Anybody else starting to worry this may end up being one of those seasons of 'What ifs ?'

[Uncle Adolph]

What if we had no injuries ? We know when we are healthy we have proven we can play with any team in the country.
There is still time for us to get everyone back before tournament time and I hope that happens.
Would be a shame if it did'nt.
More losses are coming which is going to hurt our seeding.
I'm guessing we will get no sympathy from anyone.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

We have had so many what if seasons so nothing new for me.

 

[MonsterMash79]

I didn’t have high expectations for this season to begin with. Said to myself before Puke game “ If we win this game, it’ll make the season for me “ add Sweeping UT too? Next year will tell me all I need to know about the coaching position 👌

 

[megablue]

I don't worry about it, but I sure hope this season does not end up being one where we lose in the tourney because we shoot horribly from the field and free-throw line. When the lights get bright, it seems the rims get tighter, unfortunately, and it is defense that makes the difference. We simply have to have defense that shows up every night ... !! GO CATS !!

 

[Dontworryboutit23]

I didn’t expect a final four or championship team this year. They have been really fun, and have won a lot of good games. Now I can still think they can make the second weekend of the weekend

 

[catlogic15]

I hope we can get to the second weekend.
But regardless, I’m holding all judgement until I see Pope’s final roster for the 25-26 season.

 

[catben]

Without Butler and Robinson, it has ALREADY been a "what if" season. With those 2 healthy, this team could have won at least 3 more games. 20-5 would have put us in contention for a 2 seed with a chance to beat Bama AND Auburn to move up to a 1.

If those 2 come back healthy, I feel like we could make it to the 2nd weekend easily, if not, we could lose in the 1st round again. The SEC Tournament will be crazy even with those 2 back, but DREADFUL without them.

 

[CBBCrazy]

I would like to win more than two in a row in the conference. We can't seem to keep healthy long enough to find out. It seems its been forever since we had the team we expected on the floor. Call it bad luck or whatever, we are running out of time.

 

[BIG BLUE GURU]

We are still overachieving compared to the pre-season rankings and the SEC pre-season rankings. Factor in all the injuries and i am still proud of this team. Never thought we would beat Duke, Gonzaga, Florida, Tennessee twice etc. Cal wouldn't have done that and never thought this team of portal role players would do it but Pope did some how. As I said to start this season making the tournament and winning a game or two with this rag tag team is a huge upgrade over Cal and his 5 star teams the last few years who only cared about getting to the NBA.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

My big worry now is possibly missing the tournament if the worst case scenario happens, which is this team at present time, simply not being good enough to compete with the top60ish teams that make up the SEC.

I think we should be able to win 1 or 2 more at minimum. But even then, if we don't get back JR and Butler, it probably won't matter. 7 seed, we beat a 10 seed and then lose to Duke or something in the 2nd round.

 

[megablue]

I would like to win more than two in a row in the conference. We can't seem to keep healthy long enough to find out. It seems its been forever since we had the team we expected on the floor. Call it bad luck or whatever, we are running out of time.

Good point. In conference, we've won two-in-a-row twice and lost two-in-a-row twice. GO CATS !!

 

[UKBB4Ever]

I never worry about stuff like that.


Games like last night bother me.

When you have the game in hand and and just give it away is unacceptable.


When you get beat down the stretch of a tough game because the other team is making every play is one you can live with. Like Tn losing to us last week. We just made winning plays down the stretch.


Texas didn’t take the game. We gave it away being stupid.

 

[Pelosigalore]

I hope we can get to the second weekend.
But regardless, I’m holding all judgement until I see Pope’s final roster for the 25-26 season.

This is the biggest predictor for next year in my opinion. Need another stud recruit, preferably a power forward. And a good portal big man, portal point guard, portal stud shooting guard.
And can we work on rebounding and free throws shooting in the off season.
Oh and defense

So lots of things

 

[TTTblue24]

The wins early in the season kinda changed the feel of this team and some expectations, had we not beat duke and the zags for example then losses at Georgia, vandy, Texas and ole miss wouldn’t sting as much. We’ve seen what this team can do healthy and not healthy by evidence of tenn but it’s the way we lose these games. Toughness and bad turnovers and flat out dumb plays are why we have lost so not exactly sure what we should expect from them cause they’re so jekyl & Hyde.

