2 mistakes in roster construction

[Ridinwithpope]

I hear a broken record of how bad Popes roster construction was this past year. I firmly believe that it’s not as bad as people make it sound and there were only two mistakes that he made. Those two mistakes are the reason why we are in the position we are at. Those two are the gamble on JQ for 2-3 million and the hope that BG would step up and be as good as Amari was last year. Probably another 1-2 million. Our biggest weaknesses are not having a point guard for depth, had Lowe and acaden. One left and the other got hurt for the year. We don’t have a big to help Moreno. Moreno was supposed to be 3rd string. BG ineptitude and JQ being hurt totally crushed this team financially that could have gone to two players like a Wilkerson and a Caleb Wilson. I firmly believe those two decisions caused the mess we are in; however, I still have faith that he won’t make that mistake again.
To defend Pope, he had Kam to give Chandler rest and vice versa, instead he now has Noah. He had Lowe to rest Aberdeen.. now he has Jasper. Injuries killed this team and should not reflect on roster construction… you can’t blame the coach for that.

 

[theBlues]

I hear a broken record of how bad Popes roster construction was this past year. I firmly believe that it’s not as bad as people make it sound and there were only two mistakes that he made. Those two mistakes are the reason why we are in the position we are at. Those two are the gamble on JQ for 2-3 million and the hope that BG would step up and be as good as Amari was last year. Probably another 1-2 million. Our biggest weaknesses are not having a point guard for depth, had Lowe and acaden. One left and the other got hurt for the year. We don’t have a big to help Moreno. Moreno was supposed to be 3rd string. BG ineptitude and JQ being hurt totally crushed this team financially that could have gone to two players like a Wilkerson and a Caleb Wilson. I firmly believe those two decisions caused the mess we are in; however, I still have faith that he won’t make that mistake again.
To defend Pope, he had Kam to give Chandler rest and vice versa, instead he now has Noah. He had Lowe to rest Aberdeen.. now he has Jasper. Injuries killed this team and should not reflect on roster construction… you can’t blame the coach for that.

In regard to BG, the main thing Pope is catching heat over is continuing to play BG. He might have to give Noah or Johnson a minute or two to rest CC, OO, and DA but he can sub MoD for MM and AJ so there is no need to keep playing BG.

 

[yoshukai]

I hear a broken record of how bad Popes roster construction was this past year. I firmly believe that it’s not as bad as people make it sound and there were only two mistakes that he made. Those two mistakes are the reason why we are in the position we are at. Those two are the gamble on JQ for 2-3 million and the hope that BG would step up and be as good as Amari was last year. Probably another 1-2 million. Our biggest weaknesses are not having a point guard for depth, had Lowe and acaden. One left and the other got hurt for the year. We don’t have a big to help Moreno. Moreno was supposed to be 3rd string. BG ineptitude and JQ being hurt totally crushed this team financially that could have gone to two players like a Wilkerson and a Caleb Wilson. I firmly believe those two decisions caused the mess we are in; however, I still have faith that he won’t make that mistake again.
To defend Pope, he had Kam to give Chandler rest and vice versa, instead he now has Noah. He had Lowe to rest Aberdeen.. now he has Jasper. Injuries killed this team and should not reflect on roster construction… you can’t blame the coach for that.

It’s worth noting that CMP went against his training and medical staffs recommendation on JQ .

But we still had the highest offer for Caleb Wilson. UNC was close . Wilson chose UNC because Hubert Davis promised to build the offense around him. His pitch was “come be our Cooper Flagg “.

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

I actually think trying to account for injuries was one of the biggest issues. And I hope he doesn’t do it next year. We tried to have two of everything and when you do that, your top end suffers. Build the best starting 5 you can and go from there. If injuries happen, they happen. BBN Will crush you either way so give yourself the highest ceiling.

 

[rick64]

BG has to be one of the laziest big guys I've ever seen at UK. You might get one good game out of him every so often, but no consistent effort game in and game out. So frustrating.

 

[Ridinwithpope]

It’s worth noting that CMP went against his training and medical staffs recommendation on JQ .

But we still had the highest offer for Caleb Wilson. UNC was close . Wilson chose UNC because Hubert Davis promised to build the offense around him. His pitch was “come be our Cooper Flagg “.

