Jerry Meyer says UK gets none...
- Thread starter RoyKent
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The only time to take Jerry Meyer seriously is an hour before the announcement, which is an hour and a half after it leaked to everyone.
Yes, we return 3 quality players. Ulis is our future and the best thing we have returning. Poythress is recovering from a serious injury he may or may not fully recover from 'til half way through the season. Lee is limited offensively and is an energy guy that has thrived coming off the bench. Some fans act as if we are returning 3 All-SEC type players. We're not. You honestly believe next years team won't struggle? If so, you're setting yourself up for a huge disappointment.
Jazy.......
We will have a starting 5 that consist of top 25 players.
We will have one of the best bigs in the nation, and probably one of the best 2 guards in the nation if all goes well.
No, I don't think we struggle. As a matter of fact, I'd bet anything you want to bet we will be top 10 or better when the season starts. Everything is relative and I don't think you are looking around.
We will have a starting 5 that consist of top 25 players.
We will have one of the best bigs in the nation, and probably one of the best 2 guards in the nation if all goes well.
No, I don't think we struggle. As a matter of fact, I'd bet anything you want to bet we will be top 10 or better when the season starts. Everything is relative and I don't think you are looking around.
I'm not a troll. Ive been a member here since 1999. How about you? Do you not remember that season? Cal didnt have a loaded roster. He even said as much himself.
As you stated everything is relative. We may very well be ranked Top 10, doesn't mean we don't struggle. Other than a handful of teams who have a lot coming back, we will be competing by year's end assuming we grab a shooter and another big, hopefully one more.
Of course it could be. We can win games very ugly, you know basketball, sometimes teams are missing something, get a few lucky wins and it really shows come tourney time.
KU won their conference. Top 10 all year. 2 seed. Struggled mightily for a blueblood. Right?
Throught the year, KU didn't really struggle to me. I thought they were a borderline top 20-25 team, yet the performed pretty well. If not for that injury, they would have probably been a sweet 16 team.
The standard is not Tittle or nothing, and I know since Cal came on board thats kind of how it is around here. Im cool with that, but finishing below it doesn't mean there was a struggle to be a top team.
Close games are part of college basketball, so I don't consider that struggling either.
I just don't see how a lineup that will probably consist of, what(?), 6 or 7 top 25 players should struggle. If they do, Cal has some issues and I would be the first to say it. You cannot have a roster loaded with 10 burger boys every year. If thats what it takes, I'm just glad cal is a master recruiter.
Next year will be tough no matter who we get. The SEC is going to be really good next year. I know that it's ridiculous to talk about who's making the tournament next year already but Lunardi had 7 SEC teams in the field and 10 in the 1st four and next 4 out.
SC
Not all 5* and classes are equal.
Marcus Lee is a good example and there are many more.
And a team full of athletes with no shooters will have a hard time.
We should have been invincable this year if you are going to only judge teams on paper.
As to Kansas, beat by 32 and by 25 or so by Temple is a struggling to me. They were predicted to do better than they did.
There is a difference to a blue blood, predicted highly team struggling and others.
Not all 5* and classes are equal.
Marcus Lee is a good example and there are many more.
And a team full of athletes with no shooters will have a hard time.
We should have been invincable this year if you are going to only judge teams on paper.
As to Kansas, beat by 32 and by 25 or so by Temple is a struggling to me. They were predicted to do better than they did.
There is a difference to a blue blood, predicted highly team struggling and others.
Maybe Slice leaving helps St. JOHNS and possible Zimmerman didn't like Brisco . Who knows but this is possible.
All the Haters... the Branson Knight team was undermanned but made the F4.
All the Haters... the Branson Knight team was undermanned but made the F4.
It's ok...Jerry is in a new world each day. He moves his picks around so he can brag later on that his percentage on getting it right is high. He calls getting it right when leaks happen the day of a recruit announcing & changing his pick that day. He's awesome!!
Chicken Littles.
Check out this lineup:
C - Skal - projected number 1 pick
F - Poythress - 4th year leader, athlete, defender, etc.
G - Matthews - lockdown wing, finisher
G - Briscoe - Bulldog, future 1st rounder
G- Ulis - best pure point in the country
Bench - Lee, Willis, Hawkins
That's if we actually didn't get anybody else. Why on earth could that team not compete for a Final Four? Lot of woe and misery projection around here for a glass that is way more than half full.
