At least for next year, Pope needs to recruit over Perry, Noah, Chandler, and Lewis in the portal.
- Thread starter Son_Of_Saul
- Start date
You must be higher on Garrison than I am . I would hate to depend on him as our starter next year.
Some of you seem to think all these guys that are able to, will come back. That isn’t how this new era of the portal has been working. I think the 2 Kentucky guys are the most likely to be back but even that I wouldn’t put at 100%. Then you have Garrison probably 50/50 at best. No clue on Chandler but I would lean transfer. The big one is Oweh, I would think since this has been by far his best college season he’d come back, but nowadays I don’t rule anything out.
Your implication is weak. You're basically implying that player retention and development is impossible in the current basketball landscape.
Tell that to UConn. Tell that to Duke. Tell that to Auburn.
I'd been told Chandler had a talking to a few weeks ago about "It's time to show something" ala if you don't--you will be shown the door. He's played better than he was but why did it take that to get him going?
It's '25 CBB--every roster spot needs to be assumed to be open until you have it from the player and his "representation" that they are staying. Even then-if you can get better players-do so. Loyalty means nothing to anyone. So the last thing you can afford to do is be loyal and caught passing on talent and then burned with players you were being loyal with leaving you holding an empty roster spot. This team hasn't performed to a level that any nostalgia should be taking precedent over who can play in the SEC and help you contend for championships.
You guys have literally been shown stats in this thread what some of the better players in the country this year did when they were freshman. That doesn’t matter to you. You know without a doubt our Freshman will never contribute here. You were battered by Cals philosophy so badly that nothing short of an NBA ready talent can ever play here. Johnni Broome played at Morehead. Baker-Mazara played at Northwest Florida State College. There are countless others.
I never said that.
I’m saying the world is different, the landscape is different and the SEC is a vastly different animal now. You’re applying outmoded thinking to a new paradigm.
Elite level talent + Veteran college experience = success.
And with that formula you interject possibly tens of millions of dollars each year to construct a team while engaging in bidding wars; especially if you’re in the upper echelon like Duke, Kentucky, etc. You’re probably looking at a conservative estimate of spending 6-7 million a year on NIL to legitimately compete for a national championship. Noveau riche programs will try to outspend and then you have to count on the “brand” a school like Kentucky can offer being a decider.
You don’t have much time to waste on in-house development now. You have to evaluate who can play and who cannot on a season by season basis and if at the end of the season you decide they’re not going to be a help next year and there are better players available? That’s what the Transfer Portal is for.
I hate all of that tbh. It leaves me feeling cold to think of where college athletics are right now. We can talk about all this shit about tradition and passion and love of the game but the reality is college basketball is a professional minor league now, with compensated athletes, and we need to operate like it.
The sample size is too small to declare that it's an outmoded paradigm. For example, Connecticut won their second championship principally because of player retention and development. The main pieces for their current team are mostly veterans who have been in the program for multiple years.
Rather play Lewis than any other adult from the recycling bin portal pool. We did that this year, and I'd rather have Lewis's potential over Butler and Kriisa.
No one knows what any of the players you listed will be next season. And you want to recruit over a guy that hasn’t hit the floor?
Sorry, this isn’t a solid statement.
Sorry, this isn’t a solid statement.
So BYU got the best recruit in college basketball next year. So the university has the resources to invest in those type of players.
How many tops recruits did Pope get in his tenure as coach so far ? Not counting the Kentucky born players …
How many players did Mark Pope coach and developed that made it to NBA?
Since the answers to the questions above is 0, I think Mark Pope is going to rely more on his system than on highly ranked recruits.
So far we didn’t land anybody outside of Kentucky.
Relying on transfer portal to get your talent, if you are not getting top notch high schoolers or developing players is going to be problematic in the future to build a physical or successful program in SEC.
How many tops recruits did Pope get in his tenure as coach so far ? Not counting the Kentucky born players …
How many players did Mark Pope coach and developed that made it to NBA?
Since the answers to the questions above is 0, I think Mark Pope is going to rely more on his system than on highly ranked recruits.
So far we didn’t land anybody outside of Kentucky.
Relying on transfer portal to get your talent, if you are not getting top notch high schoolers or developing players is going to be problematic in the future to build a physical or successful program in SEC.
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Right, in Pope's offense you don't need a traditional point guard on offense but you do need somebody that can defend point guards and that's where we have been hurt bad by Butler's injury. Jasper Johnson might not be a traditional point guard on offense but he is somebody that has the athleticism to guard point guards and the same for Oweh.
Right cause we are going to rely on the center to bring the ball and turn it over and have 0 fast point breaks, like we have no due to injuries.
So I take it you want this staff gone before their first recruiting class arrives.
If everyone was happy with putting players in the NBA the last coach would likely still be here.
I suggest you focus your attention on Arkansas, I read they have 3 first rounders.
Sorry, your post is not leading to anything reasonable.
Agreed.
There's a steep dropoff with this team when we go to our bench and BG is "one" of the reasons.
I think that we need to give him some time with this. I mean this is just year 1 and year 1 he didn't really even have the opportunity to get highly ranked recruits.
He's going to have to tho.
I almost wish we had a combo of Cal/Pope. Cal for the recruiting and Pope for the coaching. Then we'd be cooking.
