I want Robinson, too, but as a trivial point of interest … has there ever been a player who played on three (3) different SEC teams ??
SIAP Lanier to UT
- Thread starter RunninRichie
- Start date
Okay bassprocat. Ole mighty one. Keeper of fandom. All be praise to you brother.
Nobody should ever go to Tennessee for anything, but especially basketball.
That’s like signing up to playing American football in Mexico. You know you’re never gonna win.
Simply put, a low testosterone move by a player to join a low testosterone coach who sucks at coaching, to a low testosterone school that’s never won anything.
Roach, Davis, Osobor, and now Lanier were all major misses. And yes they went all out to get them all.
This board is hysterical. A week ago this kid was a must get according to this site. Once we didn't get him, its "good, he wasn't a good enough player to play here anyway." And the whole concept of we have so many minutes on the roster already is stupid. Just because a kid played 30 mpg last year on a different team is completely irrelevant to how many minutes he gets this year on this team.
They haven't been flocking here because of the Kentucky name, at least to the degree that some think.. for quite some time now. They didn't for Tubby, they didn't for BCG. For Cal, they only came because of him.
We need Pope to really show that he's a top coach or we're not going to get those guys. I'm confident he'll be able to bring them in, but we do have to see it.
Curious what your excuse/dismissal will be if we land Jaxson. What’s it like obsessing here when everybody knows you aren’t even a UK fan??
It was he's home. He's not Dalton. They are kidding themselves. I'm glad we didn't get him. We can do better. We have. People must nit have watched Oweh
The idiots trying to get the other 99% of us to press the panic button are chasing their tails as we are tickled to have Pope as our new coach and are going to enjoy the coming years. But by all means rip your own hair out trying to move the needle. You aren’t. It’s a total exercise in futility and you are throwing your time away for absolutely nothing. ✅
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I trust Pope to make the right call on the combination of players. From all that I have heard about Pope, he isn't just going after the highest rated available players; he is going after players who best fit his system. This is a totally new concept for Kentucky. We have become accustomed to star watching and counting.
You are right coping last night. I had to leave and head to my youngest sons house. 2012 when we won the championship we did a home ncaa pool and my youngest son won the pool. The prize was a new puppy. That puppy was a boxador (boxer / Lab mix). He passed last night. I had to get to Lexington and get him over to the cremation place to freeze him. My son was devastated.
As far as UK. Not coping one bit. What i have down in this thread I mean. I do not listen to others and watch tape of games on all the guys we have so far. I think with Pope coaching they will do really well (better than what most are thinking). I think we did not need Lanier (have said it about 100 times already). I did not like Lanier or his game that much. Not coping. I wanted Davis and Ark got him. No sour grapes, i look forward to beating Ark with Davis and Butler shutting him down. I wanted Big Z to stay (thought the fit was good, not great), I wanted Adou but alas. I could go on but no need.
I am staying positive. I hated the Cal years, stopped taking my kids to UK basketball events like I did with other coaches. I have dreaded each season (minus the Davis season because I like Lamb and Jones coming back).
I am happy as a puppy with 2 peters now that we have Mark Pope. I think it works out great. If it fails it fails. But at least we had someone that loved Lexington, KY and UK, the people and the history of what he is representing.
I was never, ever a big get this freshman to put us over the top guy. That started changing with Mashburn, he really helped KENTUCKY basketball as a true freshman. I still believe in the model of athletics of getting top (not all 5 star players), developing and winning with a mix of older and younger guys. Think it is the best and if you look over the long haul that is the best model. With Pope we can get there. With the portal we can get there quicker. Maybe not 24-25 but 25-26 is possible.
Yeah I get it, UT is not my favorite, but not my least favorite team in the SEC, Florida, Vandy are my least favorite.
I get a kid in Tennessee going to UT, Middle Tennessee, Memphis, Vandy or UT Chatt. Heck we have football fans wondering why guys come to UK for the same reason as we are stating here for basketball. I guess I am too Old to carry that much of a grudge against a school, including UofL, Duke, UNC and so forth. Heck my wife has a UT hat. Wears it regularly. I have LSU gear and have since 1981 (was one of my first recruiting contacts in high school). Did not go there and usually do not pull for them but hey have a spot in my heart.
I do not care about these high school player rankings. It is proven each year with the portal now. Kids that were unrated, 2 star, 3 star and now have proven themselves at smaller schools and are legit college players. Guys here upset because we are not getting some of these low end high school recruits now stating if Pope does not get player x the season is over, he is a DUDE. It is laughable.
If Pope puts his model in place and does well this is all moot. If he puts his model in and fails, UK will move on in 3 to 4 years.
I for one think Pope is legit, will get it done and we will be happy with the product he puts out.
Players leave because of lack of playing time.
They can choose not to come for the same reason.
This does not mean every player feels that way, but many do.
Obviously, NIL$$$ is another factor ...
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First I truly am not sold on Lanier given he played at a small school and was the man there. But, the experts have him rated high and likely know better.
What I think is missed is what Pope is selling and some will buy and others won't. Kentucky is Kentucky from his perspective, the top of the college basketball world, the legacy, the pride, and of course BBN. Listen to him talk and his enthusiasm about our program in and of itself. If a recruit doesn't feel any appreciation for any of that (and more of this feature) then they are not for the program. No, it doesn't mean that every recruit we have is here strictly because of Kentucky basketball but it does seem that most are excited by that recognition.
