Hard to put out effort when you don't know where your going. Why do you recruit a bunch of players that don't play your style. Pope is not a good defensive coach. This team can't shoot. But everyone knows that. The one that can shoot are on the bench. Put them in. The others aren't playing any D. For two years we have no backup point guard. Bring back Cal. He can recruit at least. We are loosing our top recruits. I like Pope but he's in over he's head. He was where he belonged. I hope he loves ky enough to resign. With the money he spent he should have got anyone he wanted. It's obvious the top players don't want to play for him. We lost several last year. It's happening again now.
Is it effort or coaching that's the problem
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Cal won 1 tournament game in his last 5 years (call it 4 since 2020 got cancelled), went to the NIT, lost to St. Peter's and Oakland.
Pope has been here 1 season. In that one season, he went to the Sweet 16.
The results say that Pope is a better coach. But you'd rather get Cal because he can recruit players. Who cares if we make it out of the first round--we just need to get flashy NBA guys, right?
Yes, is the answer to the question in your subject line. It is both effort and coaching. Let's not forget roster building too. The roster is a mess of mismatched skills and abilities.
It was time for Cal to move on. Past time, in fact. That doesn't mean Pope is the answer. If Pope isn't the answer, that doesn't mean bringing back Cal is the answer (obviously).
I'm not sure when this either or thing started in our society, but man...it's certainly a thing.
Effort is clearly a problem.
I think it's fair to blame the coach for continued effort problems. I can give Pope a pass for a few bad minutes, then you call a timeout and get it right. But 40 minutes of not playing defense falls on the coach.
I think it's fair to blame the coach for continued effort problems. I can give Pope a pass for a few bad minutes, then you call a timeout and get it right. But 40 minutes of not playing defense falls on the coach.
It appears to be more than simply effort and coaching. We've got some institutional issues between recruiting and overall roster management/construction that may have doomed this season.
If it’s effort that makes me say it’s coaching. If someone isn’t giving 100% the coach should handle that accordingly.
I don't think the season is doomed, but it's got to turn around quick. I think some guys that Pope and fans expected to step up this year just haven't, and that's thrown a wrench in the team's mechanics. You can coach a player to quit taking dumb high school shots. You can coach schemes. You can coach endurance, strength, and conditioning.
You can't coach leadership in those who don't want to lead. That right there has done an insane amount of damage to the team so far. Garrison and Oweh should be leaders. They were primed for it. They're far from it, though, and that's infected every facet of on-court performance.
What we need is leadership, and quick. If OO and BG don't pick it up, that leadership role (IMO) then falls to MoD, Aberdeen, and Chandler. To say I'm disappointed in Oweh this year is an understatement. These guys are tanking Pope's credibility with the fanbase.
Does it come back to Pope on some level? Sure. Of course. Is it exclusively Pope's fault that two players who should've been leaders this year just decided not to show up? No.
Duke has a former Nike & NBA staffer as GM and we don't even officially have one but if we did it'd likely be Mark Fox. Antigua could've helped in recruiting and wanted to stay but Pope let him go anyway.
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It’s both, some guys are playing like they’re knee deep in mud but Pope can’t keep letting guys like Mo and Aberdeen constantly shoot threes off the top of the backboard without crawling their ***.
Is it effort or coaching that's the problem.
May be both but the horrific rebounding against MSU showed effort is a big issue.
Man that’s what is frustrating to me. Did we get superstars? No. Do we have lottery picks? No. Unless you count JQ. What we do have is a roster that can compete. I would hate to think that Pope actually did a decent job on a roster and these guys mess it up because of childish drama.
we thought we had Prima Donnas before but looks like we know what they really look like now. Players thinking they are better than they actually are. We don’t have an nba roster but we do have a roster that should compete in college.
Like you said Pope is to blame at the end of the day but I dont think he expected certain things to happen. If we are gonna lose a lot this year I would like to do it with the players that want to be here. I have no clue what’s true or isn’t but Pope really does need to get it handled asap.
