So whats our weakness this year?

[Ron Mehico]

It’s a team game - chemistry, trust, even as a coach knowing which guys to count on when the stage is biggest are all really important. We have none of that. It’ll probably take us a couple months to really nail down our go to 8-10 man rotation. Hard to get a read on who to trust when you haven’t played in a single real game together. All that stuff usually takes years, so that’s the biggest negative. Can we gel as a team quickly or not.

 

[megablue]

It’s a team game - chemistry, trust, even as a coach knowing which guys to count on when the stage is biggest are all really important. We have none of that. It’ll probably take us a couple months to really nail down our go to 8-10 man rotation. Hard to get a read on who to trust when you haven’t played in a single real game together. All that stuff usually takes years, so that’s the biggest negative. Can we gel as a team quickly or not.

100% this ^^^
I think it paramount that veteran players be willing to sacrifice and share minutes with teammates for the good of the team.
Pope can, and will, preach it, but it will be up to them to not only accept, but embrace, this concept for the team to really gel.

Here are selected stats from '23-'24 season, showing the veterans minutes that total 251.4 minutes per game and 34.2 3PTA:

			MINS	PTS	REBS	3PTA	FG%	2P%	3P%	FT%	STL	BLK	AST	TOV
KRIISA	6'3"	185	33.4	11.0	2.5	6.3	0.429	0.444	0.424	0.775	0.8	0.0	4.7	2.9
CARR	6'10"	220	32.5	13.5	6.8	2.8	0.526	0.595	0.371	0.781	0.5	1.5	1.5	1.2
ALMONOR	6'7"	219	32.0	16.4	5.1	7.4	0.436	0.494	0.394	0.800	0.5	0.7	1.7	1.6
BREA	6'6"	205	29.1	11.1	3.8	6.1	0.512	0.578	0.498	0.875	0.5	0.3	1.2	0.7
BUTLER	6'2"	205	27.5	9.3	2.6	2.9	0.421	0.485	0.302	0.594	1.5	0.2	3.0	1.5
ROBINSON	6'7"	190	26.4	14.2	2.5	6.9	0.426	0.532	0.354	0.908	0.7	0.4	1.3	1.5
OWEH	6'5"	215	24.9	11.4	3.8	1.7	0.493	0.520	0.377	0.643	1.5	0.4	1.0	1.8
WILLIAMS	6'10"	265	22.9	12.2	7.8	0.1	0.517	0.519	0.333	0.655	0.8	1.8	1.9	2.4
GARRISON	6'11"	245	22.7	7.5	5.3	0.0	0.572	0.572	0.000	0.648	0.8	1.5	1.5	1.7
NOAH	6'6"	200
PERRY	6'2"	170
CHANDLER	6'4"	170
TOTALS			251.4	106.6	40.2	34.2

 

[Eagles_Ball]

Superstar.
Somehow, Cal losing in first round has morphed in to Superstars aren't needed.
Having one doesn't guarantee success.
But not having one practically guarantees little success.
3 Of 4 Final Four had All Americans.
Robinson needs to make big leap if we want special regular season and/or deep run.

Also, need a good Robin on offense. Like 3rd team all conference good.
Lot of candidates, one has to step up. But fourth leading scorer at Wake Forest or 3rd leading scorer at Dayton aren't pencilled in at that level yet.

Your last paragraph is it for me. But put Batman in there as well. I have no clue who that will be. My concerns would be where the consistency in scoring will come from, finding the right 8 or so guys for the rotation, and getting guys that have never played together to gel. And those are big hurdles. It doesn’t just happen overnight. I’m unsure of the PG play too, but only a little.

I love the depth and how experienced the team is and how balanced they seem to be. But ELITE individual talent can be a big deal. That seems to be lacking.

This in no way is a knock on the team or HCMP. I think they’ve done a really good job assembling a roster from ashes. I’m just not ready to anoint them anything more than a solid T25 preseason squad until I see them play 10 games or so.

 

[Whoppercat]

Seriously can't think of a weakness.
Maybe just bias on my part…

Yup.

