Kofi announcing Friday

[GonzoCat90]

It doesn't get you as excited when you name off the players like they're Pokémon cards you've collected, but our team and roster are better fits without another big.

You have to make it work if you can land a guy like Duren or Kofi, I guess, but the thing that has killed us lately has been lack of spacing, shooting, and creating.

It's not exactly addition by subtraction, but I maintain that we're better off not trying to force two bigs and pushing everyone else out of position or to the bench.

 

[GonzoCat90]

Maybe KSR heard Cal didn't talk to Kofi because he was carrying Frederick to his life-and-leg saving emergency surgery.

Or maybe he clearly has a plan to modernize the offense and realizes he already has two 5s and four 4s on the roster.

 

[Joneslab]

The fact that Calipari didn't even reach out suggests that it's probably about Tshiebwe. Kentucky wants him to have the year that Cockburn had last year at Illinois.

The only reservation I have is that the Tshiebwe we saw early this season was a very flawed player. I chalk most of that up to simply disenchantment with his situation, but the fact remains that if Kentucky is going to be a contender he's going to have to be at the very least an all-SEC type of player.

 

[bookerfan66]

Maybe KSR heard Cal didn't talk to Kofi because he was carrying Frederick to his life-and-leg saving emergency surgery.

Or maybe he clearly has a plan to modernize the offense and realizes he already has two 5s and four 4s on the roster.

Cal isn't going to turn down an all american.This team isn't that good.

 

[Smooth86]

My thing is if Oscar gets hurt, or in foul trouble, who do we plug in at the 5? Ware? Collins? A team like miss st will eat us up inside.. not to mention Tenn, fla, aub… Not feeling to good about duren coming…

 

[GonzoCat90]

Cal isn't going to turn down an all american.This team isn't that good.

Then it wasn't going to be that good with Kofi forcing us to play like it's 1982 either.

If you could trade Oscar for him, sure. But both guys were going to play and it was going to put the 4s at the 3 spot.

For the same reason we aren't after Marcus Carr, it makes sense not to add Kofi Cockburn.

 

[GonzoCat90]

My thing is if Oscar gets hurt, or in foul trouble, who do we plug in at the 5? Ware? Collins? A team like miss st will eat us up inside.. not to mention Tenn, fla, aub… Not feeling to good about duren coming…

Ware did his job last year as a freshman with no offseason and chaos around him. He's a former 5 star. Guys usually get better.

Collins can play the 5. He's a great shot blocker.

Any team throwing it to the block on every possession is doing us a favor.

 

[DavidHawk]

I am very optimistic about the upcoming season with our team as it stands today. With that being said this team without Kofi/Jalen Duren means we still have the same weakness as last year in that we have no absolute stud to go to when it matters. Someone can always step up, but I like having an ultra-talent on the team

 

[RunninRichie]

Ware did his job last year as a freshman with no offseason and chaos around him. He's a former 5 star. Guys usually get better.

Collins can play the 5. He's a great shot blocker.

Any team throwing it to the block on every possession is doing us a favor.

He’s a 4 star.

 

[bookerfan66]

Then it wasn't going to be that good with Kofi forcing us to play like it's 1982 either.

If you could trade Oscar for him, sure. But both guys were going to play and it was going to put the 4s at the 3 spot.

For the same reason we aren't after Marcus Carr, it makes sense not to add Kofi Cockburn.

We have no star on this roster.Oscar was weak last year and was replaced by a better player and is very foul prone but we don't need an all american.Makes sense.

 

[gharding07]

I am very optimistic about the upcoming season with our team as it stands today. With that being said this team without Kofi/Jalen Duren means we still have the same weakness as last year in that we have no absolute stud to go to when it matters. Someone can always step up, but I like having an ultra-talent on the team

Washington, Grady, Mintz can all evolve into the go to guy.

 

[GonzoCat90]

He’s a 4 star.

Good catch. Same idea though. Top 40-ish kid. Whole lot of them improve over time.

Besides, you just can't be 13 deep. Not with real human beings.

