Question for those who are against Pope

paulcalhoun_rivals397471 · Monday at 12:34 AM

Anon1739778738 said:
I can't speak for others I just know his record compared to other coaches is average at best.I hope Mark Pope and the wildcats win the National championship this year but honestly don't see the talent to do so. Go Cats

I'm saying that comparison is a bit apples to oranges given schedules and injuries to this point. You seem to be a bit more reasonable now so I'll give it another shot.

I have posted this numerous times but I'll do it again in case you missed it.

When schedule is considered he is pretty dead on the UK standard. UK has played 9 schedules rated 10.60 or better in their history and have lost double figure games every time. 7 times pre Pope with an average rating of 11.44 and a record of 144-80 64%. Pope's two schedules avg. rating is 13.50 with a record of 46-26 63.9%.

Kentucky Wildcats Men's Basketball Index | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Check out the Kentucky Wildcats College Basketball History, Stats, Records, Polls, Leaders and More College Basketball Stats at Sports-Reference.com

www.sports-reference.com

I will repeat again that I have said many times he must find a way to get better results or we move on at some point while acknowledging the difficulty of the task and hoping we can have a reasonably healthy season while taking on a daunting schedule.

I can't say I see enough talent for a National Championship but I'll ask theoretically would 28 or 29 wins and an Elite 8 be enough to convince you he deserves more time?

kyjeff1 · Monday at 6:07 AM

Catastic5 said:
I honestly wonder how much of first season’s success was “fool’s gold”. How many of those ranked wins were actually ranked wins and how much of that success was thanks to multiple super seniors. Was the first season beginners’ luck?

I think the direction of this season will say a lot about the first season.

The bolded sentence, that's all us "pumpers" are saying and have been saying for a long time. We are all waiting to see if the inconsistencies, soft play, weird sub patterns, bad losses and weird interviews continue.

kyjeff1 · Monday at 6:10 AM

Ash Williams said:
Who are you talking to? You do realize the fans have no input on hiring decisions, right?

No sh*t dumb*ss.

BBNinSCar · Monday at 6:53 AM

*Bleedingblue* said:
Man you dont have to sound like a total loser about it.

I remember back in 88 when Sutton was going to be fired and we needed a coach. Who would want to come here? Well the New York Knicks coach wanted the job

It’s not 1988 anymore. There have been a few changes since then

HoneyMoon155 · Monday at 9:34 AM

kyjeff1 said:
LOL, you're blind as a bat, or purposely obtuse.

Tell me this, what is your definition of failure for a UK coach?

This should be good, especially since you know what's coming after you try to say FF is the standard. Go ahead, give it a shot.

Keep in mind, this isn’t the old SEC where only 2 or 3 teams made the tournament. But go ahead.

Why try to attack me? What exactly is wrong with my statement?

HoneyMoon155 · Monday at 9:38 AM

kyjeff1 said:
The bolded sentence, that's all us "pumpers" are saying and have been saying for a long time. We are all waiting to see if the inconsistencies, soft play, weird sub patterns, bad losses and weird interviews continue.

It happened in the first season, it happened in the second season, it’s logical to think it’s gonna happen in the third season and it’s just who pope is. Now why is that wrong for us “haters” to say?

KFuqua · Monday at 11:04 AM

ScWildcat3 said:
So if he goes farther than the sweet 16 this year is he the right coach all of a sudden?

The thing is that as if right now, there's no real reason to say he isn't the right coach. First year exceeded all expectations. Last year was painful at times, but still a tournament team. Let's see how this year goes. For some reason, some people on here just want to trash him and hate him for no legitimate reason. The ones that have openly said they want Kentucky to lose, so he gets fired are not real fans and tes, there gave been several of those.

ScWildcat3 · Monday at 11:23 AM

KFuqua said:
The thing is that as if right now, there's no real reason to say he isn't the right coach. First year exceeded all expectations. Last year was painful at times, but still a tournament team. Let's see how this year goes. For some reason, some people on here just want to trash him and hate him for no legitimate reason. The ones that have openly said they want Kentucky to lose, so he gets fired are not real fans and tes, there gave been several of those.

