So Pope whiffed on another future top 10 pick? We've seen this movie before.
Cue the "we'll be fines."
Cue the "we'll be fines."
If Kentucky misses on Kusturica.
- Thread starter Son_Of_Saul
- Start date
I like this years team. I have no idea how they end up but I am optimistic
Whiffed lol. You didn't even know who this kid was a month ago.
So we will improve off two teams that averaged 13 losses each?
It's not misery that drives our narratives. It's the reality that Pope is not maximizing what UK should be. A great coach would land future top five picks. Pope ain't it, man.
Silly argument. You didn't even know who Hampton was until you did. It's a reductive, illogical argument. We still don't have a Final Four contender. THAT'S the issue.
Year three...
He's signing a two-year deal and will probably be an all-American his second year. This is why Duke has left us in their dust from a national perspective. When they go hunting, they go loaded for bear. They get the elite players they're targeting, guys that make you fear their team. Even when they lose in the tournament, it typically takes the weight of universe against them to tip the scales, with rivals fans biting their finger nailes and swearing at the TV in elimination games where Duke is playing. Even then, Duke just replenishes their elite roster year after year.
And then there's us. We've become a program where being a bit better than 12 losses is considered "positive momentum" as a program.
We do have a final four contender. Why are you running up the white flag before you have seen the team play? Amazing to me
The only thing he can sign is NIL stuff and as we know, thats not binding. if he goes to UCLA they can say its 2 years until they are dead from exhaustion but he can and most likely will transfer after 1 year looking for a better NIL offer with his potential.
"This is why Duke has left us in the dust from the National perspective"
Simple question....how many Championships have they won in the last 10 years while "Leaving us in the dust"????
Answer.......NONE!
We have a Final Four contender if every single one of our fringe guys hits his ceiling, just like every other team that will be ranked 10-25 this season.
What's amazing to me is you downplaying the impact Kusturica would have had not only for Pope's image but also his on-the-court impact in two years.
If you truly want Pope to succeed here as you claim, you wouldn't minimize the impact of losing this kid on the heels of losing Stokes. Both kids are future top 5 picks. Both of them were offered a fortune by Pope/UK. Both of them chose elsewhere.
That's horrific optics.
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That's one way to look at it. Here's another way - we just offered more money to this kid to play at Kentucky instead of playing for Mick freaking Cronin, and we still lose that recruitment.
Kentucky men's basketball is becoming the Little Engine that Could.
No it isn't.
I like Momcilovic for this team 7 days a week. I don't give a squirt about top 5 picks. We had two of them with Cal and couldn't get out of round one. I care about a good basketball TEAM. We have good ball handlers, good shooters, a top center, plenty of size, nice depth...this team looks like a lot of fun with a lot of potential. How about giving them a chance before you quit on them again. THAT is horrific optics....a white flag waving fanbase
Nah.
This fanbase doesn't wave white flags, but we do understand that it takes a ton of talent just to compete for a Final Four. UK has some good pieces, but you and everyone else out there are projecting these guys to their highest possible ceiling due to living/thinking/reasoning in a myopic Kentucky bubble. If every other good team out there also reaches their ceiling, UK is still just a top 12-20ish team next year. You are totally cool with that until the cows come home. Some of us are not. That's the difference, amigo.
Simply not true. I recognize that we have a top 12-20 team. That means we MIGHT go out in round one....or we MIGHT win the whole thing....or anywhere in between. I prefer to root for the team and give them a CHANCE instead of whine and cry because draft day isn't the greatest day of the year for Kentucky basketball anymore. Give the team a chance before you quit on them
Living in Kuwait City isnt bad at all. I lived on the economy as a military contractor.
I know it’s getting Chicken Little serious when SOS increases the font size!
He has become one of the worst posters on here. His 2 loves are calipari and Duke , those 2 things are the only things he ever says anything good about.
If McBride, NDaiye, MilMom, Wilkins, Diallo, etc. had signed elsewhere, the Chicken Littles would be pulling out the Whiffle bat to beat Pope over the head. They ignore the victories and focus on the losses without any understanding of the issues and factors that lead to decisions. Mark Few whiffed as did a bunch of other top tier programs. The guy can sign with one program and we don’t know why he is picking UCLA but the Littles claim everyone needs to sign with UK or the sky is falling. Offseason angst is some posters’ default.
I don’t even read his stuff anymore. Just boring. I do take a quick look to see if cornbread has been a good boy and liked his post.
Spoiler Alert: He ALWAYS does
Straw man. I hate Duke. If you paid even a 10% attention over the years, you'd know that. It's a silly argument on your end. Just keep in mind we all want the same things. Some of you are just way more patient than the rest of us.
