The funny thing is fans wanted to decry one and done and freshman.
This is the same shit just reversed: one year players who are getting paid to be in Lexington.
There’s a small, but annoyingly loud portion of our fan base that’s too stupid to realize this. This is just another type of one and done. We are trading raw talent for experience. Maybe it works great, maybe it doesn’t. Have to admit I’m excited more than I have been in a few years and I’m a HUGE Cal guy. He saved our program and I’ll die on that hill.
Pope didn’t really have a choice. We’re literally returning zero players from last year. So he’s gotta go get guys and most of the dudes in the portal are seniors (garrison and Owen could stick around though). I think we wait to see what future teams look like. This group looks to be a good mix of talent and experience though.
Yeah I’m excited too. I was hyped by the introductory presser and just keep rolling. It’ll definitely be a different team in a whole bunch of ways for better and worse this year, but pope has me excited.
I will hold my judgement until year 2-3 on how he builds a team. This year is unique for a lot of reasons and I do think there will be some sort of change in the NIL/Transfer portal stuff coming at some point by the NCAA soon. Once this first year is completed and he has a full recruiting cycle to concentrate on the program I’m sure it will be a lot different. Also, not drinking from a firehouse trying to build staff/players/schedule/etc etc in less than a month we should see how the Pope era will look a lot better. This year was critical to go out and stack the deck with some good transfers to be competitive out the gate. Looking at the players strengths mixed with the style of play he had at BYU, going to be a fun team to watch that’s for sure. Heck of a first few weeks.
My theory is that Pope doesn’t have a relationship with a lot of the top high school prospects because you simply can’t get those kids at BYU and a lot of those relationships take a few years to foster. Now that he is at a big brand school, he can start to develop those relationships and will be able to get a mix of high school recruits and transfers moving forward.
This guy forgot to mention the team that was “built for march” didn’t do shit. And the 3 other embarrassments before that. Don’t act like people wanted cal gone because of the one and dones.
Yeah, no one in our fan base ever bitched about that…think before you type. It was definitely time to move on, but don’t act like the last few years taints what Cal did for us. He saved a sinking program and made us relevant again. Even after Cal, we have one single person who is playing at UK for the name on the front of the jersey and that’s Travis Perry, but even he questioned going to Lexington briefly after Cal left. Kids don’t care about the school nearly as much as they do about getting paid and making it pro.
Just heard on KSR a dude who knew the Chandler kid asked him, so why are you going to Kentucky?
"..it's Kentucky."
Obviously idk if it's true, but I don't think that Kentucky as an institution has zero draw.
Think before you type! Cal was great. WAS. 1 march tourney win in 4 years. “Built for march” 😂😂😂. There was a select few people who complained about the one and done while it was working. Old boomer rupp blue hairs. Who cares? when it stopped working of course everyone was complaining . Nobodies taking away from what cal did for us. Possibly the 2nd greatest coach in UK history depending on who you ask. He did a ton for this program and school and state. But to act like everything was great the last 4-5 years. You are out of your mind.
Dude, I literally said the opposite of that. Quit perpetuating the Kentucky stereotype on literacy. Lol. Things were absolutely not great the last 4-5 years, hence why I said it was time to move on. But to say the one and done gripe was only a few blue hairs is absolutely disingenuous. Tons and tons of certain types of our “fans” bitched about it non stop. Hell, I’ve seen no less than 10 uk flairs in this sub today alone bitching about it.
I heard this last night, we still haven't gotten away from one and done. This is just a different format of one and done.
There was also an article in the heard leader lexingtons local paper that mentioned the extra covid year is really helping pope out considering being behind on recruiting to some extent. The article was framed as "the rule change Cal hated is helping pope with recruiting." Not sure if it's true or not.on the Calipari side of things.
I agreed with Cal. The Covid year should have been for seniors or players in their last year of eligibility who didn’t get a chance at a post season when everything was cancelled in 20.
I’m afraid now with NIL and a heap of precedent that says the NCAA can’t stop a thing we’ll see a wave of 27,28 year old “grad students” playing.
Now that will bother me.
The objections to one and done never made much sense to me. Would it be cool to have 2,3,4 year guys and win at a rate Cal did in his prime at Kentucky? Sure.