Other programs like Tenn will have some awesome seasons, will have a good fan following, will offer NIL money, playing time, whatever. None of that matches the Kentucky experience. Some recruits will get it others won't.
What I think is missed is what Pope is selling and some will buy and others won't. Kentucky is Kentucky from his perspective, the top of the college basketball world, the legacy, the pride, and of course BBN. Listen to him talk and his enthusiasm about our program in and of itself. If a recruit doesn't feel any appreciation for any of that (and more of this feature) then they are not for the program. No, it doesn't mean that every recruit we have is here strictly because of Kentucky basketball but it does seem that most are excited by that recognition.
Other programs like Tenn will have some awesome seasons, will have a good fan following, will offer NIL money, playing time, whatever. None of that matches the Kentucky experience. Some recruits will get it others won't.
Roach was never (like Lanier) coming here. not a miss at all.
Osobor tried to hold teams out for ransom, Washington went for it. Not a miss, a decision not to pay a guys way too much money. Get over it.
Davis not sure, do not think we ever got him here to even offer anything. again someone that does not want to come here is not a miss. It is like saying I almost bought a Rolls Royce but ended up with a Yugo because that is all I was willing to pay.
Yeah, I can see your next post already. I am not saying we have a team of Yugo's. Lol
We have the guys CMP wants. You might not like, you are not the coach. You can debate this till Nov 2024. When Pope lines up to face off with the dudes he has and we see what we have here. Also I do believe he will open some practices for media and some fans to see. We will get plenty of reports before Nov. We will know soon enough.
Appreciate it. He was one of the best dogs i have ever known. Had many really good dogs.
Will be a wake up call for them when Barnes leaves. Probably back to the lower third of the conference for a while.
Edit to add that was his best chance at a final four at Tennessee, Lanier isn’t knecht.
Edit to add that was his best chance at a final four at Tennessee, Lanier isn’t knecht.
Memphis is the only team in that state to ever make a final four and 2 of their 3 are vacated.. 😂
All of the Tennessee fan bases in Tennessee are trash. A lot of people across Tennessee that are UT fans root for Memphis basketball because it’s the only basketball with even a modicum of success. It’s a basketball poor state with limited tradition and when your state mid major must be rooted for so you can claim something a worth yea it’s bad. Lanier is a Tennessee fan from Tennessee, who wants to play at Tennessee. Why anyone would give a sht about that kind of player I have no idea. It’s means less than nothing to me. The guy just threw away a chance to be a Kentucky basketball lifer to play at a poor program with little support and now has zero connections to a blue blood moving forward. Hell regret the decision when it’s over and people don’t give 1 damn about his playing days at Tennessee. When players get older this stuff matters and there are no upsides in life to playing basketball at UT.
Enjoy purgatory Lanier.
On to the next.
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It would be like Alabama fans throwing a fit about not getting Travis Perry. I just threw them out there because I know they offered him too.
Perry was never going anywhere but UK and Lanier was never going anywhere but UT. It happens and we will be just dandy without him!
I agree, it a cool new concept to see. I’ve seen the word mid or a bunch of bench players thrown around on here by people. We don’t how this team will mesh together, we also don’t know who will take a jump in a new system.
Don’t know how they can be missed if Kentucky never offered them, or in roaches case never even got a visit. Osobor was our bidding war and Kentucky was never paying that money. Davis was most likely that also.
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To talk about misses in Pope’s first year is insane. There’s one guy here with 3 accounts going thread to thread posting jabs the entire time. Pope has been here a few months it’s a miracle we’ve done what we’ve done. It’s a testament to his work ability and the power of the program for sure.
I won’t judge much based off of any of this. A few are acting like Pope has had 2 years recruiting these guys it’s absurd. It we haven’t “missed” anyone we’ve just thrown a bunch of sht to the wall for 3 weeks and hoped it stuck lol.
lol talking misses after recruiting top players for 2 weeks and using it to throw fits. I’m far from a pumper I’m usually on the opposite side but that’s just ridiculous.
I don't know about this board, but I know that several Kentucky insiders consistently stated that they felt Jaxson Robinson is the better of the two (Robinson and Lanier) and that Pope and Robinson history and his production at a higher level over a longer period of time makes him the better choice. I am sure that you are aware of this, but you ignore it because it doesn't fit your agenda. Whiners and malcontents should pack up and follow their hero. I am sure that lonely board would appreciate your constant whining about UK and Pope. Oh, wait a minute, there is no one there to read your whinny little posts. Lol
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I have no idea if Lanier or Robinson would be better. Right now the advantage of Lanier is that he is already committed to playing college ball while Robinson is taking his time deciding whether to return to college.
Probably the best outlook on it. Lanier still hasn’t dropped out of the draft though. He most likely will but he still listed in the draft. Robinson to me has the slight edge given he can defend some, I would like him to become a little more efficient, but Robinson is just as good if not better than Lanier. Same with poplar.
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If Lanier is so good, why did he make a quicker decision to stay in college? Could it be that he heard nothing from the NBA that gave him reason to wait which is unlike Robinson. Unlike fans, Pope is guided by facts instead of emotions. Fans want quick decisions while Pope wants the right/best decisions.
I expect him to have an adjustment period like Reeves did his first year but not as productive as Antonio. I think he will have some trouble breaking guys down off the dribble and finishing at the rim. I'd say he will be a 14 ppg scorer and UT fans who expected him to be Knecht will be disappointed by that but he will still be a good player.
I will also expect his efficiency numbers to come down significantly but still be above average.
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Is he not going after top talent really or just not able to get it so far? We will see.
