What is the expectation for next year NCAAT wise?
- Thread starter bbncal02
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Have to know who’s going to be on the team first
You have to say S16 is the bar. Pope put together a team overnight, battled serious injuries, and got to a S16. So, my blind, in the dark expectation is E8. We should have a better roster, and no way we can be that bitten by the injury bug again.
Regardless of who is on the roster I at least expect a S16 roster. Year 3 though he should be tracking a FF.
Wow you have been disappointed about 90% of Kentucky's history of playing basketball lol
A legit Final Four contender is my expectation. making it at least to the Elite Eight in the process.
Has to be Final Four. That is the benchmark here. Need to go and secure the talent necessary.
That needs to be the expectation every year going forward. If we fall short, doesn't mean it's not a successful year, but the expectation needs to be Final Four or bust- that is the assignment. In Pope's own words, the assignment is "To hang banners".
That needs to be the expectation every year going forward. If we fall short, doesn't mean it's not a successful year, but the expectation needs to be Final Four or bust- that is the assignment. In Pope's own words, the assignment is "To hang banners".
I find it incredibly difficult to have firm tournament expectations. It's such a random event. I hate distilling the entire season down to whatever round you lose in. NC State had a miracle run last year, and yeah their fans had fun for two weeks, but their overall season sucked, their coach got fired this year, and their program is in bad shape. Auburn lost in the first round to Yale and look where they are now.
I'd much rather look at it as what are my expectations going into the tournament. To me, a top 3 seed with a team that's playing great basketball by the postseason is the expectation. It always looks nice on paper to say something like the Elite 8 is the minimum expectation, but I just find it a bit of a fool's errand to put all your expectation eggs into a single elimination basket.
I'd much rather look at it as what are my expectations going into the tournament. To me, a top 3 seed with a team that's playing great basketball by the postseason is the expectation. It always looks nice on paper to say something like the Elite 8 is the minimum expectation, but I just find it a bit of a fool's errand to put all your expectation eggs into a single elimination basket.
Want to have a team that feels Final Four caliber all year. Don’t think we’ve had that since 2017. 2019, maybe.
That why I always say "contender". We should 100% contend for a final four next year. Will we make it? maybe not, but an early exit in the tournament is not acceptable. It wasn't acceptable for Cal and it shouldn't be acceptable for Pope.
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Something to maybe ponder? E8s
Kentucky-38
UNC-29
Duke-25
KU-24(2nd winningest program my ass)
UCLA-22
Nobody else even in the 20s. MSU is at 15
Kentucky-38
UNC-29
Duke-25
KU-24(2nd winningest program my ass)
UCLA-22
Nobody else even in the 20s. MSU is at 15
The 17 NCAA College Teams with Most Elite 8 Appearances in March Madness History - Interbasket
The first and second round of March Madness is complete, the field was trimmed by more than half the selected college programs than when the tournament kicked off with 68 teams at the inception. Now with the Sweet 16 bracket […]
www.interbasket.net
There is no reason whatsoever that we should not expect to make a FF every year going forward until changes are made to the transfer portal. In past years we could say that we were in a "rebuilding year." Those days are gone. Now there is no excuse not to go out and get experienced talent that has the potential to win a NC.
Depends on who we get in the Portal, who comes back, and injuries, of course.
Sweet Sixteen is a safe expectation.
Until Pope has a roster full of guys that have played for him for multiple years, a Final Four will be hard to come by.
Look at the recent success stories. Hurley had to get guys to stick around to have success. Purdue as well, had guys like Edey stick around for multiple years. Pearl’s team is a bunch of Seniors that have played together for multiple years. Same thing for Sampson at Houston. Even Duke has some guys that have been in the program multiple years and K laid the foundation for Scheyer, he didn’t come in with an empty cupboard like Pope.
So it might take Pope a few years to get us back to the Final Four. He has to build this right. It is going to be difficult to balance winning now and maintaining, but also building for the future. He can’t just keep reloading with Seniors every year. That will keep us competitive, but won’t get us to true contender level, IMHO.
Sweet Sixteen is a safe expectation.
Until Pope has a roster full of guys that have played for him for multiple years, a Final Four will be hard to come by.
Look at the recent success stories. Hurley had to get guys to stick around to have success. Purdue as well, had guys like Edey stick around for multiple years. Pearl’s team is a bunch of Seniors that have played together for multiple years. Same thing for Sampson at Houston. Even Duke has some guys that have been in the program multiple years and K laid the foundation for Scheyer, he didn’t come in with an empty cupboard like Pope.
So it might take Pope a few years to get us back to the Final Four. He has to build this right. It is going to be difficult to balance winning now and maintaining, but also building for the future. He can’t just keep reloading with Seniors every year. That will keep us competitive, but won’t get us to true contender level, IMHO.
Something to maybe ponder? E8s
Kentucky-38
UNC-29
Duke-25
KU-24(2nd winningest program my ass)
UCLA-22
Nobody else even in the 20s. MSU is at 15
The 17 NCAA College Teams with Most Elite 8 Appearances in March Madness History - Interbasket
The first and second round of March Madness is complete, the field was trimmed by more than half the selected college programs than when the tournament kicked off with 68 teams at the inception. Now with the Sweet 16 bracket […]www.interbasket.net
I like we have that but considering we have 17 FFs it’s shows we’ve come up short a lot in that round.
Meanwhile UNC 21/29 AND Duke 18/25
Duke knocked us out of 2nd place this year. Sigh.
