Pope made it personal tonight, and he is the one that put his sorry *** on the bench, for pouting and lack of effort.
Grade the team's improvement from tonights game.
- Thread starter Farsight Clone
- Start date
Pope made it personal tonight, and he is the one that put his sorry *** on the bench, for pouting and lack of effort.
You are an idiot if that what you graded us for that game
He had an incredible assist to jelly for a 3 the possession prior. You're being dramatic and proving my point
61%, 41% 26 assists to 9 turnovers and coach kicking BGs *** and not playing Lowe and Williams until 2nd have as an apparent disciplinary action
Why you mad? No the improvements show if they were made or not. Then if they were, can they be consistent. You clearly can't think long term and have one dimensional thinking.
Looked like we were told we were going to fail because we hadn’t turned in any assignments.
We turned in a wrinkled up take home test from the middle of October.
We turned in a wrinkled up take home test from the middle of October.
I don’t know why we’re judging ourselves based on a game against one of the worst ranked teams in the country.
I’ll determine how I feel about Kentucky after the Indiana game.
I’ll determine how I feel about Kentucky after the Indiana game.
Nobody is judging the team by this one game
Did so good coach benched him. Guess you know better than Pope.
Exactly. I did like the passing and energy.
That's it. Now let's try and beat a real team
The thread asked us to judge how we played tonight. Tonight's game was good not great. Some of you guys are such downers you can't even enjoy a win. I don't care that it wasn't Duke, you guys also whine and moan when we play a tomato can like we are the only ones who do it. Yes we just had a terrible loss last week. In sports you take your licks and move on or you quit. I honestly think some of you would be happy if UK never beat anybody. Indiana is a big game because it's our next game. I don't know if we will turn this season around or not but I'm not so bitter and angry that I can't enjoy a 30 point win.
For all those giving C, D, and even F grades are you applying the theory that C is the maximum because of opponent? Did you have teachers that gave you poor grades if even you scored perfect because their test was easy? The question wasn't what you think they will do when faced with a tougher test it was about what they did against this test. Did they need to win by 50 to get a "B"? I went with B myself. Wasn't perfect but it was plenty solid.
Hey genius how in any of my posts in this thread am I downing this games performance? I was responding to a post to the one2three moron. It asked is to grade the team this game and I gave us a B. In one of my post I described on the good we did this game. Read what I was responding to before you write stupid ****.
1. Pope holding BG accountable for his piss poor play and hustle
2. Johnson showing signs of his much higher ceiling. Offensively, he's more talented than our other guards. Just needs reps.
3. We seemed to be more willing to share the ball.
It's a small step forward in a long season. We're still a flawed team in many ways.
2. Johnson showing signs of his much higher ceiling. Offensively, he's more talented than our other guards. Just needs reps.
3. We seemed to be more willing to share the ball.
It's a small step forward in a long season. We're still a flawed team in many ways.
A 3-8 team that we beat like a rented mule don't think so..... Now if we beat IU like this on Saturday then I will talk about how we're improved....
Ever notice the sunshine pumpers are always name calling?
I completely agree. Pope yells at someone for the first time in his tenure and all the hopefuls are like, "Well, that's an A or a B worth of improvement for me." My question is why is Garrison even out there at all? Cut Garrison out of the rotation entirely. Throw in Kam Williams as well once Mo D gets back. Noah at least rebounded a bit in the last game, and he has been low on turnovers, so I would keep him at the 9th or 10th man, depending on what Lowe is able to do. No more Garrison. Tight string on Oweh (if he's shot jacking, pull him). No more Kam. Jelavic starts at the 4 once JQ returns to open up the spacing a bit. Lowe becomes your fulltime backup point guard the rest of the year.
G - Aberdeen - Lowe
G - Chandler - Johnson
G - Oweh - Noah
F - Jelavic - Mo D
C - JQ - Moreno
We came in playing bad, and we’re still a 42.5 pt favorite. That team was terrible and woefully undersized so it means nothing. Need to play at least a top 50 team to see anything.
Solid B-plus.
They finally looked like a team playing with purpose. The ball movement was sharp, they attacked the rim instead of settling, and the shooting efficiency reflected real discipline rather than just streakiness. Oweh set the tone on both ends, and players like JJ brought the kind of complementary scoring that makes the offense look deeper and harder to scout. That’s the version of I expect: active on defense, confident in transition, and willing to share the ball. They didn’t just put up points, they looked connected.
What keeps it from being an A is that this performance came against a heavily overmatched team. It was the kind of game where talent could’ve carried them even if they played sloppy (which we saw in the first half), but they actually executed. That matters, especially after looking lost against teams like Gonzaga and letting winnable moments slip away against North Carolina. Our problem all year hasn’t been ability, it’s consistency. Yesterday showed progress, but until they do it against elite, physical teams that punch back, the grade stays at B-plus. Saturday will be the real test.