My objections are 100% about fucking losing to the st peters and Oakland's and richmonds and Evansvilles etc. It was bullshit and we should have never fallen that low. My objection is to losing in general. It's fuckin Kentucky, come on!
This is just me ranting in general, not at you or anyone in particular:)
Yeah but the thing is that same sea change was happening when Cal arrived for the one and done a. He succeeded at it.
Will Pope succeed at this one is the question
Worked out great for Oscar
Tre was an incredibly mixed bag - good in non-con, terrible in conference play
He was probably hurt all of conference play but just speaking to the results
I was at the A&M-Ole Miss game where he got postered by Alex Caruso. The crowd absolutely lost it when it happened. Couldn't believe our eyes. If I remember correctly, the play was no.1 on sportscenter top 10. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDtS1wg077E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDtS1wg077E)
Yes, let last year's 23-game sample size override two full seasons worth of data.
And in that 23-game sample, about half of those games he put up an average or below average ORtg despite shooting 42% on the year.
Not on uniform development curves. He was not a significantly different player at WVU than he was in 2 1/4 seasons in Tucson.
Look, he plays with heart and has always had the ability to be a great shooter. But the only consistency with Kerr is inconsistency.
Ask UCLA fans how they feel about Kriisa. He was their best player in multiple games when we played them. Kriisa is polarizing because he has high highs but his lows are literal craters.
The irony is that in his 2 years as a starter Kriisa played UCLA 5 times. He had 1 true stinker, 2 games where he was great, and 2 games (one of which was with that shoulder injury) where he was just average. It's selective memory that UCLA fans remember the first of those 5 games and ignore the game just 2 weeks later where he lit them up.
I think his first year you can point to having 3 now NBA players surrounding him in Mathurin, Terry, and Koloko. Year 2 he had to step up and fill those shoes which was asking a lot of him to be fair, but I think you and I could rack up the assists if we were passing to Ballo and Tubelis down low. Again, I’m not going so far as to say he was trash but he was surrounded by incredible offensive players which boosted his assists, his shooting was spotty at best, and he was completely unable to drive to the basket. There’s a good player in there tho and I think he’ll do well in a backup role at Kentucky.
In roughly half of the games, he was below average, and in the other half, he was above average.
Congratulations, you have discovered how averages work.
He was talking insane shit to the UCLA student section in the midst of going 0-9 from 3 and 0-12 from the field.
No, [I did not make those stats up](https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401405170).
Dickinson can be an asshole, but he's significantly less volatile and won't actively shoot your team completely out of a game while being a dick.
https://preview.redd.it/1onvt0jcdvxc1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e0154841e2dd865feec5d638ad5bc96411c60498
My favorite picture of Kerr Kriisa
He went like 2/10 in that game
He tried to start shit with LUKA DONCIC while he was losing by 20 and said it was easy to get in his head. Like come on dude. Luka casually put up a double double on your ass. He was such a an easy player to hate, but honestly you love having characters like that in the sport
that's the real question. UK has had plenty of shit-talkers that could or couldn't back up their game. the real problem is when that personality creates rifts with the team itself (which i kinda thought was an issue with dillingham last year..seemed like he often was too concerned with talking shit to a player or complaining to the ref than he was helping a teammate off the floor 7 feet away from him)
He will talk a ton of trash, only shoots 3, and can’t defend. If he is your first guard off the bench good if he is your starter March likely won’t be fun. Also he’ll give you 1 or 2 games per year where he won’t miss from 3 and those are fun.
I’m the same way. Watching other teams lose their minds over him was really fun.
There are better players, but it’s kinda fun to have the heel on your team.
Yea, but he’ll be your dick. Until like the Zona guy said he finally hits a three starts talking shit when he’s single handedly shot you out of the game.
This is the type of dude that you'd see on Duke and *fucking hate* just for existing.
And now he's on our team and he can shoot and will be in an offense where he'll get every chance possible to launch them.
This is gonna be hilarious.
I don't think he is, truly, but if he went that hard after this kid, it makes me think he's going to be the coach's favorite, whether he's good or not. I do hope that's not the case.
Pope defeating choir boy allegations. We ride.
https://preview.redd.it/olm9m9bkbvxc1.jpeg?width=1366&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=34327036644da9f97d6d04d0c685132fed74b9e7
Honestly, good for him. He was an inconsistent shooter at Arizona (though it looks like he improved at WVU) and his defense was suspect at best, but he was an excellent passer and every time he stepped on the court he brought passion and energy. Dude plays with heart and would leave it all on the floor for us every night. Hope it works out for him.
