I don’t dislike pope, I’ve never called him names or any of that. All I’ve said is he struggles recruiting and that I don’t think this team has the talent to compete for a sec championship.
From The Sound of Things…
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That’s definitely how I would play it. Use D’yiaeillprobablyneverlearntospellthisrightwithoutchecking situationally for defense and when he’s got a hot hand as well as to back up Moreno if Kepnang doesn’t get cleared. Against SEC opponents we will absolutely have a lot of games where you Must start McBride and play him most of the night——so you want him to have as much experience as possible beforehand to prepare him for that.
The last thing an athletic 6'11" shooter needs is to be molded into whatever Pope wants.
Maybe they are leaning to start McBride first because currently he is the more proven shooter and scorer. That matters because this lineup needs spacing because Diallo is only 31.5% from 3 and Wilkins is 33% and Moreno is not a stretch 5.
McBride: 38 makes on 95 attempts from three= 40.0%
N’Diaye: 40 makes on 135 attempts from three = 29.6%
I feel like they will probably both get around 20 minutes a game at first. If N'Diaye can increase his 3point % to at least 35% I think at that point they would flip it and have N'Diaye start because then at the volume he shoots 3's he becomes much more dangerous. I’m hoping that having creators (Diallo and Wilkins) will help both N’Diaye and McBride get cleaner looks from three. I actually expect both of their shooting percentages to improve this year. I also think Wilkins and Diallo will create for each other and their shooting percentages will increase as well.
McBride: 38 makes on 95 attempts from three= 40.0%
N’Diaye: 40 makes on 135 attempts from three = 29.6%
I feel like they will probably both get around 20 minutes a game at first. If N'Diaye can increase his 3point % to at least 35% I think at that point they would flip it and have N'Diaye start because then at the volume he shoots 3's he becomes much more dangerous. I’m hoping that having creators (Diallo and Wilkins) will help both N’Diaye and McBride get cleaner looks from three. I actually expect both of their shooting percentages to improve this year. I also think Wilkins and Diallo will create for each other and their shooting percentages will increase as well.
And before the roster has been full assembled
Id be completely fine with it if I am wrong. I just want our program to be great again
Juwan's terrible tenure at Michigan opened my eyes to just how important coaching actually was. Simiar situation with Penny. Guys like Penny, Juwan, they have tons of street cred in some of the toughest cities in America. They achieved levels of success in basketball any player would respect. You would think they'd get the absolute most out of the young (predominantly) black kids they are coaching. But it's not the case. I thought Juwan would do very well at Mich but obviously was dead wrong. Calipari kept Bradshaw somewhat in line way more than Penny could.
For the last fn time. Just because we don't like you bashing the team, coaches, and players constantly doesn't mean we think pope is doing a good job or that the recruiting is anywhere near what it should be. He was always going to get a 3rd season. Regardless of all your rants. Why not just try to find some joy in the game and team we all love. We just want you guys to stop posting the same negative BS on every single thread on here. It's every thread and it is ridiculous. Why are you so miserable that you want to try to make everyone else the same? Grow up. Enjoy life.
I suppose taking into account the roster may ( or may not be set already ) it would be an observation that makes sense. Having said that, is the roster completed yet ? No.
At least, not *quite* yet.
Overall, the entire roster building process this year has yielded only a portion better than what we had. But it's still a better team. At least we will have a point guard this year....
A couple really good guards. Best guards we will have seen in 7 years or so ?
So that is entirely encouraging to me, my single most concern is how we stack up against big heavy athletioc opponents like the hydra 3 big man lineup Florida and other SEC brutes play with.
I like the latest addition Kepnang - immensely. If guys like him and N'Diaye and McBride
and Moreno have a breakout season collectively, we will be very hard to beat, actually.
But that's a huge ask from all 4. Nevertheless, that's what we are tasking them to go out there and do.
We shall see. Quietly confident, however, this ain't gonna be such a bad ride after all.....
and then there is the question : When will the roster be complete ?
Only then can we really start making any educated guesses, really.
At least, not *quite* yet.
Overall, the entire roster building process this year has yielded only a portion better than what we had. But it's still a better team. At least we will have a point guard this year....
A couple really good guards. Best guards we will have seen in 7 years or so ?
So that is entirely encouraging to me, my single most concern is how we stack up against big heavy athletioc opponents like the hydra 3 big man lineup Florida and other SEC brutes play with.
I like the latest addition Kepnang - immensely. If guys like him and N'Diaye and McBride
and Moreno have a breakout season collectively, we will be very hard to beat, actually.
But that's a huge ask from all 4. Nevertheless, that's what we are tasking them to go out there and do.
We shall see. Quietly confident, however, this ain't gonna be such a bad ride after all.....
and then there is the question : When will the roster be complete ?
Only then can we really start making any educated guesses, really.
And sinceEvery now and again, two posts can make since
All fair points and great to have different perspectives.
I also like that N'Diaye will be on campus early too presumably.
Great to read some interesting insightful perspectives about the greatest tradition in all of CBB!
@HipTier : appreciate you're perspective as well..
2 post making great sense!!!!
So you want this forum to go dark for the next six months? Because there's literally nothing else to talk about. The latest news in UK basketball is negative. It's a rolling negative narrative.
We all just want you to stop posting, immediately. Bleeding heart boomers like yourself are cancer.
If McBride starts and N’Diaye comes off the bench, fine. But if McBride starts AND plays more minutes? I’m going to lose all faith in the GM Battalion!
