Duke does not have more overall talent, maybe more top end talent..lets discuss

[trenupe2k2]

UK lineup and bench Duke lineup and bench

Green 5star Duval 5star
Diallo 5tar Allen 5star
Knox 5star Trent 5star
Washington 5star Bagley 5star
Skj 5star Carter 5star

Bench: Sga 4star Bench: Bolden 5star
Baker 4star Delaurier 4star
Vando 5star Tucker 4star
Gabriel 5star Vrank 3tar
Richards 5star Oconnell 4star

they will start 4 freshman and a senior...we will start 4 freshman and a sophmore...it will come down to coaching and what each bench can do. im taking our team of course. But Duke will start out 1 because of Bagley rating 99. Espn never put Diallo in the rankings after he reclassified, i thought he would be top 10. Espn bias sometimes.

 

[kybballcrazy]

UK lineup and bench Duke lineup and bench

Green 5star Duval 5star
Diallo 5tar Allen 5star
Knox 5star Trent 5star
Washington 5star Bagley 5star
Skj 5star Carter 5star

Bench: Sga 4star Bench: Bolden 5star
Baker 4star Delaurier 4star
Vando 5star Tucker 4star
Gabriel 5star Vrank 3tar
Richards 5star Oconnell 4star

they will start 4 freshman and a senior...we will start 4 freshman and a sophmore...it will come down to coaching and what each bench can do. im taking our team of course. But Duke will start out 1 because of Bagley rating 99. Espn never put Diallo in the rankings after he reclassified, i thought he would be top 10. Espn bias sometimes.

 

[kybballcrazy]

Duke has no depth. They are also lacking at the guard position in my opinion. The tripper is average and Trent is overrated in my opinion. They will be good upfront but no depth in the front or backcourt

 

[thecatsareback#8]

Meh. Duke doesn't take up enough of my time to break down their roster but I'll read what you guys have to say about the 2017-18 monstars

 

[GoCatsForever2k15]

Generally, id rather have the team with an edge at top talent than the team with better overall depth. Depth is great if you're trying to have an undefeated regular season. If you want a title, I'd rather have an extremely solid group of 6-7 guys that have minimal weaknesses.

 

[Wall2Boogie]

Down playing the situation won't help it. If he would of chose uk some would be saying Anthony who? He's a very good player and I loathe puke just like everyone else but we will need puke to beat themselves

 

[trenupe2k2]

Down playing the situation won't help it. If he would of chose uk some would be saying Anthony who? He's a very good player and I loathe puke just like everyone else but we will need puke to beat themselves

its not downplaying the situation im trying to tell fans not to over react our team is also dangerous and cal teams does better with overall talented depth than just the starting 5 is the best...we had 8 talented, quality players our championship season in 2012..but i still think our 2015 team was overall better.

 

[harlanhomeboy]

Cal won when he had more top end talent (2012) vs a deeper team (2015). So, given the choice, based on us, better to have an elite lineup with a couple rotation guys versus a deeper team.

 

[thecatsareback#8]

Down playing the situation won't help it. If he would of chose uk some would be saying Anthony who? He's a very good player and I loathe puke just like everyone else but we will need puke to beat themselves

Maybe if we would have whiffed on Knox or diallo went to the league.

Come on. Our roaster is full of 5 star talent. And we're BIG which seems to be dukes strong point with bagley and carter.

I'm being honest when I say this, I wouldn't trade rosters for a second

 

[trenupe2k2]

Generally, id rather have the team with an edge at top talent than the team with better overall depth. Depth is great if you're trying to have an undefeated regular season. If you want a title, I'd rather have an extremely solid group of 6-7 guys that have minimal weaknesses.

i like better overall depth, last year we was lacking overall talented depth and the year with murray...our 2014 15 teams had depth like we do this yr we just always missed a player due to injury like cauley stein and poythress

 

[trenupe2k2]

Cal won when he had more top end talent (2012) vs a deeper team (2015). So, given the choice, based on us, better to have an elite lineup with a couple rotation guys versus a deeper team.

ok look at both rosters top 5, i mean i wouldnt duke is far better and above green diallo knox washington skj....i think its closer than you think..allen the weak link in those top 10 players in my opinion. briscoe shut him down

 

[Aike]

I think it's going to take a while for our group to come together. I don't see any elite talent on our team, and we are super young.

I do think we can be one of the best defensive teams in the country by midseason. If we buy into that identity, we can do some damage.

