Temper Your Expectations

[ccukuk]

I'll say put your money where your mouth is about going undefeated at home.
We have Duke, Gonzaga, Louisville, Ohio St, FL, GA, aTm, Bama, TN, AR, SC, AU, and LSU. $500 we don't go undefeated at home. I'd love to lose this bet but why we have idiots on this board making such bullshvt statements blows my mind. Coach Pope deserves better than to act like he is or should go undefeated at home with a team of portals who have NEVER played a game TOGETHER.
If you believe the crap you are spewing accept my $500 bet. If not please stop the unnecessary expectation for coach Pope. He deserves all our support but unless you are a troll, STFU about unrealistic expectations. Have you even watched a practice?

I’m confused. Are you arguing with your alternate personality here?

 

[Dontworryboutit23]

Can you name one team that will have a better bench than Kentucky?
Butler and Oweh best defensive backcourt in the country?
Carr is an all-SEC forward?
Garrison is a top 15 NBA draft pick talent?
Kriisa, Brea, Robinson and Perry all shoot 40% from 3?

This isn’t a top 10 roster, idk where people are getting that from at all. This is a top 20-45 team that could turn into what byu/scar were last year. A team that will play extremely hard but is limited because they don’t have a true first option

 

[Dontworryboutit23]

How about pope wins a tourney game first and then we can go from there. Go look at the college basketball landscape this year, this Kentucky roster is not a top ten roster and I don’t think they will be a top 10 team by years end. And no I’m not a cal guy, I never was, but let’s be honest with ourselves here. This roster isn’t close to the top teams at all, and that’s okay it’s year one under a new regime. Year one, be competitive, win a couple of big games, and see what happens in the tourney(win a game)

 

[Codeartist]

I honestly believe with how tough the SEC is it's a ludicrous and unfair expectation to hold that Kentucky should win every game in Rupp this year and sets Pope up for failure.

I do believe in accountability and feel Mark Pope should be held to a standard this year but that standard should not be to do something Kentucky hasn't done in over five years and that I don't believe any team did last year.

Expectations and accountability are good things but let's keep them in the realm of not just possibility but reasonableness.

 

[BBNinSC]

This isn’t a top 10 roster, idk where people are getting that from at all. This is a top 20-45 team that could turn into what byu/scar were last year. A team that will play extremely hard but is limited because they don’t have a true first option

I’d rather have Lamont Butler as PG than the latest 18 year old, 5 star Freshman. I’d rather have Jaxson Robinson pulling up for a crucial 3 pointer than another 18 year old playing for NBA draft position. I’d rather have a hungry and focused Mark Pope managing the roster than another past their prime coach that any Division 2 manager can out game plan.
I believe this is a deep and experienced roster with several good to great shooters. I believe we have the best defensive back court and the deepest bench in America and I believe Mark Pope is going to do great things here- starting in year one.

 

[csrupp]

While things on paper look great and Pope's enthusiasm is a breath of fresh air the reality is we don't know how this will translate on the court. It would be awesome for this to be a dream season, but if it's not, please don't go trashing Pope. I personally think our shooting will carry us to at least 20 wins and I'd be super happy with a sweet sixteen. There is a possibility of an early exit again and I don't want to see this board turn on Pope. He needs at least 3 years to get a judgement on him. Should be an exciting season nonetheless and I can't wait for it to start. Go CATS!!!!!

I'm pretty sure that we will go approximately 25-7, be a 2 or 3 seed, and make at least the second weekend of the tournament.

 

[Dontworryboutit23]

I’d rather have Lamont Butler as PG than the latest 18 year old, 5 star Freshman. I’d rather have Jaxson Robinson pulling up for a crucial 3 pointer than another 18 year old playing for NBA draft position. I’d rather have a hungry and focused Mark Pope managing the roster than another past their prime coach that any Division 2 manager can out game plan.
I believe this is a deep and experienced roster with several good to great shooters. I believe we have the best defensive back court and the deepest bench in America and I believe Mark Pope is going to do great things here- starting in year one.