Don’t let a couple overpaid g leaguers ruin your legacy as a coach. Do I think Nate oats could do way better yes. Pope is our guy currently and I want him to do good. At least be direct with the fans and address the issue.
Idk how much grace I can give Pope if he keeps giving the fan base riddles. Fix the problem or get the hell out of town. Pope isn’t bigger than the program just like Cal wasn’t.
In this exact order…
1. Recruiting
2. Coaching
3. Effort/ Performance
And all 3 are on Pope and his staff! Coaches get the credit and they also get the criticism.
1. Recruiting
2. Coaching
3. Effort/ Performance
And all 3 are on Pope and his staff! Coaches get the credit and they also get the criticism.
What’s even more confusing is all summer all I heard was how much this team loves each other and how much they spend time together off the court. Jealousy has kicked in with these players for some reason or another. Pay checks women playing time rolls I have no clue but hope it’s settled soon.
Pope is in way over his head. He was a career 63 percent winner playing in the WAC and WCC.
His coaching staff is an absolute joke. They can’t recruit and can’t coach.
The combination of the head coach being overwhelmed and only average and a terrible assistant staff leads to the team getting blown out 13 times in 41 games.
His coaching staff is an absolute joke. They can’t recruit and can’t coach.
The combination of the head coach being overwhelmed and only average and a terrible assistant staff leads to the team getting blown out 13 times in 41 games.
Amen on the either or thing.
Pope may be guilty of looking at guys through rose colored glasses and a couple of guys have gut punched him with their effort levels. I’m willing to bet he couldn’t fathom dudes would not put out max effort when they have the opportunity to play for UK. Large part, in my mind, why he looked so defeated. I think he was smacked in the face with the reality that some may be unreachable. It looks like he has 1-2 of those guys and that’s why they were in the portal and some glad to see them leave their former school. 1-2 of those can screw things up quickly.
Now does he make the changes or am I totally off base, we will see. But 1 thing seems painfully obvious. His message is not resonating with some current players or top tier recruits and that has to change.
That’s right. Time is running out on Pope as well. He better learn to lead and become a much better recruiter. We didn’t have one single player sign during the early signing period. Not ONE. Strong leaders don’t pout and struggle to form a sentence after a tough loss. His inability to lead might be why the locker room is a mess.
One of those guys is really bad defensively. The other is hurt. If Pope were counting on either to be good defensively at this point, that's on him.
I think that's the kicker...will he try to fix it and piss some of the pouty pants off or just ride it out? Oweh and Garrison seem to be the issue, I don't think anyone can deny that. Problem is...I'm not sure what's left to play can perform any better, because the roster construction was banking on those two being the best perimeter and interior player.
Aberdeen (fine, but nothing special)
Chandler (greatly improved, but he can't be your best perimeter player)
Noah (still seems in way over his head, if he's not making shots he's a huge liability)
MO (awful offensively, can't run the offense with him on the court with another big unless it's Jelavich)
Moreno (fine, but doesn't protect the rim very well)
Williams (has shown NOTHING and I have no clue why the NBA was so high on this dude, might benefit most by sitting Oweh though)
Jelavich (I'm hopeful he'd be good enough defensively around the rim to play with MO and/or Williams, have my doubts)
Jasper (talent/ability is there, very immature decision making and effort, he's a perimeter Garrison right now)
Those 8 might get you a 10th place SEC finish and about 14 losses.
I still hold the opinion the reason Pope is so pouty pants is he knows that Lowe and JQ both are cooked. The other guys know it too. And they all know the season is cooked too.
I think we have people that have been trashing coaches for SO LONG they can’t let themselves chill out and see how things play out. I guess slavering seething madness just does that to you.
We have players not taking pride in their game. That has to come from inside. Coach can’t do that for you. I know I know, coach is responsible for all that can exist in the universe. But for the sane people and those that have actually played, when you take the floor, no coach. No fans. It’s just you. If you don’t take pride in your play and effort, no one will.
