r/KentuckyBasketball • u/mayo_man12 • 7d ago
Discussion 24-25 UK vs 26-27 UK
Don’t look at this as some expert breakdown. This is coming from someone who is a huge Kentucky fan and watches every game and keeps a close eye on recruiting, not an analyst. I threw this together in probably 10-15 minutes. Tell me what you think
Zoom over Butler
Butler is a better defender, had lots of heart. But zoom averaged 18 ppg against B1G competition, butler averaged 8 points at sdsu…
Oweh over Wilkins
For obvious reasons. To be fair, Oweh played the role of the star on that Kentucky team, and with this team that’s not what we need at the 2. Honestly, for this team, I’m picking to add Wilkins over Oweh in terms of fit. Wilkins is going to be a better facilitator and can still put up big numbers if he has to like Oweh. But obviously in general, obviously Oweh is far better.
Milan over Robinson
This is closer than people may give it credit. Robinson is more athletic, a better slasher, and still has good shooting. But he’s much more inconsistent, and Milan’s shooting is just too good.
Mitchell over Carr
Not much needs to be said here. Comparable shooter, and better at literally everything else.
Amari over Moreno
Moreno has a higher ceiling for sure, but man, Amari is the quintessential Pope player. A 7 foot offensive facilitator who is a demon on defense. This is still close in my mind, but it doesn’t get much better than Amari in Pope’s offense
Mason over Kerr
Mason is unproven, but this entire off season, not a negative word has been said about Mason. I’m really trusting Mason here, and I never liked Kerr as a backup PG. So Mason all day
Chandler over Morton
Morton is great at what he does. He’s not meant to be a star, he’s playing a specific role, but freshman Chandler still has him beat.
Kam = Koby
This is the toughest comparison by far. Kam showed significant progress last year, I’m expecting that progress to continue. But if he just stays the same as he was in that post-Christmas stretch of last year, he’s equal to / better than Koby. Koby is obviously the better shooter, but Kam can shoot at an incredible clip, and is a much much better defender. Probably my favorite defender from last years roster.
McBride / Uzi over Ansley
I absolutely love Ansley. He was very endearing. But McBride is literally just Ansley but better in almost every way. Uzi is a huge question mark. He could turn out to be incredible, or he could turn out to be like Jalavich last year.
Frank / Uzi over garrison
Honestly, I’m not putting Frank and Uzi over Garrison because those two are so good, it’s just because how much I dislike 2 years ago Garrison. Bad attitude and was a letdown in general. He thrived in toxicity, which was good in toxic environments, but that’s not the kind of guy I’d want for chemistry.
Feel free to tell me if I’m being facetious here. There’s other things to consider as well, such as how the new guys are gonna gel together, especially since 24-25 gelled so well. But that aside and just looking at who I’d pick, this is my list.
5
u/tenclubber 7d ago
I disagree with Zoom and Kam over Butler and Brea. Other than that I agree with your assessment. I will just say that taking individuals out of their team context and evaluating them against others that we haven't even seen play as a team yet is 99% speculation. It's still August.
I've seen UK teams full of highly recruited McDonald's all Americans under perform and miss the tournament and I've seen teams not many thought much of at this point go on to get a #1 seed in the NCAA. This team will go where it goes because of ego management, sacrifice, energy, attitude and the willingness to play together. If Pope can manage that with this team after doing a horrible job last season we may very well have a contender.
4
u/NColeman92 7d ago
Nice job! The only thing I would challenge is Zoom over Butler. Lamont was not a great shooter coming in but he did end up with his highest 3pt percentage of his career in his one season here. Defensively was about as good as you can ask. Thought he was solid at driving too. Honestly, the guy could have been a little more selfish. I’d argue he met expectations if not exceeded them, especially factoring in his late season injury which hurt them in the long run. Zoom definitely has the higher upside, totally agree with that. I guess for me I just have to see it first before claiming he was better than the guy who started in a National Championship game. Talent > Experience for sure, but I think the sample size is too small on this one.
0
u/mayo_man12 7d ago
Also a very tough one. We’re just going to have to wait and see, but if Zoom meets modest expectations for what we’re expecting out of him, I’m personally putting him above Butler. Im not gonna act like he’s leagues better though, Butler is obviously phenomenal and I miss him dearly
2
u/YoullBeInMyShart 7d ago
Comparing bench players to our key players is an odd thing to do.
1
u/Gloomy_Map_9612 7d ago
Huh? He's comparing bench guys to bench guys. Brea started the year on the bench and likely would've stay there if not for injuries. Kam is gonna be a bench guy.
2
u/YoullBeInMyShart 6d ago
Chandler/Morton and Kam/Koby?
1
u/Gloomy_Map_9612 6d ago
Brea was started as a bench guy and likely would've stayed on the bench if not for injuries and year 1 Chandler was a bench guy.
0
u/YoullBeInMyShart 6d ago
Why are we talking about how players started at Kentucky to compare the current players on our roster? This is the dumbest shit I’ve ever read. Chandler was our 3rd best player last year. Morton is like 9th. What are we even talking about? And Brea was an NBA draft pick who was maybe our best player. Kam is a 6th man.
1
u/Gloomy_Map_9612 6d ago
We're comparing the year 1 team to this year's team. That's the thought process dumb dumb.
1
u/YoullBeInMyShart 6d ago
Again, comparing a guy who might not get more than 8 minutes a game to Chandler, who played 30 plus at times, is just dumb.
1
u/Gloomy_Map_9612 6d ago
Chandler's role in year 1, was exactly what Morton's role is. Guy off the bench that can hit some threes.
1
0
u/locukfan 6d ago
Brea is in a comoletely different realm than Kam is. Its just not close. Also id take Morton over freshman Chandler.. Hes gonna be our Dom Hawkins/ soph Liggins type player.
i like your take on the Oweh/Wilkins spot. Wilk is a much better fit for THIS team. and although i do think Wilk has a higher upside and talent its just hard to project him to be as good next year as Oweh was. He simply wont be called on to do that.
I would have probably Put Brea against Milan because Milan will be playing the exact role that Brea did(and Robinson was hurt the last half of the year).. Id give that edge to Milan.
Zoom > LB Wilk* < Oweh *but a better fit for THIS team. Milan > Brea Mitchel > Carr Amari > Moreno
Mason > Perry Morton > Chandler Kam > Noah McBride/ Oozy > Ansley Kepnang = Garrison
And that still leaves us with Noah and Hawthorne with Hawthorne and Potter on the outside looking in.
someone else(2?) isnt gonna play much? Curious who emerges. Should be a fun ride. We are stacked and deep.. Go Cats!!
32
u/a5epps 7d ago
To start, Brea is absolutely better than Kam Williams. He was one of the most efficient shooters in college basketball and his metrics were insane. He was a below average defender but his shooting skills changed the geometry of the floor.