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End of Season speculation

J

JonathanW2

Senior
Aug 6, 2025
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Still have 7 tough games to go, then a loaded SEC-T, before the NCAA-T. We could enter that anywhere from a 10-seed to a 4-seed.
This team can beat anyone, and can be beat by anyone.
Our shooting has gotten better, and is "ok". Yes 34.5% from 3 is "blah", but take away the 2 who won't play again, the 2 walkons, and the 3 who should not shoot 3's, and you have left Jelavic, Chandler, Oweh, Aberdeen, Noah and Johnson, and those 6 are making 37.0%, which is pretty decent.
Yes Oweh's FT shooting has been BAD the last few games, but we know he is a better FT shooter than that. 40 of our 9 make 80+%, Oweh should be in mid-upper 70's, and 2 others are upper 60's. Jelavic IDK what is up with his 42% (limited, 12, attempts though).
Pope clearly has shown he is good at making halftime changes! And he has also shown to be good at making good out of bounds plays or good plays out of a timeout.
But most importantly, this team has shown the past month the strength and will to fight and not give up, and make pressure plays at the end of games. And those things will be KEY come tournament time!!!
 
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U

UKCowboys

All-American
Oct 14, 2019
3,324
5,605
113
We are a good, scrappy, college basketball team. Pope has done a great job of absorbing the loss of his best pure PG, one of his best 3 point threats and his most athletic big man and got these kids to buy into specific roles. DA has embraced playing PG and I think that will help him make an NBA roster. Chandler has stepped up as one of the stars of the team instead of a role player. BG has accepted coming off the bench and is playing his best ball. We have a gutty bunch, but certain matchups are going be bad news for us. The draw will mean it all
 
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FLBBNFAN

FLBBNFAN

All-Conference
Mar 25, 2025
689
1,334
93
UKCowboys said:
We are a good, scrappy, college basketball team. Pope has done a great job of absorbing the loss of his best pure PG, one of his best 3 point threats and his most athletic big man and got these kids to buy into specific roles. DA has embraced playing PG and I think that will help him make an NBA roster. Chandler has stepped up as one of the stars of the team instead of a role player. BG has accepted coming off the bench and is playing his best ball. We have a gutty bunch, but certain matchups are going be bad news for us. The draw will mean it all
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Pope definitely needs to get credit for the job he has done over the last 4-5 weeks. It would have been easy to throw in the towel after Missouri but he kept grinding and the team is locked in as far as playing together and fighting.

The criticism has been warranted for some of our deficiencies but you have to give credit for the turn around and things the team has done right.
 
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K

KyKevin

All-Conference
Dec 28, 2021
1,594
2,416
113
I really feel like this team has a lot of talent, and some toughness about them. I think toughness is Oweh's ticket to the NBA, it's not shooting. MoD is one of those scrappy tough guys, that can't shoot for s.hit, but you have to play. And Garrison has shown he can play tough ball, these last games. Shooting will keep getting better, and we will keep improving.
Go cats
 
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FLBBNFAN

FLBBNFAN

All-Conference
Mar 25, 2025
689
1,334
93
Monday Nitro said:
It takes time. Pope is moulding UK into "the place to be" again. The petulant "gimme gimme gimme right away or I can't be bothered with you" needs to be exorcised out of this fanbase.
Click to expand...
I think he's more interested in the portal versus hs recruits. Just my opinion given he doesn't seem to concerned on that front.

I also think he's going to try and keep a lot of the current guys here and then go after 2-3 top portal guys.
 
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Dead Cat Bounce

Dead Cat Bounce

All-Conference
Jan 8, 2003
2,745
4,834
113
Assuming the current roster stays healthy, our post-season performance will come down to mentality and matchups. Anything less than the sweet sixteen would be kind of disappointing, both from the perspective of this team’s capabilities and Kentucky’s standards. Beyond the sweet sixteen would feel like reaching this roster’s full potential or overachieving.

I presume Pope will get a third year, and I’d certainly like to see development, on his part, with sounder roster construction, consistent engagement and toughness from his team earlier in the season, and an overall higher wining percentage.
 
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Monday Nitro

Monday Nitro

All-American
Jul 3, 2025
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FLBBNFAN said:
I think he's more interested in the portal versus hs recruits. Just my opinion given he doesn't seem to concerned on that front.

