Ksr talk about the team
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My speculation is Almonor. I'm far from an expert, but I've been wondering if he was quite as good as most of the others.
You are so right. And, here we all are giving him even more attention which I'm sure has him smiling.
Think he is the starting two guard. And Krissa and Perry may come in to relieve Butler and Oweh.
It is Oweh. This was talked about on one of the podcasts I listen to...cannot remember which one, but Pope or one of Assts openly talked about "one of the guys struggling to pick up on something". The coach then mentioned that player by name when sharing a story.
Oweh was not mentioned by Jones and certainly would qualify as a surprise based off of his performance at previous school.
That is surprising with what I have heard of how he was doing. An OK fan told me before practiced started that Oweh was really good and was a good get for us FWIW.
Well what Jones said he heard may be what I just referred to and that was like a month ago. Jones has been totally out of the loop for 2 months so everything is "new" to him right now.
I certainly read nothing into it whatsoever. Even if Oweh is struggling right now it is still 3 months until season. Silly to worry about it.
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He is a awful defender. Careless with the ball and a streaky shooter. He will have some really good shooting games. But he isn't someone you want on the court in crunch time IMO
I’ve read elsewhere on this site that Garrison is pretty far behind Williams and that Chandler is behind the other freshman at this point .
It definitely is Oweh by what was said and not said in his "report". Which is fine, they won't all be good players.
what I'm looking forward to is a team that shows growth continually throughout the season, is coached logically and transparently and in a way the fans can relate to.
it will be refreshing to actually watch the games and realize the best team is on the court and the players are playing for a common goal
everything else will shake out player wise. I'm not questioning whether Pope will have top draft picks on the bench or won't be scared to bench guys because their agents threaten to do whatever
it will be refreshing to actually watch the games and realize the best team is on the court and the players are playing for a common goal
everything else will shake out player wise. I'm not questioning whether Pope will have top draft picks on the bench or won't be scared to bench guys because their agents threaten to do whatever
It's hard to really know what Matt Jones means . He was talking about how important recruiting is and nobody has won a title without at least 2 top guys. Then went on to say 2 top draft picks. There's a huge difference in recruiting top guys and having 2 top draft picks. UConn in 2023 didn't have top recruits.
No way Matt should have singled anyone out. Even in the NIL age. Completely self serving.
I mean...
Did he single anyone out? I think you have to name someone to single them out.
If the name is known because of someone else--it's not a Matt Jones issue.
Hopefully it’s just struggling to pick up the system early and more time will get him going. I’m not worried about his talent or ability to play here though.
Funny, people get outraged when he post something he heard that wasn't good about a player, but if he says something he heard was positive posters eat it up. He was TOLD, not him saying it directly, and he also said he would not mention the players name. I think that is actually pretty responsible reporting. Whether some posters like it or not, not ALL info coming out will be positive. It is just the way it works, if it was all positive reviews, then it would be a homer report. Also, some former UK players said some guys could not defend well. I do not see anyone bashing the former players on LaFamilia for posting negative reviews. Jones clearly stated "it was told by me by someone who has attended EVERY practice". Sounds like a coach or team assistant. He was just reporting what he had been told.
IMO, it is Oweh. His shooting %'s last year was on very limited shots. I guess we will find out later on when rotations start taking shape. Also, just because a player is struggling now, doesn't mean he will for the whole year. Guys are trying to get acclimated with a new team, system, coach, a lot to take in with very few practices having been had.
IMO, it is Oweh. His shooting %'s last year was on very limited shots. I guess we will find out later on when rotations start taking shape. Also, just because a player is struggling now, doesn't mean he will for the whole year. Guys are trying to get acclimated with a new team, system, coach, a lot to take in with very few practices having been had.
Yeah I heard him say he wondered if we can get top recruits and then he went on to talk about Moreno and Johnson may neither one come here. He said if we can't get either of the top 2 guys from KY that is a concern. He did fail to mention that Pope was able to retain one and land one of the top 2-3 KY kids in this years class in Perry and Noah. IMO landing kids that fit your program is better than taking a kid just because he is from Kentucky. I'm not saying he does or doesn't want Moreno or Johnson because all indications are he does, but not landing either isn't a sign of he can't recruit. Cal didn't get every good KY kid and being a good recruiter is about the only thing he does do well. NIL has changed things and not every KY kids dream is to play at UK like it was 20-30 years ago.
