"Kentucky is better than Arkansas"

[Smashcat]

Kentucky is better than Arkansas​

There is one key stat that tells the story of why Kentucky is out to an early lead on Arkansas in the John Calipari breakup battle. In the Wildcats' 103-62 season-opening win over Wright State, 30 of their 39 baskets came on assists. While many of those buckets came in transition, UK also looked better running its half court offense than Arkansas did in its opener.

The Razorbacks needed a 14-1 late run to pull away from Lipscomb in a 76-60 win on Wednesday to open Calipari's tenure. Just 10 of their 34 made came on assists as Arkansas struggled to a 4-of-19 performance from beyond the arc. Kentucky looked like an actual team in its first game under Mark Pope. Arkansas merely looked like a collection of talent in its debut under Calipari. There's plenty of time for things to change. But if we're overreacting to a one-game sample size, then Kentucky is winning the breakup battle so far. -- David Cobb

Dribble Handoff: Kentucky looks impressive and other overreactions to college basketball's opening week

Here are some knee-jerk observations to the early action as the 2024-25 college basketball season gets started

www.cbssports.com

 

[Creed Bratton]

 

[electricat2]

i dont know, but i do think Arkansas is wildly overrated.
all of the predictions are based on Calipari being a hall of fame coach.
we all know those days are gone. i guess everybody else will have to find out on thier own

 

[HerrosHeroes]

Game is in Rupp too so yeah…..

 

[Short-Dawg-69]

I can agree but we will find out soon enough.
We play each other and play a lot of the same teams during the season.

Let’s hope UK comes out better overall.

 

[Smashcat]

Arkansas has to go to Texas to play Baylor Saturday. Have a feeling Baylor will quickly make up for the way they looked against the Zags.

 

[MonsterMash79]

Tuesday night we’ll know where we stand.

 

[MonsterMash79]

Arkansas has to go to Texas to play Baylor Saturday. Have a feeling Baylor will quickly make up for the way they looked against the Zags.

Very true

 

[HerrosHeroes]

Tuesday night we’ll know where we stand.

I know where we stand right now.
And its on the Mt top
Duck Fuke

 

[MonsterMash79]

I know where we stand right now.
And its on the Mt top
Duck Fuke

Easy lead foot… competition wise, Tuesday will be the measuring stick 👍

 

[Cold Stout Beer]

It's painful to watch. Athletes but not shooters isolating until one of them takes a bad shot.

Onward, and so happy.

 

[JonathanW]

That Arkansas coach (can't remember his name) relies on talent to win games. So he needs a leader to step up and lead. It's rare for a FR to do that, so honestly, I think their success will depend on Johnell Davis, not just in how well he plays, but also in how well he leads.

Davis is IMO our biggest miss this offseason. Although I'm happy with who we have.

 

[HerrosHeroes]

Easy lead foot… competition wise, Tuesday will be the measuring stick 👍

Really? No Joke?
Duh?
Are you serious?
Great post Captain Obvious:



“Aye Aye El Capitan”
Moral of the gist? Lay off or suffer the painful Consequences.
Put in lame-man’s terms; Go bark up another tree CO.
Isnt it beautiful???

 

[JPFisher]

That Arkansas coach (can't remember his name) relies on talent to win games. So he needs a leader to step up and lead. It's rare for a FR to do that, so honestly, I think their success will depend on Johnell Davis, not just in how well he plays, but also in how well he leads.

Davis is IMO our biggest miss this offseason. Although I'm happy with who we have.

I thought I'd read on this board that Davis was a locker room nightmare, though that was probably just sour grapes.

Skill-wise, a big miss. But... Oh well. 🤷‍♂️

 

[UKWildcats1987]

Interesting thing for me is all 3 former UK players started. That explains 100% why z and Thiero left.

They wouldn't have been guaranteed to start here IMO.

Cal going with an experienced starting line up is the right call but they don't have enough shooters. They will lose games due to that.

 

[uk78]

It doesn't matter how Arkansas plays in other games as our game is going to match a rivalry. Games like that can be intense and bring out effort unlike what other games don't. However, if we have a lead in the second half we all know that the Arkansas coach is weak during the contest in making in game adjustments.