I could be wrong. Someone like Vanderbilt or Diallo might be a world beater from day one. But I think it will take a while.

 

[trenupe2k2]

I think it's going to take a while for our group to come together. I don't see any elite talent on our team, and we are super young.

I do think we can be one of the best defensive teams in the country by midseason. If we buy into that identity, we can do some damage.

I could be wrong. Someone like Vanderbilt or Diallo might be a world beater from day one. But I think it will take a while.

Duke will have the same challenges they are young also bringing in 6 freshman...i dont think its much of a difference.

 

[OSOK]

Duke only goes five deep. Remember what happen to our football player; out for season.

 

[Cawood86]

Don't understand folks surrendering like UK nor anyone else has a chance. Good grief.

 

[trenupe2k2]

Don't understand folks surrendering like UK nor anyone else has a chance. Good grief.

i dont understand it...everybody panicking

 

[JC43]

Two undefeated teams in the title game?

 

[Cowtown Cat]

Wouldn't trade rosters with any team in the country, that's all I know.

 

[Catsgloves1]

We let Duke win it some heads should roll.

 

[Primedfor9]

Duke has no depth. They are also lacking at the guard position in my opinion. The tripper is average and Trent is overrated in my opinion. They will be good upfront but no depth in the front or backcourt

My sentiments exactly. Duke will be good no doubt, but some on here seem to think they're a super team now, they're not and it's mainly due to zero quality backcourt depth. The only advantage Duke has over us, Michigan state and Arizona is the refs, though that is pretty big, they'll likely get the whistle UNC did last year in the tournament.

 

[Primedfor9]

Down playing the situation won't help it. If he would of chose uk some would be saying Anthony who? He's a very good player and I loathe puke just like everyone else but we will need puke to beat themselves

I think it's the opposite of what you're saying, people are overrating them now. Allen and Trent are a step below Trier and Alkins.. and Ayton should be close to as good as Bagley. I'm not seeing what separates Duke from the other top teams, to me they just joined the conversation. Teams that are that dominant have good depth, as soon as Duval gets in foul trouble Duke will be vulnerable imo.

 

[Lovebaskelball]

Ratface only plays 6 players no matter what his bench depth looks like. I do not understand why anyone would go to that hell hole.

 

[Aike]

Duke will have the same challenges they are young also bringing in 6 freshman...i dont think its much of a difference.

The way I feel about our roster has nothing to do with Duke's roster.

 

[Bluesnky]

I think it's the opposite of what you're saying, people are overrating them now. Allen and Trent are a step below Trier and Alkins.. and Ayton should be close to as good as Bagley. I'm not seeing what separates Duke from the other top teams, to me they just joined the conversation. Teams that are that dominant have good depth, as soon as Duval gets in foul trouble Duke will be vulnerable imo.

Duval is a real mystery. No idea what to expect from him.

 

[brianpoe]

Duval is a real mystery. No idea what to expect from him.

Duval was the top rated point guard coming out. Outside of all the recruiting services listing him so, Bamba and others also said it.


Duval is a player.
Bagley is the best player in the nation.
Carter is a very good player.
Trent is a good player.
Trippster will be touted for POY early again this year.


They have by far the best 5 on paper and K only plays 6.

Will Allen screw it up with his psycho-ness?
Can Duvall be a distributor?
Will Trent knock down outside shots? He is the best ready-made scorer of the freshmen, how will that work with Allen?
Carter will be solid, not a great athlete and potential for foul trouble (if Bolden steps up it would be huge).
Can Bagley be limited by extremely physical play down low? How effective will he be if he stays out of the paint?

Duke has potential kinks in their armor but also a very good group.

Im not sure we are their worst nightmare - they could and would run with us, but a big, slow, physical team could cause them many problems.

 

[Wall2Wall]

To say that it balances out because we match in stars is not a good argument. Listing SKJ as a 5 star and Wendell Carter as a 5 star to compare would be like last year saying Bam and Bolden are equal since they have the same amount of gold stars next to their name. Doesn't work that way.

 

[Bluesnky]

Duval was the top rated point guard coming out. Outside of all the recruiting services listing him so, Bamba and others also said it.


Duval is a player.
Bagley is the best player in the nation.
Carter is a very good player.
Trent is a good player.
Trippster will be touted for POY early again this year.


They have by far the best 5 on paper and K only plays 6.

