Pope talks about team construction philosophy
- Thread starter chasingwildcat
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That is what I would like to see, I enjoy following players multiple years at UK. It’s been a while.
Music to my ears. Also we already have 3 of the top freshman so might be done there.
That is exactly how I have thought it should be done in the new age of the Transfer Portal
If our next portal batch is more athletic and can stay in front of their man on defense, then I’m ok with being done with freshmen for this year. Our portal kids this year are great on offense but really limited defensively. It really limits our ceiling. Can’t have that again next year.
That's how I would go about it. I love that there is this surge in Kentucky talent out there starting with Sheppard. I will be shocked if Perry, Noah aren't back next year. Then MM and JJ come in next year, and hopefully Tay Kinney from Newport the year after. MM and JJ may not be four year guys, but I'm hoping we get to watch the other three for all 4 years.
I’d say Oweh, Williams, and Butler were known as stronger defenders that for their offense.
That’s the thing. If you have players coming back and freshman that will get minutes, how attractive will that be to a portal player
I will take my chances on the older guys. I would probably still prefer a slightly less athletic upperclassman to a skinny freak athlete freshman unless said freshman was a generational talent like AD, especially with the physicality of the SEC.
Sure would be nice to have Lewis and Kinney here as multi year point guards .
Going forwards wants 1-3 top freshmen. 3-4 portal guys who fit uk bb and multiple multi year returners.
All about balance and keeping players in the system for multiple seasons.
Returning talent is the main ingredient in the recipe for success.
Returning talent is the main ingredient in the recipe for success.
Your top tier portal players are going to be paid at a premium so they know they're going to start or be a big part of the rotation.
I don't think UK will have a problem getting a starting PG and PF out of the portal but adding depth could be tricky.
I'd say Pope will probably use the same formula he did with Almanor.
Go after a small school kid and sell him on playing at Kentucky.
I like that plan if he can execute it consistently. Sadly it's the world of CBB now. These young kids are basically mercenaries for hire. Whoever writes the biggest check.
then you are hampered by guys being 1 dimensional, and not consistent as he has displayed
I love the plan and hope he can execute it, I think that’s one of the things we’re waiting to see is if he can bring in some big time recruits and mix with portal guys. Can’t imagine a hs recruit not wanting to play in his system although it’s all about $$$$ now.
You can go that route or try for an under the radar HS player .
We're just not going to fill 15 scholarships with quality portal guys.
I doubt Pope will even try. He was good with 12 for this season.
And the problem as many of you heard from your coach in high school ( it was drilled into us ) “ a chain is only as strong as its weakest link “. Three defenders are a start but you must have seven or eight or it doesn’t work l
Money is definitely a factor but if you are a player taking up the 11-15 scholarship spots, there's not going to be a whole lot of NIL anywhere.
Not here not at Duke not at Arkansas.
UK probably has as strong as any in legit team NIL that everyone gets to share in but the pay for play money that's coming from the boosters is all going to the top guys.
Isn't that stating the obvious ?? I really can't see how most coaches would not want this situation.
The key will be whether there are multiple multi-year returners, it seems to me.
Forgetting those with NBA one-and-done type potential, do most players actually WANT to spend four (4) years at the same school ?? I have my doubts, quite frankly. The $$$, prospects for increased playing time and the portal attention are too attractive to many players these days, it seems to me.
Another BIG question: Do most kids really care about banners ??
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Pope isn’t gonna make it long enough. He’s one of ours but he isn’t an elite coach. Unless we have march success which is looking more and more daunting pope will be year to year. I’ve watched alot of mark pope coached teams and felt he would need to coach along side Pitino to become a blue blood level coach.
Based on what? Why do you think he isn't an "elite coach"? And the same question could be asked of someone who says he is an elite coach.
To me the best coaches aren't necessarily the ones that win the most. They are the ones that do the most with the least, the ones whose sum is better than the sum of it's parts. I think Pope has definitely shown that this year with the injuries. And you could probably say the same while he was at BYU with the pre-NIL challenges he faced there.
Thing is , if they are good enough defenders AND good enough offensive players to be effective in the sec , probably 99% of them have already moved on the nba .
You’re full of yourself. Learn ball before you publicly display your clear lack of basketball knowledge. The #3 ranked offense in the country, defense numbers improving and he’s done all this through injuries to key players with a patchwork roster.
Exactly you want players that have played in your system for multiple years to come back makes perfect sense. Look at Jaxon Robinson imagine having 3-4 players every year like him man Pope will build a machine doing that.
Agree. The returners are the ones who will generate the most success. If you can't keep your top guys regularly, it will be hard to get to the final four and win a championship. If we can target some underclassmen portal guys that can be with the program 2/3 years instead of incoming seniors who only have 1 year left to give, that will also be a winning strategy.
I think Pope may have to fill gaps with more portal seniors these first few years, but once he gets to year 4/5 hopefully most of our upperclassmen are returning guys. If we need to grab 1/2 portal seniors that's not a problem, but you don't want to be relying on finding 4/5 portal seniors every year to make your roster competitive.
At the end of the day, Pope will have to do whatever it takes to field the best roster, but the philosophy he seems to have from the X post are good guardrails, I think.
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Very smart distribution of talent. But, woukd we expect anything less from Pope than an intelligent take on building his team.
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