 

[seccats04]

Interesting thing for me is all 3 former UK players started. That explains 100% why z and Thiero left.

They wouldn't have been guaranteed to start here IMO.

Cal going with an experienced starting line up is the right call but they don't have enough shooters. They will lose games due to that.

Z won’t start when Aidoo comes back from ‘injury.’ Seems like all of Cal’s big men are always hurt.

 

[yoshukai]

Tuesday night we’ll know where we stand.

Not necessarily. The Duke team with Zion embarrassed us but we still had a pretty good year .

 

[yoshukai]

I’ll probably catch some heat on this but………I expect Arkansas and UK to have similar seasons in terms of wins and seeding in the ncaa tournament. How far each advance I the tournament is anybodys guess .

 

[kats23]

I think overall this season Arkansas and Kentucky come out similar. But the style of play is just much more enjoyable to watch from Kentucky's standpoint. Your hope is year 2, 3 and 4, Pope begins to really take off with this program. Cal, no matter what is on the downward trend of his career. We all saw it since 2019. Top 5 class after top 5 class and year after year we're going home early, we're losing frustrating games. That isn't changing at Arkansas. That's the way it will be until he retires.

We're going to have nights where we don't shoot well. Not sure there's an NBA player on the roster outside a cup of coffee type so probably going to get out-talented this year a time or two as well. But I bet there's few games if any that we'll come across saying we got out coached or out hustled. I'm good with that for a year or two until Pope can establish himself and bring in a little more talent. Our trajectory is up while Cal's is down. Regardless of record this season.

 

[JonathanW]

I thought I'd read on this board that Davis was a locker room nightmare, though that was probably just sour grapes.

Skill-wise, a big miss. But... Oh well. 🤷‍♂️

If what you heard was correct, they will have Ups, AND DOWNS.

 

[yoshukai]

I think overall this season Arkansas and Kentucky come out similar. But the style of play is just much more enjoyable to watch from Kentucky's standpoint. Your hope is year 2, 3 and 4, Pope begins to really take off with this program. Cal, no matter what is on the downward trend of his career. We all saw it since 2019. Top 5 class after top 5 class and year after year we're going home early, we're losing frustrating games. That isn't changing at Arkansas. That's the way it will be until he retires.

We're going to have nights where we don't shoot well. Not sure there's an NBA player on the roster outside a cup of coffee type so probably going to get out-talented this year a time or two as well. But I bet there's few games if any that we'll come across saying we got out coached or out hustled. I'm good with that for a year or two until Pope can establish himself and bring in a little more talent. Our trajectory is up while Cal's is down. Regardless of record this season.

I agree. I expect our margin of victory and our margin of defeat to be much wider than past years just based on style of play.

 

[TriangleUKCat]

Not necessarily. The Duke team with Zion embarrassed us but we still had a pretty good year .

Yeah that should have been a Final Four team. But ya know…

Still have PJ Washington missed free throws PTSD

 

[JonathanW]

Interesting thing for me is all 3 former UK players started. That explains 100% why z and Thiero left.

They wouldn't have been guaranteed to start here IMO.

Cal going with an experienced starting line up is the right call but they don't have enough shooters. They will lose games due to that.

Z probably would not have started if Aidou was healthy. Aidou played, but only 7min. No way he was at full strength.

 

[Cleatortoises]

I’ll probably catch some heat on this but………I expect Arkansas and UK to have similar seasons in terms of wins and seeding in the ncaa tournament. How far each advance I the tournament is anybodys guess .

I feel like I have a pretty good guess. 😎
Did you see that clowns post game?
So effing wacko and incoherent.

 

[Cleatortoises]

I don't want the insertion above of "lame man's terms" to get glossed over.
That must join the lexicon of our fast paste discussions.
This can be a doggy dog world.

 

[ukcatz12]

It's painful to watch. Athletes but not shooters isolating until one of them takes a bad shot.

Onward, and so happy.

Fland is a pretty good 3 point shooter, he was just really cold in his first game. I don't think their shooting will be as bad as people think. Plus, a lot of their offense is predicated on getting to the rim quickly in transition. If you look at the metrics their offense was pretty efficient for it being their first game and almost having no full strength practices. I still think they'll be a pretty good team this year.