Of the 40 RSCI Top 5 guys since 2015 , Only Duke's Banchero (RSCI #3 in 2021) made a Final 4 .
2018 Duke signed the #1, #2, and #4 RSCI recruits and lost in the elite 8. Nearly lost in the round of 32 and also the Sweet 16.
2022 Duke had the #1, #2, and #4 guys (again) and lost in the Round of 32.
Heck, in 2023, UK signed 3 of the top 6 recruits and did not win a single post-season game.
Recruiting elite high school talent is not nearly as important as it use to be.
If one looks at RSCI top 10 players in that same period (80 players); only 6 different players made a Final 4.
1 top 10 in the 2016 Final 4
1* in 2017 (same player for UNC)
1 in 2018
0 in 2019
2 in 2021
1 in 2022
0 in 2023
1* in 2024
* denotes won a title
Adding 80 more players and expanding it to top-20 only adds 5 true-freshmen: Brunson (No. 19 in c/o 2015, Villanova FF in 2016), Tony Bradley (No. 19 in c/o 2016, UNC FF in 2017), Billy Preston (No. 19 in c/o 2017, Kansas FF in 2018) and AJ Griffin & Trevor Keels (No. 18 and 19 in c/o 2021, Duke FF in 2022).
Griffin and Keels were the only two of these five to average more than 10 PPG during their true-freshman season (10.4 and 11.5, respectively). DEFINITELY puts this recruiting thing into perspective.
Only 8/160 top-20 true-freshmen see a final four.
EDIT: this is the work done by dlh331 and Billyclydesghost. I hope they don’t mind me posting it. I thought it was interesting enough that everyone should see it .
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IMO, the 8/160 is a bit misleading, as MOST of the top 5 guys only end up playing for 1 year, which greatly reduces the chances of making a Final 4. Unless they signed with a stout, well balanced, mixed team and was not forced to be THE man on a team. IF those top 5 guys stayed for year 2, even a 3rd year, the numbers would look a lot different. It is proven you can't get to final 4's consistently with a team lead mostly by 3/4 Elite recruits, but they are still needed in todays game, but if they are surrounded by other talented, veteran guys and do not have to shoulder a bulk of the teams scoring. In a perfect world, a very successful team would consist of 2/3 elite recruits, 2/3 veteran portal guys, and guys who developed over 2/3 years. Top 5 recruits DO make a difference and are very important to team success, just not a team made up of MOSTLY elite 1st year guys. I believe with the portal and NIL in todays landscape, you will have to have a well balanced and deep roster that you just cannot get by JUST having veteran portal signings and 3/4 year players. The ELITE top recruits will still be very important, just like the other players are.
A team to watch this year that has the mixture, is Rutgers. On paper, with their balance of young studs and veteran guys, they should be a team to be reckoned with. But the elite guys will have to be able to play defense and do other things on the court other than just scoring. Also, maturity, even for a freshman is important.
A team to watch this year that has the mixture, is Rutgers. On paper, with their balance of young studs and veteran guys, they should be a team to be reckoned with. But the elite guys will have to be able to play defense and do other things on the court other than just scoring. Also, maturity, even for a freshman is important.
Kinda. He's got this board trying to figure it out. If there are 12 guys and 11 of them are doing well, isn't that a good thing? Only we're not looking at it that way in this thread.
Of course they almost always only stay 1 year. That’s part of it. But that is another reason why they aren’t as crucial as some people think . I’m a bottom line type of guy . Bottom line is, 8 out of 160 top 20 ranked freshman have made a final four since 2015 .
fair enough, but what kind of talent surrounded those elite guys ? Yes there are a few teams loaded with elite talent and didn't make it, but there are a lot more that had elite kids and NOTHING to go along with them, 2/3 guys as I state can't carry the burden of the whole team, it is why there needs to be a mixture. A good example is this year, we have NO elite kids, lets watch and see how it unfolds.
Yep , we will see . But I’m not saying we shouldn’t recruit elite players, I just don’t really subscribe to the theory that you MUST have them . I agree that a mix of veterans with elite young guys seems like it should give you the best chance.
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Oweh was my guess.
He feels a little more like the Cal mold of “high potential athlete, should be a great defender bc athleticism; can the shooting clock or “be an elite slasher””
In the ball movement, off ball screens, motion offense…. That “elite athleticism” doesn’t overwhelm as much offensively unless it’s by crashing boards and playing Defense.
