FINAL LINEUP: Post Oweh Returning

[doc4UK]

Redshirt Potter for sure. Maybe Hawthorne and Noah as well.

Jalavic is the real unknown and may push for a sixth man role. I agree that JQ may not play until January. I also believe that Chandler will play a key backup role as will JJ.

However I do not think platooning for the non-conference schedule is a bad idea. At least everyone will be experienced and even rested by Conference time. Also maybe there is enough depth and length and shot blockers to press the entire game and play 90 feet defense.

Very deep team but I totally agree that Mo and Denzel (both with championship SEC experience) will start along with Lowe and OO and Garrison .

 

[Greatestalltime]

1. Lowe
2.
3. Oweh
4.
5. JQ

I’ll tell you the rest after first exhibition game.

 

[catsfanbgky]

Lowe
Ortega
Williams
Dioubate
JQ

 

[creeksman]

I don't think having too much depth will be a problem necessarily, but it is absolutely going to be a tough puzzle for Pope. How can Pope keep the hot hand(s) in and also get everyone minutes? There will be games where some stud will only get 5-10 minutes. And games where someone is off and gets more minutes than a guy who played well. After any loss, the fan base will absolutely be complaining about lineups.

Early Season:
Lowe - Committee
Aberdeen - Johnson - Chandler
Oweh - Williams - Noah - Hawthorne
Dioubate - Jelavic
Garrison - Moreno - Potter

Late Season:
Lowe - Committee
Aberdeen/Johnson - Chandler
Oweh - Williams - Noah - Hawthorne
Dioubate - Jelavic
Quaintance - Garrison - Moreno - Potter

I think outside of Lowe, Moreno and Potter, everyone can and will play multiple positions.

 

[jrpross]

I don’t think Aberdeen and Dioubate came here to come off the bench.

I’ll go with

Lowe
Aberdeen
Oweh
Dioubate
Garrison

Bench:
JQ (plays starter minutes)
Johnson (plays near starter minutes)
Williams (plays near starter minutes)
Chandler
Jelavich
Moreno
Noah
Hawthorne

If JQ is healthy, ain’t no way he’s coming off the bench. That would be as bad as sitting Reed & Rob.

 

[JimBR]

I don’t think Aberdeen and Dioubate came here to come off the bench.

I’ll go with

Lowe
Aberdeen
Oweh
Dioubate
Garrison

Bench:
JQ (plays starter minutes)
Johnson (plays near starter minutes)
Williams (plays near starter minutes)
Chandler
Jelavich
Moreno
Noah
Hawthorne

I'm on board with this line up at the start of the season. It will probably change as the season progresses. I did not see The Tulane guy play, but I believe Noah will be stiff competition for minutes at the 3 position.

 

[JonathanW]

Damn, all of you guys are so focused with "coming off the bench" or not.
SMH.
Minutes are what matters!!!!

BCG had Coury start all but 2 games, but he only played 10.7mpg (9th on the team in minutes). I think Stevenson was probably happier with his 24.4mpg (but only 2 starts).
Or more recently, Sheppard was 3rd on the team in minutes (28.9mpg), and 2nd in minutes after SEC play started at >30/gm. Meanwhile Edwards (started) but played only 2/3 as much as Sheppard.
You can't score or get any stats or TV time on the bench.

My MPG projections (these add up to slightly over 200 due to some missed games):
25 Oweh
22 Lowe
21 Johnson
20 Aberdeen
20 Quaintance
20 Garrison
18 Dioubate
17 Williams
16 Jelavic
15 Chandler
3 Moreno
3 Noah
2 Potter
2 Hawthorne

 

[cornbreadnmilk]

Lowe
Aberdeen
Oweh
Mo
JQ

 

[TFCats11]

I don’t think Aberdeen and Dioubate came here to come off the bench.

I’ll go with

Lowe
Aberdeen
Oweh
Dioubate
Garrison

Bench:
JQ (plays starter minutes)
Johnson (plays near starter minutes)
Williams (plays near starter minutes)
Chandler
Jelavich
Moreno
Noah
Hawthorne

Hold on… So, Aberdeen and MD didn’t go to UK to come off the bench, but JQ did?

FFS, make it make sense!😩

 

[bucsrule8872]

Pope will likely start Lowe and Aberdeen together, because it makes the most sense from a ball-handling and shooting perspective. Aberdeen was great when he had real minutes for Florida. He also obviously knows what it takes to win.

Williams as a 9 point per game Tulane transfer might be the most "hyped-without-real sample-size" incoming player we've had here in a long time. I think he turns out to be a 3 to 4 points per game guy next year, and then gets a bigger role as a junior.

Oweh at the 3. Three ball-handlers/play makers on the court at once in Lowe/DA/Oweh.

Williams as the starting three appears to be the cutesy choice of the day. I'm going with experience and real sample size.