From someone who only sees negative things. Just selfban
Lol ...all 5 of you want me to stop...oh my. What will I ever do? I guarantee there are way more people that want you to stop than me.....way way way more. Bleeding heart boomers....lol. I'm. It even from the boomer gen. You are just a sad, miserable, pathetic human being
If you are basing it off highlight videos, ndiaye is the better prospect, off actual stats and full game ndiaye is not any better than Jelly.
So apparently one (or more) of you thinks we have the best guards in the past 7 years. I don't even know where to start with that. The level of delusion here is sometimes scary.
I agree with you. Even if we somehow land an elite player from the combine, I don’t know what there is to be excited about. They’re not a contender. Best case scenario is a team that overachieves and lands a 4 or 5 seed. Which obviously can make a run but I don’t see it barring Moreno making a massive—and I mean massive leap where he averages 15-7-2 or something crazy.No kidding. Those dudes always amuse me. Like you’re on a message board commenting on a basketball post in May. WTH you wanna discuss?
My thoughts are, I don’t expect N’Diaye to be much or any better than Z or the euro from this year. He looks soft and weak in his highlights. So now we are saying a dude that’s not very athletic and is one yr removed from being a bit piece at Nevada is the starter. Man, idk. This fanbase can rationalize ANYTHING.
“One of the best backcourts in the nation” can’t shoot but are really good passers. One 3 is coming off a less than stellar season and the other one was 30-40 lbs too light to play last year. Our 4 had to drop to James Madison to find a level he could produce at. And the other is a complete unknown. Our 5 is supposedly one of the best returning bigs in the country, except he wasn’t very good the last 15 games or so. I’m just not sure how this is all going to work.
Popes first year I didn’t think we were good enough but thought Jaxson coming at least brought some relevance. Last year I KNEW it was a crap roster and thought the people that argued against it just had no clue what they were talking about. This roster is EASILY…as it stands now…the worst of the three, IMO. I know there are people on here that will argue it’s the best, but they’re also the same people that thought we had a Ferrari last season and JQ would be ready in November (in short, clueless).
“Sad, miserable, pathetic human being”. Because I disagree on a basketball coach? Get a grip and some perspective, papaw.
Some of our fans take it way too personal when a coach is criticized.
No because of your post history. And you know that's what I meant .
Nobody cares what you think or believe, peepaw. I supported Pope year one. I was actually fully bought in for a big year 2. It's clear he doesn't have the chops to win here. He can't recruit at the level needed, he's too stubborn/proud to make certain changes. And insists on everything running through him. Not to mention poor defense, lack of effort, and no player development. It's called being objective. Not blindly following the train off the tracks. You're just mad because you have a parasocial relationship with a basketball coach. And believe anyone criticizing him is "bashing". Maybe sports isn't for you? Estrogenic men like yourself don't do well in sports (no, I don't care that you scored 1000 points or hit 545 homeruns, back in 1975) Please never check MLB, NBA, or NFL twitter. The "bashing" would probably have you calling the authorities.
I figure they will compete and practice and we will see.
Then play some games, keep practicing, and see how it goes as time goes.
Speculate away but at this point with neither on campus it is just speculation.
I personally like the idea of N'Diaye with his length and bounce a good bit more but reality has the largest vote and I am not going to argue with it.
Then play some games, keep practicing, and see how it goes as time goes.
Speculate away but at this point with neither on campus it is just speculation.
I personally like the idea of N'Diaye with his length and bounce a good bit more but reality has the largest vote and I am not going to argue with it.
In the end, the one that plays and practices better will play more minutes and likely start. McBride probably does have the high floor, and definitely the lower ceiling.
So I would say predicting McBride is just playing it safe, but many of us would place >50% chance that N’Daiye beats him out.
Maybe you should take a poll. Then you can see if your dilution of 5 people is real or not.
McBride isn’t very long or all that athletic, but he can shoot and he knows how to play. His resume is world’s better than N’Diaye.
This is N’Diaye’s first year starting overseas; in 27.2 mpg he is shooting 40.07%(!) from the floor, twice as many turnovers as assists, and at 6’11” averaging 0.6 blocks per game (the same rate as Jelavic and about 1/2 as many as Dioubate). He shoots more threes than twos, and only hits 30% of them. And those are in line with his stats every year; he’s 23 and has a four year pro career. He plays in the top Italian league, but for a team with a 10-17 record. The interweb says that league pays non-Italians $175-300k per year. So he is coming to Kentucky because he’s getting a big fat pay raise.
I’d be shocked if N’Diaye beats out McBride or anyone else. Very unlikely that N’Diaye will be someone that the fans are happy about, but I could see McBride being a lunch bucket good player and fan favorite.
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Another smart aleck who can't even get a name right. It was in fact Matt Pilgrim for those scoring at home.
Just my way of saying I don't think as much of your intelligence as you do.
Then why reply...if you don't care. How old are you with your constant name calling. I'll say it again. Sad, pathetic, miserable sums up runninrichie. Nothing you say makes sense or is well thought out. Funny you think I'm old. Such a child
What positive things are we supposed to be talking about? Please share.
I don’t understand where these guys are coming from with their posts. I’ve tried to figure some of them out and I can’t. They don’t know why other fans aren’t happy, so I guess we have that in common with them. Neither side understands the other lol
I’m not doing for you, you’re the one making claims of 5 people. Maybe someone here will be nice of enough to do it for you.
I said 5 people making multiple accounts to post negativity to ruin every thread. If you took that to mean anything else, then that's on you.