 

[ukcatz12]

Z probably would not have started if Aidou was healthy.

And I'm going to be honest, it would probably be the right decision. For the life of me I still can't figure out where all the Z hype comes from. Everyone is letting his debut against Georgia color their opinion of him. If you remove that 16 minute stretch, he shot only 19% from 3 last year. He got torched on defense time and time again.

He probably improved over the summer, they did mention he put on some weight. He's got all the tools to be a great player. But everyone saw one good performance last year and acted like he was some superstar.

 

[bucsrule8872]

It’s just the first game, but it looked like typical Cal ball.

4 for 19 (21%) from 3.

4 of 7 (57%) from the FT line.

12 turnovers and only 10 assists.

 

[Mossip]

I feel like “smart” fans are hedging their bets with Cal. I seriously think Arkansas is going to be pretty awful this year. DJ was still shooting lefty on all layups, bricks galore, no movement on offense, switching everything instead of having defenses matched with personnel.

Just typical late stage Cal stuff. That team last year had sooo much firepower and lost to such inferior competition. This Arkansas team isn’t near as good was what we had last year. Cal is cooked imo.

Edited: quoted someone who i misread…

 

[MonsterMash79]

Really? No Joke?
Duh?
Are you serious?
Great post Captain Obvious:

View embedded media

“Aye Aye El Capitan”
Moral of the gist? Lay off or suffer the painful Consequences.
Put in lame-man’s terms; Go bark up another tree CO.
Isnt it beautiful???

Sorry brotha, wasn’t trying to offend you lol. I just know you sunshine pump so much to which you sh*t rainbows 👍

 

[jedwar]

That Arkansas coach (can't remember his name) relies on talent to win games. So he needs a leader to step up and lead. It's rare for a FR to do that, so honestly, I think their success will depend on Johnell Davis, not just in how well he plays, but also in how well he leads.

Davis is IMO our biggest miss this offseason. Although I'm happy with who we have.

No only that, but Cal requires ELITE talent to get him over the bump. UMass Camby. Memphis Rose. UK Wall, Davis, Randle and a few more. I mean elite of the elite is required to simply overcome his lack of overall coaching. I'm not a Cal hater, but he was lacking and always has been.

 

[JimboBBN]

I’m pretty convinced we will beat them by around 20 when we play. It’s the same Cal. Same ugly offense. Same horrible shooting. Arkansas is more talented but it’s not by a lot. Picture
Kentucky last year minus three of the best shooters in the country. That’s Arkansas.

 

[WyleECoyote]

Pope's scheme will eat Cal's man defense alive. Lipscomb had them confused multiple times and had many opportunities to beat Arkansas and just couldn't capitalize on it.

 

[JDHoss]

Yeah that should have been a Final Four team. But ya know…

Still have PJ Washington missed free throws PTSD

Loved PJ, but in a 3 point Sweet Sixteen loss and overtime Elite 8 loss, he combined to go 14-31 from the line. If he could have managed a paltry 19-31 from the line, we’d have been playing Loyola for a trip to the Final Four and would have been in a Final Four. JFC.

 

[rivercatinfl]

Arkansas didn't look that good to me. Fland can't pass up a shot and missed a bunch of open looks. We looked like a much better team based on 1 game but Fland and our former guard (can't remember his name) lol, looked very average to me. The bigs just stand around. Oh so familiar.
I like our chances against them.

 

[Fox2monk]

Game is in Rupp too so yeah…..

Cal has had plenty of experience dropping games in Rupp the past 7 years.

 

[ChicagoCat1990]

A good ol’ fashioned butt whoopin' would be a fun way to welcome Cal back to Rupp.

 

[Fox2monk]

It doesn't matter how Arkansas plays in other games as our game is going to match a rivalry. Games like that can be intense and bring out effort unlike what other games don't. However, if we have a lead in the second half we all know that the Arkansas coach is weak during the contest in making in game adjustments.

All Pope has to do is find 2 actions that work and we will score 80% of our trips down the court second half.

 

[Runnin'Ramel]

It's same old, same old.

Do we think Cal's return to Rupp is the wildest atmosphere in Rupp history? There have been some real doozies over the years (including Pitino at UL, obviously).