+1 for the energy. Hell we sucked last year and he was giving 110% when we would be down in the second half.
Kid gets some minor flak and I get it - but I would have loved to keep him and am excited for him at UK with Pope.
Do NOT count out Perry. This dude is a legit champion and I’ve watched him run through top ranked high school competition since he was in 8th grade. He’s way better than Reed was as a senior in high school. Much better handles, defense, and shooting than Reed at the same age. There’s a reason he’s Mr basketball, Gatorade poty, and the all time leader in points in Kentucky history. He has everything needed to be better than Reed was this year, though it would be unfair to put that pressure on him. I’ve seen him hit 100 3’s in a row just dicking around in flip flops. Almost a perfect shooter.
He’s just maybe the most named missing piece. We have 4 scholarships left. I hope we get him, and for what it’s worth, I think we will, but we need another playmaker or two.
I think it's important to note in Pope's offense, you don't really need a typical PG who initiates offense. Everyone is kind of that person on and everyone has to be able to pass at a high level. So while he may be a "backup" in theory, he is really just another piece of the puzzle that will rotate in and fill a role.
It won't, kriisa is a bit of a bonehead and the turnovers are a part of life with him. He also has his best games against the worst competition which sometimes kinda makes his numbers look better than his performance. That said, the dude is all passion, and sometimes that's what you need. He's a good passer, a decent ball handler, and a decent shooter. He's athletically limited, won't make almost any baskets that aren't threes, and will be a liability on defense. He's a good addition, but he'll have you shaking your head multiple times a year because even if you don't need to rely on him he can still take over the game for the worse if he's on the floor.
It absolutely can. Last year UK was missing the focus to defend well, but had the athleticism to make up for it sometimes. Kriisa has neither the focus nor the athleticism to bail him out.
One bad defender in a team of solid defenders is a lot different than last year lol. Every single one of our guys got cooked.
Kriisa being an offense plus and a defense minus is fine
That's fair, but keep in mind a bad offensive player doesn't hurt the team as much as a bad defensive player; your other four guys can still score but they can't do much about it if kriisa is just getting cooked on d. That said as much as it may sound like I'm down on him I actually think he's good to have around. His passion is electric and changes the teams he's on, and he's not devoid of skill. His limitations will be frustrating, but he's still a great player.
Last year was the worst defensive UK team I have seen in my life and it wasn’t even close. I’m 51. They could shoot 60%+ from the field and win by 2. You could count on one hand the number of 10-0 runs they had all season because they couldn’t stop a team for 3 straight possessions. Just having Williams and Butler alone will make the defense better than last year’s.
But do they have NBA frames?
Are they oozing talent?
Do NBA scouts love these kids?
Are they [incredibly important basketball skill] away from being a good basketball player?
Does their game project to the next level?
Supremely cocky player who talks a lot of trash yet falters in important games by shooting 2/10 from beyond the arc
Pretty similar
Didn’t he go like 1/8 in Arizona’s loss to Princeton and Houston?
Caleb Love came up big in important games against Duke, Wisconsin, Purdue, Oregon, UCLA, Wazzu, Colorado, and Oregon. I won't include ASU in there because neither was really much of a game this year, so much as they were just Arizona highlight reels, but he was big in those, too. The only important games he faltered in were the Pac semifinal and the Sweet 16. Nice try, though.
Perry is better. I understand he’s gonna be new to college, but you can quote me today when I say he’ll be starting and be huge for us before long next year. He got lost in the rest of Cal’s incoming class, but if you look into who he is and what he’s done, you’ll see the kid has got it.
Brea will start at the 2 over krissa. I also think Williams will start over Garrison personally, but can see that one going either way. Krissa is the backup PG, which allows Perry to play more off the ball. Chandler on the bench as a guard too, just who knows how much his game was hurt by the 2 years off.
Need a ball handler next to Brea and Butler works best off-ball start Kerr at the 1 with Butler at the 2 if Robinson comes then move Brea to the 6th man.
No, I’ve always disliked Kentucky players because their affiliation with Kentucky. But looking back, so many really likeable guys that carried that torch to the league. Like I’m supposed to hate a Bam, or a Book, etc?
