It’s the reason why OO was so good last year. Surrounded by shooters. The floor spread for him to drive
I’m with Mark Pope
- Thread starter IYAOYAS1
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Dude just shut up. Gillispie was getting drunk in public and trying to bang coeds, including his own players girlfriend.
Mark Pope has lost this group… a group that didn’t fit well together to begin with. That’s a far cry from “lack of institutional control”. Do you not remember “team turmoil” ? Hell, just a couple years ago we had Ashton Hagans and Sahvir Wheeler refusing to even play in games.
Your hyperbole is ridiculous.
Good for you. You probably also stuck with Billy and Cal til the end too.
I tend to be more of a realist and what I see is a coach who isn’t good enough for UK.
I tend to be more of a realist and what I see is a coach who isn’t good enough for UK.
Those were rumors, the same the claims of fighting among players under Pope. Rumors. Having bad rumors spread are also examples of losing control of a program .
I think a lot of it has to do with his personality. I mean, I could see him running FCA at high schools or selling produce from his farm stand, but not really winning national titles at one of the most intensely competitive/passionate sports atmospheres in the world.
You clearly weren’t hanging around Merrick Inn at that time. Nothing rumor about it. He was making a complete *** of himself in public.
Mark Pope may prove to not be the man for this job, but comparing him to Gillispie is ignorant. The man at least has class.
Apples and oranges. Clyde was a garbage human with a past before we even got him. 80% of his bullcrap at UK was confirmed. Then he continued to be a garbage human to this day. Didn’t he get thrown off of his job last season for his behavior? I wanted to fire that guy a big blue madness. His eyes were too close together. Can’t trust that man.
If players are fighting, he needs to show them the door
Simply being a jacka** isn’t the only way a coach can lose control over a program. Look at Norvell at FSU in football. His defeatism after not getting into the playoffs and getting blown out by Georgia likely destroyed the rest of his tenure.
Another year for Pope isn’t going to change anything.
On one hand, is BG trying to explain what he knows of Pope ro the new guys? Which i get.
On the other hand, hes played like such **** that that he has no room to talk, and should probably be benched.
I think he's more concerned about being liked and being their friend. He doesn't have it in him to get after them. He can't separate the caring about his players and also being the coach.
Hope he wasn't onto them about effort because he gave little.
This year he's also settling for 3s more and not getting as many transition opportunities. He had a fine game tonight, nothing special. The kind of game that should be his baseline outing.
I mean lets be logical about this.
Kobe Brea was one of the best three point shooters in the country last year. He was dead eye. So you had to stay on him no matter where he was on the court. . Jaxon Robinson was a stone cold killer with the ball. The dude was fearless. and a 5th year senior with a ton of experience in Mark Popes system. Lamont Butler was maybe the best on ball defender Kentucky has had since Deandre Liggins and he was playing the point. Both Amari and Carr not only played hard with a chip but were super experienced Big men that could rebound and pass effectively. Kerr was the ultimate motivator and im really bummed Pope didnt do more to keep him. With those key pieces on the court the lane was wide open for Otega to work. Which is why he was balling last season. He doesnt have that anymore. He has to create with double teams coming at him. Throw ins some really solid role players In Ansley, Garrison, and Chandler. Dude we had a blazing *** squad last season. With a ton of experience and maturity. I didnt expect us to make this much if a slide but I think its time fans including myself realize how good we had it last season.
Kobe Brea was one of the best three point shooters in the country last year. He was dead eye. So you had to stay on him no matter where he was on the court. . Jaxon Robinson was a stone cold killer with the ball. The dude was fearless. and a 5th year senior with a ton of experience in Mark Popes system. Lamont Butler was maybe the best on ball defender Kentucky has had since Deandre Liggins and he was playing the point. Both Amari and Carr not only played hard with a chip but were super experienced Big men that could rebound and pass effectively. Kerr was the ultimate motivator and im really bummed Pope didnt do more to keep him. With those key pieces on the court the lane was wide open for Otega to work. Which is why he was balling last season. He doesnt have that anymore. He has to create with double teams coming at him. Throw ins some really solid role players In Ansley, Garrison, and Chandler. Dude we had a blazing *** squad last season. With a ton of experience and maturity. I didnt expect us to make this much if a slide but I think its time fans including myself realize how good we had it last season.
Amari Williams was an important piece of last year’s offense. We don’t have anyone close to his ability on this roster.
