I think Moreno will continue to evolve in big steps but you have to remember. flory is now playing in a 3 or 4 bid league where they get to play: ga tech, bc, ND, pitt, syracuse, wake, vt, smu, stanford, and cal. and nc state just lost its coach in back to back years. 11 teams that have basically given up on trying to be competitive at basketball. lot of easy stat padding to be had.
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- Thread starter Jamal Mercerr
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I think Moreno will continue to evolve in big steps but you have to remember. flory is now playing in a 3 or 4 bid league where they get to play: ga tech, bc, ND, pitt, syracuse, wake, vt, smu, stanford, and cal. and nc state just lost its coach in back to back years. 11 teams that have basically given up on trying to be competitive at basketball. lot of easy stat padding to be had.
IF????!! We stay healthy i actually think this is a top 10 team.
At least we are exited for the season now
At least we are exited for the season now
I think year two Pope was a lost ball in high weeds. I think he recruited a bunch of guys he thought he could plug into his style of play and win but it just didn't work. His personnel last year was just not capable of doing what he wants to do on offense. Pope's poor roster building was the issue. I think this roster looks more like the first year team who honestly had final 4 potential if they were healthy. I am not saying this is a final 4 team by any stretch of the imagination but I am saying this team can be really good by the end of the year. They are going to have the ability, if a few pieces fall into place, to give everyone they play fits.
That feels about right for me as it stands now.
I’m not saying we’ll be the exact same in all facets of the game, but the past couple of Alabama teams feel like a good approximation of what we might have. Momcilovic in theory meshes extremely well with what Zoom and Wilkins like to do, and Moreno should be solid finishing around the rim, so as long as the guards live up to expectations, we should be able to score as well as anyone in the country.
That by itself will win a lot of games most years, but I just don’t know yet where the defense and rebounding that we’ll need to be a true title contender are going to come from in this group. We could have an X-factor or two step up in those areas and raise the ceiling, but it’s usually best not to count on that in preseason projections.
I’m not saying we’ll be the exact same in all facets of the game, but the past couple of Alabama teams feel like a good approximation of what we might have. Momcilovic in theory meshes extremely well with what Zoom and Wilkins like to do, and Moreno should be solid finishing around the rim, so as long as the guards live up to expectations, we should be able to score as well as anyone in the country.
That by itself will win a lot of games most years, but I just don’t know yet where the defense and rebounding that we’ll need to be a true title contender are going to come from in this group. We could have an X-factor or two step up in those areas and raise the ceiling, but it’s usually best not to count on that in preseason projections.
At times last year I got really down on Pope, and I still have concerns about his HS recruiting, rotations, and defensive coaching. But give his first team a full season with a healthy Jaxson Robinson, Lamont Bulter, Andrew Carr, Amari Williams and Kerr Kriisa and that is a title contender. That team could cook. They were duct taped together by the end of the year. This team does mirror that team pretty well.
We aren’t even preseason top 20 as far as I can these people are going to regret being irrationally down on Kentucky
I feel pretty good about Morenos leap. He showed a lot of big man skill in somr limited time last year. It was when the whole team fell apart that I think he regressed and got frustrated. If wr can just have a true PG not get injured, and the offense spaces better with MM's shooting, then Moreno could shine.
People completely forget about N'daiye. That guy will hoist some 3s. Heck of a bench piece
Facts even if they don’t hit them all I’d rather a team like this just keep chucking from 3 it will work at some point.
In all his highlights Ousmane is pulling up from like 30 feet + for no reason I think we’re going to love the heat checks
I’d say this is pretty spot on. Top 5 is ceiling if the question marks are more like periods or exclamation points. Borderline top 25 if the question marks remain questions.
4 FF
7 E8
But sure, let’s crap on the dude for the one title and try to lift Pope by crapping on the job Cal did.
Half of Cals tenure he was in the E8 or better. Pope needs to reach an E8 to do it 1/3 of the time. Not to mention he got routed trying to get to an E8 or S16.
Those are also facts. Weird how they work.