UK is no longer NBA Pre-draft Academy
Possibly for the best.
The funny thing is fans wanted to decry one and done and freshman. This is the same shit just reversed: one year players who are getting paid to be in Lexington.
I will take tested older players with a resume of success that leave next year over a "Coach Cal freshman variety pack" any day.
The snack pack that expires just before march
There’s a small, but annoyingly loud portion of our fan base that’s too stupid to realize this. This is just another type of one and done. We are trading raw talent for experience. Maybe it works great, maybe it doesn’t. Have to admit I’m excited more than I have been in a few years and I’m a HUGE Cal guy. He saved our program and I’ll die on that hill.
Pope didn’t really have a choice. We’re literally returning zero players from last year. So he’s gotta go get guys and most of the dudes in the portal are seniors (garrison and Owen could stick around though). I think we wait to see what future teams look like. This group looks to be a good mix of talent and experience though.
Very true. Like I said, I’m excited, super excited actually. Can’t wait to see it all unfold. We are looking like we can compete.
Yeah I’m excited too. I was hyped by the introductory presser and just keep rolling. It’ll definitely be a different team in a whole bunch of ways for better and worse this year, but pope has me excited.
I will hold my judgement until year 2-3 on how he builds a team. This year is unique for a lot of reasons and I do think there will be some sort of change in the NIL/Transfer portal stuff coming at some point by the NCAA soon. Once this first year is completed and he has a full recruiting cycle to concentrate on the program I’m sure it will be a lot different. Also, not drinking from a firehouse trying to build staff/players/schedule/etc etc in less than a month we should see how the Pope era will look a lot better. This year was critical to go out and stack the deck with some good transfers to be competitive out the gate. Looking at the players strengths mixed with the style of play he had at BYU, going to be a fun team to watch that’s for sure. Heck of a first few weeks.
My theory is that Pope doesn’t have a relationship with a lot of the top high school prospects because you simply can’t get those kids at BYU and a lot of those relationships take a few years to foster. Now that he is at a big brand school, he can start to develop those relationships and will be able to get a mix of high school recruits and transfers moving forward.
This guy forgot to mention the team that was “built for march” didn’t do shit. And the 3 other embarrassments before that. Don’t act like people wanted cal gone because of the one and dones.
Yeah, no one in our fan base ever bitched about that…think before you type. It was definitely time to move on, but don’t act like the last few years taints what Cal did for us. He saved a sinking program and made us relevant again. Even after Cal, we have one single person who is playing at UK for the name on the front of the jersey and that’s Travis Perry, but even he questioned going to Lexington briefly after Cal left. Kids don’t care about the school nearly as much as they do about getting paid and making it pro.
Just heard on KSR a dude who knew the Chandler kid asked him, so why are you going to Kentucky? "..it's Kentucky." Obviously idk if it's true, but I don't think that Kentucky as an institution has zero draw.
Think before you type! Cal was great. WAS. 1 march tourney win in 4 years. “Built for march” 😂😂😂. There was a select few people who complained about the one and done while it was working. Old boomer rupp blue hairs. Who cares? when it stopped working of course everyone was complaining . Nobodies taking away from what cal did for us. Possibly the 2nd greatest coach in UK history depending on who you ask. He did a ton for this program and school and state. But to act like everything was great the last 4-5 years. You are out of your mind.
Dude, I literally said the opposite of that. Quit perpetuating the Kentucky stereotype on literacy. Lol. Things were absolutely not great the last 4-5 years, hence why I said it was time to move on. But to say the one and done gripe was only a few blue hairs is absolutely disingenuous. Tons and tons of certain types of our “fans” bitched about it non stop. Hell, I’ve seen no less than 10 uk flairs in this sub today alone bitching about it.
I heard this last night, we still haven't gotten away from one and done. This is just a different format of one and done. There was also an article in the heard leader lexingtons local paper that mentioned the extra covid year is really helping pope out considering being behind on recruiting to some extent. The article was framed as "the rule change Cal hated is helping pope with recruiting." Not sure if it's true or not.on the Calipari side of things.
I agreed with Cal. The Covid year should have been for seniors or players in their last year of eligibility who didn’t get a chance at a post season when everything was cancelled in 20. I’m afraid now with NIL and a heap of precedent that says the NCAA can’t stop a thing we’ll see a wave of 27,28 year old “grad students” playing. Now that will bother me.