 

[Smashcat]

Carr says defense won't be a weakness.
Through the team’s early practices, Pope’s new Wildcats believe there is one area that is being overlooked. ”I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people defensively,” Andrew Carr, the 6-foot-11 transfer from Wake Forest, said during a round of media interviews on Thursday. That should be music to the ears of Big Blue Nation, which saw John Calipari’s final Kentucky team struggle defensively. Kentucky finished 109th in defensive efficiency, according to Ken Pomeroy’s metrics. No. 14 seed Oakland landed a first-round NCAA Tournament knockout of the third-seeded Cats by making 15 of its 31 3-point attempts.

Read more at: https://www.kentucky.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/john-clay/article290002814.html#storylink=cpy

 

[zwynn10]

Seriously can't think of a weakness.

One of if not the oldest most experienced in NCAA.

10 players shoot over 30% from 3

Best defensive gaurd
A top 3 defensive big
2 other Defensive dogs in Garrison and Oweh
FF experience pg
Great attitudes
Deep everywhere so deep it's likely platoons.

What is it we will struggle with? Penetration ? I would think all the shooters leaves a open lane making that easier. Superstar? Talent isn't always skilled and in college looking like skill is trumping talent anyway. Pope's got the players to run whatever he wants.

Not saying we go 40 0 but at same time I can't think of 5 teams better. Maybe just bias on my part but this year looks better than most even without a megastar.

I see two concerns and only time will tell if they are weaknesses.

(1) Does Coach Pope and his staff have the experience and skill to defensive scheme a game to make someone other than the other team's best player beat us? We know Cal sure didn't - the other team's best player usually had a career day against us. Can Coach and staff force the other team's second or third best player to carry the scoring load and the other team's best player have a so-so game. I am very confident Coach can scheme the offensive side of the game. The defensive side is the area of concern.

(2) Does this team have enough elite level athleticism to compete with the best of the best. We know that Cal recruited a bunch of elite athletes that weren't necessarily great basketball players/shooters. This group seems to have several great shooters but are they athletic enough to consistently shake defenders coming off screens or with cuts to get open looks, especially in the grab and hold SEC road games.

 

[rivercatinfl]

Seriously can't think of a weakness.

One of if not the oldest most experienced in NCAA.

10 players shoot over 30% from 3

Best defensive gaurd
A top 3 defensive big
2 other Defensive dogs in Garrison and Oweh
FF experience pg
Great attitudes
Deep everywhere so deep it's likely platoons.

What is it we will struggle with? Penetration ? I would think all the shooters leaves a open lane making that easier. Superstar? Talent isn't always skilled and in college looking like skill is trumping talent anyway. Pope's got the players to run whatever he wants.

Not saying we go 40 0 but at same time I can't think of 5 teams better. Maybe just bias on my part but this year looks better than most even without a megastar.

Amen to this post!!

 

[NociHTTP]

It will certainly not affect this year’s team and I look forward to seeing how well we do in Pope’s first year, but having seven (7) Senior players leave after your first season, along with the scary possibility of others transferring out, does not seem like a way to “build” a program … a team, yes, but a year-to-year sustaining program, perhaps not. Having said that, it may well be that Pope will have to substantially do this every year, because of NIL$$$ and ease of transfer … just like seemingly most every other program has to now. It might be so hard to build a "program" with year-to-year roster continuity now that Pope will recruit multiple veterans every season. If so, no reflection on him or the Kentucky brand, of course … just the way it is. It’s Wild Wild West every year now, it seems to me. Sadly so …

Just because of CMP's personality and his fun system, I think the odds of players transferring each year will be very small. He seems to have a great process of identifying kids that will buy into his system and enjoy playing for him. That bodes very well.

 

[NociHTTP]

I see two concerns and only time will tell if they are weaknesses.

(1) Does Coach Pope and his staff have the experience and skill to defensive scheme a game to make someone other than the other team's best player beat us? We know Cal sure didn't - the other team's best player usually had a career day against us. Can Coach and staff force the other team's second or third best player to carry the scoring load and the other team's best player have a so-so game. I am very confident Coach can scheme the offensive side of the game. The defensive side is the area of concern.

