I think sweet 16 is very realistic.
Elite 8 is fairly possible.
Final 4 would be a pretty big surprise.
Elite 8 is fairly possible.
Final 4 would be a pretty big surprise.
I still think a S16 is more than realistic. IDK, maybe I'm crazy *shrugs*
- Thread starter LineSkiCat14
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I don't know if we make the S16 but believe we have a better chance than we would if Cal was still the coach.
Im hoping now that we all know Jax is out we can define roles going forward and a rotation. Beat LSU and Mizzou to close out strong. Play our butts off In the SECT and see where we fall. I’d love to win 4-5 in a row and get some good mojo going before the Dance.
I love this team and definitely don’t want it to be over. I think most people are just being realistic. Injuries killed us.
That's been the thought for me since early in the season. I think we were probably more Elite Eight than Sweet Sixteen had we stayed fully healthy.
i think we can make sweet16 depending on the draw and if butler and carr are 100 %.
with the injurys i will take that as a win in year 1 for pope
with the injurys i will take that as a win in year 1 for pope
I also feel like our seeding "floor" is now at a 5-seed and even that seems pretty unlikely. I have to imagine kentucky is still a 3-seed, bordering on a 4-seed.. but we still have a good chance to go 1-1 or even 2-0. Only one loss in the SECT.
It sort of feels like were looking at a 4-seed, maybe a 3-seed if we can beat LSU and win one SECT game. And that's important because as a 3 or a 4, I trust this team to win much more than a 6, just because of the opponents we'd be having.
It sort of feels like were looking at a 4-seed, maybe a 3-seed if we can beat LSU and win one SECT game. And that's important because as a 3 or a 4, I trust this team to win much more than a 6, just because of the opponents we'd be having.
With no Robinson and an extremely limited Butler, idk if you’re “crazy” but you certainly seem overly optimistic. We are 5-7 in our last 12. An acrobatic miracle from being 4-8. That is basically the team we will have. Will probably be a 4-5 seed, but will have performed like a 9-11 seed for the last couple months. It’s not likely, but I can’t imagine anyone thought George Mason would make a Final 4 as a 12 seed. FAU? San Diego St? It’s possible, but I’m not betting on it.
So we went from being REALLY, REALLY bad to just bad? Not sure there’s a celebration to be had. Great, it’s better. Should’ve never been that bad to begin with.
Well I'm not really talking about a Final4. I only mentioned an Elite8 IF we can have some things break our way and avoid the overly talented teams..
I think we're lacking on talent, especially with injuries. And that really shows when we play the top35ish teams. But on the flip side, we have what I think is an exceptional coach and offense that should be able to carry us through the opening rounds. I think because of our teams makeup, we're a good matchup against teams that have similar talent to us.. which are teams in that 6 to 16-seed line. It's the higher seeds that we just aren't going to have enough gas for.
I don’t know… But it seems most of these guys are just ready to get on with their post CBB careers. It’s just a NIL era reality!
I hear you but I also don’t think an Elite 8 finish would be anything but a huge accomplishment. And really this whole season has already been a success regardless. The drop off was minimal if any and he’s kept us relevant and in my mind losing relevancy was the biggest danger.
Plus Old coach dipshit got knocked out first game with a G league team the last couple years. E8 finish would be a huge upgrade.
It’s realistic, but we definitely have less margin for error with no JR available.
Also need to finish strong enough that the committee doesn’t penalize us for JR being out.
If we close very poorly, they could probably justify dropping us to a 5 or even lower.
Also need to finish strong enough that the committee doesn’t penalize us for JR being out.
If we close very poorly, they could probably justify dropping us to a 5 or even lower.
I agree. We still have a chance. Starting Brea, Butler,O, Carr and Williams gives us that.
If Garrison, Al, Noah can bring us quality minutes, a lot of teams we will match up with have a tough time with us.
As has been said by several people, The matchups are going to be key.
I've been worried about this.
While honesty is the best policy, I was hoping old honest Abe Pope would have saved this info until after selection Sunday.
There's been a lot of speculation on the committee and our injuries. Do we have any evidence of what they will do here? On one hand, yes, we don't have Jrob anynore.. on the other hand, Butler is back and getting healthy. We are technically healthier right now, than we were at any point in time over the last month or so, as we at least have Butler back.
I'm not sure how they should look at us in this regard.. they could seed us based on our ranking with no bias, or they could ding us because they know our team isn't going to be as talented anymore... or, could they do us a favor in seeding and look at these recent losses and think "well they were injuried".. I have no clue.
I think we finish 22-13 this year. Win one and lose one in both tournaments. Good year for Pope's start but his path to success must produce better going forward or the wolves of Kentucky will howl. Some are howling already...sad.
Kenyon Martin injury dinged Cincy. Robbie Hummel injury hurt Purdue, iirc.
We still have games to play. If we beat LSU, are competitive vs. Missouri and in the SEC tournament then it probably won’t matter.
But if we were to lay an egg to close the season, they can certainly factor in that JR is unavailable.
Buddy, Butler ain’t healthy. He’s just gutting out some pain, my guess is getting shot up 48 hrs before every game, and playing essentially one handed. Anyone that pays attention can see that. There’s no “getting healthier” for him. He’s just gutting it out for his team because his team needs him, even if it’s a one armed version of him. The committee knows that. As well as knowing JR is done. If this team wants to guarantee a 4 seed they better find a way to win two more games.