I’m with you.

This starting lineup, as I mentioned above, gives you the most big time experience you can put out there to start the game, and I think that’s important:

G Lowe- All-ACC, leading scorer for a P5 team.
G Aberdeen- SEC experience/National Champion.
G Oweh- Big 12/SEC experience/All-SEC, leading scorer for a P5 team.
F Dioubate- SEC experience/Final Four experience.
F Garrison- Big 12/SEC experience.

All five are Juniors or Seniors. All five have P5 experience. Four out of five played in the SEC before.

That’s a lot of experience.

And the bench is very strong:

G Johnson- 5-star talent.
G Chandler- SEC experience.
G Williams- D1 experience/projected draft pick in ‘26.
F Jelavic- international experience.
F Quaintance- Big 12 experience/projected lottery pick in ‘26.

We will essentially have one HS recruit in our 10-man rotation.

 

[MegaBlue05]

Hold on… So, Aberdeen and MD didn’t go to UK to come off the bench, but JQ did?

FFS, make it make sense!😩

He’s coming off major reconstructive surgery 2 months ago and might not be fully healthy until conference play. Note (plays starter minutes) by his name, guy who thinks Kerr faked his injury.

 

[bucsrule8872]

Lowe
Johnson
Oweh
Mo
JQ
will be the end of year lineup. Aberdeen, Williams and Jelavic are gonna play a lot. If Garrison doesn’t show a lot of improvement I can see Moreno moving ahead of him in the rotation by years end. Garrisons not a terrible player, but what does he really do well? JMO, but if he doesn’t really improve over the summer he may be the odd man out. I also don’t discount Chandler, and Noah forcing their way on the floor with good play. Hawthorne to me is the wild card. He may be much better than people think. Nice problems Pope has.

Man, if that lineup is our starters by the end of the year, I’ll be ecstatic.

That means a 100% healthy and back to his pre-injury self Quaintance and Johnson balled out enough to push some experienced guys to the bench.

Bringing this in off the bench:

G Aberdeen
G Chandler
G Williams
F Jelavic
F Garrison

This team was not just thrown together. This was all well thought out and pieced together magnificently. Almost like the Coach studied tape and the analytic data in order to put together his team. Almost like the coach is highly intelligent and knows what he is doing. Almost like the coach cares about winning and winning big and will do anything in his power to deliver a title to BBN.

Pope might not get the job done, but it won’t be due to a lack of effort.

 

[ArtLaibsGhost]

He’s coming off major reconstructive surgery 2 months ago and might not be fully healthy until conference play. Note (plays starter minutes) by his name, guy who thinks Kerr faked his injury.

Even if healthy I don't think Pope plays JQ more than 10 to 15 minutes a game for first few weeks of season being cautious about the injury. If his knee holds up he is an obvious starter.

 

[AzubuikeandFitch]

Note: I am going to assume JQ is fully healthy to begin the season, so no pre/post JQ projections. With our roster being finalized with Oweh returning, it's going to be very interesting how minutes and lineups shake out. In my opinion, Lowe, Oweh and JQ will lead the team in minutes, as they will be our foundation. Outside of them, I believe Aberdeen, Jasper, Williams, Dioubate, and Garrison (you might insert Chandler here too), will be included in our main rotation and soak up the remaining minutes. Most probably already know that Williams has been my dark horse all offseason. With that being said, here is my projected starting lineup with the first off the bench below. I'm also curious on everyone else's take.

Starting Lineup:
PG - Lowe
SG - Oweh
SF - Williams
PF - Garrison
C - JQ

First Off The Bench:
Aberdeen
Jasper
Dioubate
Chandler
Jelavic
Moreno
Noah
Hawthorne
Potter

Aberdeen starts over Williams. I think Pope goes small to start the year with Oweh at the 3.

Additionally, there's just too much experience between Dioubate and Aberdeen for them to not start or play in critical stretches.

 

[creeksman]

Aberdeen starts over Williams. I think Pope goes small to start the year with Oweh at the 3.

Additionally, there's just too much experience between Dioubate and Aberdeen for them to not start or play in critical stretches.

I agree with this. I think there will be games where Chandler, Williams and Jelavic are the odd men out. On the season they’ll probably average 15+ minutes, but will get under 10 sometimes.

 

[ArtLaibsGhost]

Start of season
Lowe
Aberdeen
Oweh
Dioubate
Garrison
First man off bench
Williams and JQ( only a couple of weeks then he starts)

 

[wildcatglenn]

Starting Lineup:
PG - Lowe
SG - Oweh
SF - Williams
PF - Dioubate
C - JQ

First Off The Bench:
Aberdeen
Jasper
Garrison
Chandler
Jelavic
Moreno
Noah
Hawthorne
Potter

I believe Jelavic could start instead of Dioubate, especially if he gets used to American basketball quick. I don't see Garrison starting unluss JQ isn't ready.

