Where would this team be with 3 injured starters?

[MdWIldcat55]

No, I mean would they be playing as well? Better? I think it is not that obvious. Certainly they’d have been better in November and December. But would they be better than the team we saw the last three games?

Moreno wouldn’t have gotten the same chances or be playing as much. Chandler wouldn’t be taking the clutch shots probably. Otega wouldn’t have the ball in his hands as much. Minutes would be dispersed —so would the rhythm be as good?

Common sense would say this team would be better with Lowe, Williams and Quaintance. But would they have played with as much energy, poise and cohesion as the team did against Arkansas, and Tennessee? Would the defense be as good as it was in the second half?

Maybe they’d have won those games in blowouts. But I’m not sure the team is better trying to play at Lowe’s pace, or with Moreno playing less, Oweh less the focus or Williams taking the shots Chandler is taking. .

 

[Wunky]

We will never know. But it sure seems like roles are more clearly defined now.

 

[K_TIME]

I still think Lowe is a net negative player. Bad shooter that teams lay off,
Volume shooter and he’s poor defensively …and more minutes to Aberdeen who is shooting 38% from deep is nice

Kam…he is the bigger loss of them all. Shooter and good defender….his loss allows Jelly to play…whch Jelly ain’t terrible…but he’s not as effective as Kam

Quantenance….i don’t know. It’s crystal clear Moreno is far and awwy the better center. Quantenance not playing is why we see so much Garrison ….which I argue is not a good thing

All in all….tightening the rotation improved the team but I think our ceiling is capped w/ o Kam as we are playing Noah and Jelly too much

 

[carolinacat]

I still think Lowe is a net negative player. Bad shooter that teams lay off,
Volume shooter and he’s poor defensively …and more minutes to Aberdeen who is shooting 38% from deep is nice

Kam…he is the bigger loss of them all. Shooter and good defender….his loss allows Jelly to play…whch Jelly ain’t terrible…but he’s not as effective as Kam

Quantenance….i don’t know. It’s crystal clear Moreno is far and awwy the better center. Quantenance not playing is why we see so much Garrison ….which I argue is not a good thing

All in all….tightening the rotation improved the team but I think our ceiling is capped w/ o Kam as we are playing Noah and Jelly too much

Started to write a longer comment but yours nailed it. Never a big fan of Lowe, but I hate the loss of Kam. A healthy JQ could have been a difference maker but alas that wasn't to be.

 

[KyWideWes]

I still think Lowe is a net negative player. Bad shooter that teams lay off,
Volume shooter and he’s poor defensively …and more minutes to Aberdeen who is shooting 38% from deep is nice

Kam…he is the bigger loss of them all. Shooter and good defender….his loss allows Jelly to play…whch Jelly ain’t terrible…but he’s not as effective as Kam

Quantenance….i don’t know. It’s crystal clear Moreno is far and awwy the better center. Quantenance not playing is why we see so much Garrison ….which I argue is not a good thing

All in all….tightening the rotation improved the team but I think our ceiling is capped w/ o Kam as we are playing Noah and Jelly too much

All this. Not a coincidence that Oweh took off when Lowe went out. The ball is getting reversed more, the bigs are more involved, and both allow OO to get downhill.

 

[CUJO_1970]

I don’t mean this the way it may sound - but we are better off without them.

Only Williams would give us value, and at that off the bench only. As for JL and JQ - I’m completely indifferent to them playing one more minute for Kentucky.

 

[Aike]

The teams that win championships have a lot of good players, and they get them playing on the same page.

It wasn’t clear that Pope was ever going to get all of these guys playing together. We’ll never know. But it’s something he’ll need to improve on if he ever expects to be more than a Sweet 16 level coach.

 

[KyKevin]

Williams was just starting to show why the NBA had been high on him. But Pope has done an awesome job with the cards that were dealt.

I'm Kentucky Kevin, Pope pumper of the year and damn proud of our coach, and this team

Go cats, keep up the great work

 

[Coach777]

You can have too many players and UK did at the beginning of the season.

 

[BlueWorldOrder74]

Kam is the biggest loss for what this team can do ultimately.

 

[CAWOOD FAN]

Where would this team be with no starters?

 

[megablue]

No, I mean would they be playing as well? Better? I think it is not that obvious. Certainly they’d have been better in November and December. But would they be better than the team we saw the last three games?