I agree 100%. That first team was final four caliber fully healthy. Sucks we had so many injuries and just became a completely different team. Any team who loses what we did would falter in the tourney. Last year was just a complete crap show once Lowe went down and JQ didn’t respond to his knee surgery. Wouldn’t have been a final four team I don’t think but was definitely better than a first weekend team.

BigRedMachineBigBlueNation · Monday at 1:08 PM

MY_POPE said:
Do you want to see him succeed elsewhere if not here? It seems like some of the hate as a coach has transitioned to a personal hate for a dude that loves BBN, is a member of BBN. Can the haters at least say hey he ain't it but he was in 96? Hate him as a coach. Hate mitch for hiring him.

We want him to suceeed here.

Cats_2010 · Monday at 1:51 PM

Eagles_Ball_69 said:
Not debating that. He wasn’t the piece he was made out to be when hired though. Huge revisionist history. His captaincy was played up. The PR machine took over and the sheep followed.

Pope was a lot better on that team than you give him credit for. He averaged just under 8 points per game, you know who else averaged 8? Ron Mercer. That team was so loaded it was hard for anyone to really stand out, but of course walker and delk did for the most part as the leaders followed by Anderson, Mercer and Pope.

To coaching, there really hasn’t been any sheep as you call it. 90% of the fanbase was against the hire from the get go but was willing to give him a shot (what other choice was there really) and a good majority bought in in the weeks and months to come with the intro and quick team assemble putting together a formidable roster in a short period of time. That first roster was his highlight however and it’s been going downhill fast and everyone’s fears have quickly been realized. I loved the hire initially but never dawned on me he would be spurned in the recruiting world like he has been. I have zero confidence in him as a coach now and dont like his personality as the face of KY basketball. If I root for him to fail or not this year doesn’t matter, he is failing regardless.

Anon1739778738 · Monday at 1:52 PM

paulcalhoun_rivals397471 said:
I'm saying that comparison is a bit apples to oranges given schedules and injuries to this point. You seem to be a bit more reasonable now so I'll give it another shot.

I have posted this numerous times but I'll do it again in case you missed it.

When schedule is considered he is pretty dead on the UK standard. UK has played 9 schedules rated 10.60 or better in their history and have lost double figure games every time. 7 times pre Pope with an average rating of 11.44 and a record of 144-80 64%. Pope's two schedules avg. rating is 13.50 with a record of 46-26 63.9%.

Kentucky Wildcats Men's Basketball Index | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Check out the Kentucky Wildcats College Basketball History, Stats, Records, Polls, Leaders and More College Basketball Stats at Sports-Reference.com

www.sports-reference.com

I will repeat again that I have said many times he must find a way to get better results or we move on at some point while acknowledging the difficulty of the task and hoping we can have a reasonably healthy season while taking on a daunting schedule.

I can't say I see enough talent for a National Championship but I'll ask theoretically would 28 or 29 wins and an Elite 8 be enough to convince you he deserves more time?

Yes definitely elite 8 would be very deserving. Go Cats

Eagles_Ball_69 · Monday at 2:27 PM

Cats_2010 said:
Pope was a lot better on that team than you give him credit for. He averaged just under 8 points per game, you know who else averaged 8? Ron Mercer. That team was so loaded it was hard for anyone to really stand out, but of course walker and delk did for the most part as the leaders followed by Anderson, Mercer and Pope.

To coaching, there really hasn’t been any sheep as you call it. 90% of the fanbase was against the hire from the get go but was willing to give him a shot (what other choice was there really) and a good majority bought in in the weeks and months to come with the intro and quick team assemble putting together a formidable roster in a short period of time. That first roster was his highlight however and it’s been going downhill fast and everyone’s fears have quickly been realized. I loved the hire initially but never dawned on me he would be spurned in the recruiting world like he has been. I have zero confidence in him as a coach now and dont like his personality as the face of KY basketball. If I root for him to fail or not this year doesn’t matter, he is failing regardless.

Mercer was a true frosh on a loaded team. Pope was a senior. But that team would've won the title w/o Mercer too. That team scored 91 pts/game. They wouldn't have noticed Popes 7.5 being gone. And truthfully, their best lineup didn't include him. Again, oversold. He wasn't a chump by any stretch, but his significance on that team (captain of a national champion) was SEVERELY overblown. But I understand why it was done, but it's created a bit of a divide. It's like folks think we need to treat him differently now that he's the coach. Just not the case. Hell, I coach my own kid a heckuva lot harder than the others. I expect more from her. Just the way it is.

