Year 2 has just been such a huge step backwards, after there was some reason for optimism after Year 1.
Braden Hawthorne Returning
- Thread starter TheResistance
- Start date
Does he not practice with the team? I would say that’s a huge advantage to someone just coming into the system.Let’s pump the brakes fellow Wildcats fans, this guy is coming off a Red Shirt, meaning, he’s going to be raw as raw can get, so don’t expect much more than what Johnson (stats wise) or Noah put up for numbers.
Also, barring a complete surprise, if Pope is relying on BH for more than 8-10 minutes per game next season, UK will be in even more trouble than I initially expected.
With all of that, I’m excited to hear this news
I think the fuse for a coach is shorter now with NIL for sure. Before coaches would get a few years to build a program but not anymore. Duke certainly seems to reload with new guys every year and they have success.
It’s actually being factual.
He was close to a five star when we first got him, he was just skinny. Evidently he’s gained about 20 pounds. If he can gain about 15 more pounds and add some muscle over the summer, he could be a special first year player. He knows the system and that’s leagues above a fresh newcomer.
Nothing to do with Noah . He is so skiny he would of died and he refused to gain muscle for this season
Duke returns a lot more guys than people think. Last year was an exception. This year's Duke team has it all.
So you have no reason to believe that Pope is doing the right thing by wanting returners it’s just how you feel? Talent is what Popes teams have never had. Has nothing to do with returners unless they are talented.
duke returned isiah evans and everyone saw how he was going to be
I don't understand your question. You have to have talent and continuity, it's not an either/or. But talent comes in many forms. Do I think Pope had enough talent to win most of these games we lost? Yes I do. Do I think we missed on some guys and had less talent than top end teams? Yes I do.
As much as I agree Pope will never be an elite coach and is in way over his head, I actually think he pulls in a good class this year and has his best team next season. I’m as ready for a change as anyone but next season I think we end up being good.
I watched Hawthorne in warmups on Saturday and he has a decent stroke for a 6’9 guy. Release point is much higher than Kam Williams. Yes, he’s thin but my guess is Thomas Haugh wasn’t any bigger at the same age. Not saying BH will turn into Haugh but you have to start somewhere.
You dismiss Michigan because they don’t fit the narrative on needing returnees. The reason Duke, Florida, UConn are good is because the got actual talented guys in the portal and returned first round talent. We have no first round talent to return so focusing on returning these role players isn’t going to work.
Too low on the depth chart.
Too thin to bang with grown men in the SEC.
He wasn't going to fix what ails this team. Not this year, anyways.
It isn't a narrative, it is math. And nothing I said was related to Kentucky. I'm sure you really don't care why I think we stink, so I'll leave the Cats out of this one.
And, like I said, despite you coming in hot, I WANT Michigan to win. You'd act like I said I hope the Wolverines lose so that Duke can win. I'm all for May getting one rather than Hurley or Scheyer --- I just don't think they have what it takes.
I believe in having some continuity as well. Just saying times are different where coaches would get 3-5 years to build. I definitely dont want the OAD method back because we all know that sysytem doesn't hang banners either.
I don’t care what you want to happen, it’s irrelevant. Saying Pope is right in wanting returners based on what a few teams are doing when it isn’t anything near what Pope is doing is disingenuous. And no it is this weird narrative that you have tried to push for months now. Your “research” of how teams with top 5 recruiting classes don’t make the final four or whatever it was is nonsense. But then when you were confronted about the top 10 it became another story.
Simple fact of all of it is that without talent whether freshman, senior, transfer, redshirt, G league, you aren’t going to win. Who is the highest rated recruit to ever play for Pope? To my knowledge that’s Jasper Johnson. How’s that going?
Ha love It brother it is because literally he has no one signed and no clue who is back.
Not worth arguing over. Especially when you assume my motive for me. If you already know my thoughts better than me, no need to discuss anything right? Go Cats!
Welp. No matter what else happens at least we’re returning 0% of our scoring with this guy.
Figures! I’m sure we’ll do great with your method of not needing or wanting talent.
Here’s my question, Hawthorne looked great in blue and white scrimmage.
I dont know why he hasn’t already started playing with all the injuries unless if he just sucks in practice or is Pope really that dumb to save his red shirt. Or is Pope trying to make Kentucky a place where some players can come and red shirt for an extra paycheck in case you can’t make the nba?
I dont know why he hasn’t already started playing with all the injuries unless if he just sucks in practice or is Pope really that dumb to save his red shirt. Or is Pope trying to make Kentucky a place where some players can come and red shirt for an extra paycheck in case you can’t make the nba?
