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If I'm honest ...

Bluesbrother

Bluesbrother

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May 23, 2002
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... the thought tonight just crossed my mind that I may have been wrong about Pope. He may be too soft to ever achieve consistent success at this level. He's easy to like but that won't get it done. He played here under Pitino so he should understand what's required. Tonight, IMO, he was out-prepared and out-coached. Hats off to Louisville and PK ... they just beat our *** in every way and sadly, it was just embarrassing. It should be an interesting season to see how he adjusts.
 
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philstat

philstat

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Jan 3, 2004
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It’s too early to say he’s a bad selection, though he was coached under the table in tonight’s game, UL’s offense and defense looked so much more refined, substantially so, they also played with a passion and fire that we lacked.
 
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RobEStacy

RobEStacy

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May 21, 2007
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I was alittle dismayed that he did not switch up defense... Go zone for a few possessions... Mix up the defense.... Some full court press... Something to get them out of their rythym. We had the pick and roll going with the backdoor lobs and we went away from it.. We fought back, which is good to see.. Just disappointed he just stuck with Man to man and didnt switch it up.... Just something to slow down their rythym and make them think.
 
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senonesy

senonesy

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Nov 30, 2017
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Bluesbrother said:
... the thought tonight just crossed my mind that I may have been wrong about Pope. He may be too soft to ever achieve consistent success at this level. He's easy to like but that won't get it done. He played here under Pitino so he should understand what's required. Tonight, IMO, he was out-prepared and out-coached. Hats off to Louisville and PK ... they just beat our *** in every way and sadly, it was just embarrassing. It should be an interesting season to see how he adjusts.
Click to expand...
Just a ridiculous post. As are many posts on this board tonight.
 
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T

tls

Heisman
Nov 7, 2007
7,803
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Pope is fine ... UL ran his offense to perfection tonight .. lots of shooters with good passing big men
 
L

lookinfor8

All-Conference
Dec 30, 2002
4,348
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IowaCityLit said:
Pope had no real coaching pedigree before coming to UK. The jury is very much out on him.

if he were not a UK title player, he’d be just another coach right now. He has a ton to prove and it’s about being the best of the best. No indication yet that Pope is one one of those special coaches.
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Think Pope is a good coach but my gripe with him is that
we shoot to many 3's
We lost the game in the first 12 minutes because they manhandled us badly
also their speed was about twice our's

Our OCS is probably the toughest in the country & then have to play SEC games.
If we get more physical & a little faster we can be there in March.

And yeah Pat Kelsey is a prick & not because he won.
 
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ChicagoCat90

ChicagoCat90

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lookinfor8 said:
Think Pope is a good coach but my gripe with him is that
we shoot to many 3's
We lost the game in the first 12 minutes because they manhandled us badly
also their speed was about twice our's

Our OCS is probably the toughest in the country & then have to play SEC games.
If we get more physical & a little faster we can be there in March.

And yeah Pat Kelsey is a prick & not because he won.
Click to expand...
I couldn't agree more with the too many 3's comment. I don't mind DA, CC and KW putting up a high volume. But if you have Oweh and MD jacking up tons of 3's you're shooting yourself out of quality possessions.
 
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M

megablue

Heisman
Oct 2, 2012
14,246
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Bluesbrother said:
... the thought tonight just crossed my mind that I may have been wrong about Pope. He may be too soft to ever achieve consistent success at this level. He's easy to like but that won't get it done. He played here under Pitino so he should understand what's required. Tonight, IMO, he was out-prepared and out-coached. Hats off to Louisville and PK ... they just beat our *** in every way and sadly, it was just embarrassing. It should be an interesting season to see how he adjusts.
Click to expand...
What I cannot help but wonder is ... did Rick Pitino REALLY think CMP was the right choice for coach here ??
 
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Tri-Countycat

Tri-Countycat

All-Conference
Jul 1, 2025
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We lost this game from the free throw line. Louisvilles two guards drove the ball and shot 24 free throws. They were getting the fouls called and knew it. We only shot 16 as a team. I do agree Louisvlle looked more polished on offense, they spread the floor well and knew when to go to the rim and play ISO. Pope is soft, I like him but he is soft.
 