The sheep comment was about the ones that went to Rupp. It is how Mitch sold the hire. For whatever reason, that changed the mindset of quite a few people. They allowed Mitch to sell them. Accepting it is one thing. Celebrating it is a completely different thing. That whole charade (and that's exactly what it was) was one big sales pitch for the sheep.

Nothing against you, because you seem to understand basketball pretty well. I just can't imagine anyone liking the hire for anything other than the "he's one of us" tie. Just curious...no intention to come at you given your answer...I'm truly curious why anyone would have liked the hire. Care to share? Personally I couldn't care any less had he played for dUKe or Loserville. I wanted a guy with pedigree and/or a resume. Give me an up and comer or someone that had already done it. He was neither.

BlueWorldOrder74 · Monday at 2:31 PM

I want Mark to succeed here. He’s not giving me much hope though. If he doesn’t win big this season, and make real noise in the tourney, he has to go. I don’t care what happens to his success after that. Best of luck to him. But I won’t care a bit. Mark, gotta do something real here this season or bye. I’m talking Elite Eight minimum. And have to finish top three in the league. And that’s still being generous.

Catastic5 · Monday at 2:34 PM

BlueWorldOrder74 said:
I want Mark to succeed here. He’s not giving me much hope though. If he doesn’t win big this season, and make real noise in the tourney, he has to go. I don’t care what happens to his success after that. Best of luck to him. But I won’t care a bit. Mark, gotta do something real here this season or bye. I’m talking Elite Eight minimum. And have to finish top three in the league. And that’s still being generous.

That exhibition game having multiple scoring droughts is concerning me. Why are we struggling to score against freaking Little Rock? Saying you aren’t running offensive sets doesn’t excuse not making point-blank shots. That stuff concerns the heck out of me.

UKortho · Monday at 3:48 PM

Eagles_Ball_69 said:
Heads up, here comes Paul on the white horse! I can’t wait to see your posts in early February. You’re either going to go quiet, completely change your tune, or just sound like a driveling idiot…oh wait.

I predict 2 and 3

UKortho · Monday at 3:57 PM

paulcalhoun_rivals397471 said:
It has been pointed out to you many times already that he is actually meeting the standard if you give the schedule proper consideration. We have played 9 schedules rated 10.60 or higher. 7 previous to Pope across 3 coaches with an avg. rating of 11.44 while winning at a 64% rate with three sweet 16's, two second rounds, one first round, and a missed tournament. Pope's two schedules rate an avg. of 13.5 while winning at 63.9% clip with a Sweet 16 and a second round finish. This of course makes no consideration for the injury issues he has dealt with.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/miami-fl/2026-schedule.html

A 63.9% winning percentage isn't the whole story. You need to look at success in the SEC and NCAA Tournament, competing for SEC championships, and being a contender for the national title are part of the standard. A Sweet 16 is not good enough imo. Also, in his two years he is has finished tied for 6th and tied for 7th place. Not even close to being good enough. He is failing

With NIL we should be recruiting at a level that allows us to compete against elite opponents. He can't recruit elite talent. Looked into Milan or we might not make the NCAA tourney this year. And yes, he lucked into that signing.

Catastic5 · Monday at 4:02 PM

UKortho said:
A 63.9% winning percentage isn't the whole story. You need to look at success in the SEC and NCAA Tournament, competing for SEC championships, and being a contender for the national title are part of the standard. A Sweet 16 is not good enough imo. Also, in his two years he is has finished tied for 6th and tied for 7th place. Not even close to being good enough. He is failing

With NIL we should be recruiting at a level that allows us to compete against elite opponents. He can't recruit elite talent. Looked into Milan or we might not make the NCAA tourney this year. And yes, he lucked into that signing.

We were pretty much the only team with money from whiffing on players when we signed Momo. Same when Mitchell jumped to Kentucky, we had leftover money no other team had. Had Mitchell gone into the portal when he was supposed to, he never would’ve committed to Kentucky. Momo might not have either if he left the NBA draft earlier or if ISU had the money.