Shooting seems to be a concern, and I get that. But the only one of those guys who has shown an inability to shoot is Lee.
Skal has great touch and range.
Poythress actually shot well from outside early in his career, although Cal likes him attacking.
Matthews, by all accounts, is much improved.
Briscoe is solid.
Ulis is a deadeye.
Willis can fill it up, and Hawkins has improved a great deal from outside as well.
So yeah, if all goes wrong and we miss out on everybody (doubtful), I will be happy as can be with the team we trot out. Can't wait to see what they can do, and my expectations will be pretty high.
Check out this lineup:
C - Skal - projected number 1 pick
F - Poythress - 4th year leader, athlete, defender, etc.
G - Matthews - lockdown wing, finisher
G - Briscoe - Bulldog, future 1st rounder
G- Ulis - best pure point in the country
Bench - Lee, Willis, Hawkins
That's if we actually didn't get anybody else. Why on earth could that team not compete for a Final Four? Lot of woe and misery projection around here for a glass that is way more than half full.
Shooting seems to be a concern, and I get that. But the only one of those guys who has shown an inability to shoot is Lee.
Skal has great touch and range.
Poythress actually shot well from outside early in his career, although Cal likes him attacking.
Matthews, by all accounts, is much improved.
Briscoe is solid.
Ulis is a deadeye.
Willis can fill it up, and Hawkins has improved a great deal from outside as well.
So yeah, if all goes wrong and we miss out on everybody (doubtful), I will be happy as can be with the team we trot out. Can't wait to see what they can do, and my expectations will be pretty high.
I really don't let Jerry Meyer and his Crystal ball get me worked up when predicting recruiting with his Crystal Ball. If you go back over the last 3 years of Cal's recruiting and start with the big class that had Harrison's Twins going to MD. He had Lee staying out West, Randle to Kansas or Texas, Young to Mich State. Then he Booker to Mizz, He had Noel going elsewhere, His picks are not usually to UK! He did have Blackmon to Kentucky and you saw where that got us. I still say on most of these Top Recruits and this was the most that had waited till after the season that was in the Top 20(9 or 10 Five-Star Players). Most of them we all know was wanting to see who and how many of the UK Players were leaving for the NBA. Duke also had 3 players likely to go to the NBA so I would say these 9 or 10 5* players were waiting to see who would leave UK, Duke, and probably Arizona since they will end up losing 3 or 4 to the NBA. In that 9 or 10 group of players waiting we know 1/2 of them was waiting on the UK Players. That is why I believe we sign 2 or 3 more from this group of players. The most I have heard is Newman, Zimmerman, and possibly 1 more. If all these players were ending up at other schools then they could have went on and committed to these schools and they would had this process over. We know how good Cal is recruiting in these 6 years and I am sure we will get 2 or 3 of these players.
"Why on earth could that team not compete for a Final Four?"
Skal could very well meet expectations.
Will Poythress play to his potential? Will he be consistent? Can he dribble now? Has his shot come back?
Mathews, not sure any of us have seen enough of him yet. Seems like a quality player with great potential on defense.
Brisoce, a PG playing SG. We did that with Bledsoe, but Tyler is no John Wall.
Tyler may be a deadeye, but is a low volume scorer.
Lee a sub with zero offense.
Hawkins cannot run the point on offense and is 90% a defender only.
Willis hasn't filled it up yet. 28% career 3pt shooter and only a 37% FG shooter.
We would need every current player to really improve their game and every recruit to come in and play at a very high level. That could be asking too much as it rarely happens. If anyone can get it out of them I hoping it's Cal.
I would assume that Ulis would improve, but give me the same Ulis and I'm fine.
Ditto for Poythress. Give me the Poy who helped us get to the final game in 2014 and I'm golden.
Hawkins doesn't need to run the point, just sub in beside Briscoe or Ulis at times.
Hopefully Lee will be better, but his energy off the bench will be fine.
Willis improving would help. And I think everybody knows that the kid can shoot it. Quoting stats for a guy who has rarely played isn't very useful.
And why would we expect the freshmen to do anything but perform?
