I think jelavic can get stronger next year which will help with his rebounding and physicality. With his touch from outside.. he could be a condon like type player. He still has two years left of college ball. Maybe we let dioubate walk.. but he has grit and he is an enforcer. You need guys like that.. they are hard to replace. I would definitely like those other 4 guys though. Chandler and kam are not ball dominant like Aberdeen and oweh are. That would help Lowe tremendously. Get Jasper to back up Lowe, Hawthorne to back up kam, one shooter in the portal like a Wilkerson to back up Chandler, and one big to replace bg and you got a squad.
Roster construction
- Thread starter Ridinwithpope
- Start date
I agree with all of that, which is why I have all those players returning.
Like I said, so many of these guys love to point to the mess we were in December, but even with a depleted roster, these guys have been beating good teams on the road, some if which are far more talented by NBA standards.
Also, these guys just showed they can hang with a final 4 level team on the road.
The issues this team had, stem from trying to meld a new group of guys together. Well, by bringing back almost the entire roster, you don't have that problem.
Impressive work on your analysis btw.
He’s going to have to get a couple of stars and fillers, but what holes are you specifically seeing? I see holes at the pg spot, backup C, the 3 and we need more star power.
Pope just spent 22 million on a roster. What's so bad about Moreno, Mo D, JJ, Aberdeen, Kam, Butler, Koby Brea, Amari Williams, Butler, Carr and Jaxson Robinson? Did Pope get those guys, or nah?
Why don't you let Pope handle it, it's not up to us to do the work, all we're doing, is discussing the needs. It’s his career on the line, not yours.
Well, we currently have a 67% win % with those guys playing the last 2 years and 60% in conference. Both numbers are very on par with Pope across his coaching career. And both are well below UK averages.
So why don't I just sit back and be silent while the program gets ran into the ground?
You don’t think injuries play into that winning percentage? Like I said earlier.. take off haugh, Lee, and chinyelu see what kind of winning percentage they have. Butler, Robinson, and Carr were beat up all year last year. Which butler and Robinson were supposed to be our best players. Your numbers are without context.
Definitely a troll and probably a retread at that. If he is banned, he will quickly be back as some new account. Might as well leave him as is, at least you know by his name what kind of BS post is coming.
Not when you see his entire resume and realize that is simply Mark Pope. It's literally his career average.
I definitely think most of them will be better with another year. Especially Jelavic as this is his first exposure to NCAA basketball. He will improve, the tools are there.
Yeah.. mark pope at byu and some other school in Utah. If you can’t tell me he would have a better winning percentage than 67% with a completely healthy roster the last two years.. you are simply not a true Kentucky fan.
3 starters injured last year, 3 starters injured this year. That matters.
However, Pope went further in the NCAAT than Cal did with far more talent his last 5 years.
Pope is a system guy, so if he can retain players, he'll win at a much higher rate.
He has shown he can beat the best teams in the country and not just once, so maybe give him a fair chance to rebuild the program that Cal left in shambles.
Well, he’s a better coach than you are a troll and you work extremely hard at being a dumba$$.
So based off nothing, we are just supposed to believe it would be better, when it actually wasn't.
Sounds logical!
"You use logic, you aren't a real UK fan!" Lulz
Umm, we were losing even with those guys.
Beating the best teams is nice, but isn't the goal to win championships?
Left in shambles? Weren't we just a 2, 6 and 3 seed in the latter 3 years?
You honestly don’t think if we have Robinson and a healthier Carr we win more games? You
Honestly think if we have mo d for Carolina and not a banged up Lowe for Missouri we don’t win those games? You honestly think jq doesn’t make a difference against Florida? Come on man.. if you know ball, you have to admit he would have more wins these last two years.
Nope, I think we have the same outcome in each.
"If you don't believe we win more because I think so, then you don't know ball"
Yes the goal is to win titles, but doing that takes time. Holden took 3 years, Hurley took I think 4 years. Heck it took nick Saban 3 years to win at bama. Left in shambles refers to the players he left behind… 0, and the amount of wins in March the last 5 years he was there… 1. Isnt the goal to win titles?
Who the hell is Holden?
Hurley took 4 but Uconn improved each year and I believe they were on probation when he took them over. He also had already turned Wagner and RI around. He also had no instant portal or NIL.
How's Dusty May doing?
So not winning a championship means you're in shambles?
All teams are starting over after coaching changes. This isn't a UK thing. Lol.
