Looked like a lot of the time he had the best guard on the other team.

 

[Gators1853]

Kinda mind boggling that Aberdeen in a stretch of 80 minutes on the floor for FL only gave up five buckets and only two shooting free throws when playing defense. And that was against people like Ziegler and Pettiford. Looked like a lot of the time he had the best guard on the other team.

I think his biggest contribution is defense.

But Florida won every game this season when Aberdeen hit a 3 point shot. Undefeated.

 

[TheAnonymous13]

I think his biggest contribution is defense.

But Florida won every game this season when Aberdeen hit a 3 point shot. Undefeated.

Considering Florida was 35-4, there may be a lot of stats that yielded an undefeated result. lol.

 

[M4CAT]

Lets hope he becomes a 2-time National Champion this coming season. Huge for Pope and this roster to land to players who already have experience in the SEC.

 

[jeffky]

Eloy Vargas was from Florida.
Stacy Poole Jr. was a Florida kid, and a legacy.

I thought vargas was from a Dominic republic or one of those carribbean islands I forgot about Stacy Poole good call

 

[jeffky]

Brandon Knight

Most definitely that's a good one 👍

 

[TheAnonymous13]

I thought vargas was from a Dominic republic or one of those carribbean islands I forgot about Stacy Poole good call

Yes- I believe he is Dominican. He played high school ball in Florida. American Heritage, as I recall.