I also think he's going to try and keep a lot of the current guys here and then go after 2-3 top portal guys.
Click to expand...
I want him to focus on the portal. You get to see a guy and get a proven product. Sprinkle in a Freshman or two. LOL at those that hated Freshman and now are mad that were are missing on one-and-dones.
 
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NociHTTP

NociHTTP

Heisman
Mar 8, 2023
12,158
19,065
113
Dead Cat Bounce said:
Assuming the current roster stays healthy, our post-season performance will come down to mentality and matchups. Anything less than the sweet sixteen would be kind of disappointing, both from the perspective of this team’s capabilities and Kentucky’s standards. Beyond the sweet sixteen would feel like reaching this roster’s full potential or overachieving.

I presume Pope will get a third year, and I’d certainly like to see development, on his part, with sounder roster construction, consistent engagement and toughness from his team earlier in the season, and an overall higher wining percentage.
Click to expand...
bobby moynihan snl GIF by Saturday Night Live
 
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UKGrad24

UKGrad24

All-American
Apr 2, 2024
2,808
6,779
100
Pope is definitely getting a 3rd year, no question and he should get that. If recruiting goes south again and he cannot land top players you almost have to move on and they probably will. He had #9 this year by not recruiting Lowe and not recruiting JQ and putting that money into Caleb Wilson. Can’t make these mistakes, now he’s having trouble pulling those guys because of it. You absolutely cannot go all portal that’s an excuse and it won’t win. You need both, not Calipari, not too far in the opposite direction. both. It’s always been a mix you need.

Top 10, win the league, final four (no worse than elite 8), by year 3 at Kentucky with these resources is expected here. If he falls well short of this he might still get a 4th year if he’s close, but if it continues to not happen then he’s he’s got to go. We are in serious droughts, you can’t keep a coach right now that can’t get it done. This isn’t 1992 where it takes 5 years to turn things around we pay millions for rosters. There should be 100% agreement across the board with this post. Mark himself will tell you he’s missing the assignment by not accomplishing this. There’s too many coaches who can come in and win than to continue to downside.

Mark needs to also keep the boosters happy, and not allow Mitch to do anything with the money except basketball and roster construction. There’s a reason I’m saying it. Lock the guy away as Calipari did or it’s going to make it harder on you.
 
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T

theKybluedude

All-Conference
Jul 2, 2025
628
1,450
93
JonathanW2 said:
Still have 7 tough games to go, then a loaded SEC-T, before the NCAA-T. We could enter that anywhere from a 10-seed to a 4-seed.
This team can beat anyone, and can be beat by anyone.
Our shooting has gotten better, and is "ok". Yes 34.5% from 3 is "blah", but take away the 2 who won't play again, the 2 walkons, and the 3 who should not shoot 3's, and you have left Jelavic, Chandler, Oweh, Aberdeen, Noah and Johnson, and those 6 are making 37.0%, which is pretty decent.
Yes Oweh's FT shooting has been BAD the last few games, but we know he is a better FT shooter than that. 40 of our 9 make 80+%, Oweh should be in mid-upper 70's, and 2 others are upper 60's. Jelavic IDK what is up with his 42% (limited, 12, attempts though).
Pope clearly has shown he is good at making halftime changes! And he has also shown to be good at making good out of bounds plays or good plays out of a timeout.
But most importantly, this team has shown the past month the strength and will to fight and not give up, and make pressure plays at the end of games. And those things will be KEY come tournament time!!!
Click to expand...
Oweh’s ft misses seem to always be short hitting on front of the rim. That seems fixable if you just get it to the back of the rim
 
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*Fox2Monk*

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
44,707
80,488
113
Dead Cat Bounce said:
Assuming the current roster stays healthy, our post-season performance will come down to mentality and matchups. Anything less than the sweet sixteen would be kind of disappointing, both from the perspective of this team’s capabilities and Kentucky’s standards. Beyond the sweet sixteen would feel like reaching this roster’s full potential or overachieving.

I presume Pope will get a third year, and I’d certainly like to see development, on his part, with sounder roster construction, consistent engagement and toughness from his team earlier in the season, and an overall higher wining percentage.
Click to expand...
Consistent 40 minute basketball would be nice.
 