Chandler and JJ to me are stars in the making. I hold on to them and MM without question and pay whatever. If Pope loses JJ I don’t think it looks good for the future. Already struggling to recruit and losing a legacy kid to me signals a bad situation.
I still think if we roll with Lowe at PG, we’re a 10+ loss team, especially if we had no stud caliber recruits in here somewhere. We’ll see what happens, but I am totally against Lowe being the starting PG. but JJ and Chandler and Marino a year older is a really good core. Just think we need more than that, gonna have to figure this recruiting thing out in the portal.
Im also very high on Noah as a role guy. To me he’s the highest IQ on the team and he’s just going to get better and better. He’s a guy that can really make this team better as years go on.
People also keep saying two years isn't enough time.. how long do you think the coach of the number one team in Michigan coach Dusty May has been there?
Yeah, we were a 2, 6 and 3 seed Cal's last 3 years, how many SECT and NCAAT games did he win?
How many games did he win the entite 2021 season?
Yeah, the team played like crap, because we had a whole new team, nobody knew their roles and there were locker room issues.
You're pretty clueless on how this stuff works, but you love to say just how much everyone sucks.
Then, you turn around and claim that replacing these "below UK standards players" is "easier said than done".
Nope, your posts reveal who you are.
But you can go ahead and post a GIF if you want.
Pretty sure Michigan has been healthy and with a full roster all year. I agree dusty may has done a great job but he had shown previously he could win by going to a final 4. Players trust that. Pope had a lot more work to do to prove to players that he can win. The way I look at it.. pope is 2 years behind dusty may because of his final four.
You don't have to win them to be rated that high. If your team is rated that highly, you aren't in shambles.
So because we lost a lot in 2021, we were in shambles in 2024?
We've played like **** for 2 years because of the locker room? Nobody new their roles and new roster? Wasn't the coach the one comparing them to 1996?
I'm not the one excusing mediocrity with any excuse I can come up with.
For Pope, it is! Who we got so far? Who are you expecting?
It is very clear you want pope to fail. Do you actually want him to succeed and win titles? Or do you like to just complain about the program? Do I wish we were better and in the title discussion.. heck yes I do. Will this team win a title.. no they won’t. Do I think they can make a sweet 16.. yes I do. Am I going to root for those things to happen.. heck yes. What about you?
I’d rather have Kam on the wing for more size. Bigger lineups tend to be better defensively.
If Jelavic is the guy, great! We don’t just need a good player though. We need a great to elite player. If Jelavic next year is like Mirkovic on Illinois next season, we will be cooking.
I'm up in the air on Lowe. I think he is exceptional off the bounce and extremely hard to stay in front of. I also think Pope has proven he can develop players quickly. Just look at Aberdeen's growth since mid January.
However, Lowe can’t be the only pg. No way. Pope HAS to get another great pg and if Lowe doesn’t like it, well, then he doesn't see the big picture. His injury proved to everyone that you can't put all your eggs in his basket.
I get that Noah is smart, but he's just not good enough. He’s very limited and right now, Pope can’t roll the dice on limited players, not after this debacle.
Plus, Noah wont play, not if we have 9 other players returning and more portal guys coming in. Trying to juggle more than 10 players, is way too much.
I don't think this is hard to figure out though. Get another C to back Moreno up, get another pg and another 3. One of those portal guys needs to be a star and the others need to be highly rated guys. No more Garrison, or JQ guys. If a guy has a bad knee, or a history of injuries, the answer is no, which might be an issue when looking at Lowe's future here.
Pope missed on a PG for this season. I saw nothing from Lowe to prove he is a Kentucky-caliber player. If this team had a healthy Lamont Butler, we’d have 3-4 fewer losses and a top 10 ranking.
Next year would be extremely promising if we could retain Johnson, Moreno, Jelavic, Noah, Chandler, Williams and Hawthorne.
I could see Chandler and Moreno on some all-conference lists.
Next year would be extremely promising if we could retain Johnson, Moreno, Jelavic, Noah, Chandler, Williams and Hawthorne.
I could see Chandler and Moreno on some all-conference lists.
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May is a good coach, no doubt, but he hasn't won d*ck yet at Michigan. Let's wait and see what he does in the tournament.
I know he is going to fail. I never wanted him to get the damn job because it wasn't deserved or based off anything other than him playing here 20 years ago.
I want to get this train wreck over and get a real coach.
It’s like I'm talking to a child, or a woman that doesn't even know what a basketball looks like.