How did he go against recommendations? JQ and his dad wanted to play a week before the St. John’s game. I haven’t heard about Pope going against medical advice.

 

[Ridinwithpope]

I actually think trying to account for injuries was one of the biggest issues. And I hope he doesn’t do it next year. We tried to have two of everything and when you do that, your top end suffers. Build the best starting 5 you can and go from there. If injuries happen, they happen. BBN Will crush you either way so give yourself the highest ceiling.

I firmly believe that if our consistent minutes are Lowe, Aberdeen, Chandler, kam, Malachi, oweh, Mo, jelavic, and unfortunately due to the mistake BG.. we are in second place in the sec and a top 4 seed. If we get something for JQs money… we are talking about maybe an elite 8 or better.

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

I firmly believe that if our consistent minutes are Lowe, Aberdeen, Chandler, kam, Malachi, oweh, Mo, jelavic, and unfortunately due to the mistake BG.. we are in second place in the sec and a top 4 seed. If we get something for JQs money… we are talking about maybe an elite 8 or better.

Or better yet…if we simply get more of St. John’s JQ rather than it being the only real game of JQ — we could have made a final four. Ultimately no one will ever know. With this said, I love your screen name. I too am riding with Pope. Unashamed (albeit frustrated atm.)

 

[yoshukai]

How did he go against recommendations? JQ and his dad wanted to play a week before the St. John’s game. I haven’t heard about Pope going against medical advice.

After the St John’s game CMP was saying how thrilled he was that things had turned out like this because he consulted with his trainers and medical staff before pursuing JQ in the portal and after reviewing JQ’s injury and the timeframe they had to work with they advised against bringing JQ in to play this season.

But he went against their advice and brought him in anyway. Appears they were right.

 

[JSquad0070]

BG sucks and you could tell from his skill set he was not going to improve. Lowe was our 3rd or 4th Pg choice and was a low efficiency volume scorer that struggles on D. Horrible decision on Pope on that part.

 

[Ridinwithpope]

Or better yet…if we simply get more of St. John’s JQ rather than it being the only real game of JQ — we could have made a final four. Ultimately no one will ever know. With this said, I love your screen name. I too am riding with Pope. Unashamed (albeit frustrated atm.)

Very frustrated at the moment, but I don’t understand the doom and gloomers. The way I see it.. pope made 2 mistakes in the offseason.. and one of those mistakes was going after a lottery pick.

 

[Ridinwithpope]

After the St John’s game CMP was saying how thrilled he was that things had turned out like this because he consulted with his trainers and medical staff before pursuing JQ in the portal and after reviewing JQ’s injury and the timeframe they had to work with they advised against bringing JQ in to play this season.

But he went against their advice and brought him in anyway. Appears they were right.

Oh wow I didn’t hear about that. Thanks for the info. If that is the case.. definitely a huge mistake.

 

[Damage_inc]

I hear a broken record of how bad Popes roster construction was this past year. I firmly believe that it’s not as bad as people make it sound and there were only two mistakes that he made. Those two mistakes are the reason why we are in the position we are at. Those two are the gamble on JQ for 2-3 million and the hope that BG would step up and be as good as Amari was last year. Probably another 1-2 million. Our biggest weaknesses are not having a point guard for depth, had Lowe and acaden. One left and the other got hurt for the year. We don’t have a big to help Moreno. Moreno was supposed to be 3rd string. BG ineptitude and JQ being hurt totally crushed this team financially that could have gone to two players like a Wilkerson and a Caleb Wilson. I firmly believe those two decisions caused the mess we are in; however, I still have faith that he won’t make that mistake again.
To defend Pope, he had Kam to give Chandler rest and vice versa, instead he now has Noah. He had Lowe to rest Aberdeen.. now he has Jasper. Injuries killed this team and should not reflect on roster construction… you can’t blame the coach for that.

His roster construction featured one major flaw. The biggest flaw......

Everyone said no. All his top targets, his first option.....they all said no. What we got is what we were left with. This is Popes shortcoming. He can't sell, he can't relate, he can't close. If he doesn't whiff on his top targets then we aren't having this conversation today.