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Would you rather the roster be moving in the opposite direction? And can you show me which coaches land every top-5 pick they want? It’s perfectly ok, and quite rational in my humble opinion, to be a bit optimistic about this upcoming season while also knowing Pope has something to prove to keep his job. Why does this kind of thinking bother so many of you?
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I appreciate the tone of your post, and I think you offer a great question, so I'll answer. I like what Pope has done this spring/summer. I still think there's a small chance he makes it here, and I'm pulling for him. If he lands Spears, I think it saves his job because even if UK goes off the rails this season (loses before Elite Eight, finishes outside top 3 of the SEC, etc.), I don't think Batt cans Pope if there's a Hampton/Spears class coming in, although I don't think Hampton alone saves Pope's job.
It's going to come down to what Pope does with the Hampton class. Perception matters very much in this case, and Pope has now been left at the altar far too many times (Stokes, Kusturica, Wilkerson, Wilson, Yaxel, Holt, etc.). In most of those recruitments, UK was offering the most money.
You can't keep striking out on elite players at Kentucky. Public perception matters here. This upcoming recruiting class will determine Pope's fate here.
could this guy literally be one of the biggest recruits pope has gotten. aka next luca ect. seems like it flip flops everyday, he is coming, then no chance. what is really going on here .
The unit I deployed with was from Belle Gardens, between East LA and Compton. Spent a month there in horrible traffic non-stop. Over 2 hours to travel less than 20 miles. When we went to "the city", it was dirty and there were homeless everywhere. The people I deployed with were great, the city, not so much.
Kids legit, but Pope has to get him first. I’m assuming he’s going elsewhere until concrete evidence suggests otherwise.
Agreed SoS.... and I would speak up and take up for you with other posters giving you a hard time, but I know you can handle it. You're one of the all time old timers around here, and I value your opinions. It sure is weird seeing so many old timers passed away already too. Miss so many of them....
SoS is most assuredly NOT a puke slurper.
And the thoughts on Pope, I am suspecting, is going to pretty much be spot on..... but it does entail Pope actually recruiting a Stokes - level type player out of the next class, and there may be some more big "if's" thrown in there but I can see Pope getting enough of a result this season and combined with a few more recruiting wins next year, he can still have his job at seasons end even without knocking it out of the park.
Man we all want to see Pope crush it, we all really do, but we have to remain cautious, and and we must demand stability and sustainability as well as great results on the court.
The jury is still simply out on Pope's ultimate future here.
We don’t know how much money has been offered by UK. There is speculation and those who claim inside info say things, but we know that info is often wrong and the product of an agent or handler trying to push a narrative. We know UK is competitive and we suspect does offer more. In this instance, we assume UK was pushing a 2 year deal and that UCLA was offering far more guaranteed minutes. But, those are deductions made from very little information. The team n the floor, not the one that got away, will decide the season and, perhaps, Pope’s future. I prefer Mark succeed and we enjoy the style and successes to letting Batt make the next hire. It’s not Batt, it’s all ADs. Hiring is a bit of a crap shoot. Batt evidently made a horrific basketball hire at GT and yet I think he made a fine football hire at MSU (time will tell). Hiring HCs has too many unknowns. So, best to have your current coach have success.
Oh thank Gaia, I was worried we wouldn’t have enough Kusturica threads. And bonus, this one is completely incoherent.
Koosta Reecha
He'd be a helluva addition to a talented squad. Let's get it done.
He'd be a helluva addition to a talented squad. Let's get it done.
That’s the problem right there. We may not be a 13 loss 7 seed, but we probably arent a 2 seed either. It seems to me we have a roster stuck in the middle.
Kusturica gives us another opportunity to get over that hump, but more importantly, helps solidify the roster for next year.
You knew this thread was going to devolve into the OP dragging anyone he could down to his level. The “silver lining” for him is Pope somehow missing on a guy he’d never heard of a month ago.
Just like the OP said people should ignore trolls, he should be ignored as he’s trolling for anyone he can find that will complain with him about Pope. He does it over and over so its not a one off. Ignore his act and let the petty thread vanish.
Just like the OP said people should ignore trolls, he should be ignored as he’s trolling for anyone he can find that will complain with him about Pope. He does it over and over so its not a one off. Ignore his act and let the petty thread vanish.
Don't believe he's coming but I want him for no other reasons than seeing the different spelling variations of his name being spelled on here.
His age of 17 means he has to go were his parents sign, not him. When he turns 18, contract or not he then becomes legal. At 18 he becomes legal so it’s a crap shot were he ends up a year from now. No lawyer or agent can guarantee he plays anywhere for two years at the same place.
Europe is different. He's been playing professionally in the Spanish Liga already.
I want him, but I am not sure why everyone is so crazy about him. Am I missing something or is he THAT good?
And how much we shelling for this guy?
And how much we shelling for this guy?