We had the top (or 2nd best) post freshman in Cousins, Davis, Nerlens, and Towns. Based on Cal's track record, why should we expect less from Skal?
I think a lot of you guys are missing the boat on what we have already.
Ditto for Poythress. Give me the Poy who helped us get to the final game in 2014 and I'm golden.
Hawkins doesn't need to run the point, just sub in beside Briscoe or Ulis at times.
Hopefully Lee will be better, but his energy off the bench will be fine.
Willis improving would help. And I think everybody knows that the kid can shoot it. Quoting stats for a guy who has rarely played isn't very useful.
And why would we expect the freshmen to do anything but perform?
We had the top (or 2nd best) post freshman in Cousins, Davis, Nerlens, and Towns. Based on Cal's track record, why should we expect less from Skal?
I think a lot of you guys are missing the boat on what we have already.
Meyer is one of the worst recruiting "gurus" out there.
I'm glad UK is going to sign all the top remaining prospects. (I take what Jerry says and do the opposite)
I'm glad UK is going to sign all the top remaining prospects. (I take what Jerry says and do the opposite)
I'm sorry if that team can't compete for a final four next year then we basically have issues unless we have an outright all star team. I don't think some are understanding THATS essentially what they are saying. All of the guys currwntly on the roster minus a small few will play in the pros.
Stop saying they arent good enough to be good enough.
Stop saying they arent good enough to be good enough.
If we put the team we have as of right now on the court next year we would probably be about 20-10,hope we land a few more so we will never know for sure.
Well, s&c, did you spend the day figuring how to work in the politically comment? No, daddy words? Monumental thinkers hang out on sports boards.
Matt Jones is showing doubts because UK is pursuing back-up plans, but UK does that every spring - just in case.
I expect UK to land two of the five star players who are remaining. Is Newman set on playing point guard exclusively? If he were, don't you think the UK coaching staff would have been aware of this and backed off a few months ago? Something has made them feel secure in pursuing Newman to this moment.
The Zimmerman smoke might be real. Hard to gauge at this point. Even so, returning Poythress is the real key for the frontcourt - not adding Zimmerman. Bring in the big man from Charlotte, and there's your frontline depth behind Skal and Lee. Two bangers in the persons of Poythress and Thorne Jr. - two finesse guys in Lee and Skal.
I've contended for a long time that Newman is the player who matters the most. If he decides he wants to be a point guard, UK might struggle next year with Newman heading elsewhere.
I expect UK to land two of the five star players who are remaining. Is Newman set on playing point guard exclusively? If he were, don't you think the UK coaching staff would have been aware of this and backed off a few months ago? Something has made them feel secure in pursuing Newman to this moment.
The Zimmerman smoke might be real. Hard to gauge at this point. Even so, returning Poythress is the real key for the frontcourt - not adding Zimmerman. Bring in the big man from Charlotte, and there's your frontline depth behind Skal and Lee. Two bangers in the persons of Poythress and Thorne Jr. - two finesse guys in Lee and Skal.
I've contended for a long time that Newman is the player who matters the most. If he decides he wants to be a point guard, UK might struggle next year with Newman heading elsewhere.
Great post, Saul! I'm still not sold on Zimmerman going to UNLV...I mean, how much did you hear about Vaughn this year? Thorne would be a nice back up option, but like you, I believe Newman is the key. Really want Ingram, but I just don't see him leaving NC....hope I'm wrong though!
There's always a first time for everything.
To be honest, even if we don't land another player, if Alex comes back then there's really no reason to believe that we can't have a good team next season with 4 McDonald's All-Americans on the roster. We're already going to have one of the best 1-2 punch backcourt's in the country. Then you add in that we will have Poy, Skal, Lee, and Willis and you have the makings of a solid team. Most schools in the nation would kill for that roster.
That being said...there's is NO WAY that Cal loses out on all of these guys he's recruiting. It seems unfathomable that a player would turn down the chance to play at UK when minutes are available immediately.
I'd say that Cal expects to land at least one (if not two of) Zimmerman, Maker, Diallo, Ingram, or Brown, and I think Cal expects to pick up Newman. Of course, things can change, but that's how I see it at the moment.
