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Let’s just let the season play out

U

UKfan2151

All-American
Oct 1, 2003
14,544
9,861
113
Let the season play out? WTF are you talking about? The season has already played out. We got curb stomped a very mid-team. We are in Year 3 of the great Mark Pope experiment and with each season we keep getting worse. Mark Pope is hopelessly in over his head, therefore I see no sound reason for waiting to do the necessary. Fire his *** before the sun comes up!
 
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J

JAC71

All-American
Jun 28, 2015
5,057
9,533
113
Ash Williams said:
It’s what we do in March that matters

Besides, who’s going to pay the buyout?

who are you going to hire at this point that will take the job?

Getting upset in here will only hurt recruiting.

Am I doing it right?

Where are all the jeffites?
Click to expand...
Our recruiting took a hit the day Pope was hired so it can’t get any worse.
If the previous AD would have done his homework and interviewed coaches other than his buddy and a coach coming off a championship run we would not be in this predicament. There are a few coaches out there that could get us back on top, the AD just needs to research it and get it done once Pope is let go at end of season
 
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*Fox2Monk*

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
48,976
90,371
113
CUJO_1970 said:
I keep saying - it was obvious after the Alabama game last year that Pope wasn’t going to work out here. That was the final, final straw to anyone who understands Kentucky basketball.

At this point we are just throwing seasons away.
Click to expand...
Exactly, wait all year for basketball, and we throw another season down the drain. Been since 2020 and we have had fleeting moments of success and that’s it. We have won nothing.
 
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*Fox2Monk*

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
48,976
90,371
113
UKfan2151 said:
Let the season play out? WTF are you talking about? The season has already played out. We got curb stomped a very mid-team. We are in Year 3 of the great Mark Pope experiment and with each season we keep getting worse. Mark Pope is hopelessly in over his head, therefore I see no sound reason for waiting to do the necessary. Fire his *** before the sun comes up!
Click to expand...
The OP’s post

1794397575577.gif
 
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B

bigblueinsanity (the real)

All-American
Jul 6, 2025
2,954
7,863
113
will1976 said:
27 of 75 Mark Pope coached games, Kentucky has been down double digits. Thats 1 out of 6 games Kentucky is down double digits! .500 against power 5 teams...Not Kentucky Basketball! 🤮
Click to expand...

Take away his very strong first squad and god only knows what it is, but its way worse.

His first season was pretty decent. These last two are just completely abysmal
 
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BBNinSCar

BBNinSCar

All-Conference
Apr 23, 2013
1,858
3,491
81
I was willing to give Pope my support again with the Kansas game as the marker for this years' success.
We didn't necessarily have to win last night's game, but I wanted to see something to give the fanbase hope.
What I saw was a team lost, poorly managed with zero positive energy.
This is not Kentucky basketball.
 
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kfwa

kfwa

All-Conference
Oct 12, 2014
574
1,085
93
Pope was hired to turn the program around from where Calipari left it.

To date, and now we are on year 3, you could argue there has been marginal improvement based on tournament play but you could also make the argument its worse based on regular season play.

Regardless of what position you take, there is NO argument that he has not achieved what he was hired to do. The only question remaining is how long do you let this go?
 
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CB3UK

CB3UK

Hall of Famer
Apr 15, 2012
65,284
109,998
78
Any rational fan was on here this offseason pointing out this was going to be a wasted year. Now that we're hitting last second shots to take UCF to OT and getting rawdogged by 20 v Kansas, maybe the rest of you will start listening and realizing the plug needs to be pulled in this circus.
 
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C

Caytsfsn

Senior
Jul 21, 2023
416
895
93
We have no choice but to let it play out. However, I won't be going to any games or making any changes to my schedule to watch a game. This is pathetic basketball. We're NEVER prepared, we're always down 10 at some point, and it's painfully obvious now that Jackson Robinson and Lamont Butler were the catalyst for what ever successes we had year one. Can anyone name the last game we controlled from start to finish against a good opponent? I seriously don't remember a single one. Maybe Arkansas last year, but that got dicey at points.
 