 

[Ridinwithpope]

BG sucks and you could tell from his skill set he was not going to improve. Lowe was our 3rd or 4th Pg choice and was a low efficiency volume scorer that struggles on D. Horrible decision on Pope on that part.

Yes, Lowe was our 3rd and 4th option. You needed a point guard though and he was one of the top portal point guards at that time. What other point guard could have we gotten? He does have some limitations for sure but our too choices said no and went elsewhere. Can you blame pope for that?

 

[yoshukai]

Oh wow I didn’t hear about that. Thanks for the info. If that is the case.. definitely a huge mistake.

Yeah he just casually mentioned it, because at the time it looked like the gamble had paid off but…………”.not so fast my friend “.

 

[Ridinwithpope]

His roster construction featured one major flaw. The biggest flaw......

Everyone said no. All his top targets, his first option.....they all said no. What we got is what we were left with. This is Popes shortcoming. He can't sell, he can't relate, he can't close. If he doesn't whiff on his top targets then we aren't having this conversation today.

That is probably true that his biggest fault were his whiffs. However, in this day and age you have to prove you can win. Pope is trying to get there. May had a final four, Davis went to a title game, ucla is home to Dent.

 

[PastorofMuppets82]

And to be fair Caleb Wilson and Nate Ament were already off the board and committed before Pope spoke to JQ about coming here in the portal. We couldn't have used JQ's money on them. I'm not saying JQ was a smart investment. That's something entirely different.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

His roster construction featured one major flaw. The biggest flaw......

Everyone said no. All his top targets, his first option.....they all said no. What we got is what we were left with. This is Popes shortcoming. He can't sell, he can't relate, he can't close. If he doesn't whiff on his top targets then we aren't having this conversation today.

And he doesn’t coach the ones he has.

 

[USARMYWILDCAT]

If Pope brings back BG to be part of the rotation next year. That tells me one of two things or maybe both are true. 1. My assessment of him being way in over his head. Has no idea what it takes to win at this level are true. 2. He’s not willing to make the hard decisions it takes to win at this level. Sometimes you have to hurt people’s feelings and tell them the truth. BG is not a high level D1 basketball player. Pope needs to tell him to go find a new job. I’m not sure he’s cutthroat enough to have that conversation.

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

Very frustrated at the moment, but I don’t understand the doom and gloomers. The way I see it.. pope made 2 mistakes in the offseason.. and one of those mistakes was going after a lottery pick.

There was a point before the St John’s game that just about everybody on the board declared the year completely over. We have no change to beat St. John’s. Zero. We won. After the game? Well, they just were no good.

We had another rough patch to start SEC play losing to Bama and Missouri and most everyone calling for Pope’s job, including me btw. This team has no chance to make the tournament they all said. Absolutely no way of salvaging anything from this season. Don’t even wait— fire Pope now because we all have a crystal ball and there’s not turnaround coming. We won 8 of the next 9 games. When we were set to play Arkansas, some of the “fans” on here even openly admitted that they cheer for Arkansas. And no one gave us any chance at all. But we beat Cal pretty comfortably in Fayetteville. Most of the same posters who were DEFINITELY sure Pope couldn’t make anything of the year were starting to buy the hype so much that even I was like “hold up y’all. You’re forgetting how flawed this team is.” Then, yep we lose the last three games and those folks are right back where they were before. Didn’t learn anything from it. I learned. Don’t act like you know what you don’t. Pope could end in disaster or he could have a little magic left. No matter what happens, every fan on here already knew what would happen. Supposedly.

 

[PastorofMuppets82]

If Pope brings back BG to be part of the rotation next year. That tells me one of two things or maybe both are true. 1. My assessment of him being way in over his head. Has no idea what it takes to win at this level. 2. He’s not willing to make the hard decisions it takes to win at this level. Sometimes you have to hurt people’s feelings and tell them the truth. BG is not a high level D1 basketball player. Pope needs to tell him to go find a new job. I’m not sure he’s cutthroat enough to have that conversation.

Agree 99%, the 1% that is left is we have zero commits. Pope has tried to recruit over him and all three center targets chose elsewhere. And unless we get Sayan Keita from overseas or a portal big, we might have to keep Garrison just to field a team next year. Yikes...