Pope did a good job putting the roster together given the circumstances and time he had. I think they are one guy short, but pope deserves credit for the job he did in a short time. Given what a lot of the other teams in college basketball have, I just don’t see this roster being a major challenger for anything. Will still be a very fun and competitive team.

 

[Runnin'Ramel]

Tempering expectations is for losers. I really feel this bunch is gonna be better than most people think. We can adjust expectations as the season progresses, and I understand that sometimes you just aren’t as good as you might think. However, I got a pretty good vibe about these guys. As long as we are talking about effort and UK basketball, I can take some losses. Just don’t want all that other static drowning out what we love.

Tempering expectations would serve many quite well. Leading up to BBM, what did we hear from multiple sources? "These guys don't miss!" What did I watch with my own two eyes at BBM that night? A ton of misses from 3-pt range, wide open shots no less. Shit's different with 23,000 fans watching you. I doubt we've got a bunch of Josh Carrier and Jules Camara types out there, but I didn't really see anything that inspired me to believe this team is a Final Four contender .... yet.

 

[BucN1Cat]

lets go game by game then...24 wins/3 losses/4 tossup.
- dont think we beat zags in battle for seattle. @tenn and @bama losses.
- tossups are the duke game, @clemson, @miss and @texas


wright state- W
bucknell- W
duke- tossup
lipscomb- W
jackson state- W
w. kentucky-W
georgia state- W
@clemson- tossup
@gonzaga- L
colgate- W
louisville- W
ohio state-W
brown- W
florida- W
@georgia- W
@miss state- W
texasam- W
alabama- W
@vandy- W
@tennessee- L
arkansas- W
@miss- tossup
s. carolina- W
tennesse- W
@texas- tossup
vandy- W
@alabama- L
@oklahoma- W
auburn- W
lsu- W
@missouri- W

I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I don't think this is realistic. I'd be over the moon if this was reality.

 

[zoid1]

Look at it mathematically. On average we win 78% of our games home away and neutral or about 4 out of every 5 games. At Rupp we have a 90% home winning percentage so we win 9 out of 10 games in Rupp. We should go 17-1 in our 18 home games and 10-3 in the other road and neutral games. That's roughly for a AVERAGE UK team to go 27-4. I said 25-6/26-5 and that's under what our average winning % is all-time and accounting for our rough schedule by adding 1 or 2 additional losses. No I will not turn against Pope unless it's totally clear he shouldn't be our coach but I don't think that will be the situation.

 

[HoneyMoon155]

Look at it mathematically. On average we win 78% of our games home away and neutral or about 4 out of every 5 games. At Rupp we have a 90% home winning percentage so we win 9 out of 10 games in Rupp. We should go 17-1 in our 18 home games and 10-3 in the other road and neutral games. That's roughly for a AVERAGE UK team to go 27-4. I said 25-6/26-5 and that's under what our average winning % is all-time and accounting for our rough schedule by adding 1 or 2 additional losses. No I will not turn against Pope unless it's totally clear he shouldn't be our coach but I don't think that will be the situation.

I don’t know why this isn’t the normal expectation around here. This is Kentucky. And regardless if it’s his first year or not shouldn’t matter, with the transfer portal the way it is lots of teams have to start over with new players every season. I’m not expecting a national championship or final 4 but I think he put together a decent roster and I’m excited to see what he can do with it. Think he’ll do a good job

 

[BucN1Cat]

I don’t know why this isn’t the normal expectation around here. This is Kentucky. And regardless if it’s his first year or not shouldn’t matter, with the transfer portal the way it is lots of teams have to start over with new players every season. I’m not expecting a national championship or final 4 but I think he put together a decent roster and I’m excited to see what he can do with it. Think he’ll do a good job

I think not having a true PG will hurt us in the long run. Maybe not, but ball distribution will be paramount