Kentucky Basketball since 2020

[ComebackCats98]

This isn’t a blame game thread. I’m genuinely curious what Kentucky needs to do take back our place atop the SEC. We all want to go to the final four, but a harsh reality has Kentucky even been a top 5 team in the SEC? This isn’t blaming any coach. Kentucky, Arkansas and Florida had 2 coaches during this stretch.

Kentucky: 126-72
1 sweet 16
2 round of 32 appearances
2 round of 64 appearances
1 missed tournament

Alabama: 154 - 58
1 Final Four
1 Elite 8
3 Sweet appearances
1 round of 64 appearance

Tennessee: 152 - 56
3 Elite 8 appearances
1 sweet 16 appearance
1 round of 32 appearance
1 round of 64 appearance

Florida: 138 - 65
1 National Title
2 round of 32 appearances
1 round of 64 appearance
2 missed tournaments

Auburn: 141 - 63
1 Final Four
2 round of 32 appearances
1 round of 64 appearances
2 missed tournaments

Arkansas: 141 - 70
2 Elite 8 appearances
3 Sweet 16 appearances
1 Missed tournament

Takeaway Covid (before I’m accused of being a troll cherry picking the Covid year) and since 2021

Tennessee 134-47
Auburn 128-49
Alabama 128-49
Florida 123-55
Kentucky 117-56
Arkansas 116-63

What is the program missing?

 

[BBNUK4Life]

An administration who cares, a coach worth a crap and better players. Pretty simple.

 

[ComebackCats98]

An administration who cares, a coach worth a crap and better players. Pretty simple.

Let me rephrase. Cal had top 5 recruiting classes. Pope has had top portal classes and Moreno + Jasper who were rated pretty high out of high school. On paper it looks like we’re getting equal if not somewhat better talent than some of these schools. Why is it not translating to the success we want? Is it just coaching and Barnhart you think? And I’m not saying you’re wrong or trying to be a jerk. I’m genuinely curious what everybody thinks

 

[BBNUK4Life]

Let me rephrase. Cal had top 5 recruiting classes. Pope has had top portal classes and Moreno + Jasper who were rated pretty high out of high school. On paper it looks like we’re getting equal if not somewhat better talent than some of these schools. Why is it not translating to the success we want? Is it just coaching and Barnhart you think? And I’m not saying you’re wrong or trying to be a jerk. I’m genuinely curious what everybody thinks

Cal stopped recruiting at an elite level. Moreno and Johnson are not elite. We had top portal classes do to high number transfers. None were elite. Cal stopped giving to $h!t$ and never was a good coach. Ever. He has always had to have elite nba guys to even sniff success. Pope is not qualified and his whole career has proved that. He has never recruited at the level that UK needs and isn't that good of a coach. Barnhart is the problem and has always been. Hopefully we get an AD from out of house or it will only get worse.

 

[jedwar]

Thus far this is our worst decade going back to the 40s. Even the "bad" decades had really good teams and some FFs except for the 2000s. But we had good teams from 2003-2005 then.

 

[Zuma75]

This isn’t a blame game thread. I’m genuinely curious what Kentucky needs to do take back our place atop the SEC. We all want to go to the final four, but a harsh reality has Kentucky even been a top 5 team in the SEC? This isn’t blaming any coach. Kentucky, Arkansas and Florida had 2 coaches during this stretch.

Kentucky: 126-72
1 sweet 16
2 round of 32 appearances
2 round of 64 appearances
1 missed tournament

Alabama: 154 - 58
1 Final Four
1 Elite 8
3 Sweet appearances
1 round of 64 appearance

Tennessee: 152 - 56
3 Elite 8 appearances
1 sweet 16 appearance
1 round of 32 appearance
1 round of 64 appearance

Florida: 138 - 65
1 National Title
2 round of 32 appearances
1 round of 64 appearance
2 missed tournaments

Auburn: 141 - 63
1 Final Four
2 round of 32 appearances
1 round of 64 appearances
2 missed tournaments

Arkansas: 141 - 70
2 Elite 8 appearances
3 Sweet 16 appearances
1 Missed tournament

Takeaway Covid (before I’m accused of being a troll cherry picking the Covid year) and since 2021

Tennessee 134-47
Auburn 128-49
Alabama 128-49
Florida 123-55
Kentucky 117-56
Arkansas 116-63

What is the program missing?