(2) Does this team have enough elite level athleticism to compete with the best of the best. We know that Cal recruited a bunch of elite athletes that weren't necessarily great basketball players/shooters. This group seems to have several great shooters but are they athletic enough to consistently shake defenders coming off screens or with cuts to get open looks, especially in the grab and hold SEC road games.

I think every conference is physical, it's just that some conferences have better overall talent. Cal's guys last year were supposed to athletic, but couldn't shake their own shadow.

 

[Zissou87]

Just because of CMP's personality and his fun system, I think the odds of players transferring each year will be very small. He seems to have a great process of identifying kids that will buy into his system and enjoy playing for him. That bodes very well.

I think it helps that he is also a huge proponent of capitalizing on NIL.

 

[Bluegrass79]

If They live up to what they're supposed to be then there are no weaknesses on this team.

 

[EdgeHD]

Seriously can't think of a weakness.

One of if not the oldest most experienced in NCAA.

10 players shoot over 30% from 3

Best defensive gaurd
A top 3 defensive big
2 other Defensive dogs in Garrison and Oweh
FF experience pg
Great attitudes
Deep everywhere so deep it's likely platoons.

What is it we will struggle with? Penetration ? I would think all the shooters leaves a open lane making that easier. Superstar? Talent isn't always skilled and in college looking like skill is trumping talent anyway. Pope's got the players to run whatever he wants.

Not saying we go 40 0 but at same time I can't think of 5 teams better. Maybe just bias on my part but this year looks better than most even without a megastar.

Our weakness this year is baseline depth. Our strength is wing depth.

Cold shooting days will get ugly, but our team is capable of pulling some upsets.

I do not think this is a great Kentucky team. But we will not regress from the recent Cal teams. How long will it take Pope to build a solid base of players developed inside his system? Couple of years maybe.

 

[CrimsonCats]

It can be hard to say anything with certainty about a team that hasn’t even played yet, so hopefully my concerns will end up being overblown, but I do have three main areas of concern going into the season.

1. Lack of any experience playing together. It may help a bit that most of our projected rotation are veteran players individually, but that’s not a complete substitute for time spent playing together as a team and forming cohesion as a unit. Hopefully they can learn quickly and this becomes less of a problem later in the season.

2. Lack of a go-to scorer. I’m as happy as anybody else that we’ve transitioned from Cal and “go make a play” to a coach known for running good offensive sets. The truth is though that most college coaches not named Cal have some kind of offensive structure, and almost all of them end up looking better when they have elite scoring talent. We have the spot up shooters, but not anyone who has so far shown to be a total package scoring the ball, so I do have some concern that generating offense may be a problem against better defensive opponents.

3. PG play. Butler is a lock down defender, which is valuable, but isn’t known as all that much of a playmaker on the offensive end. Kriisa has the creativity, but is sometimes prone to getting too loose with the ball and isn’t much of a defender. There may be a world where we press the right buttons and get the best out of each of them, but this could easily also easily turn into a struggle to get any consistency out of a critical position in my opinion.

 

[bucsrule8872]

It can be hard to say anything with certainty about a team that hasn’t even played yet, so hopefully my concerns will end up being overblown, but I do have three main areas of concern going into the season.

1. Lack of any experience playing together. It may help a bit that most of our projected rotation are veteran players individually, but that’s not a complete substitute for time spent playing together as a team and forming cohesion as a unit. Hopefully they can learn quickly and this becomes less of a problem later in the season.

2. Lack of a go-to scorer. I’m as happy as anybody else that we’ve transitioned from Cal and “go make a play” to a coach known for running good offensive sets. The truth is though that most college coaches not named Cal have some kind of offensive structure, and almost all of them end up looking better when they have elite scoring talent. We have the spot up shooters, but not anyone who has so far shown to be a total package scoring the ball, so I do have some concern that generating offense may be a problem against better defensive opponents.

