Coming off the break, I was hoping there be some changes but same old stuff. Clearly in over his head. I hate that Pope is in this situation because his legacy at UK will be shot. People need to lose jobs over this performance.
I hate this for Pope
- Thread starter BigBlue_83
- Start date
His legacy as a player won’t be affected, but his legacy as a coach won’t be good if he doesn’t actually do some coaching. Awful gameplanning and preparation today.
It wouldn't be as bad if the players didn't get paid and 22 mil team that plays like **** isn't entertainment
He knew what he signed up for
I'd like to hear from Pope what the actual preparation looked like.
We know what Alabama is. They're going to shoot 100 3's. And with 10 days between games, we weren't ready for that. Guys are going under screens. Guys are losing shooters. Guys are letting shooters catch the ball with space and WAITING to close out until they're in the air shooting the ball.
We're 35 minutes in the game and Alabama is STILL getting wide open shot after wide open shot. Pope has no plan. No answer.
Not really his fault. Mitch made the horrible decision to basically go straight to him after getting spurned. Pope had no business getting this job at that time. However cant blame Pope for saying yes to a dream opportunity.
We've gone under screens all season. That's an unbelievably head scratching feature, not a bug.
Its why all these teams just rip every jumper they take.
Literally no one else coaches going under all these screens. Its insane.
At this point, I hope Pope has enough shame to step down after the season. Feels like we're on pace to miss the tournament. And it's not so much we're losing games. We're losing them in god awful fashion. We've been down double digits in pretty much every game that wasn't a cupcake.
And we can talk about the players flaws. But at some point--we're in conference play. We're still not giving full effort all game. We don't do offense well. We don't do defense well. This is not accepable.
And we can talk about the players flaws. But at some point--we're in conference play. We're still not giving full effort all game. We don't do offense well. We don't do defense well. This is not accepable.
It’s increasingly likely that he won’t be the guy, but he doesn’t deserve a for sale sign in yard. Guy tried, sometimes things don’t work
Yeah. The Michigan State game should ha e been an eye opener. They're a bad 3 point shooting team. So our answer was to dare them to make wide open 3's for 40 minutes.
I can appreciate trying to keep a bad shooting team out of the paint and "make them beat you from 3." But there's a difference in making them beat you from 3 and LETTING them beat you from 3.
It looked like a great hire. Typically legacy hires turn out great, unless you count Matt Doherty, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin, Kenny Payne, and Juwan Howard, etc.
He should be let go at the end of the year seriously. It’s too easy to get to the top with the right coach now and he has had plenty of games to show he can’t handle this level of a job.
I'm not here to advocate for a sign in the yard.
I hope he'll recognize it and step down after the season.
He'll be ok. He dries his tears with $100 bills. If he cared, he'd study, get advice, drop feelings of obligation to players and do what it takes every game. Oh yeah, and play your best players.
Awesome defensive team he assembled. Great game plan and we can’t even score which is supposedly what his teams do well.
I've always been a uk fan. I am not a pope fan. I cheer for UK not the coach. You can really see the difference in typ of fans here. Some fans adopt every individual in the program as uk and defend them to their last breath. Tldr I dont feel sorry for any of our millionaire coaches when they leave
I want this for pope as much as anyone but we are still not playing our best 5 the majority of the minutes for some reason. Lowe, oweh, Williams, JQ, & Mo need to be out there 30+ mins for this team to succeed.
I’m past feeling sorry for Pope and wanting him to succeed because he “understands”
He makes $6 million a year, so spare me the tears.
You know who I hate it for? Us. I hate this for us. This is a disaster and Pope is at the heart of it.
I don't. I hate it for us. He knew what he signed up for and he's making millions.
If Richie Farmer can commit crimes against the taxpayers of the state and still be celebrated for his on-court play, Mark Pope's legacy as a player will be fine.
That said, he'll need to go back to a mid-major after leaving UK to rebuild his brand. Pope is akin to John Pelphrey and Travis Ford: UK greats who couldn't transfer playing success at the highest level to coaching at the highest level.
That said, he'll need to go back to a mid-major after leaving UK to rebuild his brand. Pope is akin to John Pelphrey and Travis Ford: UK greats who couldn't transfer playing success at the highest level to coaching at the highest level.
I hate it for him too but the truth is he’s destroying the UK image! He’s like a Deere in headlights!
don’t feel bad for him…he is a smart guy, has a nice family, he has his dream job, and he is making over $5m / year more than some of us will make in a lifetime.
the rest is up to him how to manage it….
he had 11 days to prepare the team for the first game in sec. He played Nate Oates several times last year…. He supposed to be motivated for the beat downs from last year….
if you are going to say that was a road game,,,,. The arena was not even full…he didn’t have bunch of freshman like calipari that would get rattled in their first away game….
he had, a former bama player, a former florida player, the returning candidate to sec player of the year, the pg from Pittsburg and the team still looked like they played their first time together…
we need to stop makimg excuse for Pope. If he cannot recruit, cannot manage 22 million to put together a team that fits and is competitive, cannot motivate the players to play hard, cannot develop them, can’t prepare for a game, can’t teach defense and apparently cannot make offensive adjustments either from his favorite schemes…. Than what’s left ?
just because he played and was the captain at Kentucky and won as a player a national title should give him a timeless Blank check?
the rest is up to him how to manage it….
he had 11 days to prepare the team for the first game in sec. He played Nate Oates several times last year…. He supposed to be motivated for the beat downs from last year….
if you are going to say that was a road game,,,,. The arena was not even full…he didn’t have bunch of freshman like calipari that would get rattled in their first away game….
he had, a former bama player, a former florida player, the returning candidate to sec player of the year, the pg from Pittsburg and the team still looked like they played their first time together…
we need to stop makimg excuse for Pope. If he cannot recruit, cannot manage 22 million to put together a team that fits and is competitive, cannot motivate the players to play hard, cannot develop them, can’t prepare for a game, can’t teach defense and apparently cannot make offensive adjustments either from his favorite schemes…. Than what’s left ?
just because he played and was the captain at Kentucky and won as a player a national title should give him a timeless Blank check?
*checks Pope’s contract terms…*
Uh, not me! He said himself, he knew the assignment, and he knew what to expect when he took a dump on that assignment!
Like other highly intelligent fans have said, he’s in over his head as the Head Coach of the UK MBB team!
UK needs a cold blooded leader on the sidelines, not a Girl Scout Cookie ambassador!
Uh, not me! He said himself, he knew the assignment, and he knew what to expect when he took a dump on that assignment!
Like other highly intelligent fans have said, he’s in over his head as the Head Coach of the UK MBB team!
UK needs a cold blooded leader on the sidelines, not a Girl Scout Cookie ambassador!
I'm having a hard time believing that you're actually a fan.
Good. Anything you think, the opposite is true. The OP trolled and hasnt been seen since. This loss, like all losses, makes you feel alive. Go for it.
Meanwhile, you just laugh your way through every loss. Says a lot about you.Good. Anything you think, the opposite is true. The OP trolled and hasnt been seen since. This loss, like all losses, makes you feel alive. Go for it.
You said Kentucky basketball is just entertainment. That’s much worse than complaining about losses.Good. Anything you think, the opposite is true. The OP trolled and hasnt been seen since. This loss, like all losses, makes you feel alive. Go for it.
I don’t feel bad for him. He’s going to walk away with $25-30M for not being good at his job.
What's worse is he considers this brand of Kentucky basketball entertainment.
That's like calling a stoner movie Oscar worthy.
I actually do feel sorry for his family. There have been a few times this year when they looked like they were ready for it to be over.