Siena expects to lose Almonor to UK
- Thread starter Smashcat
- Start date
I doubt it.
The UK staff has indicated they aim to add two more; three if something crazy happens (like Robinson returning to college).
If that's Robinson/Lanier, there's room and money available.
I think UK is going after Almonor because Robinson is staying in the draft.
Man it will be rough if Lanier goes to Tenn and Robinson stays in the draft. We really need one of them IMO.
Or Poplar. But year, I agree. Got to lock up at least one of these guys.
How realistic was it that both Robinson & Lanier came here? It was likely always going to be one or the other
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I like what I know of him (very little), but I would rather, if I had it my way, get a guy with more than one year of eligibility. I wonder if there's any chance he's coming to redshirt a year, or anyone else on the roster might do that. Seems like the most likely candidate would be one of the freshmen, but they're not the ones I'm thinking of. None of the upperclassmen really fit the profile for that, however.
I'm not getting some of the complainers... Did you guys really think we were going to 9 guys that planned on starting and getting 30mpg? We'd have to play every game to triple overtime to make that work.
None of them have 12 scholarship players, currently.
Yeah, when's the last time a UK team had an 8th or 9th man capable of making 93 threes in a season while shooting at least 39% from three?
Answer: never.
Exactly. With what is on the roster I wasn't expecting more than 1 premiere guy to sign up past the draft date. People talking about adding 3 guys dropping out of the draft are delusional... They aren't coming back to play for a team with 23 mpg. we have more talent on the roster than some seem to realize.
Sorry, a little bit of off topic info about Oakland's #3.I bet nobody wanted this dude either.
Played high school ball in Wisconsin in same area/ league against Tyler Herro. In one game Gohlke scored 19 against Herro's team, but Tyler scored 39 and won.
247Sports had rankings for 8 players in Wisconsin that year (2018). Herro was #1 player in the state as a 4-Star/ #37 Nationally.
The #8 player that year was a 2-Star, rated 492 nationally.
Also, some guy named Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers 20.1-ppg/ 10.9-apg) was rated #4 in the state and #169 nationally.
One of the stories I read said Gohlke would not have been rated in the Top-500 high school basketball players in Wisconsin in 2018.
Gohlke didn't have any college scholarship offers, so he went to Hillsdale College to study accounting and played basketball. It's not where you started out, or how hard you've had to climb, it's what you do when you get there that counts.
It wasn't a fairy tale the day Jack slayed the UK giant (Coach Blunderbore). He not only stole the giant's shot at the bag of gold, he indirectly placed the giant on a different path to rejuvenation, so the giant can remember what the priority truly is, to learn from their recent over-confident failures and to strive to do better in the future................
Go Big-Blue!!!!!!
I played against Derrick Anderson in HS. We held him in check for 4 quarters and then in OT he just decided.... "im way better than these dudes and I'm just going to take over"... LOL. That OT I decided DA was a top 10 player in the nation. It took 3 years for people to figure it out, but I knew what I saw. LOL.
IMO some have been brainwashed for s decade by Cal to believe we have to have future NBA stars to succeed. Others are still pissed Csl is gone and will throw sand in the engine at ANY opportunity. Finally some just like to bitch. Pope has done s phenomenal job of building this roster with little time and minimal staff for some it. I wish these guys would just STFU and let him do his job.
Pope and staff want him that’s good enough for me. They know much more than anyone on this forum and we have a nice team coming together. Go Big Blue.
If he was a starter then I could see all the whining. He’s not worse than Brad Calipari.
I will take a different point of view on that. I prefer every player to believe they have a path to start and the motor and desire to push for more playing time. Not every player can start, but every player can have the ambition to play and contribute. The reality is that you can have freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The more experience, the closer the player gets to his performance ceiling. We are not used to having experienced players because Cal didn't have many of those by choice. OTOH, Pope is building a roster with a lot of experienced players, many of whom will use up their eligibility in their first season at UK. That means this roster building exercise will be repeated a year from now. It is not yet clear to me whether Almonor has one season of eligibility or two left. If he has two, that would make him a more attractive take. In any case, he is a combo forward, and this roster still needs combo forwards. His ability to make shots from the perimeter is a big plus.
Yes that is why I was asking. The intent is to leave the 13th open in case a special situation opens up later. I would personally take all 3 now but given the competition recruiting that is probably unlikely. Taking Garrison looking back was such a smart move for Pope. Seems like he has a pretty good handle on this.
