We would have no doubt been better
Would we be good enough to have justified our pre season ranking tho? I'm not sure.
Would we be good enough to have justified our pre season ranking tho? I'm not sure.
Where would this team be with 3 injured starters?
- Thread starter MdWIldcat55
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Come on man. You know better than this. Pope did not "run off" Acaden. Lewis chose to leave rather than compete. An experienced point guard was not a reach when assembling the team to go along with a high school prospect.
It is dishonest to state it the way that you did.
He is basically saying he will stand by Pope sucks no matter how well we are playingLmao so Arkansas and Tennessee aren’t good teams?! That’s quite the statement. Incorrect statement, but a statement I reckon.
Absolute comedy to me that we are better off with Jasper, Noah and Jelly playing minutes that could be Lowe, Kam and JQ. I thought we were supposed to be a smart fanbase
Well at this moment they are way better than the injured players
Jk I see you’re still holding it down Cowboy
Gotcha buddy. Yeah, this is under the caveat that Pope would have still reduced the roster. But I think we are at least 19-5 healthy, ranked 13-14. I certainly take that into account when I judge how the season turns out. But its always the same...we win 7 of 8 so the Fire Pope Now crowd can't point to the job he is doing coaching, so instead we have 9513 new threads about how poorly we are recruiting....while pretending the transfer portal isn't recruiting also lol. I get the folks turning on Cal after years of things getting more contentious between Cal and the fanbase, but I am surprised at how quickly the base turned on a guy doing a really good jobWell at this moment they are way better than the injured players
Jk I see you’re still holding it down Cowboy
The roster as a whole would probably be different if JQ were healthy the whole season. We’d likely have one less front court player.
I was the one who started the step down thread. Kept bumping it. I no longer have any worries with Pope. He can coach. His intentions are pure. I’m not live or die by every game results. This is his program right now. I trust him to keep gaining momentum each year. Recruiting will get worked out. It’s impossible it doesn’t at a place like UK. He will win and win big before it’s all said and done.
Absolutely no more worries with Pope even if this year ends ugly: I feel a magical run about to happen this March. Pope is the right guy. I can’t do anything but respect the fight I’ve seen in that man this year.
Talk about having the weight of the world on your shoulders and having the choice to fold or rise up. Pope did the latter. Knowing how bad he wants it not for himself but for BBN I am willing to give him time to get his system rolling unless something crazy happens and he just completely stops winning games. These struggles this year showed us who he is. Hes our guy. Give him time. And there’s not a bit of sarcasm in any of this. This is 100% how I feel.
Anyone that doesn't want to see Jaland Lowe play anymore for Kentucky needs to go back and watch the impact he had on the IU game with the bum shoulder.
Kid's got heart and soul and PLENTY of talent.
Damn shame we didn't have him 100% this year.
Kid's got heart and soul and PLENTY of talent.
Damn shame we didn't have him 100% this year.
We’d be a top 6-7 ranked team with maybe two losses. Maybe higher! Probably gelling about now looking unstoppable. This is an unbelievable story what these current guys are doing and I’m proud as I can be, but heck yes we’re a lot better with those three guys playing all year. That’s why we recruited them to come here. We got to roll with what we got now so let’s go Cats.
I’m pretty sure Acaden’s father said if you recruit Lowe, then we aren’t coming. Should have stuck with Lewis he’s a much better PG and was committed from the freshman class, would have helped Mark in that regard.
I still do not know what he saw in Lowe. Poor defensively, volume shooting guard with low %. It was a bad move and it’s costing us.
We’ll see what Mark does for the roster next season. I 100% do not want Lowe unless he accepts a backup role.
Wrong, wrong and wrong again
Lowe was way overrated - no defense, not a good shooter, not an assist first guy at all, he’s a left hand driver, one trick pony
Everybody can have an opinion. Thanks for sharing. I'll take it under advisement. In the meantime, have yours I'll have mine. Coach Pitino might disagree with you too. JUST FYI
I agree that Lowe has all kinds of ability. Great ball-handler and passer who sees things unfolding well. But in my opinion he has to accept being a facilitator (pass 1st PG). Lowe can’t be allowed to be a volume shooter at UK, and this includes driving - just because he can get to the rim against almost anybody doesn’t mean he should force that because once he gets to the rim he often meets opposition leading to a tough missed shot. On lower volume, however, taking those really good open looks (e.g., kick outs) I think he’ll shoot the 3pt. shot pretty well.
Still, with his injury history now UK can’t go into the season with him as the only PG expected to be good enough to start.
I actually think this team would have a worse record right now if we had the 3 guys for one no one knew their role for another DA was a non factor when Lowe was in and out of the lineup.
If we only lost Lowe I think this team is better but he just wasn't cutting it trying to play through injury and the rest of the team had no clue how to play with him.
If we only lost Lowe I think this team is better but he just wasn't cutting it trying to play through injury and the rest of the team had no clue how to play with him.
So ridiculous that you think you know more than Pope about the kids coming in. He wouldn't give Lewis a Cal playing tine guarantee so he left. Good riddance
Wrong, wrong and wrong again
Lowe was way overrated - no defense, not a good shooter, not an assist first guy at all, he’s a left hand driver, one trick pony
JQ had the bigger effect in St John game by shutting down their big guy, Lowe was a major disappointment this season, many college BB insiders knew so, Acadian Lewis is twice the player that Lowe is
I think we were 9th in the preseason AP.
