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Change of scenery for Adou

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sosoblue

All-Conference
Aug 18, 2004
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LineSkiCat14

LineSkiCat14

Heisman
Aug 5, 2015
38,359
60,018
113
It's hard to really keep much of a connection with the players who followed Cal to Arkansas. If it was a scenario where Cal was doing well, sure, I'd get it. But they really followed this guy who didn't play the right guys. Adou even said how hard Cal was on him (and not in a very positive way).. so he follows him to Arkansas? Which in turn makes me think "Was staying at UK to help Pope get his feet on the ground THAT big of an ask?"

I get the players following the coach.. but after the year we had, I don't know why anyone other than Wagner would have followed him.
 
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Wunky

Wunky

Heisman
Jan 16, 2021
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bookerfan66 said:
Screw him. Cal treated him like crap and the idiot still followed.
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This. Same with Big Z. Cal totally wasted both players at UK and yet they have some sort of bizarre loyalty to him. Adou’s father had a weird, misplaced grudge with the fans even though we were the ones calling for his son to play more and play his natural position all along. The whole state of Kentucky saw what Adou was after the Kansas game. Bill Self saw it too… saw our whole team for who they were. The only one who didn’t see it was dumb **** Cal.
 
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LmdCat

Heisman
Jan 8, 2006
23,627
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sosoblue said:
I hate that he didn't feel the love to stay at UK. Adou was someone that I liked and wished he would have finished his career in a Kentucky jersey. I believe Coach Pope would have improved his shot and percentages of hitting three pointers.

Adou Thiero talks Arkansas, John Calipari, development and more https://arkansas.rivals.com/news/adou-thiero-talks-arkansas-calipari-development-and-more
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Adou's decision to follow Cal after what he did to him suggest that he isn't smart enough to play at UK. I am glad he made the decision to go. Reed is the only player Cal signed who came to Kentucky because of the name. The rest came because of Cal, so I am good that they went with him.
 
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yoshukai

yoshukai

Heisman
Dec 21, 2002
28,539
39,710
102
Wonky said:
This. Same with Big Z. Cal totally wasted both players at UK and yet they have some sort of bizarre loyalty to him. Adou’s father had a weird, misplaced grudge with the fans even though we were the ones calling for his son to play more and play his natural position all along. The whole state of Kentucky saw what Adou was after the Kansas game. Bill Self saw it too… saw our whole team for who they were. The only one who didn’t see it was dumb **** Cal.
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It was Z’s handlers that were bizarrely loyal to Cal . The decision was made for him before he even spoke with Pope .
 
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Wunky

Wunky

Heisman
Jan 16, 2021
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MdWIldcat55 said:
I just want to thank everyone who goes the extra mile to post on Rafters everything related to Kentucky’s former coach who people say they are glad is gone and yet can’t let him go.
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We may still talk about him, but we were calling for his job for the last half decade, while you will always be remembered as someone who stuck your head in the sand and slurped him till the end.
 
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LmdCat

Heisman
Jan 8, 2006
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MdWIldcat55 said:
People say they are glad the former Kentucky coach is gone, and yet every word uttered about him and his former players is dragged here for debate and dissection.

As far as I’m concerned good riddance to him and everyone who followed him to that squalid pig wallow where he went. You know what would bug him the most? If every Kentucky fan completely ignored him, and when he snuck a peek at this board he saw no mention of him or his new gig.
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Yes, we are glad he is gone. The only thing that would make it better is if you go too.
 
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uk78_rivals88018

All-American
Feb 6, 2003
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No one knows what goes on behind the scenes. Cal may have done a lot of work to get Z eligible and so the appreciation of that effort could be the reason for the loyalty. Plus, Cal may have been communicating with Z's family even before he came so again for a foreign player he was the connection. Yes, Cal didn't use him correctly and from Cal's statement now at Arkansas it sounded like that will continue. It may be another Skal in the making and would have driven the fans here insane so let Arkansas fans have that pleasure. Also wasn't Adou's father a former player for Cal or somehow connected?