 

[STL_Cat]

A lot of logical thoughts about why we don’t need Kofi and even that he could have been a detriment to the team. They make sense.

It’s funny how I hear them way more this morning than yesterday morning.

 

[GonzoCat90]

We have no star on this roster.Oscar was weak last year and was replaced by a better player and is very foul prone but we don't need an all american.Makes sense.

Where were you when all the talk was that Kofi made us better than 2015? How good do you think he is? There can't be that dramatic a swing.

I agree there's no proven star on this roster. We typically go into the season without one. Washington or Collins are probably your best bets.

 

[bigblue1971]

Silent verbal from Duren on the visit. Commitment after Peach Jam. Ok I'm just throwing stuff on the wall and hoping it sticks...

 

[STL_Cat]

Where were you when all the talk was that Kofi made us better than 2015? How good do you think he is? There can't be that dramatic a swing.

I agree there's no proven star on this roster. We typically go into the season without one. Washington or Collins are probably your best bets.

We typically go into the season without a proven star? Okay, proven I’ll give you. But our best teams we’ve always had a pretty good idea who was going to be All-American level guys.

 

[JFCats22]

This is pretty surprising to me

 

[JFCats22]

The fact that Calipari didn't even reach out suggests that it's probably about Tshiebwe. Kentucky wants him to have the year that Cockburn had last year at Illinois.

The only reservation I have is that the Tshiebwe we saw early this season was a very flawed player. I chalk most of that up to simply disenchantment with his situation, but the fact remains that if Kentucky is going to be a contender he's going to have to be at the very least an all-SEC type of player.

Kofi is 7'1 and 285, Oscar is 6'9 (maybe) and 260...MASSIVE difference for guys playing the same position

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Crazy as it sounds, I dont believe Kofi/Oscar automatically make us better than what we have now (unless we bench Oscar in favor of Kofi, but that has its own issues). I think its perfectly reasonable to think that going smaller might be better for us, where guys like Allen and Toppin have those additional minutes.

And remember, when we say "smaller" its not like we're going to the 2010 Mizz teams that started 4 guards. Our version of smaller will still be one of the longest teams in college, but it would have less "beef" and better shooting. I really like this roster as is.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

A lot of logical thoughts about why we don’t need Kofi and even that he could have been a detriment to the team. They make sense.

It’s funny how I hear them way more this morning than yesterday morning.

I've been saying it for weeks. I imagine you're talking about some others, but a lot of us have been saying this for some time.

 

[Cats192]

I am very optimistic about the upcoming season with our team as it stands today. With that being said this team without Kofi/Jalen Duren means we still have the same weakness as last year in that we have no absolute stud to go to when it matters. Someone can always step up, but I like having an ultra-talent on the team

I think we had a lot more issues than just not having a go to guy late in games.

Most of those issues will be corrected this year.

 

[GonzoCat90]

We typically go into the season without a proven star? Okay, proven I’ll give you. But our best teams we’ve always had a pretty good idea who was going to be All-American level guys.

Okay, well maybe this won't be one of our best teams. I think that's likely.

Or maybe in April it'll have been obvious all along that TyTy Washington was a stud or that Damion Collins was a top 10 pick. Or it makes sense that Junior former 5 star Keion Brooks really made the leap. Or Jacob Toppin is a late bloomer like his brother.

There are a dozen potential narratives *if* they happen, which is what we're usually hoping for. I didn't predict IQ being our best player two years ago or SGA a couple years prior. We'll see.

 

[Joneslab]

Kofi is 7'1 and 285, Oscar is 6'9 (maybe) and 260...MASSIVE difference for guys playing the same position

Kofi Cockburn is one of the largest humans on planet earth. Not really a fair comp.

I don't think that's really an indictment of Oscar Tshiebwe. From what I've seen from him at his best, how hard he plays and his attitude down there can offset any size he gives up. (At his worst he's a foul machine.)

I think we'll see Tshiebwe and Collins alongside each other a lot with Tshiebwe playing a kind of Reid Travis role. I obviously like Cockburn far more because he's a much more polished player but the logic from Cal may have been that Tshiebwe was the guy we went with, he's been at UK for months at this point, and so you have to roll with the guys you've got.