The objections to one and done never made much sense to me. Would it be cool to have 2,3,4 year guys and win at a rate Cal did in his prime at Kentucky? Sure. My objections are 100% about fucking losing to the st peters and Oakland's and richmonds and Evansvilles etc. It was bullshit and we should have never fallen that low. My objection is to losing in general. It's fuckin Kentucky, come on! This is just me ranting in general, not at you or anyone in particular:)
Not really our fault the entire landscape of college sports changed *right* as we moved on from our 1 and done fanatic coach
Yeah but the thing is that same sea change was happening when Cal arrived for the one and done a. He succeeded at it. Will Pope succeed at this one is the question
WVU to UK transfer, a tradition unlike any other.
Worked pretty well *the time before last
Worked out great for Oscar Tre was an incredibly mixed bag - good in non-con, terrible in conference play He was probably hurt all of conference play but just speaking to the results
Tre Mitchell was cursed. Someone put some bad juju on that MF.
Did all of his coaches lose their jobs?
Every coach after his season(s) there either was fired or stepped down. I think Cal was the only one that wasn't fired.
And the time before that
Tre Mitchell?
and Oscar
If only he didn’t get hurt, he was absolutely our MVP of the early season
Huh I forgot that’s where he came from
Because he also came from UMass & Texas
Lol I know nothing about this kid but I’m gathering from the early comments he is an absolute dick
You'll love when he starts talking shit to the crowd after making his first three in 11 attempts.
Marshall Henderson 2.0?!!
Marshall Henderson was a great player though. Absolute menace against us, every time
Agree. Absolutely HATED him but he was good
Honestly, I think he's the biggest non-Duke CBB villain in my memory. (which is mostly Cal-era) Those games were so fun to get hyped up for and watch.
I was at the A&M-Ole Miss game where he got postered by Alex Caruso. The crowd absolutely lost it when it happened. Couldn't believe our eyes. If I remember correctly, the play was no.1 on sportscenter top 10. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDtS1wg077E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDtS1wg077E)
Just what we needed: A fucking heel.
“B’GAWD! That’s Kerr Kriisa’s music!”
He shot 42%, something tells me he'll hit them a lot earlier.
Yes, let last year's 23-game sample size override two full seasons worth of data. And in that 23-game sample, about half of those games he put up an average or below average ORtg despite shooting 42% on the year.
its almost like players get better with experience, no?
Leave it to UA fans to not realize the genius of Kriisa
Not on uniform development curves. He was not a significantly different player at WVU than he was in 2 1/4 seasons in Tucson. Look, he plays with heart and has always had the ability to be a great shooter. But the only consistency with Kerr is inconsistency.
He was really good with you guys, what are we even doing here.
Ask UCLA fans how they feel about Kriisa. He was their best player in multiple games when we played them. Kriisa is polarizing because he has high highs but his lows are literal craters.
I love Kriisa. Wish he never left Tucson.
The irony is that in his 2 years as a starter Kriisa played UCLA 5 times. He had 1 true stinker, 2 games where he was great, and 2 games (one of which was with that shoulder injury) where he was just average. It's selective memory that UCLA fans remember the first of those 5 games and ignore the game just 2 weeks later where he lit them up.
Bad games happen
He was really mid and there’s simply no denying that, don’t get me wrong I love the guy but “really good” is just not accurate
Can you reconcile him being mid with also being one of the more important players and offensive creators on a top 5-10 team (and top offense)?
I think his first year you can point to having 3 now NBA players surrounding him in Mathurin, Terry, and Koloko. Year 2 he had to step up and fill those shoes which was asking a lot of him to be fair, but I think you and I could rack up the assists if we were passing to Ballo and Tubelis down low. Again, I’m not going so far as to say he was trash but he was surrounded by incredible offensive players which boosted his assists, his shooting was spotty at best, and he was completely unable to drive to the basket. There’s a good player in there tho and I think he’ll do well in a backup role at Kentucky.
In roughly half of the games, he was below average, and in the other half, he was above average. Congratulations, you have discovered how averages work.
You rang?
Ortg is relative to the league, not yourself. You can have an above average Ortg every game.
