Tis the Season

PoBilly

All-Conference
Mar 18, 2012
2,784
4,460
98
Oweh, Garrison, Chandler and Noah should all make big jumps. I expect Lowe to thrive in Pope's system and I expect Williams, Mo, Aberdeen all to shine. Not leaving anyone out but these are the guys I think has the best years. Jasper, Moreno and Hawthorne I will wait and see. I think all 3 are good enough to get minutes but Hawthorne's body is the least ready for college. He has all summer to work on that.
 

JPFisher

Heisman
Jul 24, 2013
6,413
11,868
113
A deeper more talented team than last years team. Barring a bunch of injuries we should have a great chance at winning number 9
I agree. We should hover around the top five this year and make anyone who draws us in the tourney s**t their britches.

There'll be some bumps, but I don't expect anything like the Ohio State and Ole Miss games. I think this team could really be the first in many years that can simply impose its will against another, and that's exciting to me.
 

BC_Wader

All-American
Aug 13, 2021
4,607
8,534
0
I am expecting to see Garrison in full Jamaal Magloire mode this season.
Every team needs an enforcer. While he had some head scratching moments last season, I saw enough to lead me to believe he can take a huge step this year. I thought BG was more than serviceable passing out of the post. Hopefully won't shoot many threes but has a nice stroke for a big man. I'd like to see his shot blocking improve some. He's very capable but often times would rotate over late or find himself out of position to do so. Excited for BG this season.
 
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JPFisher

Heisman
Jul 24, 2013
6,413
11,868
113
Sure hope you're right. But if Garrison is going to be another Jamaal Magloire he's going to have to get a lot meaner & a lot more physical.
I know Garrison is already at 250 pounds (per UK Athletics), but he doesn't play like it. He desperately needs more muscle and to burn fat. Or, maybe it's like you said and he just needs to get meaner. I dunno.
 

Panthur

Heisman
Aug 5, 2008
9,225
12,780
0
Sure hope you're right. But if Garrison is going to be another Jamaal Magloire he's going to have to get a lot meaner & a lot more physical.
Fair enough. But I do expect him to. Magloire himself had to get a lot meaner and more physical to become the monster we remember.

Garrison easily has the size and the muscle. He’s also shown he has the aggression. He’s just only let it out in little spurts so far. But this year Garrison will be practicing against Jayden Quaintance—I believe a Jayden Quaintance fully healthy from Day One, based on recent radical advances in recovery therapy rooted in our new understanding of mTOR. Garrison will be out to prove not only that he belongs on the court as much as Quaintance, but that he deserves to be seen as the elder statesman in that equation, in more ways than just because Quaintance will only be eighteen. Practicing against Enes Kanter had a phenomenal effect on Josh Harrelson in that regard. What we’ve got here is the turn of the screw since as it fell out Harrelson never actually had to compete with Kanter for floor time.

It’s not guaranteed but I’m definitely optimistic. Garrison really did come here to play behind Amari his first year, I’m pretty convinced from reading between the lines. But he certainly didn’t come here to play behind an eighteen-year-old his junior year. And if he has to, or if he doesn’t have to only because he has to fight the **** out of an NBA lottery pick every single practice, either way I expect he will take it out on the rest of the SEC. It’s also possible he will sulk. But I think he’s probably not wired that way otherwise he wouldn’t have both been okay with his role last year and come back this year despite his (NIL) stock being really pretty high.
 
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Rembrandt90

Heisman
Jun 25, 2018
6,758
13,246
0
A deeper more talented team than last years team. Barring a bunch of injuries we should have a great chance at winning number 9
I too expect a strong season. We have a deep roster with upside. I know we are good. I'm just not sure how all the dominoes will fall. So before we get out too far forward over our skis in the offseason, there are some very important unknowns to consider.

When will Quaintance be available? When will he be 100%? How good of an interior passer will he be?

Will Lowe improve as a perimeter scorer? Because, if he doesn't, SEC teams will back off him, clog the lane, and lean all over Quaintance and Garrison.

How will Jelavic's game translate to the SEC?

How much will the Cats miss the perimeter games of Brea, Robinson, Butler, Carr, and Almonor? Can Jasper, Chandler, Mountain Mamba, Williams, and Aberdeen make up for that?
 
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*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
42,879
76,238
113
I agree. We should hover around the top five this year and make anyone who draws us in the tourney s**t their britches.

There'll be some bumps, but I don't expect anything like the Ohio State and Ole Miss games. I think this team could really be the first in many years that can simply impose its will against another, and that's exciting to me.
Odds are we may have a stinker like that again this year. Hopefully not as bad as Ole Miss but Ohio State got out of control the last 3-4 minutes of that game. We just played lackadaisical all game there. Teams are way closer in talent most times now with the transfer portal so some days you may be off. We are also working in a lot of new players, even talented ones take some time every once in awhile. I trust Pope to have us ready most games. Seemed last year like we really got up for huge games, that’s not a worry. I just hope we don’t become a team who overlooks some schools although that wasn’t a problem in the tourney so maybe it was kinda in season flukiness.
 
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Son_Of_Saul

Heisman
Dec 7, 2007
44,440
94,635
113
Under Tubby, all four of those guys would probably be expected to start this season.

Under Mark Pope, only one of them will be expected to be a day one starter. We will have incredible depth this season.