 

[CatBlueBlood]

I hear a broken record of how bad Popes roster construction was this past year. I firmly believe that it’s not as bad as people make it sound and there were only two mistakes that he made. Those two mistakes are the reason why we are in the position we are at. Those two are the gamble on JQ for 2-3 million and the hope that BG would step up and be as good as Amari was last year. Probably another 1-2 million. Our biggest weaknesses are not having a point guard for depth, had Lowe and acaden. One left and the other got hurt for the year. We don’t have a big to help Moreno. Moreno was supposed to be 3rd string. BG ineptitude and JQ being hurt totally crushed this team financially that could have gone to two players like a Wilkerson and a Caleb Wilson. I firmly believe those two decisions caused the mess we are in; however, I still have faith that he won’t make that mistake again.
To defend Pope, he had Kam to give Chandler rest and vice versa, instead he now has Noah. He had Lowe to rest Aberdeen.. now he has Jasper. Injuries killed this team and should not reflect on roster construction… you can’t blame the coach for that.

Pope's weakness as a recruiter has hurt with roster building. He has mostly swung and missed on top high school recruits and hasn't exactly killed it in the portal. Without a couple of studs in the mix, it's hard to compete at an elite level.

 

[AJG-15]

The whole summer, I heard that Noah is our best 3 pts shooter. Everyone knew if Noah or Chandler or Perry would be getting significant minutes this year, this team will not be great.

Perry left. Noah is not rotation material and Chandler not a starter on Kentucky team that supposed to be a final four or title contender.

in our last loss , both Noah and Chandler played way too many minutes for their current development . I am not bashing the players. I think they contribute more in the future…..

This roster, had many holes not only the bigs. The holes were both on the quality of players brought in and the structure. There was pretty good analysis at each position on a different posting so I am not going to repeat it here.

it’s just not accurate to say it’s only the bigs and injuries….

 

[TFCat11]

Yes, Lowe was our 3rd and 4th option. You needed a point guard though and he was one of the top portal point guards at that time. What other point guard could have we gotten? He does have some limitations for sure but our too choices said no and went elsewhere. Can you blame pope for that?

You just outlined the entire problem…

No one blames Pope for taking Lowe, he’s being blamed for having to settle for his 3rd-4th options!

Not a Calipari fan, but tell me the last PG he settled on that was his 3rd-4th option? How about Scheyer, or Self… or ANY high major coach?

Heck, the little man syndrome himself took Pope’s 1st or 2nd option, while SMU and IU took the other 2

 

[Ridinwithpope]

I guess I am just still hopeful we have opportunities left with top high school kids for next year. Call me delusional, but I call that being a fan. Not giving up hope until it’s officially over. We are still in the running for stokes, Collins, and Holt. There are reasons why those guys haven’t committed yet. Until they sign elsewhere, I still say why not Kentucky. We have huge opportunities for those kids to come in and be the center piece without oweh and Aberdeen. Call me a hopeful delusionist, but I think it could happen with top high school kids for this coming year.

 

[Blue Jesus]

I hear a broken record of how bad Popes roster construction was this past year. I firmly believe that it’s not as bad as people make it sound and there were only two mistakes that he made. Those two mistakes are the reason why we are in the position we are at. Those two are the gamble on JQ for 2-3 million and the hope that BG would step up and be as good as Amari was last year. Probably another 1-2 million. Our biggest weaknesses are not having a point guard for depth, had Lowe and acaden. One left and the other got hurt for the year. We don’t have a big to help Moreno. Moreno was supposed to be 3rd string. BG ineptitude and JQ being hurt totally crushed this team financially that could have gone to two players like a Wilkerson and a Caleb Wilson. I firmly believe those two decisions caused the mess we are in; however, I still have faith that he won’t make that mistake again.
To defend Pope, he had Kam to give Chandler rest and vice versa, instead he now has Noah. He had Lowe to rest Aberdeen.. now he has Jasper. Injuries killed this team and should not reflect on roster construction… you can’t blame the coach for that.

I think that's fair. I also think the emphasis on JQ is sometimes a little overdone because you would think if JQ played we basically wouldn't see BG. But the reality is when JQ was playing, Pope was trying to play him and Garrison at the same time! INCONCEIVABLE! (channeling Wallace Shawn in Princess Bride)

If the money that went to JQ and BG instead went to Yaxel and Wilson... this might easily be a final four team.