3. PG play. Butler is a lock down defender, which is valuable, but isn’t known as all that much of a playmaker on the offensive end. Kriisa has the creativity, but is sometimes prone to getting too loose with the ball and isn’t much of a defender. There may be a world where we press the right buttons and get the best out of each of them, but this could easily also easily turn into a struggle to get any consistency out of a critical position in my opinion.

1. Agreed.

2. Disagree. I think Robinson will be our go to guy, but Pope’s system doesn’t really have to have a go to guy.

3. Agreed, with a caveat. In Pope’s system, you don’t need a ball dominant PG like with Calipari, so this isn’t as big of a deal as it would be in recent years. Some systems have to have a great PG to sit the table, but Pope’s teams do not. Everyone on the team needs to be a facilitator, to a certain extent. We will see our bigs initiating the offense as much as our guards.

 

[IL Wildcat]

Seriously can't think of a weakness.

One of if not the oldest most experienced in NCAA.

10 players shoot over 30% from 3

Best defensive gaurd
A top 3 defensive big
2 other Defensive dogs in Garrison and Oweh
FF experience pg
Great attitudes
Deep everywhere so deep it's likely platoons.

What is it we will struggle with? Penetration ? I would think all the shooters leaves a open lane making that easier. Superstar? Talent isn't always skilled and in college looking like skill is trumping talent anyway. Pope's got the players to run whatever he wants.

Not saying we go 40 0 but at same time I can't think of 5 teams better. Maybe just bias on my part but this year looks better than most even without a megastar.

Here's what I'll say. The potential, based on real performances from these guys, is very high. The biggest issue I see is whether or not the chemistry and cohesiveness is good for this group. None of them have played together. Only one of them has played for Pope. But we've got great shooters, great individual defenders, intelligence, and some great athletes as well. If they can come together and work as a team, they can be a great team. The pieces are there and they fit well. I think we're gonna love this team and what Coach Pope does with them. 😀👍

 

[bbncal02]

They missed shots like everyone else.

And Tom Brady threw interceptions. Still doesn't hurt to have a player of high caliber that can take over games.

 

[blue cincy]

If all comes together our main weakness will be the length of time we get to watch Coach Pope's first team.

 

[EdgeHD]

If all comes together our main weakness will be the length of time we get to watch Coach Pope's first team.

The ultimate question will turn out to be how well Pope and Brooks recruit and adapt. I trust that he can coach a game because I have seen him do it. He is smart and he knows the game. It is always about the talent level fitting into the system. There are 7 seniors on this team so available playing time should be a recruiting plus. Can he sell the SEC and adapt to it? Brooks should be a help but it comes down to Pope. I think yes. Players like him.

 

[blue cincy]

The ultimate question will turn out to be how well Pope and Brooks recruit and adapt. I trust that he can coach a game because I have seen him do it. He is smart and he knows the game. It is always about the talent level fitting into the system. There are 7 seniors on this team so available playing time should be a recruiting plus. Can he sell the SEC and adapt to it? Brooks should be a help but it comes down to Pope. I think yes. Players like him.

SInce portal changes we now have to recruit 3 times a year, we have to recruit our existing players to come back, we have to recruit in the high school ranks and then we have to recruit in the transfer portal.

If you can keep the guys you are supposed to get back, get 3 to 4 top high school players, 4 or 5 star would be great and then pick up the best of the best in the portal, you will have a chance each year.

The days of trying to get 6 to 8 high school guys is way over. Look at UCONN last year. They had a mix of it all. That model will need to be perfected by Pope and his guys. I think they can do it. Biggest issue will be keeping guys each year.

 

[know1]

Whatever it is, it's not obvious.

I guess there's a chance it's the coach, but that's an unknown and he might be our greatest strength. I tend to think he'll be closer to that than a weakness. I think he'll be the most prepared person in the arena for every single game.

Outside of that, some will say it will be cohesiveness due to the players not having played together. I don't buy that at all. They will have been together 6 months by the time the season starts. And these are veteran players who have been on other teams their whole lives.

Furthermore, we're likely going to have a mostly new team every year and that's just the way it's going to be until the transfer rule gets more restrictions.