I think the bar is set at S16, barring a complete trainwreck of injuries again. As we've shown we can do that flying the plane while building it out of the portal island of misfit toys at the last second with Pope's late hiring. Alot of people are sleeping on the 3 new freshmen, especially on Moreno. Most haven't seen him play against real competition and how his game elevates. Looked like the best player on the floor at the AA scrimmage, and that's with Boozer there.
Basically, that's why I've adapted the wait and see mentality to expections for the most. Can't we go just 1 mother loving season where an integral part of the team isn't missing. Seems to be every friggin year lately.
This comment has Cal written all over it.
Scheyer makes a Final Four year three, after being left with a juggernaut. Was favorite in EE Year 2.
Cal did it year 2, mastering the OAD era.
RP took 4 years, with years 1 and 2 on probation. Lost EE game of the century year 3.
Agree that next year isn’t urgent but we better be knocking on the door at minimum. If we don’t feel like one of the favorites by year 3, something probably isn’t quite working.
Seems like Pope is working with that goal in mind. He doesn’t seem to be chasing a bunch of Seniors like last year that will allow us to compete for just one year.
Look at the main guys we are being mentioned with, most of them are going to be Sophomores or Juniors. He’s thinking that we need to have most of these guys buy into the system and return so we can make a legitimate run at a Final Four/title in 26-27 and beyond.
People may not like it if we don’t make a big jump next season, but if Pope gets a bunch of young guys in here and they sick around, it could pay dividends in the long run.
Obviously year 2 so probably a bit crazy but final four.
Every year we don't get to a final four, the seat gets a bit hotter for Pope.
Might not be the most realistic thing but nothing is realistic here anyways lol.
Every year we don't get to a final four, the seat gets a bit hotter for Pope.
Might not be the most realistic thing but nothing is realistic here anyways lol.
If Pope gets UK to the Elite 8 in year 2, after the Sweet 16 in year 1, it's a successful season. Anything more is tremendous.
The game has changed. We won't know what any contender's roster truly looks like for another month or two.
The game has changed. We won't know what any contender's roster truly looks like for another month or two.
My first hope is that we get multiple dudes in here that can physically compete with the type teams you see in the upper sec and that are gonna play in the final four. I just want a team that looks more like auburn and lesser like byu. I guess my expectation is to upgrade the talent and athleticism, and worry bout results later
It’s amazing to me that basically saying I’m going to be patient with Pope gets looked at as being a pro-Cal comment. I think maybe it’s time for you guys to move on.
You can disagree with me all you want, but it’s the objective reality of how the tournament works. If we go cold for a half and lose in the second round as a 1 seed it is what it is. That’s not a coaching problem and doesn’t change anything big picture wise of the state of the program.
I agree. Needs to compete though n the elite 8 game. No embarrassing big loss.
I expect him to build with the future in mind, with a team next year much like this year, but a little younger.
Much like this year, I think we will be a contender if all the pieces fall right, but will look like a favorite the following year with returning depth.
Agree that is the blueprint.
College basketball is not a rebuild anymore. Pope is in year 2 with the same timeline as every coach in the country. He knows the assignment. He is at the biggest blue blood in the land. His NIL budget is top 3-4 in the country. He should begin putting a title contender on the court every season as long as he doesn't have a bad injury situation. Winning the title isn't ever the measuring stick, but being a legitimate threat to win the title is what should be expected starting now.
College basketball should be down next season now that all the 5th year players will be gone.
College basketball should be down next season now that all the 5th year players will be gone.
As of right now I feel it's Sweet 16. He's likely to have LESS experience, and at this very moment it *seems* he's having a difficult time with the portal. It may not really be the portal, but just that he's not been here long or could even be experiencing negative recruiting from opposing coaches just as other coaches have had to deal with. He'll be fine.
There is less talent available in the portal this year (no more COVID seniors), there is no Jaxson Robinson type considered a Pope lean if he chooses college, and the portal is closing a lot sooner this year. Even if the portal doesn’t close most of the talent will have already rushed to sign and make deals out of fear the portal would be closing. And though we certainly have some very decent dudes, especially for the longer term, we don’t currently have any obvious same-caliber replacements for any of:
Amari Williams
Jaxson Robinson
Lamont Butler
Koby Brea
I love Pope and trust him more than I would trust most coaches in similar circumstances. But I still don’t see how he’s supposed to do more next season with less tools, or where he’s realistically going to get equal tools from, to match what we had this year.
So I’ve forecast another Sweet Sixteen, hoping we can get there again by avoiding the injury bug this year, by adapting our process a little bit, and by facing other teams that will also be a little weakened by the departure of the fifth-year seniors.
I sure hope to see some unexpected developments that make me revise that upwards. But frankly I think it’s pretty aggressively optimistic as it is.
Amari Williams
Jaxson Robinson
Lamont Butler
Koby Brea
I love Pope and trust him more than I would trust most coaches in similar circumstances. But I still don’t see how he’s supposed to do more next season with less tools, or where he’s realistically going to get equal tools from, to match what we had this year.
So I’ve forecast another Sweet Sixteen, hoping we can get there again by avoiding the injury bug this year, by adapting our process a little bit, and by facing other teams that will also be a little weakened by the departure of the fifth-year seniors.
I sure hope to see some unexpected developments that make me revise that upwards. But frankly I think it’s pretty aggressively optimistic as it is.
Sorry I thought rounding up wasnt that big of a deal but to be exact you were disappointed 86 seasons. Kentucky has played basketball 122 seasons and has 17 final fours.