And if the money that went to Lowe went to a guy with one year of eligibility left, and Acaden Lewis still came here, that would've basically solved our PG issues for the next few years. Instead we got Lowe, Acaden decommitted, Lowe got hurt, and now we may start over with no PGs this offseason depending what happens with Lowe. I guess if Lowe comes back we might get two seasons of him since he hung it up in time for a redshirt.

I still wish we got Silas Demary from Georgia, he’s playing really well for UConn. He just a junior this year, but he's a big body guard that wasn't likely to get hurt, basically the opposite body type of Lowe. I love the idea of a backcourt with him and Oweh, two bulldogs. Oh well, what could've been.

 

[Ridinwithpope]

The whole summer, I heard that Noah is our best 3 pts shooter. Everyone knew if Noah or Chandler or Perry would be getting significant minutes this year, this team will not be great.

Perry left. Noah is not rotation material and Chandler not a starter on Kentucky team that supposed to be a final four or title contender.

in our last, loss both Noah and Chandler played way too many minutes for their current development . I am not bashing the players. I think they contribute more in the future…..

This roster, had many holes not only the bigs. The holes were both on the quality of players brought in and the structure. There was pretty good analysis at each position on a different posting so I am not going to repeat it here.

it’s just not accurate to say it’s only the bigs and injuries….

Chandler has been the second or third best player on this team. I agree about Noah but we knew he was a one trick pony. Yes, Chandler had a terrible game against Auburn.. that is why the loss to kam is the biggest injury of the 3. The fact you can’t sit Chandler when he is having a bad game is huge!! If Kam was playing, you don’t play Noah. Before the Auburn game, chandler was one of the best shooters in the sec.

 

[AJG-15]

I guess I am just still hopeful we have opportunities left with top high school kids for next year. Call me delusional, but I call that being a fan. Not giving up hope until it’s officially over. We are still in the running for stokes, Collins, and Holt. There are reasons why those guys haven’t committed yet. Until they sign elsewhere, I still say why not Kentucky. We have huge opportunities for those kids to come in and be the center piece without oweh and Aberdeen. Call me a hopeful delusionist, but I think it could happen with top high school kids for this coming year.

Would be nice. The hope is always our last resort.

 

[NociHTTP]

After the St John’s game CMP was saying how thrilled he was that things had turned out like this because he consulted with his trainers and medical staff before pursuing JQ in the portal and after reviewing JQ’s injury and the timeframe they had to work with they advised against bringing JQ in to play this season.

But he went against their advice and brought him in anyway. Appears they were right.

Lol. The only thing hurt is JQ's draft status after got exposed. He wanted to be the center of the offense, but his skills weren't good enough and after getting exposed he shut it down. This whole "Pope went against medical advice" regarding JQ is nonsense.

 

[Ridinwithpope]

I think that's fair. I also think the emphasis on JQ is sometimes a little overdone because you would think if JQ played we basically wouldn't see BG. But the reality is when JQ was playing, Pope was trying to play him and Garrison at the same time! INCONCEIVABLE! (channeling Wallace Shawn in Princess Bride)

If the money that went to JQ and BG instead went to Yaxel and Wilson... this might easily be a final four team.

And if the money that went to Lowe went to a guy with one year of eligibility left, and Acaden Lewis still came here, that would've basically solved our PG issues for the next few years. Instead we got Lowe, Acaden decommitted, Lowe got hurt, and now we may start over with no PGs this offseason depending what happens with Lowe. I guess if Lowe comes back we might get two seasons of him since he hung it up in time for a redshirt.

I still wish we got Silas Demary from Georgia, he’s playing really well for UConn. He just a junior this year, but he's a big body guard that wasn't likely to get hurt, basically the opposite body type of Lowe. I love the idea of a backcourt with him and Oweh, two bulldogs. Oh well, what could've been.

I do think he was trying to still figure out his team and what jela could bring to the table. But I am pretty confident that if JQ was out there today… no way he plays garrison and jq together.
There were circumstantial things that happened with the point guard position; however, I do think it all started with the bags we gave to JQ and Garrison. Gosh Demary would have been nice.. but, he chose to go to a proven winner. Unfortunately, Pooe isn’t there yet but I think he is closer than many others believe.