I think Cal overstayed - he said himself, early on, it’s a 10- year job. And then he stayed 15. He ran out of gas. Also, K saw what Cal was doing and said, “I’ll take that … thanks for keeping it warm for me.” Once K decided to take over being the king of one-and-done, Cal couldn’t get the kind of talent he needed.

And Pope - I mean there was no reason to think he was the answer when MB hired him, and so far that hasn’t changed. There was a glimmer of hope in his Year 1, and then he imploded in Year 2.

 

[della]

First, you have to know what you have:

1 Totally committed fan base
2 Financial resources program is committed commit.
3 Top notch Facilities

What you need:

Coach that can evaluate, land and motivate players to perform at a high level in a selfless and seamless way with a team first mentality. This is the only thing you're falling short on, Imo.

 

[Reggie Noble]

Cal stopped recruiting at an elite level. Moreno and Johnson are not elite. We had top portal classes do to high number transfers. None were elite. Cal stopped giving to $h!t$ and never was a good coach. Ever. He has always had to have elite nba guys to even sniff success. Pope is not qualified and his whole career has proved that. He has never recruited at the level that UK needs and isn't that good of a coach. Barnhart is the problem and has always been. Hopefully we get an AD from out of house or it will only get worse.

Cal recruited on an elite level on paper his final year here. The problem was that the Three highest rated players were (DJ, Edwards and Bradshaw, national 2,4 and 7) vastly overrated. Reed and Rob were elite but Cal had his favorites. In the three years before that he did try to mix in portal veterans ( Oscar, Reeves, Toppin,Wheeler, Mintz etc), didn’t work out.

 

[ArcticChar]

Sucks

 

[Kantucke_rivals]

I will not be negative.
I will not be negative.
I will not be negative.
I will not be negative.
I will not be negative.

 

[moses1uk]

Calipari did enormous damage that is still hurting the program today . Popes washed the poop off now he better win big next year or he’s gone

 

[rick64]

Something else happened too CCC lost John Robic. Not really sure what happened but Robic was CCCs right hand guy. He was the game planner and film study expert. Things never seemed the same when he left.

 

[RunninRichie]

First, you have to know what you have:

1 Totally committed fan base
2 Financial resources program is committed commit.
3 Top notch Facilities

What you need:

Coach that can evaluate, land and motivate players to perform at a high level in a selfless and seamless way with a team first mentality. This is the only thing you're falling short on, Imo.

#3 isn't accurate. The Craft center is almost 20 years old.

 

[Bleedin Blue in Ohio]

As much as the game changes it still fundamentally stays the same. Control tempo and win the rebounding battle. Guard play controls the tempo of the game and winning the rebound war limits your opponent's opportunities and gives your team more chance to score. As great as John Wall was in the 2010 game vs West Virginia the Neers controlled the tempo and won the game. That has been a problem for Cal teams over the years. Both loses vs UConn the Cats lost the tempo battle. Same with the 38-0 game vs Wisconsin. Should have ran the Badgers into the ground instead of them making the game a rock fight. Cal rarely takes the court with the least talented team. He loses more than he should because he does not force his talents will on his opponent. Mark Pope's teams need to recruit the point guard position better and use that player as his general on the court. When Butler was healthy, he was close. After that Coach Pope's teams need to rebound better. It completes the defense. Grab the rebound and end your opponent's position. That will improve his overall team's defense. I want to see Pope recruit a new starting point guard, and a quality backup point guard with Williams as a developmental point guard. Then bring Moreno back and put 20 pounds of muscle on this offseason but also grab 2 more physical presences post players 6'9 or better that can post up some but more importantly rebound the basketball. If the Cats can bring in an elite rebounder and have another big quality body in the post. They have the wings needed in Chanler, Johnson, Williams if they come back.

C -Moreno / Potter
PF - Transfer / Transfer
SF - Williams / Hawthorne / Noah
SG - Chandler / Johnson
PG - Transfer / Transfer / Williams

 

[RedwoodHigh]

This isn’t a blame game thread. I’m genuinely curious what Kentucky needs to do take back our place atop the SEC. We all want to go to the final four, but a harsh reality has Kentucky even been a top 5 team in the SEC? This isn’t blaming any coach. Kentucky, Arkansas and Florida had 2 coaches during this stretch.