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Bluesbrother

Bluesbrother

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May 23, 2002
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megablue said:
What I cannot help but wonder is ... did Rick Pitino REALLY think CMP was the right choice for coach here ??
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That's good question. Maybe he saw the Pope hire as a way get back into Rupp in good graces. Who knows. Great coaches have an edge and I'm just not sure if I've seen that from Pope yet. The only exception was probably John Wooden. I believe Pope wants desperately to win here and if he's as smart as claimed, he should figure it out pretty quick.
 
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C

Cats_2010

Heisman
Jan 8, 2010
11,351
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RobEStacy said:
I was alittle dismayed that he did not switch up defense... Go zone for a few possessions... Mix up the defense.... Some full court press... Something to get them out of their rythym. We had the pick and roll going with the backdoor lobs and we went away from it.. We fought back, which is good to see.. Just disappointed he just stuck with Man to man and didnt switch it up.... Just something to slow down their rythym and make them think.
Click to expand...
There really is zero excuse for it. I figured we would see some adjustments in the 2nd half but nope, just the same ole same ole and allowed Louisville to come out and re establish their large lead. Popes coaching tonight sucked *** in every capacity. I don’t think I’ll ever be high on any coach ever again, they all seem flawed.
 
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A

Anon1722388149

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Jul 30, 2024
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RobEStacy said:
I was alittle dismayed that he did not switch up defense... Go zone for a few possessions... Mix up the defense.... Some full court press... Something to get them out of their rythym. We had the pick and roll going with the backdoor lobs and we went away from it.. We fought back, which is good to see.. Just disappointed he just stuck with Man to man and didnt switch it up.... Just something to slow down their rythym and make them think.
Click to expand...
YES!!!!!! Bingo! Pope only uses one tool in the toolkit,..just like Cal. Man to man,..100% of the time. The opposition scores 50 times in a row, and he still will not do anything different.
 
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M

megablue

Heisman
Oct 2, 2012
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Tri-Countycat said:
We lost this game from the free throw line. Louisvilles two guards drove the ball and shot 24 free throws. They were getting the fouls called and knew it. We only shot 16 as a team. I do agree Louisvlle looked more polished on offense, they spread the floor well and knew when to go to the rim and play ISO. Pope is soft, I like him but he is soft.
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They shot more free-throws because we couldn't guard them.
 
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BlueBlood96Cat

BlueBlood96Cat

All-Conference
Jan 5, 2022
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Bluesbrother said:
That's good question. Maybe he saw the Pope hire as a way get back into Rupp in good graces. Who knows. Great coaches have an edge and I'm just not sure if I've seen that from Pope yet. The only exception was probably John Wooden. I believe Pope wants desperately to win here and if he's as smart as claimed, he should figure it out pretty quick.
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Thing is you don’t get long to figure it out at Kentucky. Alabamas football coach figured that out quick over there and started winning. Surely Pope knows this. I want him to succeed.
 
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Bluesbrother

Bluesbrother

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May 23, 2002
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philstat said:
It’s too early to say he’s a bad selection, though he was coached under the table in tonight’s game, UL’s offense and defense looked so much more refined, substantially so, they also played with a passion and fire that we lacked.
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Completely agree. This team tonight was seriously disappointing for a game of this magnitude representing UK. The two comebacks were impressive but to have allowed themselves to get down TWICE by those numbers is a concern.
 
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megablue

Heisman
Oct 2, 2012
14,246
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Bluesbrother said:
That's good question. Maybe he saw the Pope hire as a way get back into Rupp in good graces. Who knows. Great coaches have an edge and I'm just not sure if I've seen that from Pope yet. The only exception was probably John Wooden. I believe Pope wants desperately to win here and if he's as smart as claimed, he should figure it out pretty quick.
Click to expand...
Do coaches with huge egos really want those that follow them to be highly-successful ?? Also, with his horse industry interests, there is NO DOUBT that Pitino wants to be welcome at Keeneland and Churchill Downs.
 