A major difference I see so far is Pope is selling the program and Cal always was selling Cal. So, the lack of program appreciation for those players falls back again on Cal. Hope he continues to perform like he did for us the past few years.
 
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TTTblue24

All-Conference
Feb 1, 2004
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Who cares, he left for a rival with a coach that never really gave him a chance. Being part of uk is about family & Pope understands that & has embraced the belief, if they don’t want to be part of it then it’s their decision but I wish we would stop talking about those guys. They could have transferred to any other school across the country but yet stayed in the sec with him.
 
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Skyguyb27

All-American
Feb 12, 2008
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uk78 said:
No one knows what goes on behind the scenes. Cal may have done a lot of work to get Z eligible and so the appreciation of that effort could be the reason for the loyalty. Plus, Cal may have been communicating with Z's family even before he came so again for a foreign player he was the connection. Yes, Cal didn't use him correctly and from Cal's statement now at Arkansas it sounded like that will continue. It may be another Skal in the making and would have driven the fans here insane so let Arkansas fans have that pleasure. Also wasn't Adou's father a former player for Cal or somehow connected?

A major difference I see so far is Pope is selling the program and Cal always was selling Cal. So, the lack of program appreciation for those players falls back again on Cal. Hope he continues to perform like he did for us the past few years.
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I agree with what you said except the hard work to get Z in. He was paid 9 millliiiooon dollars a year to work hard to get guys eligible.
 
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sosoblue

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Aug 18, 2004
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Wonky said:
This. Same with Big Z. Cal totally wasted both players at UK and yet they have some sort of bizarre loyalty to him. Adou’s father had a weird, misplaced grudge with the fans even though we were the ones calling for his son to play more and play his natural position all along. The whole state of Kentucky saw what Adou was after the Kansas game. Bill Self saw it too… saw our whole team for who they were. The only one who didn’t see it was dumb **** Cal.
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Wonky first time I heard about this "weird, misplacsd grudge with the fans..." regarding Adou's Father. Can you elaborate further on this scenario?
 
RunninRichie

RunninRichie

Heisman
Sep 5, 2019
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Wunky

Wunky

Heisman
Jan 16, 2021
4,264
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sosoblue said:
Wonky first time I heard about this "weird, misplacsd grudge with the fans..." regarding Adou's Father. Can you elaborate further on this scenario?
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It had to do with his back injuries IIRC. Basically fans were wanting to get Adou back healthy ASAP because our team clearly needed his physicality, rebounding and athleticism. Cal made some smartass remark insinuating that Adou could play if he wanted to. Like it was his choice to sit out. So then a few fans took that and ran with it, calling Adou soft or whatever. But 99% of the fanbase just wanted the kid to get healthy. And Cal was the one who insinuated he was soft in the first place, not the fans.
 
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AGEE11

All-American
Jan 10, 2014
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It blows my mind that you have a coach who started looking at / talking to other jobs IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR SEASON. Then had you completely unprepared and got himself and you embarrassed in the NCAA tournament. Like he basically quit on the whole team.

Yet all the players decided, "Yep, that's who I want to play for."

Only player I thought would really shine under Pope would have been Big Z. I was a fan of how hard Thiero played, but he wasn't a good enough shooter for Pope's offense. Good player who you take if he wanted to return, but not a real good fit in all honesty.
 
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EliteBlue

Heisman
Mar 27, 2009
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LineSkiCat14 said:
It's hard to really keep much of a connection with the players who followed Cal to Arkansas. If it was a scenario where Cal was doing well, sure, I'd get it. But they really followed this guy who didn't play the right guys. Adou even said how hard Cal was on him (and not in a very positive way).. so he follows him to Arkansas? Which in turn makes me think "Was staying at UK to help Pope get his feet on the ground THAT big of an ask?"