We have players not taking pride in their game. That has to come from inside. Coach can’t do that for you. I know I know, coach is responsible for all that can exist in the universe. But for the sane people and those that have actually played, when you take the floor, no coach. No fans. It’s just you. If you don’t take pride in your play and effort, no one will.
It’s both, but you know some crazy stuff is going on when Jason Hart is responding to MemanBoy on Twitter.
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Umm, Cal went the same distance at Ark last year, and iirc, he beat teams seeded better than Arky to get there. He also came into Rupp and beat the breaks off the heavily favored Cats and Pope.
Yet, because Pope won his first tournament game ever, beating 2 teams seeded pretty low, much lower than UK, he is the better coach now?
Also, while Arky just lost to MSU, I don't recall them getting absolutely embarrassed and having the **** beat out of them all game.
Yea, that's bad. And wasn't it the HC who put all that **** out that is leading to mass speculation in the first place?
Like, ****, Hart, how ******* ignorant are you?
@ coach Jason Hart! Since you're clearly taking the time to read social media and this board, why doesn't your dumb a$$ put the internet on hold and actually go, you know, do your ******* job and help coach up these ***** players, and then maybe, I don't know, recruit some better ones! Otherwise, get the **** out of here!
Yeah Coach...there's probably a reason you don't normally respond. That would be the same reason you shouldn't have responded here too.
Letting Antigua go was definitely a blunder on Pope's part. No idea if Antigua would want to return at this point, but he needs to be the first call if anyone on staff leaves.
We need a legit GM. An NBA rep/former agent/Nike executive or something. Someone with grass roots connections and who can help players into the future with their contacts. Someone who knows the college game.
Wasn't Nazr Mohammad or someone like that talked about when Pope first got hired? Sean Woods? Honestly can't remember.
He would of threw chairs at them instead of the ref, and choked the hell out of this bunch against MS.
Mark Fox ain't it. Nice guy, but he has ZERO business being a potential GM, let alone assistant. What has he ever done exceptionally well in the coaching ranks?
It's not having a PG. There is no floor general on the court. The PG we do have is losing extremely valuable time to build games that matter cohesion because he's been unhealthy the entire time. Johnson, Aberdeen, and Chandler are not consistent playmakers for others. If you don't have a PG you're a fraud. There are other issues but this is the most influential.
Right now, everything is wrong and I don't think Pope has the chops to fix it. He's going to have to take a hard line with these guys, but that's not in his DNA from the looks of it.
Pope has a lot of ideas, but right now, he just needs to stick to the basics and just play the best players. When I say "best players", I mean the guys that are performing the best, not the ones that were expected to.
Oweh and BG don't belong out there until they earn it, but Pope ain't doing that.
Honestly, I don't even want to watch the game tonight. I'm that disappointed. This game isn't going to prove **** and the last thing I want to see, is guys getting paid millions to barely going through the motions.
The way I look at it, the players should be running through walls for Pope. He paid them big money to do a job and he’s taking the heat for them, but we have key guys standing around, putting in 50% effort.
Pope needs to sack up and get in some players faces. If he continues on with this "everything is in a beautiful space" bs, these guys are going to stay "in the space" they are in, which is a very lazy and entitled space.
Pope has a lot of ideas, but right now, he just needs to stick to the basics and just play the best players. When I say "best players", I mean the guys that are performing the best, not the ones that were expected to.
Oweh and BG don't belong out there until they earn it, but Pope ain't doing that.
Honestly, I don't even want to watch the game tonight. I'm that disappointed. This game isn't going to prove **** and the last thing I want to see, is guys getting paid millions to barely going through the motions.
The way I look at it, the players should be running through walls for Pope. He paid them big money to do a job and he’s taking the heat for them, but we have key guys standing around, putting in 50% effort.
Pope needs to sack up and get in some players faces. If he continues on with this "everything is in a beautiful space" bs, these guys are going to stay "in the space" they are in, which is a very lazy and entitled space.