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Could this be the real problem?

A

AJBlue

Junior
Dec 16, 2015
122
252
43
I know Coach it having a tough year himself and we can spend all day (and have) talking about all his shortcomings in his performance, but the more I watch this team the more I realize that boys . . . we just dont have good enough players. I know we have some guys that have SOME talent the problem is hardly any of our guys are multi talented guys that it takes in todays game. Here's what I mean by that. . .

The best players have always been guys that are 3 Tool Players. They can dribble, pass and shoot. Playmakers we used to call them. Players who can get around the floor off the dribble, drive when then need to, move the ball off the dribble when needed, and pull up and hit shots. How many of these do we have on our 15 man roster???? Any ????

Leave the bigs out of it for a minute because they are a little different but look at the rest of the roster. The only one I'd put kind of in that categor is Lowe and he's a tweaner since his shot is suspect. Oweh has some skills but is limited in his ability to get his own shot and very limited in playmaking ability. Aberdeen the same. Chandler the same. Jasper has ball skills and can occasionally get hot shooting but has no feel for passing or playmaking at all right now. Go down the roster and we just dont have those kinds players on our roster. Bama does, Michigan does. They have playmakers, we have athletes.

IMO this is why the offense looks so clunky and out of sorts. We just dont have any "Playmakers" on the court or at least dont have more than one and thats why we struggle to look fluid on that side of the ball. You have to have at least 3 of these types of players on the floor for an offense to work, for the ball to move, for the team to look together. The reason we look like we have zero cohesion is not just because guys are selfish, or are not running the offense like they should (althought thats certainly part of it).

The reason we look so bad is we just dont have the 3 Tool guys out there that can make any of it work. You have to have a least a few guys that have these three skills for an offense to work. We just dont. All of our guys lack at least one of the tools and most lack two. I think Coach knows this too and is part of his frustration but as many have pointed out, he hand picked these guys
 
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preston-lemasterpiece

preston-lemasterpiece

All-Conference
Apr 15, 2025
1,026
1,877
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akaukswoosh said:
I'm fine with a healthy Lowe. Aberdeen is supposedly a combo guard and he's nowhere close to that.:censored:
Click to expand...
Lowe isn't all bad but he's certainly not been a "pass-first" player in the limited minutes he's been given. Mizzou game especially. there is no reason for him to be taking multiple 3's a game. that ain't why he's here.
Aberdeen is a combo guard...a combo of sh*t and p*ss
 
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A

Agent Redbone

Sophomore
Jan 1, 2024
96
138
32
Well my friend, you’re correct in that we don’t have playmakers. Pope overcompensated because our defense was putrid last season as far as I can see, and we have no offensive ballers nor shooters. He is suffering the fruits of his poor decisions in roster construction. Therefore, we who really care suffer as well. I can’t even watch other teams games or Sportscenter any more enjoying college basketball, because I can’t stomach the laughing stock we have become. Media commentary is sickening, and worse they are mostly correct. I’m sure other UK fans feel the same way.
It’s just a game I guess, but it was a good portion of my enjoyment in knowing that we were the best college basketball program in the country. God bless!
 
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I’m The Village Idiot

I’m The Village Idiot

All-American
Jul 30, 2024
4,387
7,805
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I disagree with the above poster who said most coaches couldn’t win with this team. This is a talented team, but in a completely different way than last year’s team. A good defensive coach would win with this roster — the problem is that Pope is not a good defensive coach. He banked on being able to teach these guys the offensive skills needed to execute his offense while winning with defense and rebounding. However, most of these players have sub-standard basketball IQs and limited potential offensively, so there won’t be any “teaching” that gets through offensively. Pair that with Pope’s defensive ineptitude and you have a colossal failure.
 