I get the players following the coach.. but after the year we had, I don't know why anyone other than Wagner would have followed him.
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This. He probably “didn’t feel the love at UK” largely bc Cal made the last few years here a miserable environment and he was feeling fan frustration. Thiero was one of the few bright spots and 90% of fans were fully behind him getting all the minutes over Edwards…and should have played significantly more his Freshman season too.
 
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RexBowie

RexBowie

Heisman
Apr 25, 2023
14,460
25,922
113
Adou was always going to return to UK. He left for NIL leverage, fully expecting to return. Then Calipari left and Calipari upped the NIL due to first year guarantees from the chicken mafia guys.
 
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ukfan041

All-American
Apr 3, 2007
8,650
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I really liked Adou while he was here and appreciate his hard work while in the blue/white! Having said that, I’m sure there are plenty of Hawg fans who will give him the “love” he craves now. I’ll spend my time worrying about the players who wanna be at UK🤷‍♂️
 
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SandyBell'sFaxMachine

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Dec 3, 2020
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LineSkiCat14 said:
It's hard to really keep much of a connection with the players who followed Cal to Arkansas. If it was a scenario where Cal was doing well, sure, I'd get it. But they really followed this guy who didn't play the right guys. Adou even said how hard Cal was on him (and not in a very positive way).. so he follows him to Arkansas? Which in turn makes me think "Was staying at UK to help Pope get his feet on the ground THAT big of an ask?"

I get the players following the coach.. but after the year we had, I don't know why anyone other than Wagner would have followed him.
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Why would you think it's ok for Wagner but not Adou? They both came to UK because their father played for Cal....
 
LineSkiCat14

LineSkiCat14

Heisman
Aug 5, 2015
38,359
60,018
113
Princecal said:
Why would you think it's ok for Wagner but not Adou? They both came to UK because their father played for Cal....
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Because it was Wagner who seemingly had an infinite leash, where as Adou was ridden maybe the hardest. To be honest if I was Wagner, I'd follow Cal everywhere for the preferential treatment he was given. But the rest of the guys, just not sure why you'd go with him.
 
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K_TIME

K_TIME

Heisman
Jan 2, 2003
18,272
25,422
113
WildcatNC said:
That's the two I wanted to keep that were realistic to keep.
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And yet both have probably a player that Cal went and go at their respective positions....so they'll be working yet again to find minutes and Cal's philosophy to me is not ideal for a Center like Big Z.

Center...Aidoo is going to play at Center more than Big Z IMO.....he fits the Center Cal likes more.
PF...Brazille is on the roster....I'd argue he'll get the nod

So I wish those guys well....but to stay so loyal to Cal is goofy for guys who aren't 5 star kids with high NBA....Adou and Big Z are not those type of kids. So, it's their own fault at this point if their careers for the position they are in.
 
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ukcatz12

Heisman
Mar 27, 2009
5,199
12,325
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bookerfan66 said:
Screw him. Cal treated him like crap and the idiot still followed.
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What makes you think you know more about how Cal treated him than he does? I think it's funny everyone acts like these guys are stupid for following Cal. You were present for zero practices, zero team meetings, zero conversations between Cal and Adou, and don't know the reasoning for Adou following Cal. You have zero actual idea what went on between the two of them, and yet you assume he's an idiot.
 
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SemperFiCat

Heisman
Mar 2, 2009
14,566
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ukcatz12 said:
What makes you think you know more about how Cal treated him than he does? I think it's funny everyone acts like these guys are stupid for following Cal. You were present for zero practices, zero team meetings, zero conversations between Cal and Adou, and don't know the reasoning for Adou following Cal. You have zero actual idea what went on between the two of them, and yet you assume he's an idiot.
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I do not disagree with your overall point. But I do have to add; why Thiero would follow the coach who repeatedly valued Justin freaking Edwards over him is beyond my comprehension.
 
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