Moreno wouldn’t have gotten the same chances or be playing as much. Chandler wouldn’t be taking the clutch shots probably. Otega wouldn’t have the ball in his hands as much. Minutes would be dispersed —so would the rhythm be as good?

Common sense would say this team would be better with Lowe, Williams and Quaintance. But would they have played with as much energy, poise and cohesion as the team did against Arkansas, and Tennessee? Would the defense be as good as it was in the second half?

Maybe they’d have won those games in blowouts. But I’m not sure the team is better trying to play at Lowe’s pace, or with Moreno playing less, Oweh less the focus or Williams taking the shots Chandler is taking. .

I guess it depends on quantifying the NET productivity from having all three healthy, because their minutes would take from those contributing now.

 

[megablue]

I still think Lowe is a net negative player. Bad shooter that teams lay off,
Volume shooter and he’s poor defensively …and more minutes to Aberdeen who is shooting 38% from deep is nice

Kam…he is the bigger loss of them all. Shooter and good defender….his loss allows Jelly to play…whch Jelly ain’t terrible…but he’s not as effective as Kam

Quantenance….i don’t know. It’s crystal clear Moreno is far and awwy the better center. Quantenance not playing is why we see so much Garrison ….which I argue is not a good thing

All in all….tightening the rotation improved the team but I think our ceiling is capped w/ o Kam as we are playing Noah and Jelly too much

Although he's not played a lot of minutes, I can agree with you on Lowe's defensive ability. I wanted to be impressed by it, but clearly wasn't, honestly.

 

[wkycatfan7]

Lowe is fine as a backup PG, but at the moment we are 6'5" with our backcourt players and I like it.

 

[DelkBowl]

We'd be right where we are since we have 3 injured starters.....

 

[Mike-D]

Kam Williams is the biggest loss in my eyes.

 

[HalHR2500]

Lowe was very over-rated, weak and poor defender, and not a top-notch distributor or shooter. Wasted NIL Portal money.

Kam Williams is the most missed of all, could have been a key piece moving forward. Good NIL portal investment

JQ could have helped defensively, but offensively he doesn't fit Pope's system in any way, he doesn't have the high post passing skill set. Wasted NIL portal money, supposedly $3million

 

[KapitalCat]

I never counted on JQ as a starter, When I read he also broke his kneecap when he blew out his ACL everything said to me 12-18 months. No one should have counted on him as a starter. Kam was always meant to be Koby Brea type off the bench. Next year if he returns he should start. Lowe with all of his liabilities was at first the biggest impact because Aberdeen isn't a PG, we now seem to be adapting pretty well winning 8/9. We have also played well without Kam although at some point it will cost us. His loss at this point was huge. I think instead of 17-7 we would be 18-6 or 19-5 with a healthy roster. JMO

And before anyone questions the JQ injury, here is his quote:

“Coming back from a major injury like this, it takes a lot of people. It takes a lot of pieces,” Quaintance said Monday, just 48 hours after his first game as a Wildcat. “I tore my ACL and meniscus. I had a fracture in my knee. It was a lot of things to come back from.”

 

[Eagles_Ball_69]

Where would this team be with no starters?

Now that requires some deep thinking.

 

[Anony Moose]

We would still suck with or without. We are just a poorly constructed team that will always struggle against the top teams.

I know, "bUt wE BeAt uT tWiCeD and aRkY"

Problem is those aren't exactly good teams. We've pretty much been ran off the court against the legit teams we have played. Even when those guys were still playing.

 

[megablue]

Where would this team be with no starters?

Jasper Johnson
Trent Noah
Mo Dioubate
Brandon Garrison
Walker Horn or Zach Tow

 

[ukcats012]

Not a coincidence that Oweh took off when Lowe went out.

I honestly think part of this is Oweh's turf toe finally healing. It hampered him more in the beginning of the year than I think people are realizing. His effort was criticized a lot, but it's hard to run and sprint with force if it's incredibly painful to do so.

 

[mdluk1]

JQ in his limited time did not show much. Maybe it was due to rust and still not completely healed. That said, unless he greatly increases his FT %, you can’t play him in a close game.

 

[PastorofMuppets82]

I honestly think part of this is Oweh's turf toe finally healing. It hampered him more in the beginning of the year than I think people are realizing. His effort was criticized a lot, but it's hard to run and sprint with force if it's incredibly painful to do so.