To be honest, even if we don't land another player, if Alex comes back then there's really no reason to believe that we can't have a good team next season with 4 McDonald's All-Americans on the roster. We're already going to have one of the best 1-2 punch backcourt's in the country. Then you add in that we will have Poy, Skal, Lee, and Willis and you have the makings of a solid team. Most schools in the nation would kill for that roster.
That being said...there's is NO WAY that Cal loses out on all of these guys he's recruiting. It seems unfathomable that a player would turn down the chance to play at UK when minutes are available immediately.
I'd say that Cal expects to land at least one (if not two of) Zimmerman, Maker, Diallo, Ingram, or Brown, and I think Cal expects to pick up Newman. Of course, things can change, but that's how I see it at the moment.
There's no "might be" about it, he IS right, Cal encourages players to leave. He has allegedly torn up players' scholarships before. I don't know about at UK, but for sure at Memphis. And at UK he has definitely put a bootprint on some butts. Evidence? If not encouragement, what do you call having pro combines and "exploring their options" for them at the end of the season? That's encouragement to leave by anybody's definition. That's just the way his system works. I find Cal defenders creepy who act like someone said something about their momma everytime Cal is mentioned.
Brandon Knight pretty much carried us to a Final Four on his own. The only other players that team had were Jones, Lamb, Miller, Liggins, and Harrellson. A six man rotation with Vargas playing mop up post minutes. No reason to believe that we can't achieve the same result with Ulis, Briscoe, Skal, Poy, Lee, Matthews, and Willis playing the majority of the minutes.
What kills me is that everyone still sleeps on Charles Matthews. He was a top 5-star prospect when he committed to UK. An injury cost him and killed his stock, but him dropping to a 50-60 range 4-star should not diminish the fact that he's going to be a solid wing player.
RSCI rank
2012
A.Poythress #8
2013
M.Lee #18
2014
T.Ulis #18
2015 Summer (Final rankings not released yet)
S.Labissiere #7 (will be higher in final)
I.Briscoe #12
along with Mathews, Willis, Hawkins etc. Any other team in the country would kill to enter a season with that talent. Those of you who think we're going to struggle without landing more top 20 recruits this year must think Cal really sucks as a coach.
2012
A.Poythress #8
2013
M.Lee #18
2014
T.Ulis #18
2015 Summer (Final rankings not released yet)
S.Labissiere #7 (will be higher in final)
I.Briscoe #12
along with Mathews, Willis, Hawkins etc. Any other team in the country would kill to enter a season with that talent. Those of you who think we're going to struggle without landing more top 20 recruits this year must think Cal really sucks as a coach.
What do on paper rankings mean now? We have all seen Poythress play a lot - pretty decent player, not a difference maker. We have also seen two years of Lee - good athlete, decent defender, can't do anything on offense.
Ulis is a stud and so is Skal. I hope Briscoe and Matthews are legit as well. But, once a guy is 2 years removed from the paper rankings they are meaningless.
It really is déjà Vu all over again. He'll, 10 games Into the season many in here still felt 2013 was a title contender! If UK somehow strikes out, which I think is about a 1% probability, the Cats will struggle mightily to make the tourney. I don't know how any same person could think differently.
LOL...how spoiled some of us have gotten.
You do realize that we've made the tournament with less talent before right? The 2013 team had a ton of undue pressure on it following the 2012 Championship and the loss of Noel sealed the deal. We had a headcase PG, a 5th year transfer SG, a streaky frosh SG, a PF who couldn't play a lick of D, and two 7 footers, one was a top 3 pick and the other was a diamond in the rough.
Seriously though, what about having a lineup of Ulis, Briscoe, Hawkins, Matthews, Willis, Poythress, Lee, and Labissiere does not equate to a tournament appearance? One of the top 2 or 3 best returning PG's in college basketball, the best PG coming into college, the potential #1 NBA pick in 2016, plus two other 6-8/6-9 McDonalds All-Americans should equate to a 4 or 5 seed in the NCAA-T at least, Now, that lineup may not accomplish much more than maybe a Sweet Sixteen, but insinuating that that lineup couldn't make the tourney is thick headed in my opinion.
People have gone full idiot. Tubby had many teams with less talent that were Elite 8 teams.
I don't think anyone is saying that team would be the championship favorite, but definitely in the mix for a Final Four. If you have a shot at the Final Four in your worst years, how bad is that?