Could UK be even better next yr.?

[LineSkiCat14]

Florida is gonna be damn good.

Three starters graduate and three transfers.. Don't see it next year.

 

[Dablueman]

This NCAAT has PROVEN, that what is needed more than anything, is experienced guards! Yes, we could be good, but not if we are relying on freshmen guards again. We will be in for same season-ending disappointment.

Yet if u put Maxey on this team we are still playing this season.

 

[Himmels]

We have nobody coming in or possibly coming in to replace PJ. He carried us in several games this year.

 

[kl40504_rivals]

Yet if u put Maxey on this team we are still playing this season.

Really. You will probably be saying that in May when all the games have ended.

 

[KyFaninNC]

My goodness we are loaded again!

In what way? You got a crystal ball?

 

[Dablueman]

No.. unless Herro comes back and E.J. steps up his game.

Maxey is better than Herro and Hagans. He immediately fixes our biggest weakness this season which was a pg who couldn’t shoot and aloud teams to double down on our bigs. He is a really good shooter. If our starting Guards are Maxey and Quickley and our 3 is either Brooks or Whitney when Nate is on the court we will have 4 guys on the floor who can kill teams from deep. If you sag off us. Opens up that inside alot

 

[kl40504_rivals]

My goodness we are loaded again!

It looks like you may be the one loaded.

 

[kl40504_rivals]

Maxey is better than Herro and Hagans. He immediately fixes our biggest weakness this season which was a pg who couldn’t shoot and aloud teams to double down on our bigs. He is a really good shooter. If our starting Guards are Maxey and Quickley and our 3 is either Brooks or Whitney when Nate is on the court we will have 4 guys on the floor who can kill teams from deep. If you sag off us. Opens up that inside alot

You sure know your basketball.

 

[kydmb99_rivals103809]

Maxey is better than Herro and Hagans. He immediately fixes our biggest weakness this season which was a pg who couldn’t shoot and aloud teams to double down on our bigs. He is a really good shooter. If our starting Guards are Maxey and Quickley and our 3 is either Brooks or Whitney when Nate is on the court we will have 4 guys on the floor who can kill teams from deep. If you sag off us. Opens up that inside alot

Saying that Tyrese Maxey is going to be a better freshman than Tyler Herro is completely conjecture at this point. Tyler Herro was very good.

 

[TortElvisII]

You are 0-40 in your predictions.

 

[Dablueman]

Really. You will probably be saying that in May when all the games have ended.

Ok since that makes sense? Maxey is and was considered by the recruiting gurus and NBA scouts to be better than any guard we have on our current team. He is a great shooter and just think at how good we would be if teams couldn’t sag off of us and double Pj down low? He is also considered one of the best defenders in the class. We lost in overtime so your telling me if Maxey was on this team we wouldn’t have been able to score one more point in regulation. Especially considering if our Soph and Grad transfer had of even shot their season percentage from the line we would still be playing but oh no experience it has to be experience well it was the experience missing freethrows that cost us the game

 

[bookerfan66]

Not unless Herro returns.

 

[Dablueman]

Saying that Tyrese Maxey is going to be a better freshman than Tyler Herro is completely conjecture at this point. Tyler Herro was very good.

If Maxey had of reclassified he would be most likely in the lottery. Herro can’t handle, pass or is near as fast as Maxey he just isn’t. Maxey is a Knight fox wall type guard he can take over games

 

[kl40504_rivals]

Ok since that makes sense? Maxey is and was considered by the recruiting gurus and NBA scouts to be better than any guard we have on our current team. He is a great shooter and just think at how good we would be if teams couldn’t sag off of us and double Pj down low? He is also considered one of the best defenders in the class. We lost in overtime so your telling me if Maxey was on this team we wouldn’t have been able to score one more point in regulation. Especially considering if our Soph and Grad transfer had of even shot their season percentage from the line we would still be playing but oh no experience it has to be experience well it was the experience missing freethrows that cost us the game

I say you don't know and I don't know.

 

[stoneycat_20]

Sure they COULD be better. If one of Johnson/Herro/Washington come back and nobody else does anything stupid. But that’s highly unlikely.

lol..PJ and KJ 100% gone..Hero 90% gone...imo

 

[ubtrapper_rivals103836]

This tourney hasnt proved anything but you have to have a TEAM of good players. You can make a run with freshman guards but you've got to have other pieces as well. You need to have experience as well. I think a player like Baker is the key. We need those multi year players to develop and become great role players. We need players to stick around to surround the OADs. That is the key in my opinion. We need the Darius Millers.

I agree with this. 11-12 was the perfect balance. Baker could very well become like Miller. The kid has a lot to work with and if he sticks around, he will put it together and become just that.

It's so important for a chance at the title to have guys like Herro or KJ return. Until we see a couple of those stick around til So or Jr years, we aren't winning another title.