Resignmarkpope · Monday at 4:02 PM

paulcalhoun_rivals397471 said:
Do you suffer from brain damage or something? For the thousandth time, pointing out actual facts is not propping anyone up it is simply being fair and objective.

He’s barely a top 50 coach

Resignmarkpope · Monday at 4:05 PM

kyjeff1 said:
If I remember correctly, the day Pope was hired, we all had very much the same reaction "Mark Pope??? WTF??? No way".

He never should have been hired. F*ck Barnhart. He screwed the basketball hire up twice.

Pope said the right things and did some very impressive things his first year. He had something going and it got derailed and last year was a failure from the beginning. He recruited to a style that didn't come close to fitting his style.

Let's see what he does this year. Ball is firmly in his court, all the pressure is on him.

burn it down Mark Pope

imagine coach Cal’s 3rd year was a championship! Pope’s 3rd year? Probably 12 losses and 8th in the mighty SEC!

paulcalhoun_rivals397471 · Monday at 4:21 PM

UKortho said:
A 63.9% winning percentage isn't the whole story. You need to look at success in the SEC and NCAA Tournament, competing for SEC championships, and being a contender for the national title are part of the standard. A Sweet 16 is not good enough imo. Also, in his two years he is has finished tied for 6th and tied for 7th place. Not even close to being good enough. He is failing

With NIL we should be recruiting at a level that allows us to compete against elite opponents. He can't recruit elite talent. Looked into Milan or we might not make the NCAA tourney this year. And yes, he lucked into that signing.

I have posted all of this before. In the 7 seasons before Pope with a schedule rating of 10.6 or higher UK has 3 sweet 16's, two second round, a first round and a missed tournament. Pope has a Sweet 16 and a second round. The SEC was much weaker so that is not a decent comparison for me to bother looking up.

The idea that recruiting should be easier at UK due to NIL and the portal is unsubstantiated.

UKBB4Ever · Monday at 4:29 PM

KFuqua said:
The thing is that as if right now, there's no real reason to say he isn't the right coach. First year exceeded all expectations. Last year was painful at times, but still a tournament team. Let's see how this year goes. For some reason, some people on here just want to trash him and hate him for no legitimate reason. The ones that have openly said they want Kentucky to lose, so he gets fired are not real fans and tes, there gave been several of those.

There’s every reason to know he’s not right. There is no reasoning to say he is right.

No qualifications to be hired. Then nothing to show that the not having qualifications didn’t matter.

Did you just say he made the tournament as a reason that criticism is not legitimate?

OK, how about the worst 2 year SEC coaching record in UK history?

Or, how about his team’s just quitting?
That should be more than enough for any UK fan but to a handful it’s not.

Resignmarkpope · Monday at 4:31 PM

UKBB4Ever said:
There’s every reason to know he’s not right. There is no reasoning to say he is right.

No qualifications to be hired. Then nothing to show that the not having qualifications didn’t matter.

Did you just say he made the tournament as a reason that criticism is not legitimate?

OK, how about the worst 2 year SEC coaching record in UK history?

Or, how about his team’s just quitting?
That should be more than enough for any UK fan but to a handful it’s not.

Guy couldn’t even win a conference regular season or championship at Utah valley or byu! Complete FRAUD!

Resignmarkpope · Monday at 4:34 PM

Resignmarkpope said:
Guy couldn’t even win a conference regular season or championship at Utah valley or byu! Complete FRAUD!

Btw mark madsen won at Utah valley. He actually finished 1st twice!

Catastic5 · Monday at 4:38 PM

paulcalhoun_rivals397471 said:
I have posted all of this before. In the 7 seasons before Pope with a schedule rating of 10.6 or higher UK has 3 sweet 16's, two second round, a first round and a missed tournament. Pope has a Sweet 16 and a second round. The SEC was much weaker so that is not a decent comparison for me to bother looking up.

The idea that recruiting should be easier at UK due to NIL and the portal is unsubstantiated.