That's literally not what I believe or want, dude. But I can't see a point in arguing when you have no idea what you're arguing against. You think I'm of the mind that Youngstown State can win the title with a bunch of talentless seniors that stay in the program? Sheesh, man. Btw my roster case study is still up on this site --- I misspoke about it being 10 years but you can clearly click right into it and see it says 5 years right at the very top of it. I never try to be disingenuous at all. Even to a fault on this stuff. But what I do is make errors because I'm a human --- I'll be wrong about things and say the wrong words and quote the wrong quotes, etc because I don't hang the moon lol. I'm just a dude who likes to talk ball and people like you take me having an opinion as a personal insult, even though, to my knowledge I've never had a single bad word to say about you. And still won't.
If he is not a "likely" early-NBA entrant (meaning will likely play college 4 years), then it may have been in his best interest to have a redshirt year to get stronger and just bigger. I can see a team not wanting to give a player that redshirt year, for fear of him not returning the next year. Good to see Hawthorne rewarding that good-faith effort made to him by returning.
It’s simply insane to say top 5 talent isn’t good but if you expand those results to top 10 it’s a different story. It’s almost like top 5 is way too narrow to properly evaluate what talent does to a team. Doesn’t really matter I guess since the guy we have in charge can’t get either.
My post and study had nothing to do with top 5 talent versus top 10 talent. It was noting that no team with a top 5 high school class won the title that year. The point isn't that you don't want talent --- the point is each of those teams had all kinds of different talent. Would anyone think Ochai Agbaji or Walter Clayton Jr are untalented? No, obviously they have a lot of talent. Neither were top-end NBA guys and neither were on anyone's radar in high school, but they were talented. What I'll do, man --- if you want to debunk my study, I'm all for it. But it sounds like you have literally no idea what in the world the study was even about or what it was saying. I'll find you a link and let you debunk it if you want to. Or don't. Man, I'm good with you having whatever opinion you want. I'm on a different path --- and I feel like I earned that.
https://www.on3.com/boards/threads/...hopes-rivals-ranking-ten-year-survey.8454718/
Like I said your “study” is way too narrow. When you expand that exact same study to top 10 classes all of a sudden it holds no water. Also national champion being the only barometer for success is silly. How about final four teams, or even elite eight, reaching either of those gives you a chance to win a title and that’s all our fans ask for. Some media act like if we don’t win a title it’s a bust and that’s not true.
I agree with you on the Final Four part. That's why I have every starter from every Final Four analyzed as well. I just didn't post it here. I'll be posting it on KSR+ soon and it's still the same results. I stopped posting my work on here because a bunch of people with free accounts with no investment whatsoever dump all over it and want to argue in circles rather than having meaningful discussion. I find people who are willing to pay are a little more invested in discovery. Either way, there was a time I was a lot more hardened and arrogant about my opinion on this one, but I've tried to be better about understanding where others are coming from. I 100% believe I am right, but I also think there is alot I still have to learn about the topic and I'm good with whatever opinion anyone wants to have as long as I'm allowed to have mine.
Remember the contributions of Cameron Mills his senior year. We do not win it all without his key goal
Michigan vs Florida would be a great game. I would have gone with Michigan early in the season, but I think I would go with Florida now. March madness fixing to start
I’ll wait till October to see if hrs on the roster… we have heard this before and I wouldn’t expect him to say anything different
Sharpe joined UK in January of 2022 and told Cal he would play in 22-23. What was Cal going to do? Throw him off the team? How would that be used in the recruiting circles? Sharpe’s handlers would say their player wasn’t ready and Cal was forcing him to play and then dismissed him. Sharpe had all the cards and his camp told Cal all along that he was returning the next year.
This^ The folks citing Hurley's slow start at UCONN are being disingenuous. Before NIL the only way a coach could rebuild quickly from scratch was to bring a bunch of players with him or bring in a bunch of top freshman. In this era a coach going downhill in the second year means he is either going to be a failure or it's an abberation caused by other factors. We need to hope it's the latter...
Big news. A good forward Pope play a maximum of 18 minutes per game because of fatigue and analytics
I can’t say. I haven’t seen Hawthorne play. It’s crazy to think tho. Why did he redshirt and Noah didn’t. If he’s better than Noah and didn’t play this year that’s a little confusing.
Either way.. Noah should be playing for South Carolina so I could care less. They both aren’t UK level.