I think any Chicken Little snowflake would surely give it an F since Coach Mark Pope did not have this class wrapped up on Day #1.
Give grade to our portal season
- Thread starter chasingwildcat
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I think Williams is the Brea replacement. Except he plays outstanding defense.
B+/A-
I like the pieces! Don't get me wrong.
But they all have question-marks. And the biggest of all is that we've not added "that scorer", that guy who can go get us a bucket when we need one (besides Oweh, assuming he returns). Lowe was forced into that role at Pitt, and was very inefficient because of it. I think he can and will be more efficient for UK, but mainly because he won't be "that guy". Williams played a passive role at a C-USA school. Dioubate and Aberdeen were in complementary roles. And any Euro is going to be a big mystery until he starts playing with/against US players in a more physical style.
Also, I'm not sure Lowe can be that "dog" that we need on defense, guarding the PG.
I like the pieces! Don't get me wrong.
But they all have question-marks. And the biggest of all is that we've not added "that scorer", that guy who can go get us a bucket when we need one (besides Oweh, assuming he returns). Lowe was forced into that role at Pitt, and was very inefficient because of it. I think he can and will be more efficient for UK, but mainly because he won't be "that guy". Williams played a passive role at a C-USA school. Dioubate and Aberdeen were in complementary roles. And any Euro is going to be a big mystery until he starts playing with/against US players in a more physical style.
Also, I'm not sure Lowe can be that "dog" that we need on defense, guarding the PG.
It has been reported that they got this PG to replace Clayton ... They may still be looking for a shooting guard ... not sure.
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That’s who I thought they got, I don’t think they went after him to recruit over Aberdeen like he was saying though, pretty sure they would both start togetherIt has been reported that they got this PG to replace Clayton ... fwiw
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It has been reported that they got this PG to replace Clayton ... fwiw They may still be looking for a shooting guard ... not sure.
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I know there was a lot of hype around him but he looks too slow and not physical enough for the SEC and high level OOC competition.
i'm between A- and B+. i certainly like the portal additions but i just feel like that splash wasn't made. and the top guy is injured. if he's healthy and lowe and aberdeen and dioubate are able to replace and exceed their counterparts from this year then it can and will easily move into the A and A+ category.
i would love to be wrong and hope one of these guys takes off and improves like oweh and brea did.
i'm also wondering if towards the end of the year with collin improving so much that the staff thinks he can a major contributor. maybe that's why some other guys us forum guys were clammoring for never materialized.
i would love to be wrong and hope one of these guys takes off and improves like oweh and brea did.
i'm also wondering if towards the end of the year with collin improving so much that the staff thinks he can a major contributor. maybe that's why some other guys us forum guys were clammoring for never materialized.
C-
Our projected starting PG has a career FG% of 38% and a career 3 PT% of 29 while our starting projected SG has a career 3 PT % of 33%. And this is in an offense that shoots a lot of threes. If Pope doesn't drastically change how to be offense runs this team has a decent chance(15-20%) to miss the NCAA Tourney.
Our projected starting PG has a career FG% of 38% and a career 3 PT% of 29 while our starting projected SG has a career 3 PT % of 33%. And this is in an offense that shoots a lot of threes. If Pope doesn't drastically change how to be offense runs this team has a decent chance(15-20%) to miss the NCAA Tourney.
Yes ... that's the impression I had, too. With Aberdeen gone, they'll probably be looking for somebody now ...
Not sure I agree with your logic here. We didn’t count on Butler to hit threes. And we also weren’t as dependent on the three as people had initially thought we’d be. Are we an offense that shoots a lot of threes? Sometimes. Personally I’m glad to not be totally dependent on hitting a lot of threes to win.
We had the best three-point shooter in the country in Brea this past year. He was the main reason why our offense was a top ten team offensively last year. We have no one that's anywhere close to being as good of a shooter as Brea this year.
He averaged 2.6 threes per game. He wasn’t the only reason bud.
Brea's D improved greatly over the season but for large chunks of it he gave up a lot of points that he gained.
This team will not hit as many 3s but will defend better, rebound better and get a ton more second chance points.
It will balance out in our favor I believe.
I'll go with an A. If JQ is able to play and contribute this season, then that goes to an A plus plus!
Kentucky has a top three portal class.
That means Pope gets at least an A+.
That means Pope gets at least an A+.
Neither does any team in the country.
Brea was a historically good shooter. We won't need to make as many threes this year with the improved defense.
Athleticism: GREAT
Rebounding: GREAT
Defense: GREAT
Ball Handling: OKAY
Penetration: OKAY
3-pt Shooting: OKAY
Interior Shooting: GREAT
OVERALL: B+
I know I'm missing some categories, but too tired right now.
Rebounding: GREAT
Defense: GREAT
Ball Handling: OKAY
Penetration: OKAY
3-pt Shooting: OKAY
Interior Shooting: GREAT
OVERALL: B+
I know I'm missing some categories, but too tired right now.