 

[Blue Jesus]

I actually think trying to account for injuries was one of the biggest issues. And I hope he doesn’t do it next year. We tried to have two of everything and when you do that, your top end suffers. Build the best starting 5 you can and go from there. If injuries happen, they happen. BBN Will crush you either way so give yourself the highest ceiling.

That's something I've come to appreciate about Cal... get an elite top 7 or 8 and play. If you lose a crucial player to injury you're probably not winning the title anyway. The 2012 team had basically 6 players, with Darius Miller off the bench with almost as many minutes as the starters. Wiltjer averaged 11 mins and Vargas averaged 6 mins to give AD a breather. But those two guys could've been replaced with pretty much any set of modestly competent bigs in the sport and the season would've looked the same.

 

[NociHTTP]

If Pope brings back BG to be part of the rotation next year. That tells me one of two things or maybe both are true. 1. My assessment of him being way in over his head. Has no idea what it takes to win at this level. 2. He’s not willing to make the hard decisions it takes to win at this level. Sometimes you have to hurt people’s feelings and tell them the truth. BG is not a high level D1 basketball player. Pope needs to tell him to go find a new job. I’m not sure he’s cutthroat enough to have that conversation.

BG could be a high level D1 player, he's just lazy AF and seems content getting his minutes. Pope is too softhearted to address the issue, but my gut feeling is there are going to be some conversations between Pope and people above him, and Pope having some unpleasant conversations with the problems on this team and staff.

 

[JHR1932]

I hear a broken record of how bad Popes roster construction was this past year. I firmly believe that it’s not as bad as people make it sound and there were only two mistakes that he made. Those two mistakes are the reason why we are in the position we are at. Those two are the gamble on JQ for 2-3 million and the hope that BG would step up and be as good as Amari was last year. Probably another 1-2 million. Our biggest weaknesses are not having a point guard for depth, had Lowe and acaden. One left and the other got hurt for the year. We don’t have a big to help Moreno. Moreno was supposed to be 3rd string. BG ineptitude and JQ being hurt totally crushed this team financially that could have gone to two players like a Wilkerson and a Caleb Wilson. I firmly believe those two decisions caused the mess we are in; however, I still have faith that he won’t make that mistake again.
To defend Pope, he had Kam to give Chandler rest and vice versa, instead he now has Noah. He had Lowe to rest Aberdeen.. now he has Jasper. Injuries killed this team and should not reflect on roster construction… you can’t blame the coach for that.

I believe he really whiffed on the point guard position also Lowe is way to weak, not a great shooter also

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

I guess I am just still hopeful we have opportunities left with top high school kids for next year. Call me delusional, but I call that being a fan. Not giving up hope until it’s officially over. We are still in the running for stokes, Collins, and Holt. There are reasons why those guys haven’t committed yet. Until they sign elsewhere, I still say why not Kentucky. We have huge opportunities for those kids to come in and be the center piece without oweh and Aberdeen. Call me a hopeful delusionist, but I think it could happen with top high school kids for this coming year.

I was told by someone far more into recruiting than I am that he would put Stokes somewhere between 8-11 if he were in this current class. This is a weaker class by far than the last one. I don’t know if it’s wise to go all-in on one of these high school guys in your do-or-die year. With Stokes, he’s the most talented of the bunch but we already saw how quickly a lack of chemistry will bury us this year. If you return Kam, Chandler, Moreno, Hawthorne, Noah, Jelavic and add a premium portal stud PG and PF, that’s the way to go IMO.

pg - Portal stud
sg - C. Chandler
sf - K. Williams
pf - Portal stud
c - M. Moreno

6th - Portal sharpshooting wing
7th - Jelavic
8th - Hawthorne
9th - Portal depth guard
10th - T. Noah

I hope it shakes out something like this.

 

[Ridinwithpope]

You just outlined the entire problem…

No one blames Pope for taking Lowe, he’s being blamed for having to settle for his 3rd-4th options!

Not a Calipari fan, but tell me the last PG he settled on that was his 3rd-4th option? How about Scheyer, or Self… or ANY high major coach?