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T

TheAssignment9

All-Conference
Apr 8, 2024
536
1,241
93
FLBBNFAN said:
I think he's more interested in the portal versus hs recruits. Just my opinion given he doesn't seem to concerned on that front.

I also think he's going to try and keep a lot of the current guys here and then go after 2-3 top portal guys.
Click to expand...

Just being honest, you can’t plan to keep too many of these guys if you want us to be serious contenders a year from now.

I would keep Kam, Chandler, Moreno for sure.

Jasper I’d probably be fine with going considering what he’ll probably cost vs. the production we’d get in return as a sophomore.

Say bye to Lowe, Garrison, and probably Dioubate unless you can get him to buy into another year of an off-the-bench energy guy.

And then go get 3 absolute STUDS in the portal (I’m talking guys who can go win you games in a big way) and fill the rest of the roster with defense, shooting and rebounding guys.
 
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MichaelGray

MichaelGray

All-Conference
Jan 13, 2026
709
1,003
93
Drogon said:
A player Id like to see us make a run at if he becomes available in the portal is Decker Jr from Liberty.
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There was a guard that plays for VCU that lit up Dayton last Friday night, not sure how many seasons he has left though? He's fast & can create & shoot. I'm thinking his last name is Tracey?
 
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TFCat11

TFCat11

Heisman
Mar 25, 2019
5,745
10,074
108
Considering the good, bad, and indifferent, I’d still like to see a semifinal or finals game in the SEC-T, and another S16 in the NCAA-T. Several weeks ago, I didn’t believe either was a possibility!

Next season however, Pope needs to make major strides in getting UK back to where it belongs, and he’s already starting out in a hole with no Stokes, Collins, Smith Jr., or Holt, to build around!
 
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M

megablue

Heisman
Oct 2, 2012
15,515
15,552
113
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FLBBNFAN

FLBBNFAN

All-Conference
Mar 25, 2025
689
1,334
93
TheAssignment9 said:
Just being honest, you can’t plan to keep too many of these guys if you want us to be serious contenders a year from now.

I would keep Kam, Chandler, Moreno for sure.

Jasper I’d probably be fine with going considering what he’ll probably cost vs. the production we’d get in return as a sophomore.

Say bye to Lowe, Garrison, and probably Dioubate unless you can get him to buy into another year of an off-the-bench energy guy.

And then go get 3 absolute STUDS in the portal (I’m talking guys who can go win you games in a big way) and fill the rest of the roster with defense, shooting and rebounding guys.
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I agree we need a couple of really good players added during the portal. I do think Moreno, Chandler and William's could be studs themselves next year and perhaps Johnson. I do wish we had a couple of elite freshmen coming in next year but Pope doesn't seem to be very concerned about high school recruits unless he got something up his sleeve and is just being coy.
 
W

Wildcat_in_DC

Senior
Nov 25, 2025
653
888
93
appreciate what pope has done given the circumstances and you see glimpses of what could be. after 2 seasons he is going to have around 25 losses. getting a 5 or a 6 seed in the NCAAT isnt getting the job done unless you manage your way to an elite 8.

next year will need be a critical year for pope and it looks like its going to 100% depend on retaining key players as well has killing it in the portal, bringing in about 3 guys that are complete studs.
 
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T

The_Answer1313_rivals

Heisman
May 27, 2007
31,887
24,978
113
It's not realistic to think we will be in the conversation year in year out. We weren't under Cal either. But this will have been two years we weren't close. U can't keep having years like this.

While I appreciate this team for what it is............a scrappy bunch of players that continue to fight.........Pope needs some major major talent boosts here.
 
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*Fox2Monk*

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
44,707
80,488
113
TheAssignment9 said:
Just being honest, you can’t plan to keep too many of these guys if you want us to be serious contenders a year from now.

I would keep Kam, Chandler, Moreno for sure.

Jasper I’d probably be fine with going considering what he’ll probably cost vs. the production we’d get in return as a sophomore.

Say bye to Lowe, Garrison, and probably Dioubate unless you can get him to buy into another year of an off-the-bench energy guy.

And then go get 3 absolute STUDS in the portal (I’m talking guys who can go win you games in a big way) and fill the rest of the roster with defense, shooting and rebounding guys.
Click to expand...
This! I’d like to spend the kinda money we did this year and grab 4 high level players with the 3 you wanna keep. If someone like Mo/Lowe want to stick around for a discount and be bench players fine. Always good to have returnees who can fill a role.
 