 

[ccukuk]

Damn, all of you guys are so focused with "coming off the bench" or not.
SMH.
Minutes are what matters!!!!

BCG had Coury start all but 2 games, but he only played 10.7mpg (9th on the team in minutes). I think Stevenson was probably happier with his 24.4mpg (but only 2 starts).
Or more recently, Sheppard was 3rd on the team in minutes (28.9mpg), and 2nd in minutes after SEC play started at >30/gm. Meanwhile Edwards (started) but played only 2/3 as much as Sheppard.
You can't score or get any stats or TV time on the bench.

My MPG projections (these add up to slightly over 200 due to some missed games):
25 Oweh
22 Lowe
21 Johnson
20 Aberdeen
20 Quaintance
20 Garrison
18 Dioubate
17 Williams
16 Jelavic
15 Chandler
3 Moreno
3 Noah
2 Potter
2 Hawthorne

Really? You brought up bcg time and tried to include it as logical?

 

[zoid1]

Start the season
Pg- Lowe
Sg- Aberdeen
Sf- Oweh
Pf- MO
C- BG

By conference play
All the same except JQ will start C

Lowe and Aberdeen at Pg
Aberdeen and Chandler at Sg
Oweh and Kam at Sf
MO and Jelavic at Pf
BG and JQ at C

Noah and rest will get clock in the early season to see if they will contribute

 

[ccukuk]

This is the deepest we have EVER been, in my opinion.

We legitimately have 13 guys who could log heavy minutes on an SEC team.

Not even 96 or 2015 had the type of talent at spots 11, 12, 13 and 14.

Just an outrageously deep basketball team.

I swore I would never, ever want to platoon again, but this team has me thinking like a crazy man.

Lowe
Aberdeen
Oweh
Mo D
JQ

Jasper
Chandler
Kam Williams
Jelavic
Garrison

And that leaves out:

- A McDonald's All-American freshman
- A former top-150 Sophomore who logged decent minutes last year
- A top-35, 4-star recruit from this year's class
- And a 7-footer who played 20+ MPG in the MAC last year

When you can make 2 full platoons and have 4 guys of that caliber STILL not in the rotation, you have to be in contention for one of the deepest teams in College Basketball history.

I still dont understand this aspersion to”platooning.” That team with that sub pattern allowed them to almost run the table at 40-0. That team’s only loss came when it moved away from that.

 

[Wildcat-in-STL]

In November I think

Pg- Lowe 24 mpg
Sg- Aberdeen 22 mpg
Sf- Oweh 26 mpg
Pf- Mo-D 20 mpg
C - Garrison 20 mpg

backups
Pg/Sg- Johnson 16 mpg
Sg- Chandler 14 mpg
Sf- K.Williams 14 mpg
Pf- Jelavic 16 mpg
C/Pf - Quaintance 16 mpg
C - Moreno 10 mpg
Pf/Sf - Noah 2 mpg


By Feb I can see the best lineup being Lowe, Oweh, Mo-D, Jelavic, and JQ

 

[Wildcats1st]

I think pope plays the matchups this year and we have multiple starting lineups. Also i see a lot of Aberdeen starting at the 2. I dont think so. Pope said he came to play pg so I think he ends up 6th man to Lowe and be a back up at the two. To start the year though.

Lowe backed up by Aberdeen
Jasper backed up by chandler and Aberdeen
Oweh Williams back up and dioubate
Dioubate backed by Jelavić and Williams
Garrison backed by JQ and Moreno

If we need to go tough defense
Aberdeen
Oweh
Williams
Dioubate
JQ

If we need to go heavy offense
Lowe
Jasper or chandler
Oweh
Williams
Garrison

Just for the record the most under appreciated or under the radar player is colin chandler. He could explode this season and be our starting 2 next year could be getting heavy minutes by this seasons tournament.

 

[catsfanbgky]

If Williams is as good as I and others think he is, and progresses his sophomore year, he will NEVER be the odd man out. Too much versatility and athletic ability to ride the bench. I think he starts. JMO. Two way players who can score from 3 areas will play the most. Williams fits the criteria. Aberdeen has been a career back up, he is solid, but just doesn't do anything one thing great. Perfect utility guy who can fill in for different positions but not good enough to command a starters spot.
Once again, IMO the starters will be (when fully healthy) :
Lowe
Oweh
Williams
Dioubate
JQ

 

[storm1507]

1st game start the juniors and seniors.

Lowe
Aberdeen
Oweh
Mo
Garrison

After that....earn the right to start over one of them. I see 10 or 11 earning decent minutes early season and will get down to 9ish late.

 

[AshWilliams]

At least there's no real Benny lineup here. We have at least 10 guys who could legitimately start. Chemistry and synchronicity are going to be the main factors. Pope will figure it out.