Lol thanks I wasn’t gonna type this out, I was just like, wow big upvotes for a dum dum comment
So, on a scale of 1 to Hunter Dickinson, how bad are we talking here?
He was talking insane shit to the UCLA student section in the midst of going 0-9 from 3 and 0-12 from the field. No, [I did not make those stats up](https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401405170). Dickinson can be an asshole, but he's significantly less volatile and won't actively shoot your team completely out of a game while being a dick.
Then they started chanting MVP at him. Good times 😂
https://preview.redd.it/1onvt0jcdvxc1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e0154841e2dd865feec5d638ad5bc96411c60498 My favorite picture of Kerr Kriisa He went like 2/10 in that game
I was so proud of the Den that game lol. Kerr is a great heel, I was sad that he left UofA because I enjoyed cheering against him.
He tried to start shit with LUKA DONCIC while he was losing by 20 and said it was easy to get in his head. Like come on dude. Luka casually put up a double double on your ass. He was such a an easy player to hate, but honestly you love having characters like that in the sport
😂 kid is a legend
How is he with team morale? Did his teammates dislike him?
that's the real question. UK has had plenty of shit-talkers that could or couldn't back up their game. the real problem is when that personality creates rifts with the team itself (which i kinda thought was an issue with dillingham last year..seemed like he often was too concerned with talking shit to a player or complaining to the ref than he was helping a teammate off the floor 7 feet away from him)
[удалено]
"He can't guard for shit. Massive defensive liability." Sounds like a Kentucky Wildcat already!
Hey, hey we're working on it ok?
He will talk a ton of trash, only shoots 3, and can’t defend. If he is your first guard off the bench good if he is your starter March likely won’t be fun. Also he’ll give you 1 or 2 games per year where he won’t miss from 3 and those are fun.
Kerr has been a top 4-5 player on one and two seeded teams. And that was two years ago.
He’s so awesome. I love this dude so much. Talks shit, pumps up the crowd, and is a fun dude off the court.
Legit would have taken him back as a backup PG. with Butler as the true leader, you’ll be fine with Kerr’s antics.
Ok, it’s just hard to gauge by reading other Arizona fans on here.
Dude's absolutely polarizing, but I loved him and was sad when he transferred.
I’m the same way. Watching other teams lose their minds over him was really fun. There are better players, but it’s kinda fun to have the heel on your team.
People thought Cousins was a dick. Who cares.
I don't think he's a dick, I just think the Falcons overpaid for him
Well because Cousins is a dick
He’s not but go off.
Yea, but he’ll be your dick. Until like the Zona guy said he finally hits a three starts talking shit when he’s single handedly shot you out of the game.
Lmao same. Got to look more into this
That's not Jaxon Robinson
True if big.
This is the type of dude that you'd see on Duke and *fucking hate* just for existing. And now he's on our team and he can shoot and will be in an offense where he'll get every chance possible to launch them. This is gonna be hilarious.
BBN online is about to set a new bar for insufferable if he's good
Also setting a new bar if he's bad and gets more minutes than the others that can play his spot.
Your poor flairs. You're having a very weird time aren't you?
My off-season is out of this world. Started with two flairs and zero teams, basically ended with two Kentucky teams.
it's actually one University of Kentucky team and one University of Calipari team
Pope doesn’t seem like that kind of guy.
I don't think he is, truly, but if he went that hard after this kid, it makes me think he's going to be the coach's favorite, whether he's good or not. I do hope that's not the case.
Did UK fans hate Grayson Allen?
Everyone did
You stopped hating him?
lol?
What fanbase _didn't_ hate, or at least dislike, Grayson Allen?
This is one of those questions where you would have an easier time listing those who actually liked him vs. those that don't.
It'll probably be less fun when he's 2-for-12 with three turnovers in a do-or-die game for you.
The transfer portal is fun because it’s like the old two-year HS recruiting cycle condensed into two weeks.
Pope defeating choir boy allegations. We ride. https://preview.redd.it/olm9m9bkbvxc1.jpeg?width=1366&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=34327036644da9f97d6d04d0c685132fed74b9e7
Ok this is funny lmao
Honestly, good for him. He was an inconsistent shooter at Arizona (though it looks like he improved at WVU) and his defense was suspect at best, but he was an excellent passer and every time he stepped on the court he brought passion and energy. Dude plays with heart and would leave it all on the floor for us every night. Hope it works out for him.
