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GYERO

K

krazykats

Heisman
Nov 6, 2006
23,768
14,723
0
I kind of wish we’d have tried to make something happen with Purdue once we dropped IU. Sort of a slap in the face to IU, but also Matt Painter and Purdue is a valid solid team every season in a border state.

It’s crazy to think he is only 54, but has been there for 19 seasons.
 
Vismund

Vismund

All-American
Mar 30, 2007
10,714
9,517
113
Also, today would have sucked a lot more if Cal doesn't Cal.

We got nothing to complain about, truly. I wish we had performed better and had the opportunity to continue seeing this team play but I'm also excited about portal SZN, summer heat and the return of an even better squad next year.

Just let Bama absolutely baptize Duke tomorrow and the rest of the tournament is gravy to me.
 
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F

fatguy87

All-American
Oct 8, 2004
13,764
9,093
0
Irish Beck said:
Also, today would have sucked a lot more if Cal doesn't Cal.

We got nothing to complain about, truly. I wish we had performed better and had the opportunity to continue seeing this team play but I'm also excited about portal SZN, summer heat and the return of an even better squad next year.

Just let Bama absolutely baptize Duke tomorrow and the rest of the tournament is gravy to me.
Click to expand...
I was reassured by the "what if Cal stayed" counterfactual.

It's very likely the same roster at Arkansas except Quaintance and Cyril are there instead of Brazile and Aidoo. Brazile and Aidoo were instrumental in making Arkansas the best defensive team Cal's coached since 2019. Brazile even added a 3 point jump shooting element to his game through the season.

With arguably worse bigs and otherwise the same players at PG and on the wing, we'd be inferior to what Arkansas was this year.

We probably go like 1-4 versus Duke/Zags/Clemson/OSU. Maybe we get 7 conference wins. Missing the tournament would've been a real possibility.
 
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wcc31

wcc31

Heisman
Mar 18, 2002
26,790
87,726
98
Probably a combination of being a veteran fan, no longer being under the albatross of Calipari and genuine optimism with Pope, but I’m fine tonight.

The end of the season is always weird for me - whether we win it all or embarrass ourselves. I’m never quite right until May.

But in my now I’d say 34th season of being a mature Kentucky fan, I know a good, not great team when I see one. We were likable and fun but not particularly memorable besides launching a new era The injuries kind of stunted all that. I enjoyed the season but ib reality, it will sit alongside teams like 1994, 1999, 2001 and 2005. Good fine memories. Little negative thoughts in hindsight. But just fine.

I guess we needed just fine this year. It’s probably going to catapult us into another great era. That’s how we’ll remember these guys in 20 years when Pope has 2 or 3 championships.
 
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B

btodd0224 n/a?

All-Conference
Jun 14, 2003
1,304
1,545
78
Really good year all things considered. Being more than competitive all year with all the injuries was a huge upgrade. Big props to Pope for making this a good year.

Good mix of talented freshman, with several portal and the ones expected to stay, equals a good future. Year one in the bag, let’s roll next year.
 
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A

Anon1700452283

All-Conference
Nov 23, 2004
1,514
2,766
3
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H

HymanKaplan_rivals48997

Heisman
Aug 14, 2001
37,578
60,328
0
Kentucky had to play NINE games against teams in this year's Elite 8

My word...

That is 25 percent of the games we played this year.

Exactly 1/4th of our games, for you non math types.

Also, If you want to know who Kentucky is NOT going to land in the portal, then listen to Aaron Torres bloviate about who Kentucky LEADS for in the portal. Has this moron EVER been correct?
 
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C

cut_itloosedoubledeuce

All-American
Mar 13, 2021
5,027
8,847
0
Oweh is starting 2 guard next year.
Would love for Chandler to be 6th man.
I’d rather have garrison as first big off the bench than a starter.
Perry and Noah are 8th/9th man.

That means we need 4 starters in the portal unless jasper is a starter.
 
K

krazykats

Heisman
Nov 6, 2006
23,768
14,723
0
cut_itloosedoubledeuce said:
Oweh is starting 2 guard next year.
Would love for Chandler to be 6th man.
I’d rather have garrison as first big off the bench than a starter.
Perry and Noah are 8th/9th man.

That means we need 4 starters in the portal unless jasper is a starter.
Click to expand...

Kam Miller is a starter for sure, so we just need 3.

