Give grade to our portal season

University-6

All-American
Sep 28, 2017
1,127
8,713
113
Well Done Thumbs Up GIF
 

MdWIldcat55

Heisman
Dec 9, 2007
21,111
83,710
113
If only Kentucky had signed "Mr. Magoon..."

Just kidding. A-plus. Unless Jayden Quaintaince has a surprisingly swift recuperation and is ready to play with full energy by late November or so, in time to lay waste to Indiana and Louisville.

Then you'd have to go with A-plus-plus-plus.

The only possible criticisms I can imagine are that Kentucky has no one-dimensional 3-point shooter to replace Brea, and no No. 1 or No. 2 overall Portal Talent ranking type player.

What I'd say about that is:

1. 3-point shooting is best seen as a team statistic, and one created by many factors that lead to the quality of the shots. Pope has put together a team that should create the kinds of shots to raise everyone's average.
2. Pope seems to be a master of TEAM dynamics, rather than playing a system built around a star or a couple stars. As soon as I heard Wilkerson say he didn't want to play at Kentucky because he wanted to be "The Man" I was very relieved he wouldn't have the chance to wreck team chemistry.
 
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W1LDCAT22

All-Conference
Jan 10, 2013
1,101
1,339
113
As of now, if this is our final roster, I will give A+ without doubt
Basing it off of what's on paper, which is all that we can go off right now, I will give it a A-, which could obviously jump to an A or A+ when the season starts. Hopefully the grade increases rather than decreasing.
 

Drcatfan

All-Conference
Apr 14, 2015
1,378
1,539
61
Honestly not trying to be negative at all, but I would give us an A or A-. I believe we did very good, but not A+ crazy good. In my opinion and A+ would have been like picking up two top 10 portal stars. I think we have a well-rounded very good team.
 

Dalroxas

Junior
Jan 4, 2025
167
310
0
Oh you can guarantee that someone will come along complaining that we don't have enough shooters, defensive stoppers and/or guys who can finish at the rim.
We def have the defense. The shooting will have to come from Noah Perry and chandler
 
Apr 22, 2011
25,749
14,375
0
A+.

Zero doubt.

And an A overall for the offseason thus far, the only thing not giving it an A+ is that I really liked Acaden Lewis, wish we hadn't lose him.
 

Tubbyfan78

All-American
Feb 9, 2021
2,845
5,407
0
B to B-. Our “Superstar” is 17 coming off a torn ACL. Florida went out and got a 2G because they thought our guy wasn’t good enough. Alabama went out and got a PF because they thought our guy wasn’t good enough. Our PG was our 3/4 choice and gave up 40 to Chucky Hepburn. Admittedly, know nothing about Jelovic or Cam, so if those guys are studs, it would move this class to an A maybe even A+.
 

JPFisher

Heisman
Jul 24, 2013
6,433
11,899
113
Oh you can guarantee that someone will come along complaining that we don't have enough shooters, defensive stoppers and/or guys who can finish at the rim.
If a team full of 35%+ 3pt shooters who can also gouge opposing defenses isn't good enough, I don't know what to tell em.

Chandler shot 52.2% from three in the final seven games of the season.

Williams shoots it at 41%.

Oweh at 35.5% for us, 37.7% at OU.

Dioubate at 46.2% on low volume.

Lowe at 35.2% before he became a one man team.

35% from Aberdeen.... Also saw this about some of his analytics:


That bodes VERY well for us.

It goes on and on.

I'm happy with bringing in 35% guys because as long as they don't take forever to get a shot off like Carr (love him, don't get me wrong), their % stands a good chance of improving or staying the same.

The athleticism and shooting these guys have will put defenses and coaches in a blue hell next year, and I am HERE for it.
 

Dalroxas

Junior
Jan 4, 2025
167
310
0
A. We have the defense. We have the length and athleticism. We have a 4 who can spread the floor to allow our slashers to get to the basket. We have a 4 who can grab rebounds and play defensively. We also have a C in JQ, who, if healthy, can do it all.

Only concern I have is whether we have a Brea on this team who can hit a 3 when we need it. Chandler and Noah and our stretch 4 can certainly do it. But consistently is my question.
 
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HoneyMoon155

All-Conference
Apr 10, 2018
739
1,057
0
B to B-. Our “Superstar” is 17 coming off a torn ACL. Florida went out and got a 2G because they thought our guy wasn’t good enough. Alabama went out and got a PF because they thought our guy wasn’t good enough. Our PG was our 3/4 choice and gave up 40 to Chucky Hepburn. Admittedly, know nothing about Jelovic or Cam, so if those guys are studs, it would move this class to an A maybe even A+.
What 2G did Florida get?
 
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Dead Cat Bounce

All-Conference
Jan 8, 2003
2,642
4,600
113
I am very impressed by

1) Pope’s adaptability with regard to roster composition and style of play, and
2) Pope’s willingness to pursue the best options, even at the risk of recruiting over some players on his roster.

Hoping for great things in 2025-2026.
 
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PoBilly

All-Conference
Mar 18, 2012
2,784
4,460
98
Pope has above an A+, he got extra credit along with it.

Aberdeen is tons better than his stats. He had to play a bunch during the season when Martin was out injured. His stats in those games showed.
 

Cole World

All-Conference
May 24, 2011
972
1,533
93
B to B-. Our “Superstar” is 17 coming off a torn ACL. Florida went out and got a 2G because they thought our guy wasn’t good enough. Alabama went out and got a PF because they thought our guy wasn’t good enough. Our PG was our 3/4 choice and gave up 40 to Chucky Hepburn. Admittedly, know nothing about Jelovic or Cam, so if those guys are studs, it would move this class to an A maybe even A+.
Post a bunch of made up things just to disparage the team lmfao
 

Blue wood

All-Conference
Oct 17, 2016
1,139
1,749
0
B to B-. Our “Superstar” is 17 coming off a torn ACL. Florida went out and got a 2G because they thought our guy wasn’t good enough. Alabama went out and got a PF because they thought our guy wasn’t good enough. Our PG was our 3/4 choice and gave up 40 to Chucky Hepburn. Admittedly, know nothing about Jelovic or Cam, so if those guys are studs, it would move this class to an A maybe even A+.
Good lord, this is so damn dumb like a lot of your posts
 

ConRay9

All-American
Nov 15, 2017
3,199
6,711
0
I’m stuck between an A- or an A. Would have been nice to land one of the big mega transfers but what we missed in star power we traded for well above average depth.

Not landing one of the stars just means Oweh and maybe one other player needs to make a leap and levels up to that star role on the team. Oweh is more than capable of doing so—I’m not certain who the other player is that will step up but we have a lot of talent so someone is bound to make a leap or be better than expected.

Pope has done an excellent job no doubt. I think he has built a top 10 ten team for next year and it’s hard to ask for much more than that. My hope is that we contend for a 1-seed—it’s been far too long since we’ve gotten a 1 or even been in the mix.