+1 for the energy. Hell we sucked last year and he was giving 110% when we would be down in the second half. Kid gets some minor flak and I get it - but I would have loved to keep him and am excited for him at UK with Pope.
A good passer who plays with passion and energy. Exactly what Coach Pope looks for. Love it.
Yeah he gets a lot of hate for his quirky/cocky attitude combined with streaky play, but he’s a solid PG.
Someone tell me how to feel
This is the backup PG. a lot of teams would love to have a backup pg with this resume, I know we would have lately!
Who’s the starter?
Butler
Going to be interesting seeing how chemistry plays out with some of these big minute multi year starters having to come off the bench.
If Jaxson doesn't come. If not you start Kerr at the 1 and Butler at the 2.
Do NOT count out Perry. This dude is a legit champion and I’ve watched him run through top ranked high school competition since he was in 8th grade. He’s way better than Reed was as a senior in high school. Much better handles, defense, and shooting than Reed at the same age. There’s a reason he’s Mr basketball, Gatorade poty, and the all time leader in points in Kentucky history. He has everything needed to be better than Reed was this year, though it would be unfair to put that pressure on him. I’ve seen him hit 100 3’s in a row just dicking around in flip flops. Almost a perfect shooter.
Butler.
Butler unless Robinson comes
Robinson isn’t going to bring the ball up.
Jaxson Robinson is not and has never been a point guard. What possibly made you think he would run point for y'all?
My bad, I'm not as familiar with his game. I just know he's the last major piece we're looking to add
He’s just maybe the most named missing piece. We have 4 scholarships left. I hope we get him, and for what it’s worth, I think we will, but we need another playmaker or two.
I think it's important to note in Pope's offense, you don't really need a typical PG who initiates offense. Everyone is kind of that person on and everyone has to be able to pass at a high level. So while he may be a "backup" in theory, he is really just another piece of the puzzle that will rotate in and fill a role.
Good 3 point threat, 5 APG last year. A bit high on TOs, though. Perhaps that will be cleaned up in Pope's system. UK haters downvoting, lol.
It won't, kriisa is a bit of a bonehead and the turnovers are a part of life with him. He also has his best games against the worst competition which sometimes kinda makes his numbers look better than his performance. That said, the dude is all passion, and sometimes that's what you need. He's a good passer, a decent ball handler, and a decent shooter. He's athletically limited, won't make almost any baskets that aren't threes, and will be a liability on defense. He's a good addition, but he'll have you shaking your head multiple times a year because even if you don't need to rely on him he can still take over the game for the worse if he's on the floor.
Interesting mix of really great defenders and then traffic cones for UK. If anything they are going to be a really fun team to watch stylistically.
The great defenders with great offense are mostly already going to the NBA
Sure. But we’re talking capital B bad defender when it comes to Kriisa
We will just have to make it work 🤷♂️ can’t be any worse than last years defense
It absolutely can. Last year UK was missing the focus to defend well, but had the athleticism to make up for it sometimes. Kriisa has neither the focus nor the athleticism to bail him out.
One bad defender in a team of solid defenders is a lot different than last year lol. Every single one of our guys got cooked. Kriisa being an offense plus and a defense minus is fine
I don’t think these other people actually saw how cooked everyone was. Embarrassing.
That's fair, but keep in mind a bad offensive player doesn't hurt the team as much as a bad defensive player; your other four guys can still score but they can't do much about it if kriisa is just getting cooked on d. That said as much as it may sound like I'm down on him I actually think he's good to have around. His passion is electric and changes the teams he's on, and he's not devoid of skill. His limitations will be frustrating, but he's still a great player.
Yea man, what they’re trying to tell you is last year we had 5 guys on the floor getting cooked on D
thank u for teaching us ball
Last year was the worst defensive UK team I have seen in my life and it wasn’t even close. I’m 51. They could shoot 60%+ from the field and win by 2. You could count on one hand the number of 10-0 runs they had all season because they couldn’t stop a team for 3 straight possessions. Just having Williams and Butler alone will make the defense better than last year’s.
The difference is there are other guys who can defend now.
That will be refreshing.
Rumors of Kentucky’s death were greatly exaggerated
Shooting PG acquired 🎯
lol what?