 

[jrpross_rivals]

Saying that Tyrese Maxey is going to be a better freshman than Tyler Herro is completely conjecture at this point. Tyler Herro was very good.

It is conjecture. I will say I BELIEVE Maxey will be better than Herro was this year. I don’t think he’d be better than a sophomore Herro though.

 

[JC CATS]

Who says it'll be a down year? That's gonna be hard to gauge right now. Virginia will bring a lot of guys back from this Final four team. Hunter goes, everyone else back maybe?

Anyone know about Jones at Duke? How is their team gonna be next year?

Duke will be as good as this year. 6-7 losses and the overall 1 seed

 

[IrishMike409]

Maxey is better than Herro and Hagans. He immediately fixes our biggest weakness this season which was a pg who couldn’t shoot and aloud teams to double down on our bigs. He is a really good shooter. If our starting Guards are Maxey and Quickley and our 3 is either Brooks or Whitney when Nate is on the court we will have 4 guys on the floor who can kill teams from deep. If you sag off us. Opens up that inside alot

Maxey better than Herro and Hagans? You can't possibly say that with 100% confidence. Wasn't Hagans ranked ahead of Maxey in multiple publications?

Hate to break this news to the board: Maxey will go through Freshman growing pains like almost every other freshman has. The expectations that the fan base are putting on this kid are ridiculous.

UK will be better next season if Herro comes back. That's really the only way I see it possible. Otherwise, we'll lack a go to scorer and difference maker.

Do people realize we're losing PJ. PJ was a top 5 player in the country last season. 6'8, Clutch, go-to, 3-level scorer, and terrific defender. We won't have anything close to that next year.

As much as I like EJ....he's just not PJ.

 

[fisherscat]

The perfect backcourt would be a frosh Maxey and a soph Herro. I still am holding out hope.

 

[bucsrule8872]

Brooks < Washington
Sestina < Travis
Whitney = Johnson (based on HS rankings)
Maxey > Herro (based on HS rankings)

Whatever Allen gives us is bonus. I think he redshirts, unless someone else leaves.

So with everyone else coming back:

SO Hagans > FR Hagans
SO Quickley > FR Quickley
SO Baker > FR Baker
SO Montgomery > FR Montgomery
JR Richards > SO Richards

If guys get better over the summer as expected, I don't see us making a huge step back.

This is UK basketball. This what we do. We lose studs and replace them with studs. If guys come back they usually get a little better.

Don't we go through this every year? If Cal is worried about the roster, he will get some more pieces.

If not, we go to war with the weapons we have and will win more than we lose, most likely.

 

[3 fan_rivals214492]

Lose PJ, gain Nate Sestina - downgrade
Lose Herro, gain Maxey - push/upgrade
Lose KJ, gain Brooks/Whitney - push (gain defense, lose a little offense)
Lose Reid, sophomore EJ/Nick - unsure

I think this team is gonna be similar to 2017/18 year minus a solid go-to guy we had in Knox. We have a ton of guys that can shoot okay behind the arc a-la Wenyen. Not really sure where we go when we need a big bucket other than Maxey. I think we will struggle offensively. Need another piece. If Herro returned, we will be favorite to win it all. Herro is the exact type of guy we will be dying for next season.

Not sure how you see Maxey as upgrade over Herro. Did you watch our offense this year? How many times did Herro bail us out?

 

[UKCAT5FAN]

I agree with this. 11-12 was the perfect balance. Baker could very well become like Miller. The kid has a lot to work with and if he sticks around, he will put it together and become just that.

It's so important for a chance at the title to have guys like Herro or KJ return. Until we see a couple of those stick around til So or Jr years, we aren't winning another title.

I was in the other boat a few years ago thinking it was still possible but I have since jumped in your boat.

 

[kyups01]

Herro made 3 three-pointers in four NCAA games. We aren’t losing that much scoring.

Totally agree. For as many offensive moves/great shooting form as herro had he was very hot n cold shooting and in my opinion wasnt all the great as the season wore on scoring wise

 

[oldsports_]

I see 40-0 or 39-1

 

[Stonewall12]

Herro made 3 three-pointers in four NCAA games. We aren’t losing that much scoring.

Lol

 

[Captain_Kentucky]

This NCAAT has PROVEN, that what is needed more than anything, is experienced guards! Yes, we could be good, but not if we are relying on freshmen guards again. We will be in for same season-ending disappointment.

I have come to the same conclusion. We need experienced PG play to have a chance in March. Give me an Anthony Epps type player with this current team and we are In Minneapolis right now.

 

[MaryJane6]

My goodness we are loaded again!

Next year will be closer to last year than this year.

 

[rnfoster]

My goodness we are loaded again!

Could be or will be? My guess is about the same . . .

