Why Do You Wants Stokes?

[MegaBlue05]

I want the best players we can get to create the best team we can to win as many games as possible.

I will never hope my team has a bad season to spur a coaching change.

So, yes, I would like to add Stokes, a solid 4 and a couple shooters.

 

[GoneFishin916]

Ehh, I don't see it as "The Kentucky fan is cheering for Louisville". I more see it as not caring about the outcome, and also seeing it as win/win where Kentucky losing just forces the change, opponent being indifferent. Ideally, we beat all of our rivals, sure.

Now, if you could *promise* me that anything less than a Final4 means Pope/Mitch/Eli being gone and drastic changes being implemented to fix our broke basketball program? I'll take that. But you can't really promise that.. and we don't know if a S16 and 12-loss season wouldn;t be enough to save Pope and save these big changes from happening. So for that reason, the bandaid needs to be ripped off. Let's get out on the coaching front sooner than later.

I want Kentucky to win, but if we're gonna lose, let's lose big so it would hopefully force changes. I would love for Pope to shock the world and contend for a Natty next year. But if we're going to be stuck in mediocrity and lose games, we might as well lose big. I got banned because I said that I wanted Kentucky to lose 84-21 against Tennessee in football (we were down 49-21 at the time); we were not going to win, so maybe losing big would force change (41-0 against Louisville did) - Stoops was good, but it was time for both parties to move on). I know people cannot wrap their heads around this concept, as critical thinking isn't exactly a strong suit for UK fans.

 

[kfwa]

player that chooses a school early and its clear your school is his favorite - fan favorite, less pressure to perform, better connection

player that drags it out, ostensibly for best fit disguised as a money grab - fans now have expectations, demand performance, don't care about connection to player, might as well have a $ on front of his jersey as the word Kentucky

 

[JonathanW2]

It's a casual fan take, one that cant see the forest through the trees. Keeping the same coaching/management staff is going to do nothing but keep Kentucky wallowing in mediocrity. I'd rather take just one year to really suck, so it will force change. Because if done right, it could mean Kentucky has more wins over the next 5 years with a new regime, than if we just stick with what we are doing.

A good example was when the Jets won a meaningless game back in 2021. Some Jets fans were SO happy, simply because on that day, they got to see a win, and it also meant that the Jets weren't in last place in the NFL, just 2nd to last place. What did it cost them? Well, the Jags got Trevor Lawrence and the Jets got Zach White. I don't think it's out of left field to say that this single draft outcome was probably worth about 30 wins over the next 5 years. But hey, The Jets won that 4th game of the season back in December of 2021! We got that going for us.

Is it "wallowing in mediocrity" to go to an E8, a F4 or even more? No. But many are saying they would be happy to see us NOT go to a F4. That is insane!
It's a casual fan's take, one that can't see the forest through the trees, to not consider a significant amount of injuries. Although I will agree the recruiting is a big concern.

As for your Jets analogy, the problem with the Jets is their consistently bad choices (including drafting Zach White). They didn't have to take White, they could have taken Micah Parsons, Mac Jones, Ja'Mar Chase, Penei Sewell, Jaylen Waddle, Patrick Surtain.

 

[Hitman206]

I am hearing he is going to Oregon so this is mucha do about nothing.

 

[JwUKFan11]

Stokes is preparing to pick Kansas. Go ahead and mentally prepare because it’s coming soon.

 

[BleedBlue747]

If you read up about him, he is great on the court, a train wreck off the court... Not sure if I'm all in...

 

[UKCowboys]

It would be one or the other, not both just like Freeman or Rancik. UK fans love to stack players when projecting lineups. In addition to money, players want guarantees of starting and miniutes.