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kygent2

All-Conference
Jan 22, 2010
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Honestly, Pope made no adjustments on defense, I was screaming switch it up, you have to try something different, especially the last 4 minutes, Louisville was on the ropes and wasn't going to shoot from outside, he should have went zone, but no, they continued to let them drive and get fouled
 
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Bluesbrother

Bluesbrother

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megablue said:
Do coaches with huge egos really want those that follow them to be highly-successful ?? Also, with his horse industry interests, there is NO DOUBT that Pitino wants to be welcome at Keeneland and Churchill Downs.
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Calipari ... no. Rick ... I do think he wants Pope to be successful because he was his player. Calipari thinks Pope is coaching at HIS program. LOL. I can't imagine Pitino not being welcomed at either track.
 
U

Ukat1

Sophomore
Jun 8, 2015
80
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philstat said:
It’s too early to say he’s a bad selection, though he was coached under the table in tonight’s game, UL’s offense and defense looked so much more refined, substantially so, they also played with a passion and fire that we lacked.
Click to expand...
And that comes down to bad coaching, how do you show up to at our hated rival and not have passion...
 
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BlueBlood96Cat

BlueBlood96Cat

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kygent2 said:
Honestly, Pope made no adjustments on defense, I was screaming switch it up, you have to try something different, especially the last 4 minutes, Louisville was on the ropes and wasn't going to shoot from outside, he should have went zone, but no, they continued to let them drive and get fouled
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Seems Popes game plan is to have 10-11 players that will out last the other team. Get down 20 30 40 then try to make a comeback. If you don’t make all them points up you got close and that’s another moral victory
 
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Anon1755209580

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Pope was a coach literally no one else was trying to hire. Most of his former players chose not follow him. Many went to other schools. BYU actually started investing more into the program after he left and they actually improved over the prior years results. Prior to being at UK, he had never won a NCAA tournament game in almost a decade of coaching. That usually isn't a recipe for a desired outcome.

He was simply hired because we struck out on our first 2 offers and Donovan wasn't willing to talk until the Bulls season was over. We also got him pretty cheap.

I hope he succeeds in the long term because he is very nice and a prior player. However, being honest, I think we are likely doing another head coaching search in a couple of years.

Anyone riding his dick over winning a couple of regular season games last year isn't being clear headed.
 
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ZaytovenCat

ZaytovenCat

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Apr 25, 2013
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Bluesbrother said:
... the thought tonight just crossed my mind that I may have been wrong about Pope. He may be too soft to ever achieve consistent success at this level. He's easy to like but that won't get it done. He played here under Pitino so he should understand what's required. Tonight, IMO, he was out-prepared and out-coached. Hats off to Louisville and PK ... they just beat our *** in every way and sadly, it was just embarrassing. It should be an interesting season to see how he adjusts.
Click to expand...
What it feels like to me is a continuation of last year where he would randomly get out coached and we would drop a game we shouldn’t. Last season was just a continuation of his tenure at BYU. What he did at byu ain’t gonna cut it here.
 
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UKortho

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Anon1755209580 said:
Pope was a coach literally no one else was trying to hire. Most of his former players chose not follow him. Many went to other schools. BYU actually started investing more into the program after he left and they actually improved over the prior years results. Prior to being at UK, he had never won a NCAA tournament game in almost a decade of coaching. That usually isn't a recipe for a desired outcome.

He was simply hired because we struck out on our first 2 offers and Donovan wasn't willing to talk until the Bulls season was over. We also got him pretty cheap.

I hope he succeeds in the long term because he is very nice and a prior player. However, being honest, I think we are likely doing another head coaching search in a couple of years.

Anyone riding his dick over winning a couple of regular season games last year isn't being clear headed.
Click to expand...
Yeah and Pope didn’t do better than the prior BYU coach.
 
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Burly

All-American
Sep 3, 2002
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Pope just played horrible line ups
Garrison shouldn’t have played
He puts line ups in that has 3 non shooters
He played Oweh way to much and Jelavic not enough
Williams didn’t get in the first half Jelavic none in 2nd
Pope refuses to use a hard hedge
Just a poor performance from our Head Coach
 
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