Kentucky: 126-72
1 sweet 16
2 round of 32 appearances
2 round of 64 appearances
1 missed tournament

Alabama: 154 - 58
1 Final Four
1 Elite 8
3 Sweet appearances
1 round of 64 appearance

Tennessee: 152 - 56
3 Elite 8 appearances
1 sweet 16 appearance
1 round of 32 appearance
1 round of 64 appearance

Florida: 138 - 65
1 National Title
2 round of 32 appearances
1 round of 64 appearance
2 missed tournaments

Auburn: 141 - 63
1 Final Four
2 round of 32 appearances
1 round of 64 appearances
2 missed tournaments

Arkansas: 141 - 70
2 Elite 8 appearances
3 Sweet 16 appearances
1 Missed tournament

Takeaway Covid (before I’m accused of being a troll cherry picking the Covid year) and since 2021

Tennessee 134-47
Auburn 128-49
Alabama 128-49
Florida 123-55
Kentucky 117-56
Arkansas 116-63

What is the program missing?

Ky is only team of this group that doesn’t play on Campus.

 

[della]

#3 isn't accurate. The Craft center is almost 20 years old.

You'd know better than I.

 

[CRZ4UK]

Let me rephrase. Cal had top 5 recruiting classes. Pope has had top portal classes and Moreno + Jasper who were rated pretty high out of high school. On paper it looks like we’re getting equal if not somewhat better talent than some of these schools. Why is it not translating to the success we want? Is it just coaching and Barnhart you think? And I’m not saying you’re wrong or trying to be a jerk. I’m genuinely curious what everybody thinks

Just my opinion. High school ball and AAU were killing HS kids talent. Freshmen were small, fragile and had no skills. Caliparis model quit working. Then came NIL. The last 2 years freshmen are making an impact again. Good talent now hire trainers, are lifting again and such because the payday now comes in college. TyTy , Boston, Askew, Collin’s that’s what was coming out of HS in 2020-2021. NIL has changed that. Kids at the HS level are preparing to get paid now.

 

[HeismanWinner]

I don’t think the good ole days are coming back any time soon. Basically had a great run in the 90s and a great run for several years with Cal before it went to crap after 2019.

In my lifetime, I have seen UConn win all six of their titles, Duke win five, UNC win four, Florida win three, Kansas win three, and Villanova win three.

That’s all more than I’ve seen Kentucky win. The Florida one is the craziest to me. They have the same amount of titles as we have since 1979.

Mitch made a horrendous hire that has taken this job even further into the dumps after Cal’s drop off at the end.

Money and a coach that would make Kentucky cool again and recruit. That’s pretty much what it will take to be at this stage of the tournament again.

 

[yoshukai]

Cal stopped recruiting at an elite level. Moreno and Johnson are not elite. We had top portal classes do to high number transfers. None were elite. Cal stopped giving to $h!t$ and never was a good coach. Ever. He has always had to have elite nba guys to even sniff success. Pope is not qualified and his whole career has proved that. He has never recruited at the level that UK needs and isn't that good of a coach. Barnhart is the problem and has always been. Hopefully we get an AD from out of house or it will only get worse.

I mean…..this ^ pretty much explains it .

 

[yoshukai]

Cal recruited on an elite level on paper his final year here. The problem was that the Three highest rated players were (DJ, Edwards and Bradshaw, national 2,4 and 7) vastly overrated. Reed and Rob were elite but Cal had his favorites. In the three years before that he did try to mix in portal veterans ( Oscar, Reeves, Toppin,Wheeler, Mintz etc), didn’t work out.

It’s been several years since Cal has put a defense on the floor that can compete at a championship level. Either he hasn’t adapted to how the game is played now or he’s lazy and just doesn’t want to put the effort into it .

You can recruit offense but you can’t recruit defense. That takes a team effort and cohesiveness.

 

[Dward13]

It’s been several years since Cal has put a defense on the floor that can compete at a championship level. Either he hasn’t adapted to how the game is played now or he’s lazy and just doesn’t want to put the effort into it .

You can recruit offense but you can’t recruit defense. That takes a team effort and cohesiveness.

Cal needs a center that’s both an elite rim protector and not a liability on offense. He hasn’t had that since…Skal? And he misused Skal anyways. Tried to force him into a traditional back to the basket role and he should have been facing guys up all season.