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C

Caytsfsn

Senior
Jul 21, 2023
416
895
93
will1976 said:
First time in my 50 years im contemplating not watching the next game. Pope has to go.
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I wake up early during the week to go to the gym. I didn't watch a second of last night's game and slept like a baby. I was optimistic heading into the game that we would play well, but was expecting to get beat and wasn't going to be surprised if it got ugly. Heading into last night, I told a few people that the only surprising outcome would be if we won by 12+.
 
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U

UKgrad22

All-Conference
Apr 9, 2026
911
2,448
93
I’d almost be fine to just let Mikhail take the reins for the rest of the year and see how that shakes out. We can’t keep expecting better results with a Pope led team. Last night was exactly how TN S16 game went, Iowa State R32, Gonzaga in Nashville, MSU last champions classic, etc. team just gave up
 
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W

Wildcat_in_DC

All-Conference
Nov 25, 2025
1,524
2,703
113
it is what it is at this point. if we arent 10-2 or better after the unc game blatt is going to have to say/do something. losing by 20 to KU was fairly predictable. through 3 exhibition games and 2 regular season games the patterns were there:
  • built to be a 3 point shooting team but never shot the 3 well
  • offense is general was very hard to come by
  • very few transition point
  • terrible rebounding
  • bad perimeter defense
  • poor FT shooting
back to back years where we spent more money than probably 5 schools on roster construction and we are not even competitive.
 
BookofMormon

BookofMormon

All-Conference
Mar 27, 2026
1,337
1,759
113
There is no way Pope survives. This is it. The media circus around him is so bad, the players will start feeling it and this is going to be one toxic stew. Nevermind his inability to coach, it's now all the other stuff which will make it unbearable. There is no way you can do another season of it, the fans and the experts all know it's a done deal. Who will he even be able to retain?

What we are seeing after one loss is exactly why recruits don't come.
 
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Wildcatmenace

Wildcatmenace

All-Conference
Oct 29, 2025
1,154
1,736
113
BookofMormon said:
Yeah, and scare any other good coach with half a brain away.
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So we’re supposed to keep an incompetent coach because we’re scared of what the next guy might think? That’s ridiculous. Any coach worth a damn knows Kentucky expects to win. Keeping Pope just to avoid hurting somebody’s feelings is how you run this program into the ground.
 
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W

wildcat111

All-Conference
Dec 9, 2020
1,627
1,834
113
Ash Williams said:
It’s what we do in March that matters

Besides, who’s going to pay the buyout?

who are you going to hire at this point that will take the job?

Getting upset in here will only hurt recruiting.

Am I doing it right?

Where are all the jeffites?
Click to expand...
This game tells you exactly what will happen in March. Recruiting is already a dumpster fire. recruiting a coach is what needs to happen.
 
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HolySmokes

HolySmokes

All-Conference
Oct 23, 2026
797
1,231
93
Ash Williams said:
It’s what we do in March that matters

Besides, who’s going to pay the buyout?

who are you going to hire at this point that will take the job?

Getting upset in here will only hurt recruiting.

Am I doing it right?

Where are all the jeffites?
Click to expand...
Mo wont mind coaching the University of Kentucky Wildcats the rest of the season with his son on the team.
 
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BookofMormon

BookofMormon

All-Conference
Mar 27, 2026
1,337
1,759
113
Wildcatmenace said:
So we’re supposed to keep an incompetent coach because we’re scared of what the next guy might think? That’s ridiculous. Any coach worth a damn knows Kentucky expects to win. Keeping Pope just to avoid hurting somebody’s feelings is how you run this program into the ground.
Click to expand...
You think a next coach is joining tomorrow?
 
will1976

will1976

All-Conference
Dec 10, 2003
3,408
2,888
113
Caytsfsn said:
I wake up early during the week to go to the gym. I didn't watch a second of last night's game and slept like a baby. I was optimistic heading into the game that we would play well, but was expecting to get beat and wasn't going to be surprised if it got ugly. Heading into last night, I told a few people that the only surprising outcome would be if we won by 12+.
Click to expand...
I feel and live your pain. This is unacceptable. Kentucky basketball is our escape from real life drama for fun. Now it has added to our real life drama with emotional pain.
 
