It's all good man, I was just having a little fun. Seems like a good kid either way.
The “All Things UK” Thread
- Thread starter Random UK Fan
- Start date
It's one of those situations where when I sign off, I tell myself that I'll change it next time, then forget to do it until I'm signing off again. I think I just need to do it now… .well, then again, I haven't decided what I want to use for my new avatar. Damn.I’m still impressed you’ve hung on to the one you have for so long. The challenge ended when UConn won.
Jasper Johnson commits next week. Pope will need to take Vince Marrow out to a very expensive dinner.
I did hear you have some new NIL guy that sweetened the pot for Jasper. I guess we will know soon enough ....
Big boosters. UK has one of the top 4 NIL programs in the country.
He said KY til I die a while ago in an interview. A couple different interviews he repped UK, and defended Kentucky to an interviewer and said, "I'm blue through and through you don't know me, you don't know Kentucky."
Wasn't about the money although I'm not naive enough to say it didn't play a part. This is just a guy staying home.
Smart not to take the avatar bet. I wouldn't have followed through if you did.
Read that way too fast. First read it as raped.
Funny, I read that as "ass raped".
Not that this has meant much for a while. . .
Mark Pope has the No. 1 Ranked Recruiting Class in America
Mark Pope has assembled the top-ranked recruiting class in the country at Kentucky after just a few months on the job.www.on3.com
Meh, only like 20% of the class has committed so far. I like that he's keeping the homegrown talent in state. Finish the class off with Yessoufou, potentially Mullins/Wilson, and hit the portal to fill the holes.
So far so good for Pope. But, both guys are local guys. It's very important to get in state talent to stay home, so I'm very happy about it. Still kind of in wait and see mode about the rest of the class. If Pope pulls in a few more studs from out of state, I will be very impressed and not worried about the future.
Super happy with what Pope has done so far though.
Good point. Guess we’ll just have to settle for preseason champs.
Honestly, I'm good with just a couple highly rated freshmen in each class.
I'm done with that one-and-done junk, unless we're talking AD/Wall/Zion level guys, I'd rather go with veteran teams and a couple good freshmen to mix in.
I'm so ready to wash off that NBA first filth from UK's reputation.
Solid points. I would just say, the fact that he made up years of ground in just a few months still makes it one hell of an accomplishment.
I dont mind having one and dones if they perform like a one and done. I highly doubt Pope will push people out if they aren't ready like Cal seemed to do. I will gladly take Wilson or Cenac, Brown or Lewis, Mullins, etc... I just want good players that are fun to watch and succeed on the court. Don't care if they're Freshman one and done, transfer one and done, or multi year guys. I think Pope will get players that want to play for UK and develop a winning culture as opposed to just being there as a pit stop.
The problem is, the NBA drafts on potential and there are very few transcendent players and even fewer generational talents.
The college game is so much more physical, faster and disciplined than it has ever been. 99% of freshmen just aren't polished enough and their bodies aren't developed enough to win when it counts.
Look at what happened last year against Oakland. Reed Sheppard, Dillingham, Edwards, Bradshaw, Z and DJ all pissed down their legs. The only guys that showed up, were Reeves and Mitchell. Seniors.
But, Shep and Dillingham went lottery… ..because they have FUTURE potential. That doesn't do UK any good.
I would feel differently if the NBA drafted on results.
Proof is in the results, look at the teams doing all the winning these days. Veteran teams that are.mentally tough enough and disciplined enough to overcome the presdures and physicality of the game.
I agree this was a problem... under Cal. We'll see (if Pope continues to recruit and land studs) if it continues to be an issue or not. I don't think Pope will push people out and will be better at getting guys to stick if they aren't ready.
I disagree here. Reed and Dilly (along with Antonio) played extremely well the majority of the year and were our best players. The nba does draft a lot of players based on potential but Reed and Dilly performed all year long and (especially Reed) just continued getting better. It's unfortunate how it ended, but I have a feeling both will prove in their rookie seasons that those spots were deserved. I believe Houston and Minnesota are expecting those guys to heavily contribute from day 1 and they aren't planning on them bring projects based on potential.
This is true. I just wonder how much of it is because of the Covid transfers and if it will remain the same once that's removed from CBB.
Do teams try to get unproven talent mixed with some experience or continue to just recruit experience from the transfer portal and which will be better moving forward? My head says you take as much talent as you can and mix in some older vets.
So what are your expectations for this year? Pope recruited what it sounds like you want, a team full of older vets that have been around CBB awhile. I'm hoping for a great year but most of the talking heads don't seem to expect much from UK this year.
What do you want from me, Rod? Football season was over right after it started. My Cats suck and my Panthers lost by almost 40 today. I’m basically dead inside.
There is literally no debating this. The University of Kentucky is the property of the University of South Carolina.
I'm not sure how hard Cal had to push most of the kids that left too early. The culture Cal created, did most of the pushing. Those dudes came to UK with a one-and-done mindset. But that's the mindset of most highly rated (5*) kids. They know they are NBA bound and they know they can't waste time staying in college. They can stink it up and still leave, because they have length and athletesism.
Yup, Reed and Dillingham played well all season long… .on offense. They stunk on defense and while they scored a lot of points, the team lost 11 games, some of them to really bad teams.
Then, the Oakland thing happened. A lot is on Cal here, but Reed and Dillingham pissed down their legs in that NCAAT game and that’s a problem with most freshmen.
I think it’s just the way it is now. Today's freshmen are not disciplined enough to be good at all aspects of the game and their bodies aren't developed enough. It’s too common for freshmen to have a great game, then follow it up with a string of bad to mediocre games. They just aren't polished and disciplined enough.
I think the best way to do it is bring in a couple good 4* kids, a couple good 5* kids and keep a steady stream of juniors and seniors around them that have developed within the program.
Yeah, I think the talking heads could be right, but I can see a world where this team is much better than projected. From the looks of it, there are 5 or 6 dead eye three point shooters on this team and the plan is to run a 3 point shot heavy offense with lots of cutting and inside-out options. If they can defend at a high level, they could be really good.
I find it hard to believe that a senior laden team, with two decorated defenders and 6 great shooters, will suck.
I give Pope major credit for the roster he built in such a short period of time.
I'm stoked at the fact that we now have a coach that is coaching for UK first. I'm so done with the NBA first culture that Cal created.