In 15 years, Cal won 32 NCAAT games. That is 2.1 wins per year. Pope has 3 in 2 years which is 1.5 per year. If Pope goes to an EE this season, he will be at 6 in 3 years, the same 2 per year as Cal.Half of Cals tenure he was in the E8 or better. Pope needs to reach an E8 to do it 1/3 of the time. Not to mention he got routed trying to get to an E8 or S16.
32 NCAAT wins in 15 years. 1 title. Cal had a lot of poor years mixed in fella, despite the best talent year in year out
But he won final4s and Elite 8s. Id rather have a sub 2.0 tournament wins per year, but with hardware, than a coach who has say 2.8 wins per year and no hardware. E8s and Final4s have to be sprinkled in. It was a problem Tubby also had when his Pitino-formed team was gone. If wr have to pick one thing we need a Kentucky coach to do, its have success in march.
R32 and s16 wins only really matter from the perspective that you're still alive and playing.
And fwiw it was 14 tournaments, not 15. His tournament wins per year is 2.28 if my math is right.
Be...fair...
Popes first season, he had nothing and started late and went to the S16 despite injuries.
Second year, he got bounced in the 2nd round, but it is fair to say with a healthy roster, he may have won one more S16. But even winning just one game was as many NCAAT wins as Cal had in the previous 5 years COMBINED.
I am super excited about the roster he was put together for year three. If he goes to the FF does that make him better than Cal? If he somehow wins a Title he will have as many banners as Cal had in 15 years, so do we give him a lifetime contract?
I wanted Pope gone after the season, but they gave him a year three, so I am gonna be fair with the man. You should too
Im the one not being fair? Youre trying to count a season against Cal where there was no tournament for him to even win games.
Did Cal and other past coaches not have tournament-altering injuries? Did they not have 1st years also?
Did Cal have 2 lottery picks and 2 other McDonald's All Americans when he got punked by a guy who works at Wendy's now in round one his last season here?
Doesnt matter who he had. Pope has the ability to land the same guys. Paat coaches had to deal with the same adversities just like every other coach out there. Dont make **** up to try and bring Pope up to Cal's level. Pope can very well do that on his own.
You hate the guy, I get it. Your tears are delicious fella. Pope is gonna earn year four and five this season is my prediction
Your argument is Cal was able to recruit better players so he was held to a higher standard? Pope gets to underperform because he isn't capable of recruiting and coaching at this level. LMAO
Cal went to 4 final fours n 5 seasons. We are waiting on Pope to win anuthing that matters and no he isn't getting 15 or 10 seasons to do it. Put up or shut up for ur hero this season
Not my Hero and no coach including Hurley is going to come in here and match Cals first peak 5 years in the NIL era. You are trying to pretend Cals best 5 years are the "standard" when they obviously are not
If he gets to an EE, he will be on the exact same average season as Cal, so there's that
Pope needs an elite 8 for a year 4. Or at least an SEC regular season championship. The SEC is gonna be a 3 man race between UK, UT, and Florida. Arkansas will make a push as well.
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What did I make up? Pointing out numbers and facts my man
The Cal slurpers are still here? I'm still wondering why they haven't went to the Arkansas board...if they have one....
You tried to say Cal had 15 tournaments which helped your false narrative that his tournament wins per season was close to Pope's. I explained it to you, and you never changed your tune or acknowledged it. Instead you honest to God whined about Cal having too much talent or some **** lol.
I believe Pope can close the gap and increase his current 1.5 wins/season, but theres no reason to discredit Cal just to try and make Pope look better. There is still a long LONG way to go before Pope is even on Cal's level of success.
Huge IF there but sure. There is also the regular season which he hasn't exceeded at. Nor the SEC tourny.
The talent is there. It's all about the pieces fitting together at this point. They could be a top 10 team by season's end, or they could be unranked. All of it will come down to how much three players develop over the course of the season: Kam Williams, Moreno, and Wilkins.
If they all break out, UK will have a top 10 team.
If they all break out, UK will have a top 10 team.
wow, English professor. Thanks. Which one are you anon, Eastbound and down both? I type on here as I am texting. I'm not writing articles and my eye sight isn't what it used to be.
