That not just Hurley, but MOST top coaches had a bad season...and their schools didn't fire them
Hurley would have been fired at UK before ever winning a champ
- Thread starter theRealCeaser11
- Start date
-
- Tags
- megaboard
Hurely would have been fired at the end of year two at UK by the armchair coaches, would have never won a championship and had to take a lesser job. Absolutey nobody would have wanted him as he woud have done NOTHING.
MOST schools aren't blue bloods.
Yes if Dan Hurley was hired at UK with his record prior to UCONN he would definitely have gotten fired. We are the bluest of blue bloods and don't have time to waste on coaches "figuring it out"
This point came up sometimes during the coaching search a couple years ago. If the Pope tenure doesn't work out, and next year seems like it will be the deciding factor, one thing we've learned is you can't hire a coach who will be learning on the job. That would be Hurley when he was hired at UConn, and you're right, he almost certainly doesn't survive his record after four seasons. That's kind of the risk you run. How many coaches put together four very underwhelming seasons and then run off back-to-back national championships? Hurley is the exception to the rule.
I think that's why so many people, myself included, see Oats as the obvious candidate. The floor with him is by now established. You know he will put a competent team on the court year in and year out. It's an open question if he can take a team to that next level and win a championship, but he's become a perennial contender for the SEC title AT ALABAMA of all places. One would think he gets a bump at UK and we have a perennial Final Four caliber team.
Yeah it's funny terrible Pope is. "One bad year" yeah thats the problem, not that he has been average at best his entire career.
Uconn was on probation shortly after he took over from the Kevin Ollie issues. He still improved them each year.
He also had a track record of turning around programs at RI and Wagner.
Wanna try again with a new excuse?
Nothing average about his first season here. What he has done here is all he should be judged by. So year, one bad season...and that season ain't over yet....
OP using the extreme historical exception to try to drown out the rule that guys who start as bad as Pope has usually don't make it at blue bloods.
Last edited:
D
Did he do it at a Blue Blodd with 22 million dollars at disposal? No? Then shut up.
Nothing average about a 24-12 record, 10-8 in the SEC a 6 seed in the SEC tournament where we won one game and a S16 NCAA finish. Sounds like the definition of Average for UK, maybe even below average for the regular season.
I’m calling BS. Either put up some info or lose all your credibility and start another fake toll account.Big things are coming in year 3 and yes, Pope will get a third year. Things are happening behind the scenes that some here don’t know about yet.
Last edited:
People gotta stop repeating this 22 million dollars lie there's no way that's what we have lying around to give players at the college level. It doesn't make that kind of money anymore, these guys aren't that recognizable...no chance
Last edited:
It was probably below average for Kentucky to be honest. Sweet 16 is average but 12 loses and early sec tournament exit along with 6th place league finish are all below average for Kentucky.
If pope just had some prior success before Kentucky, everybody would have more faith. But he doesnt... he never won anything, literally.
Hurley took over a probation uconn, before transfer portal and NIL, and he had won his league and league tourney at RI as well as ncaa games. Even that said, what Hurley did at uconn is a huge outlier. Only what Pitino did maybe comes close that I can think of.
So odds pope magically becomes amazing like Hurley "seemed" to have done, is far fetched. And the reason is he is already an older coach and hasn't won before yet... and there is not a new edge coming like Hurley got with NIL and transfer portal that appeared right before his turn around at uconn.
Matter of fact, pope and Co squandered the biggest NIL budget already.
THIS IS ALL INSANE.
I THOUGHT ONCE WE COULD PAY PLAYERS ...AT KENTUCKY !!!!
WE WOULD BE UNSTOPPABLE, GETTING EVERY PLAYER WE WANTED.
WE ARE GETTING NONE!!!!
WHY?????
22 mil and no elite player, besides maybe Oweh.
Oweh on the 2010 Cal team may have been 6th man.
Below average for Kentucky...won more tourney games than Cal had the last 5 years combined...Fail
Won more tourney games than Cal had tge prior 5 years combined despite Cal having multiple lottery picks and Pope starting with no roster and having key injuries...but carry on with yoyr narrative
Did he reach the Sweet 16 in his first year at any of those” turn arounds”?
Pope was really good last year. I was excited about his future here. The injuries we suffered last year with a roster cobbled together at the last minute devastated a team that was capable of making a Final 4. Don’t distort the type of team that was when all were healthy. He’s been equally as bad this year. His team has shown very little chemistry or intelligence on the floor. The injuries this year are not really that relevant aside from Williams. You can’t miss what you never had with Lowe and JQ. Pope has shown little game preparation, the ability to motivate or sense of urgency, or the ability to adapt situationally. I don’t know how anyone could be confident he’s gonna get the job done. I also don’t know anyone could be so positive that he can’t. Some of you have been on this train since the Georgetown scrimmage. That’s not fair to what he accomplished in his first year.
I’d be fine giving a coach time to figure it out here if they have the potential to be great.