Has to be an A.
I guess there were a few guys we didn't land, and maybe one could argue that we never really landed a true 3-level scorer that could get you 20 points on most nights.. but theres only so many of those even in college basketball. And I'd also argue that maybe our system just can't have a guy like that because everything is (and should be) balanced.
So I give an A. We got almost everything we wanted. We are now deep at all positions, we're not relying on youth. We only lost one recruit. It was pretty exceptional. I'd even be fine giving an A+.
I guess there were a few guys we didn't land, and maybe one could argue that we never really landed a true 3-level scorer that could get you 20 points on most nights.. but theres only so many of those even in college basketball. And I'd also argue that maybe our system just can't have a guy like that because everything is (and should be) balanced.
So I give an A. We got almost everything we wanted. We are now deep at all positions, we're not relying on youth. We only lost one recruit. It was pretty exceptional. I'd even be fine giving an A+.
Yes just BS to be negative. Think I just saw were the #1 ranked portal class so there's that.
Do we really think we won't score with the talent and athleticism on our roster playing in Pope's pro set offense? We were in the top 10 in scoring last year with major injuries.
I will always love this past team for all they did and how they represented us but they aren't close to the athletes we have now. We have guys who can get to the rim, score in the paint, get put backs plus guys who can shoot the three. I mean it's like folks are grasping at straws to be negative.
We will run folks out of the gym and bet we're are 90+ a game this year. The defense will add buckets every game as well. Christmas came early guy.
Actually Indiana has a shooter close to what Brea is because Mark Pope wiffed.
Mark Pope didn't whiff on Wilkerson, his agent reached out to Kentucky and he took a visit to get Indiana to up his pay. You don't whiff on someone that states after the fact that they "didn't want to just be another guy", knowing damn well during the visit and before it that would be the entire case
Glad he chose Indiana
Aberdeen would eat that dude's lunch
Maybe in attitude but not game. And the fact is UK desperately needed a great shooter and we ended up with ZERO GOOD shooters who actually will see playing time.
He didn't whiff. Indiana overpaid for a guy who didn't want to be here and just be another guy. Wanted to be a big fish in a mediocre program. I'm glad Pope didn't over pay for that guy. He can enjoy the NIT next year. We just picked up a guy with a ring.
No that is an asinine statement. Pope wiffed hard on Dent and Wilkerson. And the Wilkerson wiff is going to hurt as much as the SG Transfer wiff this past season who decided to go to Tennessee and whoop our asses in the NCAA Tourney.
A to A+. Would have really loved to have a dead eye shooter but Pope's offense works really well in transition too. We didn't have the horses past year to see that aspect of it often.
I literally posted what Wilkerson said himself, he didn't want to be at Kentucky because he wasn't going to be the guy. Dent never even took a visit and went to the school that immediately offered him the most money. It's asinine to think that players were whiffed on when they clearly had no interest or intent to commit to the University of Kentucky. Pope did Wilkerson a courtesy because his agent courted him, not vice versa. Lanier would've meant no Robinson, likely so I don't even understand your point, that's a guy that wanted to be at Tennessee, not Kentucky.
And the fat guy who didn't even try at IU was the No. 1 overall 2024 portal player by some services. Oweh and Butler were barely top 50.
Portal rankings are useless.
A lot of this will hinge on Oweh coming back. But even factoring in missing on that go-to scorer.. our collection of talent is a whole level or two above what we had last year (And keep in mind, last years injuries were extremely bad). We have several PFs/bigs, we got numerous guards, we have wings. We're taller and longer than last year, and likely faster and stronger when you consider guys like Carr were probably holding us back athletically (No offense to Carr).
And also keep in mind, a lot of what we grabbed was dictated by what we already had coming back. Perry, BG, Noah, and Chandler are all back for a 2nd year.. and 3 of them will now be Sophomores and BG a junior.
I know last year gets an asteriks because of the coaching change, but at the same time, we can't deny that on paper, next years team is going to be a LOT more talented.
And also keep in mind, a lot of what we grabbed was dictated by what we already had coming back. Perry, BG, Noah, and Chandler are all back for a 2nd year.. and 3 of them will now be Sophomores and BG a junior.
I know last year gets an asteriks because of the coaching change, but at the same time, we can't deny that on paper, next years team is going to be a LOT more talented.
He gets flying colors on the grade to me. A+ if JQ is ready to roll by SEC play. If he isn’t quite himself or really takes a long time to protect his draft stock it probably drops to an A.
There’s a lot of upside guys that could disappoint as well. Just the risk of free agency. That’s why you go crazy deep on the roster to protect yourself.
Whoever paid up also deserves plenty of this credit!
There’s a lot of upside guys that could disappoint as well. Just the risk of free agency. That’s why you go crazy deep on the roster to protect yourself.
Whoever paid up also deserves plenty of this credit!