They finally looked like a team playing with purpose. The ball movement was sharp, they attacked the rim instead of settling, and the shooting efficiency reflected real discipline rather than just streakiness. Oweh set the tone on both ends, and players like JJ brought the kind of complementary scoring that makes the offense look deeper and harder to scout. That’s the version of I expect: active on defense, confident in transition, and willing to share the ball. They didn’t just put up points, they looked connected.
What keeps it from being an A is that this performance came against a heavily overmatched team. It was the kind of game where talent could’ve carried them even if they played sloppy (which we saw in the first half), but they actually executed. That matters, especially after looking lost against teams like Gonzaga and letting winnable moments slip away against North Carolina. Our problem all year hasn’t been ability, it’s consistency. Yesterday showed progress, but until they do it against elite, physical teams that punch back, the grade stays at B-plus. Saturday will be the real test.
It was NC Central for Pete’s sake 
.
Let’s revisit this after Saturday’s game!
.Let’s revisit this after Saturday’s game!
In my opinion, the single best overall lineup for us right now is:
Jaland Lowe
Denzel Aberdeen
Otega Oweh
Mouhamed Dioubate
Brandon Garrison
Lowe is the only true tempo-setter who consistently creates quality shots instead of forcing drives. Aberdeen spaces the floor, makes smart reads, and doesn’t over-dribble. Oweh is the two-way engine. He’s our best wing defender and their most aggressive downhill scorer. When he’s on the floor, the game has direction. Dioubate at the 4 gives us mismatches without sacrificing defense. He rebounds, punishes switches, and forces contact. Like it or not, Garrison provides honest rim protection and simple finishes. He doesn’t need touches to impact the game, which keeps the ball with the creators. I believe it is why Pope plays him, but his effort needs to be much higher.
With this lineup, we have two reliable handlers (Lowe, Aberdeen), one downhill finisher who creates fouls and steals (Oweh), one physical mismatch forward who rebounds and scores without needing plays called for him (Dioubate) and one rim protector who screens, runs, and finishes without disrupting spacing (Garrison)
Our biggest limitation is that we don't have a proven stretch big. We need a reliable shooter in the frontcourt. If we can get JQ back soon, it would change a lot. Guards get cleaner driving lanes because help defenders have to respect him as a lob threat. Spacing gets easier, even without a stretch big, because you can’t leave a shot-blocker who dunks everything at the rim. Teams can’t front Dioubate without getting dunked on from the weak side.
Jaland Lowe
Denzel Aberdeen
Otega Oweh
Mouhamed Dioubate
Brandon Garrison
Lowe is the only true tempo-setter who consistently creates quality shots instead of forcing drives. Aberdeen spaces the floor, makes smart reads, and doesn’t over-dribble. Oweh is the two-way engine. He’s our best wing defender and their most aggressive downhill scorer. When he’s on the floor, the game has direction. Dioubate at the 4 gives us mismatches without sacrificing defense. He rebounds, punishes switches, and forces contact. Like it or not, Garrison provides honest rim protection and simple finishes. He doesn’t need touches to impact the game, which keeps the ball with the creators. I believe it is why Pope plays him, but his effort needs to be much higher.
With this lineup, we have two reliable handlers (Lowe, Aberdeen), one downhill finisher who creates fouls and steals (Oweh), one physical mismatch forward who rebounds and scores without needing plays called for him (Dioubate) and one rim protector who screens, runs, and finishes without disrupting spacing (Garrison)
Our biggest limitation is that we don't have a proven stretch big. We need a reliable shooter in the frontcourt. If we can get JQ back soon, it would change a lot. Guards get cleaner driving lanes because help defenders have to respect him as a lob threat. Spacing gets easier, even without a stretch big, because you can’t leave a shot-blocker who dunks everything at the rim. Teams can’t front Dioubate without getting dunked on from the weak side.
For everyone in this thread saying, "its nc central state" hue hue hue don't talk about it because they're a trash team.
I said in the OP they were bad. But that was not the point.
I clearly have to spell it out to some of you folks and it's sad.
It does NOT matter who we played, I would have made the same post. Why?
This post was about seeing if Pope actually made changes or not. Did the team play different? Was some of the glaring issues addressed? These things are intentional based.
The fact that there were some changes last night provides a good sign.
This was the perfect game to start to make those changes and build upon it.
Next is Indiana and it will be the proving ground if those changes are worthwhile.
This has nothing to do with the caliber opponent. Some of you clearly don't understand the nuances of basketball and have one dimensional thinking. Critical thought has apparently left the building.
I said in the OP they were bad. But that was not the point.