TBH I'd be a little disappointed if we didn't make the Sweet 16.
The second round game (I refuse to call the play in games a round lol)...........will probably be a 50/50 toss up game. I can't see the line being all that drastic one way or the other in that one.....even without JR.
Lastly we've beaten some pretty good teams short handed. I think this team shows up in March I really do.
The second round game (I refuse to call the play in games a round lol)...........will probably be a 50/50 toss up game. I can't see the line being all that drastic one way or the other in that one.....even without JR.
Lastly we've beaten some pretty good teams short handed. I think this team shows up in March I really do.
I think could have, yes. Would have is debatable. But it's the "could have" that's important. At full strength, I think there was a solid chance that UK could have won and that's really what matters: we had a team that had proven it can beat anyone. Injuries derailed us. And it made a somewhat talent-lacking team into a substantially talent-lacking team.
Beating LSU is non-negotiable. Might need to win 2 SEC tournament games, depending on the draw.
In theory, we could have a game that directly impacts NCAA seeding in the SEC Tournament. I’m thinking if we were to play A&M or Missouri, for instance. We could be directly competing with those team for seed lines.
Well the committe isn't going to judge us on players being banged up. Maybe they will factor in Jrob.. but theres nothing they should be looking at with Butler. He's playing and his current abilities are up in the air, at best. But, every team has banged up players. Even if I do agree with you that hes not 100%.
I also probably agree that this is the Butler we have for ROS.. but again, something we don't quite know fully. There's also a chance that Butler is still figuring out how to play with this injury going forward. I don't think there's NO chance he can't settle in and improve a bit on how he played the last two games.
We are inching toward that first game being more like 65/35 or 60/40 though.
Would be awesome to finish strong and go into round one as a 3 with a clear advantage. Then maybe we could be something closer to 40% to make the S16. We’ll see.
Agreed. Pretty much the way I see it. Scary part is sliding to a 9 or 10 in SECT and then dropping that Wednesday game. I think that scenario is pretty unlikely, but it’s still there. That would absolutely crater the seed. I’d just as soon lock up the 8th. At that point I feel like the worst we can do is a 5 seed.
Thank God we beat OU and Vandy. When we had these 6 games left in conference play, some people believed we could lose out and only drop to a 6. I believe that at this point a 7 or possibly further was in play IF we lost out and lost opening round of SECT.
Here we are adding two wins, and were talking about needing to win two more just to stay at a 4. Just saying, there was a real chance if we didn't win those two games Kentucky would be on a serious seeding slide..
Here we are adding two wins, and were talking about needing to win two more just to stay at a 4. Just saying, there was a real chance if we didn't win those two games Kentucky would be on a serious seeding slide..
We just got blown out on our home court. Only guy missing was Robinson and he would’ve physically been no match for Auburn anyway. I heard that Butler said he’s 90% healed. If we get anything from a 6-higher seed, we better just be thankful.
They absolutely will figure in JR and Butler both. I’m not sure how you don’t understand this. There’s all sorts of examples from the past. Butler isn’t just “banged up”. Most EVERYONE is “banged up” this time of the year. Butler has an injury, that won’t get better, that he’s playing through. Now I do agree, there’s something to the thought he could figure out a bit how to navigate his play with it. There’s a real possibility there, but I’m not sure it moves the needle much on him. Hell, he can’t even really shoot. Everyone saw how hesitant and awkward he was from 3 yesterday. It was clear he didn’t even want to pull the trigger. He’s extremely limited.
It’s always about matchups but especially so with this team.
We could get favorable matchups and end up in the FF.
Or we could face an athletic team and get bounced first game.
Getting away from SEC officials is always a help. Probably moreso for this team.
We could get favorable matchups and end up in the FF.
Or we could face an athletic team and get bounced first game.
Getting away from SEC officials is always a help. Probably moreso for this team.
Jrob and Butler are completely different examples as of right now. Butler is playing. Are you telling me the SC is going to change our seeding because Butler, specifically, isn't 100%?
I don't buy that. And if you happen to be right, then this is another problem, in a long list if problems for the NCAA. You can seed if guys are in or if guys are out. Fine. You cant go any deeper than that, though. Because where is the line drawn. Tyrese Proctor probably won't be 100% for ROS.. is the NCAAT going to drop Duke to last 1-seed or first 2-seed.
Yes, that’s what I’m saying. I don’t believe it’s a problem at all. We are what we are. Butler isn’t “hurt” with the likelihood to get better. He’s playing with a torn labrum (injury) that only will get worse, if there’s a change. Nothing about his situation improves other than him possibly figuring out how to play one handed a bit better.
Its all about the passing. I’d spread it, simplify it and put emphasis on valuing each possessive like its their last one.
Well i guess we will know soon. I don't believe that the SC seeds based on some players being not 100%. In reality, they shouldn't even be doing this with ANY injuries. I think they just do this in very extreme scenarios like Aike mentioned. And I'd understand if they do that for Jrob. But I don't think Butler is a factor in this process UNLESS he goes down again and is out.
The other problem is, no one really knows IF he can get back to 100% or not in time. Do I think he can? Probably not. But that's not known. SC can't be the arbiter of whether these players can get healthy, while saying those players can't. Not even butler and the team doctor knows this.
Yes they do. He’s got a torn labrum, right? I don’t feel like I’m making this up. I swear I’ve seen this and heard other discuss it. Those don’t heal on their own.
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