Will Allen screw it up with his psycho-ness?
Can Duvall be a distributor?
Will Trent knock down outside shots? He is the best ready-made scorer of the freshmen, how will that work with Allen?
Carter will be solid, not a great athlete and potential for foul trouble (if Bolden steps up it would be huge).
Can Bagley be limited by extremely physical play down low? How effective will he be if he stays out of the paint?

Duke has potential kinks in their armor but also a very good group.

Im not sure we are their worst nightmare - they could and would run with us, but a big, slow, physical team could cause them many problems.

The biggest question is same as it ever was:

Will Duke play defense? Like, at all?

 

[WildMoon]

If Vanderbilt can stay fully healthy. I believe he is one of the top tier talent.

i am also interesting in growth of Nick Richards, as he has such a limited game so far comparatively. One of those fastest growing player in this year's class if you ask me.

Diallo and Knox is a major talent as well.

I think, the final talent is higher for UK than Duke. The problem is, i think, UK's top talents are still raw, like Nick Richards. I think one can say same thing for SGA, who is still showing major physical change.

UK's potential is really sickeningly high. However, we have zero clue on whether they'll come anywhere near it or grow high enough to achieve the already developed players at Duke.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

Duke starting four freshmen doesn't bode well for them. Let them have all the pressure again. The question is, whose ceiling is higher? I would have to go UK on that one.

 

[smooth as butter]

Duke has no depth. They are also lacking at the guard position in my opinion. The tripper is average and Trent is overrated in my opinion. They will be good upfront but no depth in the front or backcourt

Trent is not overrated.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

Trent is not overrated.

 

[Kybluedude]

Richards is going to be tough and tough minded. Will be the difference maker as the season goes on. Bamba hated playing against him. No back step.

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

Knox and Diallo are going to be as good as any two on Duke.

 

[kybballcrazy]

Trent is not overrated.

Trent is exactly like your posts to this board and contribution overrated. Your a clown

 

[trenupe2k2]

Trent is exactly like your posts to this board and contribution overrated. Your a clown

trent or knox?

 

[kybballcrazy]

trent or knox?[/QUOTE Neither

trent or knox?

Neither the most overratd is trenupe2k2. Take it to the puke board

 

[trenupe2k2]

ur scared of duke

 

[kybballcrazy]

ur scared of duke[/.

ur scared of duke

Lol. Yes I am terrified of a team that kentucky holds a statistical edge in almost every major category in college hoops. Get out of your moms basement and you can start hanging out with the 5 or so yuppies you can find that support the mighty blue devils and the rat fink

 

[kybballcrazy]

ur scared of duke

Lol yes I am terrified of a program in which Kentucky holds a statistical edge in almost every major category in college hoops. Get out of your moms basement and maybe you can find five yuppies around and you can talk about the mighty blue devils and the rat fink.

 

[JonathanW]

UK lineup and bench Duke lineup and bench

Green 5star Duval 5star
Diallo 5tar Allen 5star
Knox 5star Trent 5star
Washington 5star Bagley 5star
Skj 5star Carter 5star

Bench: Sga 4star Bench: Bolden 5star
Baker 4star Delaurier 4star
Vando 5star Tucker 4star
Gabriel 5star Vrank 3tar
Richards 5star Oconnell 4star

People place too much emphasis on how many "stars" a player was rated. There are lots of 5* players who were busts, and lots of 4* & even 3* players who became stars. But I do recognize that with FR you really don't have anything else to base them (yet).

I think Duke will likely start 4 FR & 1 SR, and we will probably start 4-5 FR.
That is pretty even.

Duke returns an experienced SR, and 3 not very experienced SOPHs that could contribute.
We return an experienced SOPH and 1-2 inexperienced SOPHs who could contribute.
Pretty close, but slight edge Duke.

Top 5 (not necessarily starters, but best 5 players)
Duke's top 5 will be Allen, Bagley, Carter, Duval, Trent
Our top 5 (tougher to order) may be Washington, Knox, Diallo, Vanderbilt, Gabriel.
I have to give Duke the edge here.

Duke's next 5 are Bolden, DeLaurier, Tucker, Vrankovic, O'Connell
Our next 5 are Vanderbilt, Green, Richards, SGA, SKJ.
I think we have a big advantage here, although this isn't as important as the Top 5.
I see Bolden (probably their 6th best player close to SKJ or Wynyard, our 10th & 11th best players. So we are in much better shape in dealing with an injury or foul trouble.