We were a Sweet 16 team and double digit losses. I loved that team and was extremely proud of it but that would be the floor if Pope is gonna kill it here
Maybe they were honest about his awful play
Agree that it is too early to have strong feelings one way or the other. See where we are at after the season. He’s coming back for at least one more year, unless we are completely terrible, which I don’t foresee.
Can we afford to have him come back next year? Think about it: who does he have coming in for 2026? If we’re in turmoil then it likely means most of the players are gone. So we’re going to have no recruits or no high impact freshman and have to look for a whole new team of transfers like when he was first hired. What’s the point of keeping him just for him to redo what will basically be his first year. Should we not expect progression from years 1 through 3?
The scenario you are suggesting would mean we were bad. I think it is still too early to say that. Now I definitely think the people who were predicting us to be historically great need to shut up, at least for now.
I told my brother that if we were as good as last year's team, I would be tickled pink. I really enjoyed last year, and I think most fans did, and I think most fans were looking so forward to this year, but have been so let down, it just sucks.
For the guys staying positive, I hope you’re right and things turn around.
I think the problem is that we shouldn’t have peaked with a roster that was thrown together. Yes, I’ve emotionally jumped the gun straight to fire Pope too quick, but also we can’t be dishonest about some serious, serious concerns about this coaching staff. There were plenty of people that had to be talked into taking Pope, because his resume did not match that of a typical Kentucky coach. Seeing the lack of fight and execution should not be happening in year two. Genuinely hoping that Pope lays down the law and gets this turned around. It gets to a point where I have to start asking myself where my own feelings and the facts start and end though. Is any hope that it can get better simply a result of my own desire for that to happen or is based on anything worthwhile? At the moment, it seems bleak. We have a few more non conference games left to show improvement and these have now become must-win.
I understand where you’re coming from, normally in the beginning of the second year for a coach I’d never think they may need to be let go after that season but things are different now with NIL.
To be clear, it isn’t time for that just yet. Obviously, I was very upset about the game. It will need to get turned around or things won’t work…and dammit I genuinely want them to work. Not everyone can handle this type of job though —- still unknown if he can handle this.
I know what you mean. He’s gotta turn this around quick. If he doesn’t, he won’t be our coach for very long. To much money involved in the game now. Players used to make money privately but now that it’s legal it’s like the Wild West
He’s almost certainly not going anywhere this season, even if he stinks. He has to right the ship though before he loses crucial support and becomes impotent in all the ways that matter. Still pulling for the guy.
Agreed. It doesn't make sense. Seems like players would be lining up to play for him. The way he gives the green light for shooting alone seems like it would attract plenty of attention. It's weird.
I love Mark Pope and there's nothing he could do (that is within his character) this year that would make me want him gone.
Now as far as still having a good season,
I guess it's not technically impossible. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Now as far as still having a good season,
I guess it's not technically impossible. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I’m not entirely sure. The $20 million dollar roster stuff has him in a between a rock and a hard place. Everyone will be beating down upon him if he fails to do anything this season, the fans, the media and most importantly the boosters.
He might not even want the job after he’s experienced being under the spotlight of negativity. He looks quite disoriented right now. He doesn’t exude confidence at all. I see a man who doesn’t have any of the answers and is utterly frustrated by what he’s experiencing.
If you told someone to go gather a team that would be the absolute worst playing pope's style this would be it.
I see a coach who thought he had a talented team and may be realizing he really doesn't. He may be struggling to accept the notion that his evaluation was far from accurate. It becomes difficult to coach when you begin second-guessing yourself. He may see that he doesn't have quality depth this year, when he thought he did. Last year, he seemed to have confidence that shots would fall. This year, he may not be as confident about it. That loss of confidence may be alarming and worrisome for him.
When he says we are not as far along as he thought we'd be ... does that really mean he thinks we are not as good as he thought we'd be ?? If so, he may be worried and the team may sense it.
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If Amari was horrible then our current players aren't even D1 level. because this is pathetic.
You can be Mister Rogers all you want, but, it’s not happening. Even with Lowe and Quainstance, we’re looking at 13-15 losses, and that might be optimistic.
Being a nice guy is one thing but being relatable is another.
I'm not sure Pope has that with recruits.
Nowhere near on the level Cal had.
Coming from BYU and never winning anything of significance probably has most parents of high level recruits skeptical.
It was surprising to me that Pope wanted the UK job.
I had him pegged as someone who wanted the "niche" factor that BYU creates where he could recruit the Ritchie Saunders, Colin Chandler types and throw in the occasional foreign kid or transfer.
Never pegged Pope as a guy who wanted to enter Cal's world as far as recruiting.