Nobody gives a flying sh*t about the alleged difficulty of the SEC when it’s the same teams year in and year out (including Cal at Arkansas) at the top of the league while other bluebloods aren’t struggling like we are. We’re tired or the excuses. He’s got this season to pull a rabbit out of his hat and start successfully recruiting elite players or he’s done. Stein isn’t struggling against a difficult SEC schedule, why should our basketball team with a much higher NIL budget (compared to respective schools) continue to struggle?

There’s no more excuses. No more “Cal left the cupboard bare,” no more “but without the injuries we would’ve been in the elite 8 in his first season,” and certainly no more “he’s just a new coach; he’s learning on the job, he’ll improve as time goes on!” Either he put up or shut up this season. And if you don’t think for every win the football team achieves isn’t putting pressure on Pope from fans, boosters, the media and the admin, I got a bridge to sell you.

Resignmarkpope · Monday at 4:38 PM

Resignmarkpope said:
Btw mark madsen won at Utah valley. He actually finished 1st twice!

Mark madsen >mark pope. Numbers don’t lie

paulcalhoun_rivals397471 · Monday at 4:43 PM

Catastic5 said:
Nobody gives a flying sh*t about the alleged difficulty of the SEC when it’s the same teams year in and year out (including Cal at Arkansas) at the top of the league while other bluebloods aren’t struggling like we are. We’re tired or the excuses. He’s got this season to pull a rabbit out of his hat and start successfully recruiting elite players or he’s done. Stein isn’t struggling against a difficult SEC schedule, why should our basketball team with a much higher NIL budget (compared to respective schools) continue to struggle?

There’s no more excuses. No more “Cal left the cupboard bare,” no more “but without the injuries we would’ve been in the elite 8 in his first season,” and certainly no more “he’s just a new coach; he’s learning on the job, he’ll improve as time goes on!” Either he put up or shut up this season. And if you don’t think for every win the football team achieves isn’t putting pressure on Pope from fans, boosters, the media and the admin, I got a bridge to sell you.

As usual you post some stuff that is not true and reject everything that is true while making no attempt to provide any facts to back your rantings.

Cats_2010 · Monday at 4:54 PM

Eagles_Ball_69 said:
Mercer was a true frosh on a loaded team. Pope was a senior. But that team would've won the title w/o Mercer too. That team scored 91 pts/game. They wouldn't have noticed Popes 7.5 being gone. And truthfully, their best lineup didn't include him. Again, oversold. He wasn't a chump by any stretch, but his significance on that team (captain of a national champion) was SEVERELY overblown. But I understand why it was done, but it's created a bit of a divide. It's like folks think we need to treat him differently now that he's the coach. Just not the case. Hell, I coach my own kid a heckuva lot harder than the others. I expect more from her. Just the way it is.

The sheep comment was about the ones that went to Rupp. It is how Mitch sold the hire. For whatever reason, that changed the mindset of quite a few people. They allowed Mitch to sell them. Accepting it is one thing. Celebrating it is a completely different thing. That whole charade (and that's exactly what it was) was one big sales pitch for the sheep.

Nothing against you, because you seem to understand basketball pretty well. I just can't imagine anyone liking the hire for anything other than the "he's one of us" tie. Just curious...no intention to come at you given your answer...I'm truly curious why anyone would have liked the hire. Care to share? Personally I couldn't care any less had he played for dUKe or Loserville. I wanted a guy with pedigree and/or a resume. Give me an up and comer or someone that had already done it. He was neither.

I liked the hire as from afar (admittedly I never watched BYU), he appeared to be a solid coach. Loved his offensive system and having shooters all over the court. I recall Kelvin Sampson saying that a pope coached team was the most difficult to prepare for or something to that effect. No one ever said that about Cal and rightfully so. I got tired of cals system that had athletes but not necessarily basketball players at every spot on the floor. Obviously some were good but many weren’t. I thought with the UK brand behind him Pope could up his level in recruiting and assemble a true basketball team that encompassed it all. I was dead wrong. I don’t think pope is a horrible coach in general but he definitely needs work on defensive scheming but he just can’t recruit well enough here to be even remotely successful and like you I like him less than I did before. I just can’t deal with a goofball as a coach. I want to see a coach light a damn fire in his team and chew their *** out when needed while still being respected by the player(s) as a result. That’s Stein!!!!!