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theBlues

theBlues

All-Conference
Oct 18, 2025
1,357
3,035
113
TheAssignment9 said:
Just being honest, you can’t plan to keep too many of these guys if you want us to be serious contenders a year from now.

I would keep Kam, Chandler, Moreno for sure.

Jasper I’d probably be fine with going considering what he’ll probably cost vs. the production we’d get in return as a sophomore.

Say bye to Lowe, Garrison, and probably Dioubate unless you can get him to buy into another year of an off-the-bench energy guy.

And then go get 3 absolute STUDS in the portal (I’m talking guys who can go win you games in a big way) and fill the rest of the roster with defense, shooting and rebounding guys.
Click to expand...
I don't disagree much; I might keep Lowe if we got another point at least as good just in case. I'd definitely keep AJ; I can see him taking a big jump next year. Noah, Hawthorne, and Potter won't cost much to keep so there's no reason to run any of them off. I think Noah would be well served by a redshirt year next season. I think Jasper comes down to money; I could see him taking a big jump next year but if he puts his name in the portal he might get some offers we probably shouldn't match.
 
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T

TheAssignment9

All-Conference
Apr 8, 2024
536
1,241
93
theBlues said:
I don't disagree much; I might keep Lowe if we got another point at least as good just in case. I'd definitely keep AJ; I can see him taking a big jump next year. Noah, Hawthorne, and Potter won't cost much to keep so there's no reason to run any of them off. I think Noah would be well served by a redshirt year next season. I think Jasper comes down to money; I could see him taking a big jump next year but if he puts his name in the portal he might get some offers we probably shouldn't match.
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I agree on Jelavic. Think he could be very good next year.

Hawthorne won't play next year if we want to have the kind of year we expect.

Noah would love to have back only because I think he is the perfect 9th or 10th man who plays super hard and can make shots. He could have a Derek Willis type growth by the time he is done.

But man oh man we need to bring in some top talent. We can't let hardly any of these current guys scare anyone off. If we can go get a top-notch SF in the portal, it might mean saying bye to Kam Williams, and that needs to be okay.

We gotta take emotion out of it and say bye if necessary.
 
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katwest

katwest

Heisman
Feb 16, 2003
39,834
13,689
113
Well it does bother me that we haven’t signed anybody yet and there has to be a reason, I’d like to know why too,obviously kids are and have been picking schools for money and the coaches and other perks we don’t know about. Because schools with not near the tradition with winning or the fanfare Kentucky has are getting better players. Some of it has to be the character of these kids, you know the ones that have been praised and wanted for nothing most of their lives. Those are the kind of kids that don’t want to work for things. Not all of them are like that but a lot are.
 
G

Goingfor9

All-Conference
Jan 27, 2003
16,041
2,814
113
Monday Nitro said:
It takes time. Pope is moulding UK into "the place to be" again. The petulant "gimme gimme gimme right away or I can't be bothered with you" needs to be exorcised out of this fanbase.
Click to expand...

The low expectations are what need to be exorcised out. Nothing has changed. No one is clamoring to play for pope. These things don’t take years. We’ve gone on a little run but the measure of this season will be in the tournament. Mark pope is the one who built the right away expectations when he compared his team to a Ferrari. What you see as microwave fans is actually apathy. A lot of damage has been done and even thought there has been some recent winning a lot of fans have tuned out and stay tuned out. And it’s not just losing.
 
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Monday Nitro

Monday Nitro

All-American
Jul 3, 2025
4,034
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Goingfor9 said:
The low expectations are what need to be exorcised out. Nothing has changed. No one is clamoring to play for pope. These things don’t take years. We’ve gone on a little run but the measure of this season will be in the tournament. Mark pope is the one who built the right away expectations when he compared his team to a Ferrari. What you see as microwave fans is actually apathy. A lot of damage has been done and even thought there has been some recent winning a lot of fans have tuned out and stay tuned out. And it’s not just losing.
Click to expand...
You’re goal here for years has been to make people as miserable as you (or you aren’t even a UK fan). Your act doesn’t work on me. Yawn.
 
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