I like the maturity and experience of our veterans. I like that many are very strong defenders and that even more seem to be elite 3 point shooters.

I'm just not seeing a lot of glaring weaknesses.

 

[JonathanW]

The only weakness I can think of is that while we have a lot of good players, we may not have that guy who is the best player on the court for many games.
I hope I’m wrong. But even if not, maybe it doesn’t matter. Same could be said in 1998.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

We may not have a guy who can get buckets in closing time. This group reminds me of that 2004 team that had great balance, but no star power. It came back to haunt us in the 2nd round against UAB.

I think our defense will keep us close in most games, but I'm concerned about the lack of a go-to scorer at the end of games. Robinson could be that guy, but he's a low efficiency scorer for a wing (42% from the field last year). Brea is not a guy who currently can create his own shot. Maybe Oweh? Maybe Carr? I don't want Kriisa to have the ball in his hands in the last minute, looking to score.

I'm hoping someone like Chandler emerges from nowhere and becomes out close-out scorer.

 

[Bluegrassking]

Chemistry
Rebounding
Not much in the way of upside.

 

[Disappointed Cat]

Seriously can't think of a weakness.

One of if not the oldest most experienced in NCAA.

10 players shoot over 30% from 3

Best defensive gaurd
A top 3 defensive big
2 other Defensive dogs in Garrison and Oweh
FF experience pg
Great attitudes
Deep everywhere so deep it's likely platoons.

What is it we will struggle with? Penetration ? I would think all the shooters leaves a open lane making that easier. Superstar? Talent isn't always skilled and in college looking like skill is trumping talent anyway. Pope's got the players to run whatever he wants.

Not saying we go 40 0 but at same time I can't think of 5 teams better. Maybe just bias on my part but this year looks better than most even without a megastar.

Don't cut the nets down before we play the first game!!

 

[know1]

We may not have a guy who can get buckets in closing time. This group reminds me of that 2004 team that had great balance, but no star power. It came back to haunt us in the 2nd round against UAB.

I think our defense will keep us close in most games, but I'm concerned about the lack of a go-to scorer at the end of games. Robinson could be that guy, but he's a low efficiency scorer for a wing (42% from the field last year). Brea is not a guy who currently can create his own shot. Maybe Oweh? Maybe Carr? I don't want Kriisa to have the ball in his hands in the last minute, looking to score.

I'm hoping someone like Chandler emerges from nowhere and becomes out close-out scorer.

Teams who work together to create high % scoring opportunities are more effective than a go to scorer that the other team can key on.

This whole line of thinking that we need a star or a dog or whatever is completely overblown and just repeated as a mantra by those who don't know much about basketball.

 

[catsfanbgky]

1. A coach that has been coaching 9 years, but is 0-2 in the tournament.
2. A STAR player. Maybe Jaxson Robinson is that guy though.

I'm not complaining, but these are weaknesses.

#1 is not a worry. A certain coach we all wanted from the north east was 0-2 in the NCAA tournament before he won 12 in a row. Hurley had never won a NCAA tournament game, and very few conference tournament games, some people forget that.

If I had to guess the problems we MAY have :
1. UK being too big of a stage for some. There is a LOT of pressure playing for UK.

2. A true point guard who can get in the lane and create. At least having multiple guys who can do it. We have shooters, we just need to have guys who can "set the table", and create open shots for others.

3. I hope we do not have guys who came here JUST to make a name for themselves. Team 1st and play as a TEAM. I do not think we have any guys like that, but you never know a players full intentions for transferring.

 

[sosoblue]

My concerns will be defensive pressure and the ability to drive to the basket for downhill easy buckets. I believe will get a number of 3pt shots but what happens when those outside shots are not falling? How will the team respond and adjust?

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

Teams who work together to create high % scoring opportunities are more effective than a go to scorer that the other team can key on.

This whole line of thinking that we need a star or a dog or whatever is completely overblown and just repeated as a mantra by those who don't know much about basketball.