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A

Agent Redbone

Sophomore
Jan 1, 2024
96
138
32
I’m The Village Idiot said:
I disagree with the above poster who said most coaches couldn’t win with this team. This is a talented team, but in a completely different way than last year’s team. A good defensive coach would win with this roster — the problem is that Pope is not a good defensive coach. He banked on being able to teach these guys the offensive skills needed to execute his offense while winning with defense and rebounding. However, most of these players have sub-standard basketball IQs and limited potential offensively, so there won’t be any “teaching” that gets through offensively. Pair that with Pope’s defensive ineptitude and you have a colossal failure
I’m The Village Idiot said:
I disagree with the above poster who said most coaches couldn’t win with this team. This is a talented team, but in a completely different way than last year’s team. A good defensive coach would win with this roster — the problem is that Pope is not a good defensive coach. He banked on being able to teach these guys the offensive skills needed to execute his offense while winning with defense and rebounding. However, most of these players have sub-standard basketball IQs and limited potential offensively, so there won’t be any “teaching” that gets through offensively. Pair that with Pope’s defensive ineptitude and you have a colossal failure.
Click to expand...
Village, you’re one of my favorite posters and I always value your insight. But, I disagree just a little. I think Pope thought he had a much better offensive team than he has. It might have been easy to make that mistake. We do have some talent for sure, and some coaches could win at a decent clip by buying in to a bulldog defensive and rebounding mindset looking to get out in transition as much as possible. But Pope, as much as I’ve tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, just cannot teach and inspire tough defense. I don’t know man, just my opinion.
Click to expand...
 
A

Agent Redbone

Sophomore
Jan 1, 2024
96
138
32
I’m The Village Idiot said:
Interesting, when I read your post it sounded like mine. I’m not sure where we even disagree. I talk enough to be wrong plenty regardless lol.

@Agent Redbone
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Me too man lol. I sure hope we can get things turned around and get on the winning side of things. I do feel like if we miss the tournament Pope needs to go. I realize that probably will not happen because of Barney and the Stoops buyout already in place. I’m just really missing UK being on top, as I know all KY fans are.
 
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FLBBNFAN

FLBBNFAN

Senior
Mar 25, 2025
482
966
93
In my opinion his biggest downfall is once the mask was pulled off and it was obvious we aren't great offensively he refused to adapt.

Rotations make no sense, offensive game plan makes no sense and I believe he has lost the lockeroom. I think there are other coaches who would have adapted and kept the players in line. Not saying another coach would make this team elite but competitive yes.

I dont understand why JQ is not on the floor more. How does he get into any type of flow being pulled 4 minutes into a game?
 
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Yardeth

Yardeth

Heisman
Jan 2, 2007
13,168
17,164
67
After listening to the Post game interview, this team must be really dumb (basketball IQ wise). How many times did Pope say that he needed to dumb it down for his guys to understand. What has he been doing all preseason at practice? They look good against the managers but not against good competition. Hope he gets the coloring books out and draws up some plays they can actually run efficiently.
 
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W

wildcat111

All-Conference
Dec 9, 2020
1,405
1,621
113
AJBlue said:
I know Coach it having a tough year himself and we can spend all day (and have) talking about all his shortcomings in his performance, but the more I watch this team the more I realize that boys . . . we just dont have good enough players. I know we have some guys that have SOME talent the problem is hardly any of our guys are multi talented guys that it takes in todays game. Here's what I mean by that. . .

The best players have always been guys that are 3 Tool Players. They can dribble, pass and shoot. Playmakers we used to call them. Players who can get around the floor off the dribble, drive when then need to, move the ball off the dribble when needed, and pull up and hit shots. How many of these do we have on our 15 man roster???? Any ????

Leave the bigs out of it for a minute because they are a little different but look at the rest of the roster. The only one I'd put kind of in that categor is Lowe and he's a tweaner since his shot is suspect. Oweh has some skills but is limited in his ability to get his own shot and very limited in playmaking ability. Aberdeen the same. Chandler the same. Jasper has ball skills and can occasionally get hot shooting but has no feel for passing or playmaking at all right now. Go down the roster and we just dont have those kinds players on our roster. Bama does, Michigan does. They have playmakers, we have athletes.

IMO this is why the offense looks so clunky and out of sorts. We just dont have any "Playmakers" on the court or at least dont have more than one and thats why we struggle to look fluid on that side of the ball. You have to have at least 3 of these types of players on the floor for an offense to work, for the ball to move, for the team to look together. The reason we look like we have zero cohesion is not just because guys are selfish, or are not running the offense like they should (althought thats certainly part of it).