Catastic5 · Monday at 5:05 PM

paulcalhoun_rivals397471 said:
As usual you post some stuff that is not true and reject everything that is true while making no attempt to provide any facts to back your rantings.

Says the guy who thinks Mark Pope is the next Dan Hurley. How long you plan on living in that delusion?

paulcalhoun_rivals397471 · Monday at 5:09 PM

Catastic5 said:
Says the guy who thinks Mark Pope is the next Dan Hurley. How long you plan on living in that delusion?

When facts won't work just make up ridiculous crap with no basis in reality? I have never said anything remotely close to that. At least you are being consistent with your trolling I suppose.

kyjeff1 · Monday at 6:38 PM

HoneyMoon155 said:
It happened in the first season, it happened in the second season, it’s logical to think it’s gonna happen in the third season and it’s just who pope is. Now why is that wrong for us “haters” to say?

You're welcome to say what you want. The issue here is, there is a group that ruins every thread with their attacks on anyone that dares say something positive.

kyjeff1 · Monday at 6:45 PM

Resignmarkpope said:
burn it down Mark Popeimagine coach Cal’s 3rd year was a championship! Pope’s 3rd year? Probably 12 losses and 8th in the mighty SEC!

So it's okay for Pope to go to the NIT in year 4?
It's cool if Pope loses to Evansville in Rupp?
It's cool if UK loses to Robert Morris in the nit?
It's cool if UK loses at home to Richmond?
It's cool if UK loses at home to UNCW?
It's cool if UK loses in the ncaat to Saint Peters?
It's cool if UK loses to Oakland?
Would it be aight if Pope calls us all "Basketball Bennies"

You act like Mark is the one that did all those things, but nope, it was your hero.

paulcalhoun_rivals397471 · Monday at 7:07 PM

HoneyMoon155 said:
It happened in the first season, it happened in the second season, it’s logical to think it’s gonna happen in the third season and it’s just who pope is. Now why is that wrong for us “haters” to say?

There is a long list of coaches whose first two years at a school were no better or actually worse and they went on to have great seasons including National Championships. Before you go there I'm not making any predictions. I'm just saying the claim that so many think they know for a fact that he can not possibly succeed is erroneous and time will tell.

Wildcat_in_DC · Monday at 7:07 PM

kyjeff1 said:
So it's okay for Pope to go to the NIT in year 4?
It's cool if Pope loses to Evansville in Rupp?
It's cool if UK loses to Robert Morris in the nit?
It's cool if UK loses at home to Richmond?
It's cool if UK loses at home to UNCW?
It's cool if UK loses in the ncaat to Saint Peters?
It's cool if UK loses to Oakland?
Would it be aight if Pope calls us all "Basketball Bennies"

You act like Mark is the one that did all those things, but nope, it was your hero.

yup cal did all that. he also did a lot of winning. he also won a lot at memphis. and at umass. and thats the problem with pope. he doesnt win anything. which is usually how you evaluate someone.

Catastic5 · Monday at 7:16 PM

kyjeff1 said:
So it's okay for Pope to go to the NIT in year 4?
It's cool if Pope loses to Evansville in Rupp?
It's cool if UK loses to Robert Morris in the nit?
It's cool if UK loses at home to Richmond?
It's cool if UK loses at home to UNCW?
It's cool if UK loses in the ncaat to Saint Peters?
It's cool if UK loses to Oakland?
Would it be aight if Pope calls us all "Basketball Bennies"

You act like Mark is the one that did all those things, but nope, it was your hero.

Tubby and Cal had a lot of lows, but they earned it by winning national titles. Had Pope won a title, I wouldn’t even blink about last couple seasons.

FLBBNFAN · Monday at 7:48 PM

Resignmarkpope said:
Never said ford was a good coach. Said he was better than pope! Ford is definitely a better coach than pooope. Look I don’t think pope is a good coach at all! I mean I honestly think he’s the worst coach that Kentucky basketball has ever had. Maybe the worst coach in program history across the board. I despise him as a coach. It’s either Mark Pope or Joker Phillips as the worst in program history Mark is a complete fraud.

