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Man, we have some great pieces. Pope did an incredible job building this roster.

And the chemistry - maybe I've just gotten too accustomed to seeing a bunch of raw, unpolished, square pegs, but it's incredible how these guys have already bonded. They look like an old-school team of JRs and SRs, who have played together for several years.

It's like an Expendables movie or something. Every one of them seems like they are playing like a better version of themselves than where they came from, and they all feed off each other.

Maybe that's the REAL Kentucky Effect - when the guy orchestrating it all *really* gets it.

This team is special.
 
The Stanford game in the semi's was even better. Sheppard was unreal in that one.
Agreed 💯. It was the equivalent of two epic thoroughbreds who know you’re not just supposed to run fast. You win or you fail. The single best played game (players, coaches, officials) I’ve ever ever watched. I know Packer bitched about the Padgett goaltend but the entire game was played at the highest level. Back to lurking.
 
You have to imagine Brea will regress to the mean at some point, which is *checks notes* 44.7%. I'll take it.

I don't know much about Andrew Carr's previous experience, but he seems to be having the time of his life. Very Mark-Pope-as-a-player-esque attitude and joy, minus a few skills. Winning will do that to a fella, I suppose.
 
Ford was solid last night on the game. I thought I heard him a couple times about to say “we” then quickly said Kentucky when referring to the team. Ha

That Chandler save and dunk from Williams brought back some old memories of Roger Harden diving on the floor for a loose ball and throwing it back over his head past half court to Kenny Walker for a dunk one time. /old

The Gonzaga game is gonna be a doozy. 🔥
 
The players are playing well because:

1). They play free within the framework of the coaching concepts.

2). there are actual coaching concepts

3). They are seasoned vets who were never anointed or coddled. Klutchless.

4). Bench coaches/assistants… These guys contribute to the tenor and selflessness. UPGRADE. you can see the current staff taking some HC positions in the future… unlike the former coaching tree totem pole of Chin, Bruiser, ENg.

It will be interesting to see how the culture morphs when we start integrating NIL/5* dudes into the mix.
 
We are all Trent Noah. I mean, look at that skip! That's me! Huber giddy!

There's kicking ass and there's making Tyler Hansbrough talk you up within a month of official tipoffs. I think this Pope guy might work out.



That was hard to listen to. Tyler Hansbrough sounds like Daniel Tiger post puberty. Clear your throat, bruh.
 
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-What a pep in my step with UKMB playing well. It's not just winning but atheistically pleasing basketball. Not being scolded for being a lifelong fanatic and being upset by early season bullshit loses. Not avoiding social media, sportscenter, catpaw, or anything to do with sports in general. Complete 180 from the last 5 + years.

-The 68 guys made a point. I agree to an extent but I disagree more. "Their ceiling is a bit limited, but their floor is high.... more advance because of their experience... ready to compete because of their age." He goes on to clarify he struggles with this. The only problem with that logic, I don't think any team with more than 6 incoming transfers last season made ANY noise. We had 13 incoming. None of these guys have played together more than the 4 games this season. I love our bandwidth.

-One thing I was wrong about, our athleticism. Sure, it's not 2017 UK, but we have plenty. Williams, Robinson, Oweh and Butler are great.

-2nd team worries me the most. Foul trouble with Butler or Williams will present issues.

-Brea 🤣

-The refreshing vibe around everything UKMB is just amazing. Wish I could bottle it up.
 
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On Brea, it isn't just that his shooting form is unconscious. His footwork in hunting for shots is unreal. The jab steps and other stuff he is constantly doing to establish his angles for his shots is, at least from my lay perspective, an absolute clinic on how to hunt for great shots in a modern offense.
 
I'm not saying we can't beat a few world beaters in a row, but the champion rarely has to. How many times has our super stacked squad inexplicably lost only to see the bracket open up in front of them, and UConn or Duke takes the title by simply not losing to middling teams? We now have the type of team that wins it all in that scenario.

Crazy how amazing shooters can not only hit shots, but hit them exactly the same way consistently. When Meeks was on fire, his shots always hit the back of the rim and dropped straight through without moving the net. When Brea is on fire, his ball doesn't touch the net until it mathematically has to, when the radius of the net equals the radius of the ball, splashing the net up through the rim. Thang ah beauty.
 
- I get reserving excitement with so much unknown before the season, but if you knew the offense BYU ran, and you saw Pope landing upperclassmen with good winning experience or high IQ play I just don’t see how one did not see a high ceiling of potential.

- The SEC is going to be a gauntlet. The only person I want to see if they can handle it is Robinson. I have no worries about anyone else.

-Titans in line for a Top 5 draft slot, and stand a great chance to be #1 at this point.

- It’s been a full week now in the new house and we are finally getting organized and feeling “at home”.

Of course I left out a bunch of stuff that I’d do after we moved in that has made it not feel so at home.

Once we get a mailbox and internet all my to do is mostly settled.

- I’ve never ate out so much in a 3 week span in my life. Even in college I fixed ramen and cereal in between all the fast food and K-lair trips.

- Got tickets for the Elf play in Indy For 12/20. Should be a nice family trip and a tradition we started a few years back to catch a play every Xmas season.

Working our way to a trip to NY. With this many kids I got to see how they act in bigger
cities.
 
Field of 68 is just an incredible product for a college basketball nerd. Love the mix of players & coaches they bring on, the casual vibe -- just regular junkies geeking out nightly. Pretty genius imo, been cool to watch it explode into a full on Media Network/Brand over just a few years.

Kudos to Rob & Jeff. What a gig.

-Obviously biased, but really enjoyed Travis last night, thought he was really solid. Does he have any experience at all with that? If no, even more impressive imo. He had a few slips early, but seemed to settle in as the game went on. I'm sure he'll be back in coaching at some point, but it would be dope if he stuck around a bit with this/UK.
 
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I'm not saying we can't beat a few world beaters in a row, but the champion rarely has to. How many times has our super stacked squad inexplicably lost only to see the bracket open up in front of them, and UConn or Duke takes the title by simply not losing to middling teams? We now have the type of team that wins it all in that scenario.

Crazy how amazing shooters can not only hit shots, but hit them exactly the same way consistently. When Meeks was on fire, his shots always hit the back of the rim and dropped straight through without moving the net. When Brea is on fire, his ball doesn't touch the net until it mathematically has to, when the radius of the net equals the radius of the ball, splashing the net up through the rim. Thang ah beauty.
Another way to put this:

I trust this team if they get in a draw that opens up. That’s a good change from years past.
 
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