Based off production and playing time, if we think Almonor is the 11th guy, he is filling the following guys roles from years past:
Burks - 7 min, 1.9 pts
Collins - 8 min, 1.9 pts
Ware - 6 min, 1.6 pts
Fletcher - 6.5 min, 1.7 pts
Jordan - 3 min in only 3 games played
I’m sure going back more than 5 years isn’t going to change these numbers much. If you think he is terrible and will be the 11th guy, he will have a very limited role and just wont make much of an impact. I think he’s better than that.
Burks - 7 min, 1.9 pts
Collins - 8 min, 1.9 pts
Ware - 6 min, 1.6 pts
Fletcher - 6.5 min, 1.7 pts
Jordan - 3 min in only 3 games played
I’m sure going back more than 5 years isn’t going to change these numbers much. If you think he is terrible and will be the 11th guy, he will have a very limited role and just wont make much of an impact. I think he’s better than that.
Almonor had 13 games last year where he made at least 4 three pointers.
Again, if this guy is your 8th or 9th man, that's some quality depth.
Again, if this guy is your 8th or 9th man, that's some quality depth.
I have a feeling Pope is bringing controlled chaos to Rupp. I think UK plays deep into its bench. Maybe not platoon, but easily 10.
Finally! Someone understands the concept of a team! Not everyone is the star. It's like people on here only want us getting a bunch of 5 stars who all think they are NBA ready.....
Knecht was massively sought after by major programs. This guy is Siena vs UK. Not even close to the same thing.
That said, he's not gonna play much so I see no risk here.
We are going to have a more mature, older, mentally and physically tougher team than we have seen here in ages. Like all the guys we have gotten so far just wish we had a couple more that would have a another year or two left. So intrigued to see what a veteran and talented team like this looks like in Pope's system with the kind of fans to pump them up like they never have been. They will be playing freely like we haven't seen forever without the pressure of fearing making mistakes and they will be wearing teams down that doesn't have good depth. Just a lot to look forward to this season.
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Count me as one of the goofy ones. Yes, he's undersized for a PF at Kentucky, but he's not coming in to be the starter. I was so hell bent on getting someone who could complement Carr as a bruiser or be a bruising backup, but if this dude is as tenacious on defense as people say and he can really shoot it from 3 at 39.4%, then I'm all for giving him a scholly. Pope seems to like his teams flying down the court, and that's gonna be tough on Carr and Williams, so I'm glad we're working on adding depth to the frontcourt.
If we get Almonor, we'd have two good defenders at the 4. One great defender at the 5 with Garrison being a sneaky defensive presence that could blossom. We'd have a great defender in Butler, a great defender in Oweh, and that's probably the majority of our lineup when we're closing out games... I'd assume.
I'm blanking on NCAA rules. If Almonor is going to be a senior next year, can he get additional eligibility for a graduate year? The rules are so fluid now that I don't know jack from shat. Could Almonor come back and play the 3 next year? With how well he shoots the three and his stature, it seems like he'd be better suited as a wing. Is he quick enough to be an effective wing?
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^^^This^^^
We learned from the previous coach that always getting the best recruits is not a sustainable plan. I believe the current staff understands that pure athleticism is not the be-all and end-all. At its core, basketball is about shooting.
And let's not forget that one of the best teams UK put on the floor in the last 50 years consisted of Jamaal Mashburn and four seniors who coaches like Calipari would never have taken a second look at.
Ain't no way you guys aren't excited on having a guy like this coming off the bench, he's gonna be awesome for us.
Wow, you are really reading a lot into my post that isn't there. I said I'm choosing to trust Pope on this recruit because I don't know much about the recruit. Yet others are stating doubts about the same recruit. In other words, I'm throwing my support behind Pope on this one and have blind faith about this recruit because, again, I don't know anything about "the recruit", not Pope. All of my other posts since Pope was named coach have been very supportive of Pope and I'm actually excited about the upcoming season. You are so far off base about me and my post. Do you often go around judging folks like this without any understanding of them? I'm just the opposite type of fan than you are accusing me of regarding Coach Pope. Just wow! But you just keep going on about judging fans with your own little interpretations if it makes you happy. Yes, I'm a little upset with your interpretation of what I said.
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A lot of rosters are already full - have to consider that factor.
Why would it come at their expense? We still have 2 spots if he commits and according to others in this very thread Almonor isn't deserving of even being on the team. So he shouldn't steal their playing time and if they are afraid he will then UK may not be for them anyway.
How’s that? This guy is a stretch 4. Lanier is a 2 and Robinson is a 3.
Exactly!
Butler - Kriisa
Oweh - Chandler -Perry
Brea - Noah
Carr - Almonor
Williams - Garrison
looks like he verbally committed to Sienna
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