Couple that with "want". I don't know how many people on here have had the displeasure of playing on sports team that was disjointed and lacked effort while coming back from an injury and not being 100% healthy yourself. It becomes very daunting and difficult to MAKE yourself give 100% effort while at 60-70% healthy yourself when no one else around you is giving max effort. It is way easier to just coast, protect yourself from further injury, and play at half or three quarter speed. Add paychecks to the mix and it's a whole other list of reasons to not give max effort. All things considered, at the time, JQ was cashing his NIL checks not seeing the floor same as Oweh who was expected to be a 38 minute a night alpha dog (for instance). I think early season, especially after the blue white game when Lowe first hurt his shoulder, some of the guys quit on the entire season right then. And Pope struggled to find a lineup of 5 guys who wanted to play. Now, they seem to be giving way more effort on a shorter rotation.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I'd like to think a healthy JQ is an absolute monster like he was for Arizona. Not wild to think he's a game-changing, top10 draft pick type.. and that helps any team.

Losing Lowe though.. might not have been the worst thing. Although still, when healthy, he did show some great signs of being a true PG. But the shooting may have been a problem.

The other issue here is depth. Is Aberdeen better than Lowe? Maybe. But we now can not afford another injury. Don't count out the very real possibility we lose a 4th or 5th guy.. and if that happens the season is over. So I don't like living on the edge with injuries and would rather have bodies. Even if that means we don't unlock the full potential of Moreno.

 

[MaysviileKY]

I think JQ doesn’t play for UK any more. But I think if healthy he would have a been a beast down low.

Also I think I just heard JL is planning on returning to UK next year. My guess is that Pope hands him the keys again. To me that would be a repeat of this year.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

We would still suck with or without. We are just a poorly constructed team that will always struggle against the top teams.

I know, "bUt wE BeAt uT tWiCeD and aRkY"

Problem is those aren't exactly good teams. We've pretty much been ran off the court against the legit teams we have played. Even when those guys were still playing.

Lmao so Arkansas and Tennessee aren’t good teams?! That’s quite the statement. Incorrect statement, but a statement I reckon.

 

[ukcats012]

And Pope struggled to find a lineup of 5 guys who wanted to play. Now, they seem to be giving way more effort on a shorter rotation.

I think to Pope's credit he's been much more willing or able to take a hard line stance with the guys not giving effort, too. He basically took all Garrison's minutes until he shaped up a bit.

 

[ukcats012]

Jasper Johnson
Trent Noah
Mo Dioubate
Brandon Garrison
Walker Horn or Zach Tow

40-0

 

[Catapult44]

Where we woud be is unknowable, but I think the ceiling was higher for the team we saw the 2nd have vs St Johns

 

[PastorofMuppets82]

I think to Pope's credit he's been much more willing or able to take a hard line stance with the guys not giving effort, too. He basically took all Garrison's minutes until he shaped up a bit.

I agree. You can see the short leash he has on Jasper too at times. Like when he takes an early shot clock contested 3 and holds his pose instead of sprinting back on defense and it leads to break away points on the other end. Pope immediately subs him out and rides the pine for the better part of the game. When Jasper doesn't do that and shows effort, he gets more run time. I think Pope figured out he couldn't coach this team of younger, more entitled players (not meaning that derogatory, but it's true) the same way he did last year's very veteran, just happy to be here and have the opportunity to play at UK type team. We traded heart and determination for athleticism and entitlement in a way. Pope had to adapt his coaching style in a lot more than just X's and O's this year. I still think he's behind the 8-ball with recruiting, but he's growing as a Coach in other areas. He either has to fully commit to recruiting his type of guys to run his type of offense and defense (and take shots a 1-2 top HS recruits and 1-2 top portal guys) every year or go back to trying to be one and done U with pieces that rarely fit together and personalities that clash. I know which one I'd pick.

 

[Anony Moose]

Lmao so Arkansas and Tennessee aren’t good teams?! That’s quite the statement. Incorrect statement, but a statement I reckon.

Not really. Where are they currently ranked?