Kenpom had us higher than any other outlet. I think most prognostications had us in the 10-15 range. That's 3-4 seed range.
A 4 seed isn't out of the realm of possibility for this team.
To me, when Lowe played, it seemed like they all just stood around & waited for him to make a play, excluding the one player setting a screen for him. Maybe back then it was because everything was out of whack, the rotations, the roles etc etc.? They're playing as a team now & everyone knows their role it seems, I'd still love to have Kam back though, not so sure JQ would even help us much at this point, he's more than likely shut down for the season anyways.
If Pope is dumb enough to bring Lowe back and have him be the starting pg again then I’d prefer he just go ahead and quit after this season. Bringing him back and putting your “make or break” season on Lowe’s (bad )shoulders will end up getting him fired anyway.
Based on performance, JJ would probably be a better bet as a starting PG next year over Lowe if roster choices come down to Lowe vs. JJ.
Lowe has been hampered by injury, which matters, but JJ has proven to be a better shooter than Lowe in any point of his career and just as effective at getting assists. JJ's biggest weakness is his propensity for turnovers, and that's something that improves with experience.
There can be space for both, but if it were an either or situation, I'd go with JJ.
Couldn’t be more right here. Can’t believe how many want a rerun during Popes biggest season on a guy who’s a high volume shooting PG who isn’t a good shooter and has a bad shoulder.
You can’t complain about injuries when you’re constantly recruiting injured players. Same group that would excuse Calipari’s crap “we’re young!!” Yes, and he knew that when he recruited them lol.
Even the field of 68 guys all say, don’t go with Lowe. They didn’t understand it when he recruited him either. And to run off Lewis over it? Just really bad moves from Mark. It’s gonna get him if he doesn’t get some control over these decisions.
Lowe certainly wasn't the top PG available in the portal by any stretch. There were plenty of players better than him last year.
After seeing how Butler became better in pretty every offensive category under Pope, I was optimistic about Lowe's potential here. Pope's system could smooth out of some of Lowe's rough edges, like it did for Butler. Lowe's decision making improved, but his shooting, believe it or not, got worse. How much is that due to injury? Poor chemistry? Roster flux? Who knows?
Aberdeen, for what it's worth, is much better than he has ever been in his career. Lowe didn't get the same performance boost.
I think this is recruiting in a nut shell. Be it HS or portal, there is risk/reward to bringing in players and expecting immediate positive results. Even if they are highly talented, I think not many consider that meshing with new teammates and learning new roles and systems plays a part. Some grasp it quickly and some take time.
I don’t guess it really matters. Lots of blame to go around when things go bad, but the buck stops with the coach. He hasn’t built up enough equity to survive too many of these.
Williams is ok but Jelly has the better overall game better handle , defender and more consistent with his scoring.
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I pretty much agree with your sentiments on Lowe, but I'm not that impressed with Lewis, either.
To my view, neither is a top-level PG.
Acaden Lewis College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
Acaden Lewis - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more
www.sports-reference.com
Jaland Lowe College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
Jaland Lowe - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more
www.sports-reference.com
Could be wrong here, but I believe if you take Acaden’s last 5-7 games, he’s been really turning it on. He’s really young I don’t think it’s fair to look at his first 15ish games TBH. I watched him a few gen ago and I’d definitely take that.I pretty much agree with your sentiments on Lowe, but I'm not that impressed with Lewis, either.
To my view, neither is a top-level PG.
Acaden Lewis College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
Acaden Lewis - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more
Jaland Lowe College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
Jaland Lowe - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more
Shhh, there isn't much difference when you look at stats, but that goes against some people's belief and anger that Pope should have let the Lewis camp decide who the coach should select as point guard.I pretty much agree with your sentiments on Lowe, but I'm not that impressed with Lewis, either.
To my view, neither is a top-level PG.
Acaden Lewis College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
Acaden Lewis - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more
Jaland Lowe College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
Jaland Lowe - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more
You don't let parents and freshmen to be call the shots.
One is a freshman who’s grown as the year has gone on. He’s been looking good, or did in the few games I saw. I’d be interested to know what his last 5 games have looked like. Maybe I’ll look tomorrow.
Lowe is an upperclassman, he is what he is. He’s also not playing. Acaden is. Safe to say we took the wrong guard.
Lowe isn’t a good shooter, but shoots a lot. His defense is well below the mark. Pope
rolls out with Lowe next season it’s going to be another long year. I wouldn’t risk it, go to the portal and grab a better player. Listening to the field of 68, they aren’t high on Lowe either and even suggested it was a huge miss by Pope. Most here feel the same way. Truth isn’t always in the majority I will grant that, however, thinking Lowe is a great pickup and someone you want to lead Kentucky, is a very small minority opinion. I think most see it for what it is.We are starving for a final four and Mark doesn’t have time to waste. He’s brought in to win immediately (droughts too long). I don’t personally want him risking his job rolling out a guy like Lowe twice (and in Marks 3rd year).
I don't see how anyone can honestly say what kind of player Lowe would have been here this year. He was seriously injured the ENTIRE time he played. He played in pain on sheer guts and still he gets savaged on here. K Time let's throw your shoulder out of socket 2 or 3 times and make you wear a restrictive brace as well, and see how well you perform