Heck, the little man syndrome himself took Pope’s 1st or 2nd option, while SMU and IU took the other 2

IU took Wilkerson yes.. due to money. Don’t you think if we didn’t give garrison a bag, we could have raised the offer for Lamar. Pierre went to SMU because we went for Lamar. Who did little man get that we wanted? Brown? Figured he was a cardinal from day 1

 

[TigerMoving]

JQ, MoD and Lowe all were big stretches and borderline waste of money. Easy to say now bc they are injured but none of them fit well in Pope's spread out and shoot system. JQ was a gigantic gamble with an ACL regardless of anything else. Lowe is a dribble/shoot first PG and Pope's system is not built like that. Aberdeen fits the Lamont Butler prototype/Pope system better in the first place. MoD is the literal opposite of a "stretch 4." Should have spent that money on Yaxel, Dent, Caleb Wilson, Wilkerson or Ament.

 

[Ridinwithpope]

Do you want studs or do you want

I was told by someone far more into recruiting than I am that he would put Stokes somewhere between 8-11 if he were in this current class. This is a weaker class by far than the last one. I don’t know if it’s wise to go all-in on one of these high school guys in your do-or-die year. With Stokes, he’s the most talented of the bunch but we already saw how quickly a lack of chemistry will bury us this year. If you return Kam, Chandler, Moreno, Hawthorne, Noah, Jelavic and add a premium portal stud PG and PF, that’s the way to go IMO.

pg - Portal stud
sg - C. Chandler
sf - K. Williams
pf - Portal stud
c - M. Moreno

6th - Portal sharpshooting wing
7th - Jelavic
8th - Hawthorne
9th - Portal depth guard
10th - T. Noah

I hope it shakes out something like this.

I think you could put stokes in the power forward spot. In your 19.. I do think we need another big to give Moreno some rest. But 3 good portal pieces and a stokes could get you far into March.

 

[The_Catfather]

I still wish we got Silas Demary from Georgia, he’s playing really well for UConn. He just a junior this year, but he's a big body guard that wasn't likely to get hurt, basically the opposite body type of Lowe. I love the idea of a backcourt with him and Oweh, two bulldogs. Oh well, what could've been.

I was beating the drum for him last offseason but a lot of posters didn't like his 3-point percentage. If you're not 40 percent or higher, you're pretty much garbage on this board.

But yeah that was a big miss. I think the whole staff went to visit him too. Demary/Dent/Dedan Thomas...might've even been another one in there before we settled for Lowe. I know we contacted Gillespie who ended up at Tennessee. In fairness to Lowe I think he would've been decent if not for the shoulder. A bigger, physical lead guard needs to be a priority.

Pope needs to overspend on three guards and a power forward in the portal then let the other chips fall where they may. Limit the spending to 10-11. If injuries happen, they happen. We don't need to be overpaying for a 13th man.

 

[Blue Jesus]

I do think he was trying to still figure out his team and what jela could bring to the table. But I am pretty confident that if JQ was out there today… no way he plays garrison and jq together.
There were circumstantial things that happened with the point guard position; however, I do think it all started with the bags we gave to JQ and Garrison. Gosh Demary would have been nice.. but, he chose to go to a proven winner. Unfortunately, Pooe isn’t there yet but I think he is closer than many others believe.

I do think Demary was already talking to UConn when Pope and the staff rushed down to meet with him, but if I remember the timeline correctly the interest between the two seemed to pretty much die after they met. Later Pope said something about how we meet with guys to feel out if they're the right fit for us, and sometimes they aren't. Many people took that to be in reference to Demary, but who knows.

But my comments on this board will show, I'm not as down on Pope as many seem to be. I think this offseason we'll learn a lot. If he builds a roster that better fits the kind of team he knows how to coach, then I'll go into next season with an open mind and optimistic things turn around. If he builds another team designed to match the physicality of the SEC, shooting and basketball skills be damned, I'll be more concerned. And if he brings Garrison back for another season I will be picketing outside of Barnhart's office lol

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

I think you could put stokes in the power forward spot. In your 19.. I do think we need another big to give Moreno some rest. But 3 good portal pieces and a stokes could get you far into March.

I wouldn’t do it given the character issues. If it’s team turmoil no one will have any leniency. They’ll just say Pope can’t control him. From the sound of things no one can control that guy. I’d steer clear