 

[TFCat11]

I still think Lowe is a net negative player. Bad shooter that teams lay off,
Volume shooter and he’s poor defensively …and more minutes to Aberdeen who is shooting 38% from deep is nice

Kam…he is the bigger loss of them all. Shooter and good defender….his loss allows Jelly to play…whch Jelly ain’t terrible…but he’s not as effective as Kam

Quantenance….i don’t know. It’s crystal clear Moreno is far and awwy the better center. Quantenance not playing is why we see so much Garrison ….which I argue is not a good thing

All in all….tightening the rotation improved the team but I think our ceiling is capped w/ o Kam as we are playing Noah and Jelly too much

Perfect analysis

 

[HipTer]

I think JQ doesn’t play for UK any more. But I think if healthy he would have a been a beast down low.

Also I think I just heard JL is planning on returning to UK next year. My guess is that Pope hands him the keys again. To me that would be a repeat of this year.

Maybe Quaintance could've been a poor man’s Rueben Chinyelu, but his value is further limited by his horrendous FT shooting (if he couldn't significantly improve that with all the time he had to work on it after his injury situation then I'm not sure it's fixable).

And I don't know about you, but I'm fine with Lowe coming back. In fact, I want Pope to bring Lowe back. But at the same time I want UK to land another PG capable of earning the starting spot from Lowe - preferable a bigger/stronger PG. I think Lowe's injury situation makes it easier to bring in another good PG option and also have Lowe come back.

 

[TFCat11]

I think JQ doesn’t play for UK any more. But I think if healthy he would have a been a beast down low.

Also I think I just heard JL is planning on returning to UK next year. My guess is that Pope hands him the keys again. To me that would be a repeat of this year.

To each their own, but my own personal opinion is, JQ is extremely overrated, and Lowe might be the worst type of PG to excel in Pope’s offense! I think Pope took Lowe because he panicked after missing out on the you know who’s!

Hindsight is what it is… and he should have prioritized Lewis over Lowe, because UK might’ve had Lewis an additional 2 seasons, plus he fits what UK does night and day better than Lowe.

If Pope brings Lowe back, he needs to be tarred and feathered!

 

[SenseMaker_Cats]

Not really. Where are they currently ranked?

21 & 29 respectively. Not great but good teams.

 

[Anony Moose]

21 & 29 respectively. Not great but good teams.

So unranked and 21st? Wow!

UT currently in 6th place in the SEC.

Yea, they aren't very good teams. They have a combined 13 losses so far.

 

[UKGrad24]

We will never know. But it sure seems like roles are more clearly defined now.

I think they’d be worse. We’d be adding a shoot heavy PG and the lineups wouldn’t have been short enough. Pope only changed when the roster was forced to be shorter. I just don’t see where we’d be better.

Maybe with Kam, he was really turning on. Now if JQ would have accepted a small role behind MM and came in during certain moments, and Lowe would have been willing to accept a small role, we’d be better with them. But letting Lowe lead the team and having JQ 25 minutes per game? I see no way we’re better with the chaotic roster.

 

[Catman100]

In the same exact place because we truly are not sure if all 3 are actually good enough to be starters.
Are we sure Lowe is better than Aberdeen?
Are we sure JQ is better than Moreno?
And I don't know what team you guys have been watching, but with the exception of one game, I saw Williams shoot more airballs than made 3's.

Not sure it can be said we would be absolutely better with those 3.

 

[UKGrad24]

I still think Lowe is a net negative player. Bad shooter that teams lay off,
Volume shooter and he’s poor defensively …and more minutes to Aberdeen who is shooting 38% from deep is nice

Kam…he is the bigger loss of them all. Shooter and good defender….his loss allows Jelly to play…whch Jelly ain’t terrible…but he’s not as effective as Kam

Quantenance….i don’t know. It’s crystal clear Moreno is far and awwy the better center. Quantenance not playing is why we see so much Garrison ….which I argue is not a good thing

All in all….tightening the rotation improved the team but I think our ceiling is capped w/ o Kam as we are playing Noah and Jelly too much

100% on Lowe. I Want him to either accept a small role next season or go ahead and transfer. He’s a shot clanger shoot heavy guard wouldn’t work well with Oweh and Aberdeen and isn’t a good defender. Have no idea why anyone wants him back to lead the team. Have no idea why Mark ran off Acaden for him. Biggest mistake he’s made at UK to date. I see no way we’re better with Lowe controlling this team. Kam for sure is a blow, we’d be even better he was really turning up. But pope being forced to shorten the rotation has been a blessing. I’ll just leave things as they are and hope he’s learned from some of these mistakes.