Catastic5 said:
It wasn’t a panic hire, it was a religious hire. When his little bible buddy down at Baylor turned him down, his Mormon assistant AD convinced him to hire Pope. There aren’t any rumors or speculation that Mitch went beyond Drew, a stupid offer for Hurley which he would’ve never taken, and then Pope. That’s it. Out of dozens of qualified coaches, Mitch ignored them all; just like when he hired Billy G.

paulcalhoun_rivals397471 said:
7.6 and 5.2 as a senior at UK and 8.2 and 6.3 as a Jr. for an avg. of 7.9 and 5.7 at UK in 21.1 mpg. He sacrificed and played his role on a legendary team. He averaged 10.3 and 8.1 as Pac10 freshman of the Year and 12.2 and 8 as a Sophomore.

He was the captain of the team under Pitino. He didn't get that honor as a participation trophy. He played well in the natty and was in the NBA for 7 years . Criticize legit issues with his coaching all day but tearing down his contribution to the 96 team isnt a great look.

In addition he actually played for an elite collegevprogram same as Noah and other role players . Say what you want about their college stats but they weren't playing in the rec league at the Y.

kyjeff1 · Monday at 7:49 PM

Wildcat_in_DC said:
yup cal did all that. he also did a lot of winning. he also won a lot at memphis. and at umass. and thats the problem with pope. he doesnt win anything. which is usually how you evaluate someone.

Right, but lets stop acting like pope went to the NIT the last two ywar and flipped everyone the double bird while failing.

You guys act like he punched a baby.

Resignmarkpope · Monday at 7:55 PM

kyjeff1 said:
So it's okay for Pope to go to the NIT in year 4?
It's cool if Pope loses to Evansville in Rupp?
It's cool if UK loses to Robert Morris in the nit?
It's cool if UK loses at home to Richmond?
It's cool if UK loses at home to UNCW?
It's cool if UK loses in the ncaat to Saint Peters?
It's cool if UK loses to Oakland?
Would it be aight if Pope calls us all "Basketball Bennies"

You act like Mark is the one that did all those things, but nope, it was your hero.

Burn it down mark

Loucatfan30 · Monday at 8:50 PM

kyjeff1 said:
You're welcome ro say what you want. The issue here is, there is a group that ruins every thread with their attacks on anyone that dares say something positive.

There is nothing positive to say at this point, The recruiting is terrible. Pope has to pay the su@ks tax on every player we get to come here. ie we have to overpay for everyone we get which at not top tier. Many come here only to get nil raise on others. It is a joke. What is positive to say. It like your wife getting banged at work and you say well at least she has a good job. Crazy.

Loucatfan30 · Monday at 8:52 PM

kyjeff1 said:
Right, but lets stop acting like pope went to the NIT the last two ywar and flipped everyone the double bird while failing.

You guys act like he punched a baby.

He has embarrassed the program in so many ways including getting booed off the floor by our own fans in Nashville in the most embarrassing loss I have ever witnessed. It would be better for me if he did punch a baby. I feel like I get punched in the nu@s every time I see him coach.

UKBB4Ever · Monday at 8:58 PM

paulcalhoun_rivals397471 said:
There is a long list of coaches whose first two years at a school were no better or actually worse and they went on to have great seasons including National Championships. Before you go there I'm not making any predictions. I'm just saying the claim that so many think they know for a fact that he can not possibly succeed is erroneous and time will tell.

That dog just won't hunt. Completely different way of doing business now. BCG inherited a 12 loss team that was losing it's top 6 scorers. Cal took over nothing. You can say Pope did too. But pope had an open portal and millions of dollars to spend. He should do that every year. That worked better than his building with time. Get a bunch of guys that have been coached elsewhere and hope they bail his *** out.

But you cannot name any other coach that supposedly struggled his first two years and became great if his teams actually just quit in those first two years. It's never happened so you can save trying to look.

Question for those who are against Pope

All-American

Heisman

Heisman

All-Conference

All-Conference

All-Conference

All-Conference

All-Conference

Heisman

Heisman

Senior

All-American

Heisman

Senior

Heisman

Heisman

Senior

Senior

Senior

All-American

All-Conference

Senior

Senior

Senior

Senior

All-American

Heisman

Senior

All-American

Heisman

Heisman

All-American

All-Conference

Senior

All-Conference

Heisman

Senior

All-Conference

All-Conference

All-Conference