 

[fatguy87]

1. Lowe
2. Johnson
3. Oweh
4. Jelavic
5. JQ

 

[BlueBloodedCat96]

1. Lowe
2. Johnson
3. Oweh
4. Jelavic
5. JQ

Underrated. Maybe the most explosive line up. I would just swap Jelavic for Mo.

 

[fatguy87]

Underrated. Maybe the most explosive line up. I would just swap Jelavic for Mo.

Mo is valid.

I picked Jelavic not necessarily because I think he is better, but rather because his skills are in line with what Pope prefers from his front court.

Plus, Mo might be a better complement to Garrison. Mo can cover some of Garrison’s rebounding deficiencies.

 

[3Eye]

This team will shoot, defend and rebound, Pope has a deep bench to make it happen.
Legit 12 deep rotation without fall off.

 

[BlueBloodedCat96]

Mo is valid.

I picked Jelavic not necessarily because I think he is better, but rather because his skills are in line with what Pope prefers from his front court.

Plus, Mo might be a better compliment to Garrison. Mo can cover some of Garrison’s rebounding deficiencies.

Not real familiar with his game. If he welcomes contact like Mo we are in business. I’m picturing a more athletic Kyle Wiltjer / Derrik Willis. Excited to see him play.

 

[FilsonCat]

Not real familiar with his game. If he welcomes contact like Mo we are in business. I’m picturing a more athletic Kyle Wiltjer / Derrik Willis. Excited to see him play.

From the clips I have seen, Jelavic has legit pro style go-to post moves. He's not going to float outside and be a wing jump shooter. He's also a lot bigger than Wiltjer or Willis. He looks capable of running the sets Pope tried to run with Carr last season.

 

[bucsrule8872]

From the clips I have seen, Jelavic has legit pro style go-to post moves. He's not going to float outside and be a wing jump shooter. He's also a lot bigger than Wiltjer or Willis. He looks capable of running the sets Pope tried to run with Carr last season.

Yep.

I don’t see the Wiltjer and Willis comparison.

They were snipers, basically. While he was here, that’s pretty much all Wiltjer did was make 3’s.

Jelavic isn’t that kind of player. Isn’t he like a career 32% from 3 shooter?

Definitely not a sniper, but he can do a lot of other things we just didn’t see Wiltjer or Willis do here. Neither of those guys were strong on the boards, Jelavic looks to be pretty good in that facet of the game.

He also looks like he can score in the paint. I don’t remember Wiltjer or Willis doing much work inside.

 

[fatguy87]

Yep.

I don’t see the Wiltjer and Willis comparison.

They were snipers, basically. While he was here, that’s pretty much all Wiltjer did was make 3’s.

Jelavic isn’t that kind of player. Isn’t he like a career 32% from 3 shooter?

Definitely not a sniper, but he can do a lot of other things we just didn’t see Wiltjer or Willis do here. Neither of those guys were strong on the boards, Jelavic looks to be pretty good in that facet of the game.

He also looks like he can score in the paint. I don’t remember Wiltjer or Willis doing much work inside.

I’ve seen some Grant Nelson comps for Jelavic.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

No effing clue on starting 5 and no one on here knows either.

I'll say OO and Lowe are locks to start. Other 3 can go several different ways.

 

[bucsrule8872]

No effing clue on starting 5 and no one on here knows either.

I'll say OO and Lowe are locks to start. Other 3 can go several different ways.

Tend to agree.

Lots of different potential combos, but I think it will all center around Lowe and Oweh.

 

[W1LDCAT22]

Not real familiar with his game. If he welcomes contact like Mo we are in business. I’m picturing a more athletic Kyle Wiltjer / Derrik Willis. Excited to see him play.

If Jelavic is anything like Willis or Wiltjer then go ahead and book us cutting down nets!

 

[ganner918]

No effing clue on starting 5 and no one on here knows either.

I'll say OO and Lowe are locks to start. Other 3 can go several different ways.

I'm pretty confident in Dioubate starting as well. I think Garrison starts, with Quaintance not being on limited minutes to start the year. I'm not confident in the starting center in December.

 

[TFCats11]

Speaking of potential starting lineups…

This time last season, not a single poster on this site, including myself, had OO in last season’s starting 5!

Who is going to be this year’s OO nobody is talking about?

 

[bucsrule8872]

Speaking of potential starting lineups…

This time last season, not a single poster on this site, including myself, had OO in last season’s starting 5!

Who is going to be this year’s OO nobody is talking about?

I get your point, but that is not entirely correct. We had some debates on here about starting lineups and more than a few had Oweh starting.

 

[BBNinSC]

We must have a talented roster to have so many different opinions on the rotation.
It’s going to be:
Lowe
Oweh
Williams
JQ
Garrrison
Regardless of who starts, Kentucky will have the deepest, most talented bench in the country.