GYERO

Gatton

Freshman
Jul 2, 2025
46
71
18
Back to runnin ragged to the goal that SJU game in Atlanta has been circled.

Will be interesting to see how the 2 and 5 spot mins are distributed in Dec.

What a tiny absolute DUDE 2 is give me the jersey.

#1 BOILERMAKERS derailed at BIG BLUE.
 
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legalbeagle123

Heisman
Jun 16, 2001
28,630
22,739
113
Thq Nordic Hunter GIF by Xbox
 

k_s_t_a

All-Conference
Mar 12, 2005
2,349
1,242
66
Fun night at Rupp. Not going to overreact to an exhibition game, but these are 5 things I liked:

1. Most obviously, Johnson is way more skilled than I expected. Still feel like he’s going to drive us crazy some nights, but that stepback 3 in the first half kinda shocked me.

2. Moreno! Knew he was a big body, but he was so physical and didn’t back down at all. And very smooth finishing in transition. Did not see that coming. I think he struggled a bit in space and he doesn’t appear to be a rim protector, but his positioning was pretty solid and the rebounding will be there.

3. Dioubate is as advertised. He can play for any team of mine any day. Love what that dude brings.

In general, we just seem to have 10-12 guys who are skilled and know how to play basketball. That’s a huge asset.

4. Between our wings shooting/passing and our bigs screening/rim-running, teams are going to have a heck of a time defending our side PnR this year. We absolutely cooked Purdue on that all night. Going to get even harder when/if Quaintance comes back.

5. My favorite play of the night: at the end of the first half, Jelavic got switched onto Smith. Predictably, Smith got him out isolated and went to work… but couldn’t get by him. Tried to pump fake, but Jelavic didn’t bite. Finally he passed out of the iso and they called TO.

I guess this makes me a dummy, but I just assumed Jelavic was a typical Euro big - skilled, but soft, and useless on defense. Big Z-ish. I figured he’d struggle to get minutes on this team. Well, I think I was wrong about that. I really liked what I saw from him. Didn’t make a shot, but that’s going to come. The movement looked really good.

Really excited about this team.
 

paintrain_cat

Senior
Feb 5, 2007
381
635
93
Rewatching the game this morning. Just a few takeaways.

* Oweh is going to be Oweh, so no surprises there. It feels good to have him as the "veteran leader" of this team.

* I came away MOST impressed by Aberdeen. He may lead the team in minutes per game by the end of the year. It's going to be near impossible to keep him off the floor.

* Garrison was meh, he looks like he is getting a D+ in classes where they teach you how to run 😆 for his meh outing, he didn't get selfish, and that's an improvement.

* Moreno is better than I thought he would be, Jasper is smooth and skilled, and Noah was doing a bit of everything last night.

Kentucky teams always mean more with Kentucky kids on the roster, and these kids are really good.

* What else is there to say? It's going to take some time with foreign kid, and Kam Williams will have games where he has 2-4 points, or 12-14 points.

* I liked the sets we ran, the pick and rolls with Moreno, our zoom action, some high low action with Garrison and Noah in the first half. We have so many different looks we can put out there.

* I like my team.
 

SWFLwildcat06

All-Conference
Jul 24, 2006
16,803
3,974
113
We are going to be one of the 4-5 best teams in CBB this yr, we will belong in that group. Hell, at full strength(Lowe/JQ) we may end up being 1-2 anyway.

How refreshing and fun is it to see a KY team come out of the gates to start the season and already look like a polished, well coached team that knows what tf they’re doing.

UL got housed last night, down double digits basically the entire game. Also, Pat Kelsey is really really short.
 

Catsfan2025

Junior
Jul 8, 2025
278
284
63
Mo is going to be that dude, and prove to be THE if not one of the top 3 additions. Purdue played their 3 leaders 32,31, and 28 minutes. The other 2 starters played 24 and 22 minutes. Aberdeen lead UK with 28 minutes, then Noah with 23. Everyone else only played 20 (Jelaavic) or less minutes. SO Purdue fans can save the "we was not taking the game serious" BS.
A LITTLE concerned with Chandler's shot thus far, but he is playing hard and contributing in other areas.

Had 9 players play between 16 and 23 minutes, we deep, and loaded. When we get Lowe and JQ back, UK will be a legit 11/12 deep. There will not be enough clock to go around.

Oweh - 17 minutes
Garrison - 18 minutes
Mo - 19 minutes
Jasper - 19 minutes

MY MVP- Mo. In 19 minutes, had 8 points / 9 rebounds / 1 assist / 2 blocks / 2 steals, against 1 to. Cut down on the fouls though, had 4 in only 19 minutes.
 

Dexterdru71

Junior
Aug 11, 2010
171
382
63
I just got to watch the game from last night and I’m trying not to read too much into an exhibition game, but…………….we weren’t playing Transylvania, and preseason #1 Purdue didn’t come to Rupp Arena just to lose.

• Mark Pope, it seems went out and fixed the weaknesses from last years roster. Athleticism being number one, which in turn, helps with the other weaknesses (Defense and Rebounding).

• They share the ball and play unselfish (at least initially). They played like they had been together for a while. It’s great to see modern offense that has a point to it and seldom looks stagnant.

• Individuals- It’s going to be impossible to keep Aberdeen off of the floor. What a great pickup.
• Dioubate gives us that physicality and Dawg that we lacked last year.
• Super impressed with Moreno’s physicality, fluidity and aggression. He’s going to do the dirty work, but he’s also got some skill around the basket.
• Jelavic is going to be a good one. He’s a better athlete and much more fluid than Big Z.
• Johnson is going to make some bone headed plays no doubt, but I love guys who play with confidence and fearlessness. He’s got that Dillingham microwave mentality.
• Oweh is Oweh, but UK’s depth and likely getting production from so many different guys might actually cost him SEC player of the year. This isn’t a bad thing.
• Noah is going to play. He’s just solid in so many areas and understands the game of basketball.
• I could go on and on, but there’s plenty of time for that. It was a solid first impression and it’s time for us to get back to the Final 4 and hang banner #9. GO CATS!!!
 

Vismund

All-American
Mar 30, 2007
10,712
9,506
113
Reading through the Reddit College Basketball thread for our game last night, I garnered the following :

~ "Purdue has lost it's last two exhibition games and gone on to great seasons, this is normal." I do agree they will be good this year but you played a team missing it's starting PG/C and looked like you hadn't installed your offense yet for a senior laden team.

~ "Even Painter stated he wanted to get his butt kicked." Convenient thing to say when you do actually get your butt kicked by a group of guys still learning how to play together.

~ "The officiating was all over the place, it messed up our rhythm." Hilarious comment here. I had to double take to make sure it wasn't a UK fan claiming that. It was rugby on one end of the floor and soccer on the other. I have already renewed my hatred for Doug Shows.

Final thought, we were terrible rebounding the ball last year in key moments. If Dioubate is on the floor and gets a finger tip on it, we won't have that problem at all. 9 total rebounds and some of the most impressive "physical" rebounding I've seen in some time.