 

[GonzoCat90]

Semi-related:

Can someone explain to me how the second the Kofi transfer news broke every insider had it as a done deal to Kentucky, and we believed it.

Then as recently as yesterday there were all the cryptic little hints (Kentucky fans will have jock itch, etc) and reports of Zoom calls and virtual tours

And now Cal hasn't ever even *contacted* Cockburn?

 

[cornbreadnmilk]

Semi-related:

Can someone explain to me how the second the Kofi transfer news broke every insider had it as a done deal to Kentucky, and we believed it.

Then as recently as yesterday there were all the cryptic little hints (Kentucky fans will have jock itch, etc) and reports of Zoom calls and virtual tours

And now Cal hasn't ever even *contacted* Cockburn?

I hope the whole story is false because it really makes Cal look bad if he wouldn't even talk to an all american player.Especially coming off that pathetic season.

 

[Cats192]

Semi-related:

Can someone explain to me how the second the Kofi transfer news broke every insider had it as a done deal to Kentucky, and we believed it.

Then as recently as yesterday there were all the cryptic little hints (Kentucky fans will have jock itch, etc) and reports of Zoom calls and virtual tours

And now Cal hasn't ever even *contacted* Cockburn?

It's the biggest "WTF" In a long while.

I'd become pretty convinced this was happening.

 

[bigblue1971]

This is pretty surprising to me

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I guess all the people who didn't want 2 big strong men down low (1 an All American) can rest easy.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I hope the whole story is false because it really makes Cal look bad if he wouldn't even talk to an all american player.Especially coming off that pathetic season.

Cal might have seen the poor fit, or like reports are saying, that he's going all in on Duren.

Kofi was only here for a season, and would be in the NBA if he could have gotten some kind of team guarantee. Remember, the transfer rule is in effect. Adding Kofi might have caused a transfer. We heard rumors of "not everyone being happy" with the addition. And while Kofi would be our best big, it's not as easy of a call as we think. Oscar may be a 2 year guy for us.

 

[Cats192]

I'm sure we'll be good without Kofi. I think he took out a lot of the question marks, and I would have loved to have had that.

 

[Cats192]

More than anything, It's another "Done deal" and those have become so darn frustrating. We used to be KENTUCKY. We came to your town and took your best player. We got whoever we wanted. And maybe Cal didn't even want Kofi.

But I'm so mentally exhausted by all of the "he's coming to UK" recruitments that end with "Oops, guess he changed his mind." We've had a lot of these the last 2 or 3 years.

 

[RunninRichie]

More than anything, It's another "Done deal" and those have become so darn frustrating. We used to be KENTUCKY. We came to your town and took your best player. We got whoever we wanted. And maybe Cal didn't even want Kofi.

But I'm so mentally exhausted by all of the "he's coming to UK" recruitments that end with "Oops, guess he changed his mind." We've had a lot of these the last 2 or 3 years.

“You’re gonna love me, because you’re gonna come to my town and take my player”

 

[JFCats22]

 

[track42]

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WTF?Cal better have Jalen.

 

[The_Answer1313]

So which is it.........Cal wasn't in contact with him or the folks at UK encouraged returning to Illinois.

I mean come on.

I find it highly unlikely that a player like Cockburn would show interest in UK and 1) people would encourage him to go back to Illinois and 2) That Cal wouldn't be in contact with him.

 

[RunninRichie]

WTF?Cal better have Jalen.

“Hey cal, i’m a 7’1” 300 pound big with 4% body fat and I want to come to UK!” Cal: “I encourage you to return back to your original school, #builtdifferent”

 

[JerseyCat84]

you could say Cal Cock-blocked us

 

[JerseyCat84]

More spin than the rinse cycle in here

 

[Lionel_Hutz]

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[Cawood86]

I like your logic Cawood!

AlohaCat

Well, apparently my theory was all wrong. Can I still get paid for my theory though? Ain't that how it works?

 

[RunninRichie]

Well, apparently my theory was all wrong. Can I still get paid for my theory though? Ain't that how it works?

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