Nah, you dont know that at all. Its more like UK fans like to spew like know it all's.
Do the math my man...UK had several million set aside for Freeman. That could be allocated to Momcilovic, along with any extra we have.
The Stokes money was always being supplemented by Nike. It had nothing to do with Stokes money. Do you think we would pull Stokes offer because we signed Freeman? Of course not. So don't tell me we can't make a competitive bid on Momcilovic. Youre talking out your rump

 

[Bugs092056]

I'd want Momciliovic because he'd probably set three point records here. But that doesnt mean we'd will be better next year. Stokes seems like such a basket case but if he came here as well we'd probably be pretty decent. Just not optimistic about those hypotheticals

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Is it "wallowing in mediocrity" to go to an E8, a F4 or even more? No. But many are saying they would be happy to see us NOT go to a F4. That is insane!
It's a casual fan's take, one that can't see the forest through the trees, to not consider a significant amount of injuries. Although I will agree the recruiting is a big concern.

As for your Jets analogy, the problem with the Jets is their consistently bad choices (including drafting Zach White). They didn't have to take White, they could have taken Micah Parsons, Mac Jones, Ja'Mar Chase, Penei Sewell, Jaylen Waddle, Patrick Surtain.

It really depends.. an E8 when we are a 4-seed? Ok that's decent. But stumbling into an E8 as a 7-seed or 8-seed sort of tells me the team still wasn't great, we just won an extra game or two in the end. That doesn't cut it for me. Anything under being a top15 team is a failure. You can have a few of those years, it happens, but you can't have them every year. Not at UK.

A final4 would certainly help.. but here's the thing.. we're not going to a fianl4 anytime soon with Pope and this mess. We will honest to god be lucky to make the tournament next year. What i want, is to add enough talent to truly be a top15 team.. what I DON'T want, is to add one player that puts us in the 30-50 range where we win one game in the tournament, which is good enough to maybe not make the wide-sweeping changes we need.

As for the Jets, Zach White was going #2 regardless of who took him. He was #2 on the draft board according to almost all the experts. The better point to make here is that college basketball doesn;t reward bad teams with a draft the same way the NFL does, and I do fully understand that. However, There is still no point in being a .500 team.. you're just treading water. You're better off losing out to make drastic organization wide changes, such as firing a bad coach (Pope) or an evern worse AD (Mitch). Raiders, Giants and Bears are all great examples where it was better for them to win 2-3 games than it was to win 7 or 8. In the end, neither of those scenarios gets you a title.. so if things really aren't working, might as well bottom out.

Here's a question to ponder? If Kentucky was doing a little better under Pope, would Mitch be stepping down?

 

[DelkBowl]

it would give me a reason to watch a whole game again.

 

[PastorofMuppets82]

Because Kentucky (not just Mark Pope) has to prove they are THE destination for NBA level talent. This generation needs to see it, regardless of who our coach is. Right now it's Duke and it's not even close. Other programs get lottery picks sure, but Duke has their pick and is so well regarded 5 star studs will sit 2-3 deep on the bench at a position to be there in that program. Even in an era where you can pay players, they'll take backup money to be at Duke. Meanwhile UK can't buy a player from the Horizon league with stacks of gold bricks.

 

[JAC71]

The man is so competitive that even Pope couldn’t lull him to sleep with his pregame speeches. We haven’t had a player like Stokes in a long time

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Do you believe getting Stokes at this point will cause UK to win #9 next year? If Pope makes it to the Sweet 16 I doubt he would be fired. Many people on here, including myself, would like to see a different coach. We don't know what next years final roster will be. So I'm asking if you get Stokes what would be considered a good season? Also would that want you to continue to have Pope as the coach?

We need talent. Bottom line.

 

[Major_Tom]

 

[BlueSince92]

Because I want my coach and my school to win, duh. If he doesn’t get Stokes and doesn’t even get any more players but manages to win a title of course I would want to keep him. Would be surprised af but would want to keep him.

 

[rivercatinfl]

player that chooses a school early and its clear your school is his favorite - fan favorite, less pressure to perform, better connection

player that drags it out, ostensibly for best fit disguised as a money grab - fans now have expectations, demand performance, don't care about connection to player, might as well have a $ on front of his jersey as the word Kentucky

This! 100%.