Also I don’t rule out Garrison as a starter since the offense was geared around what Williams could do. I wouldn’t expect next years offense and strategy to be a carbon copy of what we saw.
 
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B

BMoore2

All-Conference
Nov 22, 2017
2,612
3,236
108
Kooky Kats said:
The thing that is a little disturbing is the lack of positioning boxing out or rebounding ALL YEAR.

50-50 balls were a huge issue. UT made -at least 5 buckets on offensive rebounds where I thought Carr or Amari easily got to the ball… alas.
Click to expand...
That has to be one area in which we improve-toughness. Just not there.
 
august-west

august-west

Heisman
May 21, 2002
61,574
18,220
78
Kooky Kats said:
The thing that is a little disturbing is the lack of positioning boxing out or rebounding ALL YEAR.

50-50 balls were a huge issue. UT made -at least 5 buckets on offensive rebounds where I thought Carr or Amari easily got to the ball
Click to expand...
 
A

Anon1700452283

All-Conference
Nov 23, 2004
1,514
2,766
3
krazykats said:
Kam Miller is a starter for sure, so we just need 3.

Also I don’t rule out Garrison as a starter since the offense was geared around what Williams could do. I wouldn’t expect next years offense and strategy to be a carbon copy of what we saw.
Click to expand...
If we get Reed Bailey and he starts at the 4 with BG at the 5, he’s a better passer and we could initiate the offense through him instead of BG.
 
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cawoodsct

cawoodsct

Heisman
Apr 27, 2006
39,800
27,760
102
In terms of personalities it may be my favorite team ever. Pope cannot get enough praise for the incredible job he did. A sweet 16 was a FF type year with what he had to do.
I’m riding with the guy no matter what immediate redass I’ve ever had. My hope is BBN does the same. If it doesn’t work in 4/5 years he will leave on his own. But if you base it on this last 8 months we are in great hands. I look forward to our future.
 
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K

ktatum

Junior
Mar 18, 2004
8,034
260
0
In reality, there’s concerning things about Pope in Year 1. In reality, there’s also only two coaches (Beard or Oates) that I’d take right now over Pope too. That’s a pretty good spot.

The coaching fraternity has lost a lot in the past few years. You figure Pitino, Izzo, and Pearl and even Cal and Self are close to the end. Outside Hurley, who in the next generation has really proven themselves? Scheyer looks pretty good, but we beat them and they played in a dogshit league. Hubert Davis is one season away from the unemployment line in Chapel Hill.

Maybe count in Scott Drew too. The most recent ‘ships are a who’s who of retired or retirement age coaches.
 
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cawoodsct

cawoodsct

Heisman
Apr 27, 2006
39,800
27,760
102
ktatum said:
In reality, there’s concerning things about Pope in Year 1. In reality, there’s also only two coaches (Beard or Oates) that I’d take right now over Pope too. That’s a pretty good spot.

The coaching fraternity has lost a lot in the past few years. You figure Pitino, Izzo, and Pearl and even Cal and Self are close to the end. Outside Hurley, who in the next generation has really proven themselves? Scheyer looks pretty good, but we beat them and they played in a dogshit league. Hubert Davis is one season away from the unemployment line in Chapel Hill.
Click to expand...
Expand on concerning things please
 
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K

ktatum

Junior
Mar 18, 2004
8,034
260
0
cawoodsct said:
Expand on concerning things please
Click to expand...
1. Defense was ok to outright bad most of the season.
2. Some games we looked either lost or completely uninterested.
3. Multiple 20 point blow outs.
4. Rebounding was hit or miss.

Most of that is explainable by having to slap a team together quickly. Some of it isn’t. Some is explained by us essentially trotting out a high mid major all star team and he can fix that.

He outcoached some good coaches too. We beat some really good to great teams this year. It’s all fixable. His offense is good and fun. And that sells in recruiting.
 
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K

ktatum

Junior
Mar 18, 2004
8,034
260
0
Well, I guess we only lost by 20+ twice. Nothing like whatever that 40 point drubbing we took in one of Gillespie’s games.
 
B

BMoore2

All-Conference
Nov 22, 2017
2,612
3,236
108
wcc31 said:
50-50 balls are less about toughness and want-to and more about athleticism.
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I think it’s about 50/50. Toughness is about effort and perseverance, and it’s hard for me to accept we’re putting forth max effort when we’re staring down at the loose balls, instead of diving on the floor for them. But we did make pr in that department, over the course of the season.
 
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