Name a team that's won a title without a go-to scorer. Even our least-talented title team in history (1998) had multiple late-game options: Sheppard, Turner, Mohammed, etc.

I didn't say anything about needing a "star." I said we need a close-out scorer, and we do.

EDIT: I do believe we have four or five guys who could be that guy: Robinson, Oweh, Garrison, Chandler, Carr.

 

[megablue]

Name a team that's won a title without a go-to scorer. Even our least-talented title team in history (1998) had multiple late-game options: Sheppard, Turner, Mohammed, etc.

I didn't say anything about needing a "star." I said we need a close-out scorer, and we do.

I understand your point and do not disagree with it. It may well that Robinson (maybe Brea) is our must-have-bucket-getter, perhaps on the strength of his free-throw shooting ability and creativity off the bounce. Just a thought, as it seems like all close games come down to free-throws (and defense). Here are selected stats from '23-'24 season, for reference:

			MINS	PTS	REBS	3PTA	FG%	2P%	3P%	FT%	STL	BLK	AST	TOV
KRIISA	6'3"	185	33.4	11.0	2.5	6.3	0.429	0.444	0.424	0.775	0.8	0.0	4.7	2.9
CARR	6'10"	220	32.5	13.5	6.8	2.8	0.526	0.595	0.371	0.781	0.5	1.5	1.5	1.2
ALMONOR	6'7"	219	32.0	16.4	5.1	7.4	0.436	0.494	0.394	0.800	0.5	0.7	1.7	1.6
BREA	6'6"	205	29.1	11.1	3.8	6.1	0.512	0.578	0.498	0.875	0.5	0.3	1.2	0.7
BUTLER	6'2"	205	27.5	9.3	2.6	2.9	0.421	0.485	0.302	0.594	1.5	0.2	3.0	1.5
ROBINSON	6'7"	190	26.4	14.2	2.5	6.9	0.426	0.532	0.354	0.908	0.7	0.4	1.3	1.5
OWEH	6'5"	215	24.9	11.4	3.8	1.7	0.493	0.520	0.377	0.643	1.5	0.4	1.0	1.8
WILLIAMS	6'10"	265	22.9	12.2	7.8	0.1	0.517	0.519	0.333	0.655	0.8	1.8	1.9	2.4
GARRISON	6'11"	245	22.7	7.5	5.3	0.0	0.572	0.572	0.000	0.648	0.8	1.5	1.5	1.7
NOAH	6'6"	200
PERRY	6'2"	170
CHANDLER	6'4"	170

 

[know1]

Name a team that's won a title without a go-to scorer. Even our least-talented title team in history (1998) had multiple late-game options: Sheppard, Turner, Mohammed, etc.

I didn't say anything about needing a "star." I said we need a close-out scorer, and we do.

So you don't think our current roster has multiple late game options? There will be 5 of them on the floor. They will work together to create scoring opportunities.

 

[Cleatortoises]

Name a team that's won a title without a go-to scorer. Even our least-talented title team in history (1998) had multiple late-game options: Sheppard, Turner, Mohammed, etc.

I didn't say anything about needing a "star." I said we need a close-out scorer, and we do.

None of the guys mentioned above averaged 14 pts. 13.7, 9.3, 12 respectively. We have the exact same kind of team now.
Some of the new guys actually scored more. I loved that squad, but this one is not lesser statistically.
So I feel good about this bunch.
GBB!

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

So you don't think our current roster has multiple late game options? There will be 5 of them on the floor. They will work together to create scoring opportunities.

I think we could have some guys in that category. I'm hopeful. I see that potential in Garrison, Oweh, Robinson, and Chandler.

 

[catsfanbgky]

I think every conference is physical, it's just that some conferences have better overall talent. Cal's guys last year were supposed to athletic, but couldn't shake their own shadow.

They was very athletic. Are you saying Dillingham and Shep and others wasn't athletic ? We ran and scored with the best of them. The problem was, none of them could play defense. Huge difference. You can be athletic and not be a good shooter or defender, just so you know. Your post made ZERO sense. They "shook" the hell out of their defenders, but unfortunately, they also shook UK when on defense.