I clearly have to spell it out to some of you folks and it's sad.
It does NOT matter who we played, I would have made the same post. Why?
This post was about seeing if Pope actually made changes or not. Did the team play different? Was some of the glaring issues addressed? These things are intentional based.
The fact that there were some changes last night provides a good sign.
This was the perfect game to start to make those changes and build upon it.
Next is Indiana and it will be the proving ground if those changes are worthwhile.
This has nothing to do with the caliber opponent. Some of you clearly don't understand the nuances of basketball and have one dimensional thinking. Critical thought has apparently left the building.
The point is NC Central is so bad we were going to look good no matter how good or bad we played. We were a 42.5 pt favorite and won by 36, so from that measure you could say we didn't play better than expected. I think we all agree the next two games will be telling.
I was there and thought we looked pretty much the same team. e played a bad team which made score look better than it was. Defense was poor at times and offense still didn't look like a team playing together all that much.
This thread began as a really good discussion about basketball and has morphed into extreme negativity from the people who let a college basketball program determine their self worth and emotional well being.
Just F it. The season is over. Why even play the games. We will obviously finish 7-whatever. Christmas is ruined. Might as well slap my wife and kick my dog.
Just F it. The season is over. Why even play the games. We will obviously finish 7-whatever. Christmas is ruined. Might as well slap my wife and kick my dog.
I get that this team's early results have not been what we had hoped. And I understand the frustration with the appearance of some not giving full effort. But, you will notice that certain posters will never post anything but negativity in every thread. Doesn't matter if it is a discussion on last nights game, or today's weather, they are going to chime in with the same doom and gloom no matter the subject. They say the same thing in every thread.
1) Pope benching BG
2) Pope actually showing some fire
3) Pope benching BG
2) Pope actually showing some fire
3) Pope benching BG
Didn't even watch it and don't plan on watching it. It's a waste of time at this point to see them blow out nobodies and then turn around and get blown out by real bodies.
I'll watch the important games coming up and every game in the SEC. But right now my mojo for this team and Pope is pretty low until they step up and compete against ranked opponents.
IU is going to come in fired up seeing blood in the water - if we can put them away and handily, this will help my mojo.
I'll watch the important games coming up and every game in the SEC. But right now my mojo for this team and Pope is pretty low until they step up and compete against ranked opponents.
IU is going to come in fired up seeing blood in the water - if we can put them away and handily, this will help my mojo.
I give it a B. Team hustled better and the player that didn’t found out quick that Popes not putting up with it anymore. If we hadn’t of had a slow start I’d give it an A. I know the opponent was bad but this team needs a confidence boost and a game to experiment and work on what it will take to turn this season around.
Pope benching BG was a pretty big deal IMO. It shows that, eventually, he will check even his most favorited players, for lack of better word. But BG was his guy, he came back, there was a lot of promise around him... and now that he's not only sucked to start the season but his attitude was also a problem... Pope told him to ride pine.
That's all I want to see. I dont care about the defense or the shooters.. I want to see a coach take a hard stance with the team and let him know who the coach is, and who the players are.
That's all I want to see. I dont care about the defense or the shooters.. I want to see a coach take a hard stance with the team and let him know who the coach is, and who the players are.
26 assists looked like a yeam playing together.
I'm afraid this is an irrelevant discussion. I've always said you cant compare these types of things without the same level of resistance. Level of resistance is all that matters. The analogy I use is hitting a golf ball. Playing teams like this are like you or I hitting a wedge from 100 yards with the ball sitting up nice in the fairway with no wind and a big soft green. Even you and I can knock a few on the green and look good doing it (sometimes). Now roll that same ball into 4 inch rough or just step on it in the fairway with 20MHP wind and take the same exact swing. It aint gonna end up the same way or look as good simply because of the level or difficult or resistance to work through.
You just dont learn much or gain much by beating up these types of teams IMO. You have to show improvement against the tougher resistance of better competition to know if you've made any real improvement.
Execution under real resistance is the real test, I agree, but it does not negate the point of the thread.
The point of this thread is to: Evaluate whether Pope actually changed anything structurally.
Things like:
- spacing
- reduced zoom
- substitution patterns
- use of 4-out
- letting BG sit
- different entry actions
- more intentional ball movement
Those are opponent-independent.
You can see whether the ideas changed even if the level of resistance didn’t expose them yet.
Indiana will tell us if the changes hold under pressure, I agree.
But last night was still useful for identifying what Pope tried to tweak.
Consider the competition. It was easy to stuff the stats on this team. I'm referring to how I felt they looked out there. They may have done some things better but I didn't see enough to make me feel they can play with the good teams yet.
Exactly my take on last night's game. I don't think we could take much from this game to tell us about improvement. That was one of the weakest teams I've seen.