 

[JC43]

Yet if u put Maxey on this team we are still playing this season.

Funny how we almost had maxey too...
Quade Green was still deciding if he was returning. If Quade did transfer....
Shows how everything is connected

 

[CatsPaws270]

The whole "how do we replace" can be answered by looking at 2010 moving to 2011

We lost Patterson, Cousins, Wall, Bledsoe, and Orton

How could we replace that?

Well...start with guards
You couldn't replace Wall and Bledsoe...but we had talented guys come in...Knight and Lamb made up for the scoring...but what we added was the improvement of Miller and Liggins. Liggins provided defense and timely depth we didn't have the year before. Miller became a reliable scorer that could play 3 positions. They added experience...you can't replace those 2 elite guys...but the 2 guys that came in were capable and 2 more experienced players gave us intangibles that made up fully for the losses.

In the post? Well....that one was harder and made the transition different. Kanter going out killed the depth. Jones added a star....but we didn't count on Harrellson. He wasn't a star...but he was experienced...he was strong and gave us what we needed in the post....he wasn't Cousins...but he gave us some things that minimized the damage.



Will we replace PJ and Reid? No...but we have 2 5-star players coming back that will be a year wiser and stronger. A grad transfer who is a 5th year senior and a good ball player.

Keldon? Whitney, Brooks, and Allen...maybe 3 options can give us what we are missing.

Herro? Maxey can be the sscorer....but Hagans, Quickley, and Baker in year 2 can more than make up for anything Maxey can't replace for Tyler.

3 experienced guards
3 experienced post players
4 5 star recruits?

Not to mention if we add another 5 star recruit or Herro stays?!

There won't be a huge roster turnover. New roles to fill...but plenty of talented guys in place so that's not a problem. Hagans will be able to run the team from day 1...won't be learning and won't be behind because he missed the summer, an elite point guard coming back who knows the offense. The chemistry of returning guys will be in place...they will be able to mentor the younger guys.

Last year at the end, we had 3 freshman guard/wings starting and 2 freshman coming off the bench to give them a break...we had an experienced front court...but the guards were young and none of them were an elite guy to make up for youth (Fox, Wall, etc.) You'll have experience in the front and back court now.

 

[Bluegrassking]

Almost every season is a box of chocolates. We could be better even if it is a mess on paper or it could be a Ulis/Murray scenario, could dominate all year, could flirt with the bubble.

If Herro or Johnson or by some strange magic Washington (much less any AND in there) comes back then we will likely be definitely on track.

Especially assuming Hagans returns as I'm semi assuming because the jump from freshman to sophomore ought make him a bit of a force if he is focused on his game and leading the team.

Adding any of those experienced guys that can put a ball through a hoop with Quickley developing along with Maxey and the guys coming in could be really tough to stop and devastating on the break.

 

[Bluegrassking]

Saying that Tyrese Maxey is going to be a better freshman than Tyler Herro is completely conjecture at this point. Tyler Herro was very good.

Agreed and I'm as a big a Maxey fan as any. I'm fine with him playing point but I suspect he will be even better off the ball some.

 

[caneintally]

Hagans Maxey Whitney Mcdaniels EJ is just as good of a starting 5. where we would be better is the bench IMO with Quickley Baker Brooks Nate S. and Richards . Allen is the odd man out and he can redshirt maybe . Now if we don't add Mcdaniels then I think we are as good as this season but not better.

 

[BBNinSCar]

I am completely confident that Cal will put together a great team next year. When the dust settles, I believe we will be the preseason #1 team at the time of Madness

 

[JimmyWa11]

It all comes down to whether or not Herro returns.

 

[Blue63Madison]

My goodness we are loaded again!

Were we loaded this year?

 

[JesusCal91]

You guys overrate herro he had a promising but very inconsistent season. His defense is poor and his shooting is streaky. He’s nowhere near an nba player if he leaves he’s hurting Kentucky and hurting himself even more

 

[akaukswoosh]

Maxey is better than Herro and Hagans. He immediately fixes our biggest weakness this season which was a pg who couldn’t shoot and aloud teams to double down on our bigs. He is a really good shooter. If our starting Guards are Maxey and Quickley and our 3 is either Brooks or Whitney when Nate is on the court we will have 4 guys on the floor who can kill teams from deep. If you sag off us. Opens up that inside alot

Agree. Maxey could be a huge step up.
Too early to write off next year's team. 2018 Texas Tech team lost five seniors, and a freshman stud to the NBA, added two grad transfers and is much better this year than last.

 

[akaukswoosh]

You guys overrate herro he had a promising but very inconsistent season. His defense is poor and his shooting is streaky. He’s nowhere near an nba player if he leaves he’s hurting Kentucky and hurting himself even more

Agree and made three 3-pointers over FOUR NCAA games.