Pope was 51 and had never won anything.
Hurley was 47? when he took over Uconn and had at least won rhe A10 tournament and regular season championships and was also a prolific winner as a high school coach.
Pope hasn’t won anything on any level. It was a bad gamble. A hire made by someone that doesn’t know basketball.
You gamble on guys that are going with promise and pedigree (scheyer) or have already won big at other levels (McCollum).
I’m warming up to the idea of Josh Schertz.
Pope was 51 and had never won anything.
Hurley was 47? when he took over Uconn and had at least won rhe A10 tournament and regular season championships and was also a prolific winner as a high school coach.
Pope hasn’t won anything on any level. It was a bad gamble. A hire made by someone that doesn’t know basketball.
You gamble on guys that are going with promise and pedigree (scheyer) or have already won big at other levels (McCollum).
I’m warming up to the idea of Josh Schertz.
Hmm it's almost like everyone had also turned on Cal... Also the standard is not "last 5 years of Cal"
That 22 million dollar figure isn’t a lie.
Kentucky’s $22 Million Payroll Expected to Lead College Basketball for 2025-26
Wildcats outpace the rest of the nation in first season under new NIL rules
sports.yahoo.com
Kentucky reportedly spent $22 million on its basketball roster. Why isn’t it working?
The Athletic spoke with coaches and watched UK's games to assess what Kentucky must do to salvage its still-young season.
www.nytimes.com
UConn was on probation Hurley’s first two years. Why some of you keep comparing the two coaches makes absolutely no sense when things are obviously different now in college basketball with NIL.
UK has to start acting like UK if we want to return to an elite program. Allowing a 3rd tier AD to hire a coach who shouldn't have been considered after getting slapped in the face by another coach that shouldn't have been considered is nowhere near elite. Allowing Cal to punk us when he walked away isn't elite. And whiney baby fans who turn on a coach early on, insult his religion and talk about stalking his wife and daughters online sure as Hell isn't elite.we have been elite in the past, but we are no more elite now than he Dallas Cowboys
Until its broken down by player its nonsenseThat 22 million dollar figure isn’t a lie.
Kentucky’s $22 Million Payroll Expected to Lead College Basketball for 2025-26
Wildcats outpace the rest of the nation in first season under new NIL rules
Kentucky reportedly spent $22 million on its basketball roster. Why isn’t it working?
The Athletic spoke with coaches and watched UK's games to assess what Kentucky must do to salvage its still-young season.
I’m a Steelers fan…. But I gotta say the comparison you made with the cowboys hurts lol
Hurley is the exception not the rule. You’re going to be disappointed hoping Pope turns out to be another DH. It’s much more likely we have years with 10-12 losses if he stays longer
Yea, Cal was pushed out for his last five years falling below what is average for Kentucky, and pope is below that. All pope has done that was better was going one round further in the NCAA but considerably worse record wise and sec finish wise.
That said Cal's last five years, that were below average but you could argue better than Pope for sure.
2024 - 23-10 (13-5) 2nd sec, 1st round
2023 - 22-12 (12-6) 3rd sec, 2nd round
2022 - 26-8 (14-4) 3rd sec, 1st round
2021 - 9-16 (8-9) 8th covid
2020 - 25-6 (15-3) 1st in SEC - ncaa canceled
I dont know why we mention Cal last 5 years when 2020 we were great and I think had there been a tournament would have gone far. Covid broke Cal.
You sir Fail at being a troll. Im sure you want us to keep pope for 10 years, I would to if I was another teams fan. I dont think hubert davis is any good at UNC and hope they keep him.
The good coaches that have lasted at Kentucky have made an elite 8 by year 3
Wow that's completely absurd...guess it really is just numbers on a screen. These players aren't worth 220 dollars in cigars between themThat 22 million dollar figure isn’t a lie.
Kentucky’s $22 Million Payroll Expected to Lead College Basketball for 2025-26
Wildcats outpace the rest of the nation in first season under new NIL rules
Kentucky reportedly spent $22 million on its basketball roster. Why isn’t it working?
The Athletic spoke with coaches and watched UK's games to assess what Kentucky must do to salvage its still-young season.
I was just showing you that news outlets were using that figure like yahoo, New York Times, the sporting news, etc. Some people haven’t seen those articles.
It really does. But Jerry Jones or Mitch Barnhart...which one is more incompetent?
Just call it nil. Because the product is gonna be reduced to nil
guess it stands to reason they're being overpaid to that degree because it shows in that they don't give a crap about winning. Maybe it should be incentivized
Like all the other trolls, you make it up as you go along. I have never once said I wanted Pope for 10 years LMAO, and have said a hundred times I wouldn't have considered him and would have hired Pearl. But once our AD hired him, I am not going to ****on him until he gets a fair shake. And if our fanbase does, they make us all look like that same pile of ****
Idk what the best route is for NIL. UK is going to have to figure it out. Whatever is happening to make them strike out on so many guys has to change