 

[runt#69]

who out here thought we would beat dUKe ? Seriously. That was a MOST pleasant surprise to begin this year.
Beating Gonzaga in OT without Butler and Kerr goes down ? Nice win, handsome!
Beating the Vols twice this year, shorthanded in both games. C'mon. if that isn't awesome this year, then SWEEPING Tennessee never will be.

beating Florida in the best game of the year. WOW what a game ! and FLorida. They *might* make the NCAA tournament, dontcha think?

Lost road games - what else is new ? I've long since been over those. Period. Make my day and make me laugh out loud.
Bitter home loss to CCC and his boys playing so far above their heads, it was the entire season swan song for those losers. YES LOSERS. Mulligan game, but it sticks in the craw, sure does. The OSU loss stung too, another disappointment along the way, The two worst losses, arkansas and OSU. But OSU is a bubble team too, apparently, this year.

Is Vandy and Ole Miss and Georgia and Texas part of the awesome SEC this year that will make the tournament ? Looks like it to me. Texas was the "worst" and they look good enough to be in the NCAA tournament considering what Ive seen in recent years with suck teams getting into the field.

Oh we won at the HUMP. Mississippi state looks to make the tournament too. Lost a hard game toa great bama team. Alabama might make that NCAA tournament field too.

Beat Louisville. check. another tournament team.

The SEC is historically great this year. We have played a schedule against the best teams in the NCAA by the end of the year. We've already overachieved here for this year. Considering everything, how anyone could see it as anything but a good year with some disappointments along the way to be sure, but anything less is an affront to the effort the team and coaches have put it for YOU, BBN.

No matter how you cut it, it's been a highly entertaining and interesting year full of hope and rejuvenation for the program. The style of play is great to watch, I do not ever wish to return to Calipari ball. It is over now, thank GOD.

I'm sticking with Pope and the Patchwork Cats. Plain and simple.

 

[ukfan1622]

Every season you don't win it all is one of those seasons.

 

[YardCat]

What if we had no injuries ? We know when we are healthy we have proven we can play with any team in the country.
There is still time for us to get everyone back before tournament time and I hope that happens.
Would be a shame if it did'nt.
More losses are coming which is going to hurt our seeding.
I'm guessing we will get no sympathy from anyone.

Every year after 2015 season, we either had injuries or coaching “what if or WTF” coaching moves or play calls.

 

[NociHTTP]

I worry about our guys losing in the tournament, and knowing that it was because of lack of effort. Bust your ass and if the shots don't fall, or your opponent still knocks down the shots, I have no problem with that.

 

[jace2012]

I hope we can get to the second weekend.
But regardless, I’m holding all judgement until I see Pope’s final roster for the 25-26 season.

I agree and I hope he recruits athletic skilled players instead of just three point shooters. You have to be able to defend in this league.

 

[fatguy87]

Not really.

This team was never elite at full strength. I’m enjoying the ride this season, bumps and all.

 

[bbncal02]

Kentucky Basketball: “What Might Have Been”
-A look back at Kentucky Basketball from 2015-2025-

Swear that needs to be the book.

So. Damn. Frustrating. And I’m honestly tired of hearing it. UConn and Duke and UNC have been out stealing titles from us and it pisses me off! We should be at 11 titles. Ugh.

 

[bbncal02]

Not really.

This team was never elite at full strength. I’m enjoying the ride this season, bumps and all.

Hard to make that argument when we have one of the most T15 wins of any team in the country.

 

[bbncal02]

I worry about our guys losing in the tournament, and knowing that it was because of lack of effort. Bust your ass and if the shots don't fall, or your opponent still knocks down the shots, I have no problem with that.

This. And I’ve ALWAYS been that way. Win or lose. If we play hard, look competent, and don’t get a complete screw job from officiating, Im happy.

Losing how we did last night is NOT OKAY. Ever. And I will never apologize for believing that.

 

[UKortho]

I didn’t have high expectations for this season to begin with. Said to myself before Puke game “ If we win this game, it’ll make the season for me “ add Sweeping UT too? Next year will tell me all I need to know about the coaching position 👌

I agree on this season. Add one win in each postseason tourney and that’s icing on the cake.

 

[bucsrule8872]

When was the last time we didn’t have a “what if” season?

Oh, yeah, it was 2012.

 

[BGCATFAN2012]

I think we all see how this is going to end. Williams has improved the most and sometimes a single player can win a couple games in the NCAA kinda Kemba Walker style but this team has so many injuries and mix that with poor defense and inability to get the ball over the rim at the free throw line. Can't win 6 in a row if you can't win 2 in a row.

 

[Hoskins91]

No. We were always good, not great. Even completely healthy, we are a team that can beat anybody, but are also prone to shitty performances that result in losses to mediocre teams.