The reason we look so bad is we just dont have the 3 Tool guys out there that can make any of it work. You have to have a least a few guys that have these three skills for an offense to work. We just dont. All of our guys lack at least one of the tools and most lack two. I think Coach knows this too and is part of his frustration but as many have pointed out, he hand picked these guys
Click to expand...
Judging talent is a major part of the coaching job.
 
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Cbbcrazy2

Cbbcrazy2

All-Conference
Feb 18, 2007
19,323
2,568
113
Agent Redbone said:
Well my friend, you’re correct in that we don’t have playmakers. Pope overcompensated because our defense was putrid last season as far as I can see, and we have no offensive ballers nor shooters. He is suffering the fruits of his poor decisions in roster construction. Therefore, we who really care suffer as well. I can’t even watch other teams games or Sportscenter any more enjoying college basketball, because I can’t stomach the laughing stock we have become. Media commentary is sickening, and worse they are mostly correct. I’m sure other UK fans feel the same way.
It’s just a game I guess, but it was a good portion of my enjoyment in knowing that we were the best college basketball program in the country. God bless!
Click to expand...
One of the best coaches said today. A coach has to go out and get good dogs, what hurts is when pick some that end of biting you. We have just that, some aren't worth their weight.
 
A

AJBlue

Junior
Dec 16, 2015
122
252
43
Agent Redbone said:
Well my friend, you’re correct in that we don’t have playmakers. Pope overcompensated because our defense was putrid last season as far as I can see, and we have no offensive ballers nor shooters. He is suffering the fruits of his poor decisions in roster construction. Therefore, we who really care suffer as well. I can’t even watch other teams games or Sportscenter any more enjoying college basketball, because I can’t stomach the laughing stock we have become. Media commentary is sickening, and worse they are mostly correct. I’m sure other UK fans feel the same way.
It’s just a game I guess, but it was a good portion of my enjoyment in knowing that we were the best college basketball program in the country. God bless!
Click to expand...
So right. We did get bullied some last year and I do think Mark overcompensated looking for size and physicality this year and digit about play making and just ball players.
 
A

AJBlue

Junior
Dec 16, 2015
122
252
43
NociHTTP said:
"don't have any playmakers"

A consistent offense can "make plays".
Click to expand...
Chicken a the egg. Can’t run a consistent offense with guys who have ball skills to make it work. Got to be able to move off the dribble and pass and cut to make his offense work, the make shots out of it. We don’t have guys so the those skills.

Hard to run the offense when the ball gets stuck so easy due to a lack of those skills. Same offense scored 100 how many times last year and set a record for threes. Whats changed.
 
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A

AJBlue

Junior
Dec 16, 2015
122
252
43
I’m The Village Idiot said:
I disagree with the above poster who said most coaches couldn’t win with this team. This is a talented team, but in a completely different way than last year’s team. A good defensive coach would win with this roster — the problem is that Pope is not a good defensive coach. He banked on being able to teach these guys the offensive skills needed to execute his offense while winning with defense and rebounding. However, most of these players have sub-standard basketball IQs and limited potential offensively, so there won’t be any “teaching” that gets through offensively. Pair that with Pope’s defensive ineptitude and you have a colossal failure.
Click to expand...
Yep he built this team from the defensive side and I and everybody including Pope thought it would be a monster . But he hasn’t done a good job of making that happen either
 
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N

NociHTTP

Heisman
Mar 8, 2023
10,943
17,224
113
AJBlue said:
Chicken a the egg. Can’t run a consistent offense with guys who have ball skills to make it work. Got to be able to move off the dribble and pass and cut to make his offense work, the make shots out of it. We don’t have guys so the those skills.

Hard to run the offense when the ball gets stuck so easy due to a lack of those skills. Same offense scored 100 how many times last year and set a record for threes. Whats changed.
Click to expand...
There are guys that have those skills. Just watch them. They're not getting the job done because of some team cancer(s) and Mark not coming to terms with handing their asses to them. He needs to shock the **** out of them, put them in their place, get it through their thick noggins, and like someone here said the other day he needs to just be straight up with them and tell them exactly what his expectations are for each player. He knows, will he grow a set of balls to make it happen? I'm feeling very positive that he's going to clean house at season-end, rip some asses, maybe even let some of his staff go. He cares too much for it to not come to this.
 