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Bluesbrother

Bluesbrother

All-American
May 23, 2002
4,633
6,590
113
Ash Williams said:
It’s what we do in March that matters

Besides, who’s going to pay the buyout?

who are you going to hire at this point that will take the job?

Getting upset in here will only hurt recruiting.

Am I doing it right?

Where are all the jeffites?
Click to expand...
UK doesn't "recruit", we hire assuming the begging and arm-twisting works.
 
S

Snarks

All-American
Jan 31, 2005
8,874
7,987
93
We have a big enough sample size. Heck, Dusty May won it in season 2 (and look what stein is doing). By this point, it’s obvious it’s not gonna work.

We’re clearly not a good team, but if we make it into the tournament as a 8 seed and by some miracle make it to the sweet 16. Is that good enough?
 
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kfwa

kfwa

All-Conference
Oct 12, 2014
574
1,085
93
Mark Pope understood he could be in the situation he is currently in when he took the job. He had that discussion with his wife and children prior to taking the job. I'm sure its bothersome to them and I'm sure they have a much different perspective on where the program is or why its there than the fan, but every person in the Pope household understands that losing to Kansas by 20 is not going to keep Mark Pope employed at Kentucky.

At this point they also understand Pope has lost the media. Every media pundent understood that if Pope didn't perform at a national title contender level this year, he was gone. I know Matt Jones gets flack on here but last night for the few moments I listened to the post game show at 1AM, they were not holding back. Today I expect the Fieldof68 crew to pile on as well, and even Dick Vitale is on twitter saying UK fans can't be happy with Pope today.

The point is, everyone understands the situation, and Pope's only saving grace is that it so early in the season its virtually impossible to act on it, but the general consensus is Pope is done. Last night wasn't just another game. It was a mandate to show he was the man for the job, and the answer wasn't vague or in any way ambiguous - it provided clarity for what is probably about 80% of the fanbase.

What can be done to turn it around, win the fans and media back? nothing short of a final four run, and I'm not sure he'll get that chance.

I'm comfortable in saying that Batt had a discussion with Pope prior to the season on expectations, and I think that discussion has manifested itself in some ways toward Pope's behavior and approach. I'm also comfortable in saying that this morning Pope woke up knowing that Batt thinks he isn't the man for the job.
 
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O

OGtruebluewildcat

Senior
Aug 4, 2025
591
854
93
KU had a lottery pick have a career night.

We had two starters get in foul trouble early and it clearly changed things. We were playing well and had a lead out of the gate.

Then Chilli just had a night where he wasn’t getting shots.

Positives are that we have guards who can get buckets in multiple ways…driving, shooting, creating.

I know everyone wants to abandon ship but it’s too early.

Bad game yes. But plenty of things can happen that mitigates performances like that.

Key among those things is get Chilli going early. I don’t know why he’s not coming out of the tunnel firing but he’s got to start pulling earlier and more often.

Second quit F’ing fouling so early and so far away from the bucket.

I don’t know what that is. Is it a player thing, official thing, understanding of the rule…whatever it is figure it out and address it.

Third, might want to start thinking about tweaking line up.

There are some dudes who probably need more minutes and a couple who need less.

May have to lean into smaller ball with our guards.

Hawthorne is young, raw, still learning and developing but it seems like every time he checks in he’ll get a bucket and disrupt a pass and/or shot on defense. I’d start pushing his development and increasing his minutes. Get him ready for SEC.
 
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