 

[bucsrule8872]

No. We were always good, not great. Even completely healthy, we are a team that can beat anybody, but are also prone to shitty performances that result in losses to mediocre teams.

Good, not great.

That perfectly describes this team.

It’s almost like the roster was hastily put together by some basketball Dr. Frankenstein. It is impressive that the pieces fit together and function as well as they do, but this team definitely has its flaws, especially on the defensive end.

 

[Hoskins91]

Good, not great.

That perfectly describes this team.

It’s almost like the roster was hastily put together by some basketball Dr. Frankenstein. It is impressive that the pieces fit together and function as well as they do, but this team definitely has its flaws, especially on the defensive end.

Whatever you say.

 

[G-PIP]

What if we had no injuries ? We know when we are healthy we have proven we can play with any team in the country.
There is still time for us to get everyone back before tournament time and I hope that happens.
Would be a shame if it did'nt.
More losses are coming which is going to hurt our seeding.
I'm guessing we will get no sympathy from anyone.

I agree with catben in that I think it's already a "what if season" and I'm not sure that can be changed. Can Butler and Carr play at 100% this season? I'm really starting to doubt that (although I'm not claiming to know for sure). Kriisa doesn't appear to be coming back, and how close will he be to 100% even if he does? So, if or when Butler starts playing again, UK is still back to having one PG - and we would really need him to play 40 minutes. And I don't even know what level of injury Robinson has. So frustrating. But I'm just going to try to enjoy the rest of the season without any real expectation.

 

[OmahaCats]

Is

What if we had no injuries ? We know when we are healthy we have proven we can play with any team in the country.
There is still time for us to get everyone back before tournament time and I hope that happens.
Would be a shame if it did'nt.
More losses are coming which is going to hurt our seeding.
I'm guessing we will get no sympathy from anyone.

what it is. If we never get healthy and we lose early in the tournament then we move on to next year. Too early to say though

 

[mebeblue2]

the last few years we have been bitten by the injury bug

 

[twindaddy2003+1]

It's definitely going to be a what if season sadly but at least the future looks bright......

 

[UKWildcats1987]

The injuries have been way worse this season than any I can remember.

2015 losing poy took that team from an all time great juggernaut to a great team with a potential Achilles heel. Should they still have won? Probably. Wisconsin was the one team you didn't want to see though due to some matchup concerns.

2014 losing wcs n the sweet 16 and not having him for that uconn team was probably the difference n winning the title IMO.

2003 not having a healthy Bogans sucked too.

1997 and DA is an obvious cost UK a title pick.

Other teams can do this too but in 3 of those 4 seasons I listed I'd put UK winning it all at 99% plus percent if healthy.

 

[UKNothinButNet]

We have a good offense, ton of Quad-1 wins and I don’t have to watch CCC run up and down the sidelines screaming “GOOOOOO” and “RRRUUUUUNNN”. So I’m good for the rest of the season! 😀

 

[docholiday51]

One could make the case it already has been a season of what if's. We started very strong and won some games we shouldn't have. Fans rightfully came to believe we were better than we really were. On the other side of the coin we lost a few games that we should have won when we were more or less healthy. I am
not convinced we can win 20 games this year but it is possible if we can pick up a win in the SECT and
one in the NCAAT.

If we can get a win in those 2 tournaments I think the season has been a success. It is possible we could be stuck at this level for the next year or more. Pope hasn't been here long enough to begin to define who he
is as a coach and who we are as a team. I think that is probably a 3 year process. NIL and the portal
cloud that issue to the point of mere guesswork.

We play an interesting style of basketball, when it works we are very good, when it doesn't we are just
above average. In either case we are still UK and our fans will continue to live and die with each game.

 

[etowncatfan]

No What Ifs from me. This was always going to be a I don’t expect much from this team season. Our record is about what I thought it would be. I didn’t expect the SEC to be so tough. I thought we would lose against the Good teams and get most our wins against the middle of the pack SEC Teams. But if we were destined to have the record we have I am glad we beat the Big Dogs!

 

[ukypug]

I got a what if for ya…what if Cal had stayed and we had Arkansas record or probably worse. Pope wants to win here maybe more than most of us and I trust he will. Life is what if.

 

[megablue]

No. We were always good, not great. Even completely healthy, we are a team that can beat anybody, but are also prone to shitty performances that result in losses to mediocre teams.

Even healthy, we are only a good team.
Not an excellent one.
Excellence requires consistency.