Kentucky is one of the few teams doing well without returning players
- Thread starter Smashcat
- Start date
Pope is proving to be an ELITE level coach, from roster construction to Xs and Os. It’s an absolute perfect marriage. Not sure if it could’ve been scripted any better. Soooo glad the “top” targets didn’t come here! He’s gotta be the early favorite for NCOY!
Pope choose well, when he was forming this team.
Just another indicator that Mark Pope is one heck of a coach. Imagine how awesome we're going to be when he has players that return for a 2nd & 3rd years under his coaching.
I think this speaks to the type of elite talent that Pope is as a coach.
There is really no reason why UK should be 9-1 with a brand new roster, regardless of experience, with almost zero 5* guys. Credit to them for playing well, but for me Pope has done a phenomenonal job.
There is really no reason why UK should be 9-1 with a brand new roster, regardless of experience, with almost zero 5* guys. Credit to them for playing well, but for me Pope has done a phenomenonal job.
Pedantic quibble with thread title.
It's not that others are struggling, they are struggling to meet the expectations.
Yes Arkansas should be better based on talent.
But those results are better than last year.
People used to complain that Cal didn't do as much with great talent. But I'd take that over Pitino overachieving with the trash he brought in to Louisville.
It's not that others are struggling, they are struggling to meet the expectations.
Yes Arkansas should be better based on talent.
But those results are better than last year.
People used to complain that Cal didn't do as much with great talent. But I'd take that over Pitino overachieving with the trash he brought in to Louisville.
Yes. A little misleading. Vanderbilt for instance is much better than last year but worse than Miyas expectations?
Likewise, SMU is better with Enfield, while USC is better with Musselman, while Arkansas is better with Calipari.
Oklahoma didn’t have a coaching change, but they overhauled their roster (other than Moore) and are looking much better.
Do you think Pope's system will be dependent on getting upperclassmen through the portal every year? Can a typical freshman learn his intricate offense well enough to contribute in year one? It's exciting to get a super-talented top 10 kid, but will his lack of experience keep him off the floor, only to leave in June for the draft? There aren't too many Reed Sheppards out there.
Good question. I think we'll continue to see a mix under Pope with some top freshmen who might do well Under Pope in their first year and others who may stay 2 plus years developing. I like what I see from Pope so far and trust that things will just getter better under his leadership. Plus, if he continues to have a very successful season more kids will want to play for him.
In a recent Lex. HL article, Cody Fueger discussed that that is what they strive for, as their system is at its best with multi-year players. The indication is that Pope’s goal is to build the core of his team with returning players who actually play a large role. That sounds good to me, as that is the type of team building model that give the best chance for championships today.
I see both sides but Tubby also had 5 NBA players on that roster. Building a roster in what 3 weeks vs Tubby’s first roster, an arguement could be made for Pope, but I think we would need to see this years end result first.Better than Tubby winning a title in year 1? Interesting take
Better than Tubby winning a title in year 1? Interesting take
Yeah, idk what that comment even means. If he just means best record to this point in a coaches first season then that's a false comment. We started out 19-0 in 2009-2010.
If he means end game for season 1 then it's tough to compete with Tubby.
I’d say Louisville is doing better too. They have been decimated by injuries and are still highly competitive plus have been way better than the last 2 years easy.
Shows how nice analytics can be when finding the right guys for your system. This staff has a great eye for talent even in the players they have missed and recruited for the next years.
I would say for a roster with 0 players this is easily the best first year start a Kentucky coach will ever have. It’s obviously gonna be darn near impossible to match a championship, and a 35-3 record or whatever 2009 finished up as. Both of those teams did have way more returning guys even though Cal basically gutted most the roster.
Yup always have 5-6 guys who know the system, maybe return some fringe NBA guys and stack young talent and portal transfers every year. That is a great strategy to win now IMO.
USC may be better overall but they still suck. Maybe the Muss bus gets it turned around. History says he will, but right now they have a ways to go.
My point was they went 15-18 last year and will definitely eclipse that this year. Same with Arkansas and their 16-17 record last year.
I agree but the only caveat would be if for some reason this team didn’t make a run in the tourney. If that were to happen then it’s hard to compete with a championship. I said before this season started this is a FF team. We will see if it happens.
This has been a masterclass in roster construction. All the pieces complement each other.
This is definitely the best era to take over a program as late as Pope did and put a roster together .
His personality alone is going to win him some recruiting wars . I can’t wait to see hiw many recruiting wars he wins with HS recruits and the portal .
His personality alone is going to win him some recruiting wars . I can’t wait to see hiw many recruiting wars he wins with HS recruits and the portal .
No doubt. A full rebuild doesn’t take three years anymore. It takes three weeks.
I know what your point was, and I agree with most of that list. Just saying they very well may end up around the same record. They aren’t very good snd the Big 10 won’t be easy. They have lost by quite a bit against every team with a pulse they have played. Arkansas will definitely improve on the disaster of last year.
Definitely been fun to see the pieces fit. Aaron Torres was one of the few Pre season media people who thought so as well. He always said I can see how they aren’t a top 15 roster and he was spot on, probably playing a little better than expected but we could easily be around 15-20 without the right comebacks this year. I love having layers who compliment each other again and a vision for the construction of the roster and game plan.