I think Kerr may be back. Sophomore Perry> Freshman Perry. Lewis. > freshman Perry.
Johnson at 2> Oweh at 2. Oweh at 3> Oweh at 2. Sophomore Noah > Freshman Noah. Glaring need at PF. Moreno and Garrison vs garrison and Williams. ( hard to say). Williams has been brilliant at times. Garrison will get better.
We need good 4’s. Probably 2 of them. Wouldn’t say no to an absolute stud at any position.
Johnson at 2> Oweh at 2. Oweh at 3> Oweh at 2. Sophomore Noah > Freshman Noah. Glaring need at PF. Moreno and Garrison vs garrison and Williams. ( hard to say). Williams has been brilliant at times. Garrison will get better.
We need good 4’s. Probably 2 of them. Wouldn’t say no to an absolute stud at any position.
I think the need to replace Fox with a defensive coordinator after this year when his contract expires. Fox supposed to manage the NiL and coordinate the recruiting efforts but the only reason he brought Fox was to return his hiring favor. Okay that’s done, he got paid 200k let’s move on and continue to improve.
I was not a fan of one and done , if that was from high school or from transfer portal. We need to have a balance . Right now it looks that we will have another massive turnover with relying on portal too much on the players that will play just one year…. Where is the development of the players and program?
If we lose Garrison and Chandler , are we 100% that Oweh is here next year? If so, who’s is returning Perry and Noah?
As far as Arkansas , it seems that Calipari still lives rent free in many heads around here.
I didn't say anything about using the center to bring the ball up court so why are you quoting me?
By the way, why are you trying to gaslight people? You're acting like having your top 3 point guards getting injured is Pope's system. I'm assuming you know, like everybody else reading this, that Amari has been bringing the ball up court because he is a better option for it than Brea or Oweh or pretty much anybody else we have available right now. In case you havn't noticed Jasper Johnson and Acadian Lewis are both better dribblers than anybody we have now that isn't injured and more will be added.
Correct was because of the injuries …..Perry can bring the ball just fine. He gives up in defense.
So Amari was part of the PG by committee idea. It worked out well the first game when we got everyone injured because it was a surprise.
However, Amari is not a better ball handler than Oweh or Brea or any guard as a matter of fact. It”s just that the bigs that are guarding him typically are not used to pickup some one full court because bigs are not usually dribbling the ball full court. Amari ball handling is average . Any big with decent hands pokes the ball away from him, like it happend in in Auburn game few times. Also, Amari passing is good when runs the plays. When we rely on him to create he typically throws bullets in the stands.
So to say that Pope”s system does need a PG is very inaccurate. My post responded to that statement.
Well, I never said Amari was a better dribbler than Oweh or Brea; what I meant were that he is better able to dribble the ball against most centers better than Brea or Oweh are against quick, good defensive wings. So, again arguing against something I didn't say or mean.
Perry has plenty good enough handle and quickness to bring the ball up against even pressure defense but he lets himself get trapped too easily; he just needs more experience and physical development.
As for Pope's system not needing a point guard on offense, if both guards and the small forward are quick, athletic, and have good handles...I completely stand by that statement.
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I completely agree with the first paragraph,
Let me have my big doubts about the second. We will need 2 good Pg the way Pope plays and rotates players. One for each rotation so we can push the tempo and also play defense. It will be very tough to have the guards and small forward that you describe and Pope recruits.
That's reasonable. We don't have to agree on everything. I can be an ahole but I'm not a bad enough one to not be able to tolerate any different opinions. Peace, brother.
That’s silly. They can all carve out a role. But the likelihood any of them play a star or even best supporting actor type role on this team is probably a stretch. I expect by their junior and senior season all could be pieces in the rotation of a very successful team.
Statements like these are blowing my mind and just screams TROLL. What Philosphy? the one where he wants players to actually be here for the Unviersity of Kentucky ? The one where he wants them to play as a team and NOT as a stopping point to the NBA... Well then if that is what YOU Want then there are the razorbacks who are in need of some fans. excuse me the University of Calapari. needs some fans. Because right now they might not even make the tournament.
There is an assumption that they will not improve next year.
This used to be the obvious course.
We are jaded because so many players never made year 2 with the previous regime, and we now they progressed in yr 2.
I was just in the NBA.
I think some people are being a bit too bearish on Noah. The dude is a freshman. The guy has good size, good effort, good IQ, rebounds with effort, and can usually get you some buckets. True, he's been in a pretty obvious slump, stats wise, but I think Trent Noah is gonna be a fantastic player for Kentucky for a few more years. Perry, on the other hand? I just don't think he's ever going to have the size, strength or speed to be a great Kentucky (or SEC) PG. I can see Perry getting left out and transferring. But Noah? Nah, that's a guy you keep. He could be a massive piece in Pope's 3rd and 4th (rubber meets the road) seasons.
Same. I'm higher on Garrison than most folks here. I don't know if Pope can keep him happy and on the roster, but I'd be happy if he sticks around. He needs some experience and polish, but I like Garrison.
Curious , did you just learn the word : troll? You are throwing it left and right to anyone and everyone that has a different opinion than you. Relax and learn to read to different opinions , it makes for a healthy dialogue.