 

[notFromhere]

The man is so competitive that even Pope couldn’t lull him to sleep with his pregame speeches. We haven’t had a player like Stokes in a long time

Maybe Pope could learn from having Stokes on the team.

We need an elite player, an elite scorer, to make all of the other players better, but also to feature. We need a Carmello Anthony to lead this team. Them the rest of the players just need to do their jobs and take what comes to them in the flow of the game.

 

[notFromhere]

it would give me a reason to watch a whole game again.

It might do that for me as well. Maybe even a whole season

 

[loublue22_rivals308424]

We should use his money to get a couple guys like Yessoufu and Momcilovic, but only big time programs can do that.

 

[notFromhere]

I'd want Momciliovic because he'd probably set three point records here. But that doesnt mean we'd will be better next year. Stokes seems like such a basket case but if he came here as well we'd probably be pretty decent. Just not optimistic about those hypotheticals

I don't see how anyone can see or say he even SEEMS that way. Wtf

Have you spent time with the kid? Did he get a DWI or abuse a GF? Seriously, random fans on message boards should NOT be taking things to such extreme from such distance. I'd say many of the posters here and saying things like that are way closer to "basket case" territory than any recruits we've considered the last 30 yrs.

 

[Bugs092056]

I don't see how anyone can see or say he even SEEMS that way. Wtf

Have you spent time with the kid? Did he get a DWI or abuse a GF? Seriously, random fans on message boards should NOT be taking things to such extreme from such distance. I'd say many of the posters here and saying things like that are way closer to "basket case" territory than any recruits we've considered the last 30 yrs.

He doesn't seem worth the time put in on him. Are you gonna be okay? You seem like you might be related or something

 

[Ash Williams]

 

[OliverSimmonsTwinBrother]

I like winning

 

[Anon1752779924]

"I'm rooting for Kentucky not to win, so that we can change coaches."

OK, then I draw the line firmly on that from my perspective.

Fans = always root for their team to win, regardless. That's always number one goal for a fan.

This should be obvious and a non-negotiable. ^

We must burn down the village in order to save the village reasoning seldomly turns out well. Close to never.

I thinks some folks have been locked into this mentality since 2015 and even more since Covid have fallen in the same rut.

Too much front running, no grit, sorta faithless.

 

[Anon1752779924]

Scores with ease. Good positional passer. Body developed for a freshman. Good handle for his size. Significant narrative boost. Near perfect replacement and upgrade of Oweh.

High end talent seems to me.

 

[TommyMansky]

What is everyone here going to say if Stokes says Kentucky was third place (or even below) after committing to Kansas or Oregon?

 

[Ford to Mashburn]

At this point I’d pay the bank to Tounde Yessoufou and Momcilivic and let Stokes go. Can’t afford a miss with him, I believe he makes a decision this week though finally.

I’d pay the bank for all theee

 

[co_dee]

Because he is really good and it’s fun to watch really good players. Not to mention, you need really good players to win. Seriously, what kind of question is this?

 

[HalHR2500]

6'7, 230 with a handle, creator with elite court vision, rebounder, yeah I'll take him

 

[Ford to Mashburn]

Because he is the best high school player and I think he’s a lot better than most on here are saying. He’s a great passer and wants to dunk on every opposing player and gets into the lane with ease. I also think other guys we want would want to play with him.

 

[Pound Sand]

I see Stokes as a drama queen, I would prefer also to have 2 proven players but where are they going to get them..I'd like to know what is actually going on behind the scenes. Do they have a plan B or just failing at every option available.

 

[Hopmix]

He wants to play for self. Nike is a road block. Nike doesn’t want him playing for pope. They are pushing him to Oregon. His agent is using Kentucky to boost the bids. If it wasn’t for that they would t even be in the conversation. So obvious I’m not sure why apropos here still talk about it.

 

[Coach777]

Because he is really good and it’s fun to watch really good players. Not to mention, you need really good players to win. Seriously, what kind of question is this?

Apparently you don’t understand what this thread is about.