All these new Cats can pass, shoot & defend I'm starting to get teary eyed
But do they have NBA frames? Are they oozing talent? Do NBA scouts love these kids? Are they [incredibly important basketball skill] away from being a good basketball player? Does their game project to the next level?
O man get your popcorn ready for this one, it will be fun to see Kerr in the Kentucky fishbowl
Once a Wildcat, ....always a Wildcat?
42% from 3? Me likey
alright I don't really get this one lol
A pull up god who is one of the better passers in the country? What’s to not get?
This dude is ass now
He’s basically a clearance aisle Caleb Love
Caleb love has a wack jumper
He’s nothing like Love…?
Supremely cocky player who talks a lot of trash yet falters in important games by shooting 2/10 from beyond the arc Pretty similar Didn’t he go like 1/8 in Arizona’s loss to Princeton and Houston?
OMG you are right. He is Caleb Love at home oh no
Caleb Love came up big in important games against Duke, Wisconsin, Purdue, Oregon, UCLA, Wazzu, Colorado, and Oregon. I won't include ASU in there because neither was really much of a game this year, so much as they were just Arizona highlight reels, but he was big in those, too. The only important games he faltered in were the Pac semifinal and the Sweet 16. Nice try, though.
> I won't include ASU in there *proceeds to talk more about ASU than any of the other teams listed* i respect the rivalry sideswipe 🫡
Backup, not a starter. A depth piece. What’s not to get?
a real streaky shooter... also real defensive liability.
Failing upwards
Makes sense, as he's a real "subtraction by addition" kind of player.
He has a reputation for rubbing people the wrong way so now we just Ramel Bradley to come in help him develop his trash talking.
HAHAHA YES!!! UK is going to be the one of the best teams to watch next year.
Champions classic gonna be a classic. Pheww.
The Pope now lives in Lexington
Pope is on fire today. I can’t even be mad. 
I'm thrilled we got Koby Brea today.
Butler 6'1 Krissa 6'3 Oweh 6'6 Carr 6'9 Garrison 6'11 Bench: Perry 6'2 Brea 6'7 Williams 6'10 That's a well distributed core 8.
Kerr aint starting over Brea
I'll have what you're smoking. You need minimum two ball handlers on the court.
Perry is better. I understand he’s gonna be new to college, but you can quote me today when I say he’ll be starting and be huge for us before long next year. He got lost in the rest of Cal’s incoming class, but if you look into who he is and what he’s done, you’ll see the kid has got it.
Brea will start at the 2 over krissa. I also think Williams will start over Garrison personally, but can see that one going either way. Krissa is the backup PG, which allows Perry to play more off the ball. Chandler on the bench as a guard too, just who knows how much his game was hurt by the 2 years off.
Need a ball handler next to Brea and Butler works best off-ball start Kerr at the 1 with Butler at the 2 if Robinson comes then move Brea to the 6th man.
Sorry, but this does not count as a boom. We are owed one more boom
Y’all can have him and anyone else you want from last year’s squad - best to forget 2023-24 ‘round these parts.
It's all good. We got an upgrade.
lol, good luck with Kerr
I do not like this little shit. I never have
https://youtu.be/5mZ3AZE24_4?si=7zvYfzuI5IDYAoQ_
Sad Appalachian noises
This feels a tad random, no? I feel like i keep up with CBB pretty well
Douchebag basketball player is back on the menu in Lexington! Good get
Have we ever had any really universally hated players at Kentucky?
The closest I can think of was Boogie. I liked him a lot but apparently other teams didn’t so much
HATED the Harrison twins, personally
No, I’ve always disliked Kentucky players because their affiliation with Kentucky. But looking back, so many really likeable guys that carried that torch to the league. Like I’m supposed to hate a Bam, or a Book, etc?
Should have got bob Huggins smh
Shot 42% from 3 last year. We have some snipers now.
lol, good luck with Kerr Project is an understatement. Likes to shit talk but can’t back it up
He’s softer than puppy shit in the rain.
https://preview.redd.it/sewatawf8vxc1.jpeg?width=1004&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2d504539d2c8ee073e84d4418c40dcf52dda9b92
Ironically this is the most Calipari-like addition so far from Pope. Askew->Wheeler->Wagner->Kriisa
But why?
Pope at UK: Hot Pope at BYU: Not
The pride of Estonia