Tell me why next year, or in the coming years, we will be dramatically more talented than we are now? Pope has not proven he can secure elite talent yet. Without that, how will our rosters be that much better than today’s? Slightly better portal guys? Also, talent is more spread out than ever.
Will we be more talented in the coming years?
- Thread starter movershaker74
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26 posts in 6 years with a we have no hope, it wont be better for the future at all post. I just cant believe Arenk fell for such an obvious troll post and agreed with the troll.
Trolling the internet in the wee hours of the night. What a waste of a buzz.
You do understand rebuilding a team takes time right? We were playing 5th year seniors yesterday.
A note to our outrageous fans.... Temper your expectations a little. Pope came in and tied our record for most top 15 wins in UK history. The man can coach, but UK isn't winning a title every year like some of you demand. Even without injuries I still think we have probably 7/8 losses right now and that's good enough for a 2 seed. But we are still couple years away from having a chance
People don’t realize how much 5th year seniors will change the game too. A lot of teams are better than they would be because of it, we benefited sure but we also can recruit better younger teams than most schools.
I believe next year sec will return back to normal, a 8-team tournament league... This year is just unreal...
cats#1again, you are so correct. NIL has changed the landscape of college basketball. Today College of the Blind with enough NIL money could possibly have the best roster in the nation. No longer are kids growing up hoping to play for UK, Duke, UNC, Kansas like they have in past years. Talent will be spread out more than ever. We do need to temper our expectations because building a team with experience will be next to impossible because kids will not wait their turn for playing time. Only elite recruiters and deep pockets will be the top teams year in and year out. I just hope and pray we have an elite recruiter in Pope. Time will tell. I think we have the $$$ but an elite recruiter is also part of the equation.
Well for starters he hasn’t even been in Lexington a full year yet. He had a month and a half to put together a team. He hasn’t really had time to develop relationships yet on the recruiting trail
You and I both know pope doesn’t have a couple of years to start competing. He has to do it next year, he just does. And If Kentucky fans temper expectations we wouldn’t be Kentucky anymore. Nobody expects to win a title every year but it’s been 10 years since they made a final four, they gotta start winning again.
But can he coach defense, I go back and forth over whether it’s talent or coaching philosophy because he’s never had a good defense. That’s the only thing I worry about with him
Not enough you posted same bullshit post on pay board,, you then brought it to the free board.. Loser.. 😂
Okay, pretty much your entire argument is a red herring.
By the Rivals rankings Pope has signed the #18, #20, and #26 players in next year's class. It's true that none are rated as five star recruits but in every previous year the numbers 18 and 20 recruits were rated as five star recruits and in 2021 the top 31 recruits got five stars. Just because Rivals decided to only designate the top 15 as five stars this year does not mean all 3 signees for next year are not five star caliber recruits. Not that stars mean much since the driving force behind UCONN's last two championships was a 4 star ranked #40 and the top two players in the SEC were lightly recruited guys that had to start college in the MAC and the OVC.
Also, with a full year to put together his roster instead of one month why in the hell wouldn't Pope have a more talented roster next year? Tell me why Pope won't have a more talented roster next year...
We will be way more talented next year and could be the favorites to win it all.
Everything you said may be accurate but it’s still ad hominem. He poses a question so attacking his credibility is irrelevant. Will he recruit tougher and more athletic players? We don’t know and it’s a legit concern. From everything I know right now we may not be as good next year as we are now. The portal holds the answers.
I can, because he’s as much a little wanna be troll as the OP. Single word drive-by virtue signaling trash.
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Considering no one knows how rosters will shake out until the portal opens and closes, high school commitments are finalized and early NBA draft entries are done I think this is a highly unlikely screnario.
The 3 players we have signed already were higher ranked than anyone on the team now, by far. Pope knows what we need and will get 3 or 4 from the portal that are proven that he knows can play in this league. As far as someone saying Pope won’t have over two years, he will certainly have more than two years to do it. He’s competing now, beating Tennessee twice, Florida, Gonzaga and Duke, I’d say that is competing. Injuries to two of your better shooters and one of the best point guards would derail any teams chances. Getting 3 players from the top 30 seniors is considered a success with another one possibly coming on board. This team has done really well considering how is was put together with not much time and limited talent to choose from.
I agree, I don’t expect to win a title every year but you have to be in discussion throughout the year as one of the better teams. If not, you become Indiana
Two of the players coming in are Kentucky kids so let’s see what he does with no Kentucky ties
but in all seriousness, this post is basically implying that Pope is NOT competing OR being successful already at it !
He beat dUKe head to head. Beat UT twice, Florida, the Zags, Louisville, the list goes on....
It's like not giving him due credit for winning what he has already IN THE FACE of dealing with EVERYTHING.
do people just not get this ? This is Kentucky basketball, damn near an impossible freaking job, and if the players are under the microscope, look at what the coach gets. lol
I'm pleased having Pope's style and change of pace from what was before. we should all just take this rollercoaster year in and let it have time to run it's course before freaking out about a longer range future.