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A

AJBlue

Junior
Dec 16, 2015
122
252
43
Yardeth said:
After listening to the Post game interview, this team must be really dumb (basketball IQ wise). How many times did Pope say that he needed to dumb it down for his guys to understand. What has he been doing all preseason at practice? They look good against the managers but not against good competition. Hope he gets the coloring books out and draws up some plays they can actually run efficiently.
Click to expand...
Yeah that’s part of what I was trying to get at when I say no “playmakers”. Guys that just have play making skills on the floor drive, pass or shoot and have the instincts to know when do each
 
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UKnine

UKnine

Senior
Mar 25, 2023
257
486
63
I don’t think there is a player on this team that would start on any of Calipari’s 15 teams at UK.
Only guy would be Lowe on the Harrow team and Askew team.
 
N

NociHTTP

Heisman
Mar 8, 2023
10,943
17,224
113
AJBlue said:
Yeah that’s part of what I was trying to get at when I say no “playmakers”. Guys that just have play making skills on the floor drive, pass or shoot and have the instincts to know when do each
Click to expand...
We have "play selfish'ers", lol.
 
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T

theKybluedude

Senior
Jul 2, 2025
330
773
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AJBlue said:
Chicken a the egg. Can’t run a consistent offense with guys who have ball skills to make it work. Got to be able to move off the dribble and pass and cut to make his offense work, the make shots out of it. We don’t have guys so the those skills.

Hard to run the offense when the ball gets stuck so easy due to a lack of those skills. Same offense scored 100 how many times last year and set a record for threes. Whats changed.
Click to expand...
Yep. Defensively I would like to see CMP or any coach be able to mix up defenses. Use some zones and be good in them. I thought we could have zoned Missouri as they were all inside. Force them to go side to side and take away their post play. We just aren’t that good man to man. Adjust!
 
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M

megablue

Heisman
Oct 2, 2012
14,239
14,074
113
ukypug said:
All comes back to talent evaluation. Pope is failing right now because he chose the wrong players. They are less talented than he thought and also seem to be less coachable. All on Pope.
Click to expand...
Do not sign anyone from the portal who has not started at least 25 games in their career. Getting 6th and 7th role players will not get you where you want to be.
 
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Tri-Countycat

Tri-Countycat

All-Conference
Jul 1, 2025
490
1,018
93
I would argue that Jasper might have the most talent on the team but isn’t being taught/forced to play the right way. He hasn’t learned a role and how he could really benefit the team. Plus he needs some muscle.
 
S

SkyPrince

Senior
Jul 7, 2025
244
515
93
I’m The Village Idiot said:
I disagree with the above poster who said most coaches couldn’t win with this team. This is a talented team, but in a completely different way than last year’s team. A good defensive coach would win with this roster — the problem is that Pope is not a good defensive coach. He banked on being able to teach these guys the offensive skills needed to execute his offense while winning with defense and rebounding. However, most of these players have sub-standard basketball IQs and limited potential offensively, so there won’t be any “teaching” that gets through offensively. Pair that with Pope’s defensive ineptitude and you have a colossal failure.
Click to expand...
Even a good defensive coach would have his work cut out for him.
We are weak defensively at the 1 and the 4.
Lowe is the worst defender on the team and Jasper may be second so any good pg would be a problem.
Mo is probably the most overrated defender we have and can't guard a talented power forward.
The only way this squad wins with defense is a zone mixed in with some triangle at times in half court.
Basically multiples.
A lot of coaches could scheme it but the main factor would be player buy in which is crucial to being a good defensive team.
The problem with this group is a lot of first year players and guys just here for the money.
This group would make Kelvin Sampson retire.
 
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W

wkycatfan7

All-Conference
Oct 16, 2002
8,937
2,997
113
This team dribbles too much. Passing and moving without the ball is really lacking. Should be good defensively but aren’t.
 
B

bigblueinsanity (the real)

All-American
Jul 6, 2025
1,993
6,280
113
Crestcat said:
Aberdeen was effective at UF because they had shooters. Shooters equal space. He has a good short game.

Bama had shooters, Mo had room to operate.

We don't have the shooting to open the court. We also don't have good ball handlers or passers.
Click to expand...

I agree we are weak at shooting, handling, and passing.

Other than that Mrs Lincoln, how was the play?
 
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