The rest of the pieces seem to fit what we know about how Pope likes to run the offense via off ball screens and motion and ball Movement mixed w high level catch and
Shoot players; instead of primarily on ball screens and dribble penetration.
I came up with a few more than 8.
16- Nova - Jalen Brunson #19 / UNC - Jackson #9, Hicks #14, Pinson #15 / Syracuse - Dejuan Coleman #18
17- UNC - Jackson #9, Hicks #14, Pinson #15, Bradley #19
18- Kansas - Newman #8 / Nova - Spellman #17, Brunson #19
19- Michigan State - Langford #20
21- Gonzaga - Suggs #7 / Houston - Grimes #8
22- Duke - Banchero #2, Griffin #18, Keels #19, Roach #20 / UNC- Love #13 / Nova- Antoine #16
24- UCONN- Castle #9
22. yes I counted a few players twice, but they made multiple Final 4's. Also, I used Sports Reference .com and their RSCI Top 100.
No he didn't, rabid ass fans got their own self trying to figure it out. He clearly stated "I will not name the player and run him under the bus". He was simply passing along info he was told by someone, either coaching staff or training staff. Obviously it is a talking point, a UK coach stated he (who ever it is) has not been what they expected. IF the staff doesn't want this kind of stuff getting out, THEY should not leak it, especially to someone they know is a HUGE UK media member. It is Matt Jones' job to report good and bad news about the team, no all feel good, homer news. Once again, he did not try to put the player on blast and let everyone know who the staff was talking about.
IMO, he was more responsible with the way he reporting what he was told, than who ever told him the tidbit was. The staff member named a name, Jones did not. Be pissed at who ever said it, not the guy passing along info.
Actually after reading all that, I AM pissed at who told him. What the hell is that coach thinking?
Slight change of subject, but kudos to Steve Kerr for pushing the right buttons in the US win over Serbia. In the second half he leaned more into who was playing the best. The combos in the 4th made sense to my amateur eye. After some timeouts where serbia had the ball the new sub(s) seemed better defensively. Almost like a plan for a single possession or more to maximize the defense. The reverse was true when we had the ball. I'm hoping Pope can win a few games with simply good combinations and decisions. A deeper roster than what Cal used should give him more choices.
Tho to be fair I felt like Washington didn't really click and set in until midway through his 2nd year.
You just never know with these guys when (or if) the light will go on.
We have 9 guys who were the second or third best players on their previous teams. Not all 9 are going to be that here. Some separation will have to occur, some will be better than others, some will pick up the new system faster than others. Some will have a more difficult time not being the second or third best player on this team. They aren't machines and this isn't rocket science.
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Yea let's shit on a guy who has averaged 10 ppg, 4.7 apg, and 2.5 rpg while shooting 37% from 3 all while playing in major conferences.
You have your opinion. I've got mine. He's sucked when it matters most and at a place like this, if you don't think that matters, well no reason to that Cal shouldn't still be the coach then.
I’ve listened a little bit for the first time in a while with Matt back, as it’s unbearable without him. I don’t think he should’ve communicated it in this way.
I’m fairly confident the player he was referring to was Almonor. He excluded him from the positive descriptors he used in the segment that prompted this thread and then used almost the same exact language later on in the week. Later in the week he mentioned Carr as the second leading scorer and in his answer made it clear that it was the other player at his position that was disappointing.
I could very well be mistaken but if you paid attention to his communication this was the insinuation imo. While I don’t like Jones saying this, I also have a problem with whoever relayed it to him.
A kid that gets one final year of college basketball, that seems like a great kid, that was otherwise going to freaking Siena, that was always just an experienced/mature depth piece shouldn’t be getting talked about like that.
Once again could be wrong, was just the vibe I got. Regardless, no need to indirectly call any of the guys out in that manner…in August.
I’m fairly confident the player he was referring to was Almonor. He excluded him from the positive descriptors he used in the segment that prompted this thread and then used almost the same exact language later on in the week. Later in the week he mentioned Carr as the second leading scorer and in his answer made it clear that it was the other player at his position that was disappointing.
I could very well be mistaken but if you paid attention to his communication this was the insinuation imo. While I don’t like Jones saying this, I also have a problem with whoever relayed it to him.
A kid that gets one final year of college basketball, that seems like a great kid, that was otherwise going to freaking Siena, that was always just an experienced/mature depth piece shouldn’t be getting talked about like that.
Once again could be wrong, was just the vibe I got. Regardless, no need to indirectly call any of the guys out in that manner…in August.
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