The bottom line is that Coach Pope has ALREADY HAD SUCCESS here as coach and isnt getting enough credit for it.
"they gotta start winning again" .... lord.
Thank God we have LSU scheduled next and are 19-9 this year.
LOL
(cmon' dontworryboutit, hang the panties up and cinch up the big boy drawers. this might just get interesting here on out THIS YEAR ! )
Mark Pope will not be outworked or outsmarted by any other coach in America. He treats his players with class, love and respect and his innovative offensive system is the envy of other elite programs coast to coast. We have great facilities and tremendous fan support home and away and all our games are televised. I like his chances to recruit the players he needs to be successful.
Now let's hope he gets 3 or 4 of the top 30 in the portal or better!
This is the least talented team he’ll ever have at Kentucky. Johnson is more talented than anyone on this team right now. And he’ll have more than six weeks to do it.
It wouldn’t shock me if his top 2 or 3
portal targets are already known and have been communicated through back channels.
It wouldn’t shock me if his top 2 or 3
portal targets are already known and have been communicated through back channels.
I think we will be much better next year, Pope will have more time to get players from the portal and we probably have most players coming back except the seniors, this last year Pope started with no one.
Sadly the days of getting guys like Wall, Cousins, Davis, MKG, Anthony Davis, Murray, Monk, Fox, Bam, ect ect are probably long gone.
I think what you are going to see is 5 star freshmen talent value drop off - already Pearl and Pitino are showing that you build teams from the portal with veteran players, UK is in this boat now while we still have a focus on freshmen, I think what you are going to see is fewer freshmen jump from their team until they proves themselves.
with that said, I believe Pope will be in the mix with talent but we have to move away from thinking that landing a 5 star kid is more meaningful than landing a 4 star veteran guy that took his team on a deep NCAA tourney run.
Its about "buying" the pieces to a team in the transfer portal, not recruiting athletes that have zero experience competing at the next level.
Coaches that have the money and ability to do this will thrive. So I'm also not bought into the idea that the SEC will not continue to be top heavy in the future.
with that said, I believe Pope will be in the mix with talent but we have to move away from thinking that landing a 5 star kid is more meaningful than landing a 4 star veteran guy that took his team on a deep NCAA tourney run.
Its about "buying" the pieces to a team in the transfer portal, not recruiting athletes that have zero experience competing at the next level.
Coaches that have the money and ability to do this will thrive. So I'm also not bought into the idea that the SEC will not continue to be top heavy in the future.
I'm really curious. Nate Ament wants 3mil, or that's what has been reported. Would you pay that? Or take that to the portal and get some veteran players?
See last year I was really frustrated, that we couldn't close the deal on Lanier. I still think had they come up with the money he would have put us in the top 5 this year.
I'm not sure Ament will elevate our talent that's worth paying 3 mil. Will he push you to a final 4 team? If yes you pay if no you keep looking.
But if you get a shot at a experience portal pieces, I think you better be willing to pay up if you want to be elite. But you have to be very smart who you put your money on. Kansas it didn't work. K.St. it didn't work either.
I think you are fixing to be shocked at the portal this year. I almost guarantee you there will be money/numbers thrown around like you've never seen in college sports.
So I think if Pope wants to keep oweh he will have to pay up. Imo he needs to find a guy or 2 that play at a high level. Then he needs to find a couple gems,that don't cost as much but fit his system and help you win games.
When you have 5+ mil thrown at these guys you can't afford more then 1!
there isn't anything to be sad about, you can still get guys that will be that impactful to your team but they'll just be experienced players and you'll be able to target specific strengths to have a more complete team. And remember, only two of those guys you listed have a championship.
I hope the days of putting the majority of your resources on untested freshmen is over. Flagg may ultimately carry Duke to the finals this year but we've seen him be given the ball in crunch time on multiple occasions now only to see him fail on many of them. I would definitely bet for the field.
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The sad part is that close to 30 guys from UK are tearing up the NBA but we have a grand total of ONE championship to show for it. Somehow, the focus shifted from winning banners to furthering the professional careers (and bank accounts) of our players. That was an asinine measure of success and I am elated that mindset is, as you say, long gone.
That’s a fair assessment, Acaden Lewis was offered by most of the top programs and he falls into the elite talent category. Our last coach had as much talent and big name players as a program could ask for and wasn’t as competitive as he should have been the last 4 years. Recruiting is a hit and miss thing and with NIL unless you turnout like Cooper Flagg which few will. You can lose a lot of money and get little from it as opposed to getting experienced players who have proven value. Pope has everything he needs to build a team to his liking with whatever path he chooses.
I really want Taylen Kinney after seeing Pettiford last game, a fast guard who can shoot can really change a lot of both of your offense and defense...
Taylen should be the top target in 26 class
Taylen should be the top target in 26 class
Need to recruit more athletic guy.
Brea (and Kellan Grady) type guy won't work in SEC...
It's hard to win a national title with inexperienced freshmen. Those guys in the NBA all were not that good here.
Since this board loves to use the injury excuse this season (fair), but never seems to for 2014 or 2015 not winning it all. Be consistent
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