Is Pope too nice?

[seccats04]

This has been a legitimate concern of mine since Pope came here. Last year we could get up for the big games but then turn around and lose to Vandy, Ole Miss or a Georgia.
It’s great that Pope is such a sunshine pumper but every now and then I want to see him get in someone’s *** if they’re loafing. I saw a lot of loafing tonight and he would just clap and slap their butt when they came back to the bench. That needs to change.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

This has been a legitimate concern of mine since Pope came here. Last year we could get up for the big games but then turn around and lose to Vandy, Ole Miss or a Georgia.
It’s great that Pope is such a sunshine pumper but every now and then I want to see him get in someone’s *** if they’re loafing. I saw a lot of loafing tonight and he would just clap and slap their butt when they came back to the bench. That needs to change.

I kinda agree with this. I do think he is too soft of them a lot of times. I don’t know if he will ever be a Pitino or Calipari get in their *** type coach, but it would be nice to see him light a fire sometimes rather than always smile.

 

[ComebackCats98]

I agree with you both. When the lead grew from 7 to 14 to start the second half and Chandler turned it over two out of three possessions he just stood with his hands behind his back looking on and then clapped encouragement. Sometimes you have to get a little fire

 

[UKWildcats1987]

I'd like to see Pope have his whole team consistently before worrying too much.

I do think he is a super nice guy. I don't think that means he won't win it all or make final fours. With the NIL warchest he just has to win. And win big. He won't get a lot of patience with such a highly paid roster.

I think he will do well

 

[chattanogawildcat]

Heard he chewed Mo's *** in practice recently.

 

[BlueBlood96Cat]

Heard he chewed Mo's *** in practice recently.

Wonder how it tasted

 

[Woodrow24]

This generation of players as a whole aren’t mentally tough enough to handle getting chewed out like guys could in the past. That leads to one issue I have with the transfer portal. Some guys can run from adversity when things don’t go their way, when in a lot of circumstances if they stuck it out and worked through things they would be better basketball players and be more able to handle tough times mentally. Sports can be a valuable tool to teach life lessons. In the game of life you can’t always run from your problems and you gotta face them and put the work in to change your situation.

 

[Possum]

I agree with you both. When the lead grew from 7 to 14 to start the second half and Chandler turned it over two out of three possessions he just stood with his hands behind his back looking on and then clapped encouragement. Sometimes you have to get a little fire

Are you sure? Admittedly, I’m not very proficient in lip reading but it looked like he called Chandler a selfish mf’er.

 

[UKortho]

My issue with him has always been his on and off court personality. Overly nice, kind of goofy. Unlike most of the highly successful coach’s over the years. Hope he proves me wrong.

 

[UKortho]

This generation of players as a whole aren’t mentally tough enough to handle getting chewed out like guys could in the past. That leads to one issue I have with the transfer portal. Some guys can run from adversity when things don’t go their way, when in a lot of circumstances if they stuck it out and worked through things they would be better basketball players and be more able to handle tough times mentally. Sports can be a valuable tool to teach life lessons. In the game of life you can’t always run from your problems and you gotta face them and put the work in to change your situation.

I agree. As fans we tend to overrate many of these players just because they come to UK.

 

[UKCowboys]

The sky is falling SMH

 

[chasingwildcat]

I agree with you both. When the lead grew from 7 to 14 to start the second half and Chandler turned it over two out of three possessions he just stood with his hands behind his back looking on and then clapped encouragement. Sometimes you have to get a little fire

This is the time Pope should yell at Chandler

 

[philstat]

Yes, he absolutely is, which is a blessing and a curse all in the same. The best leaders I had while forward were hard, yet fair and balanced, expected you to be the best version of yourself, I didn’t see that approach at all tonight.

 

[theKybluedude]

Is there such a thing as being too nice.

 

[ZaytovenCat]

He’s something and he better figure it out. This 2 steps forward and one step back crap ain’t gonna cut it here. He did it at BYU and did it last year here. It does absolutely no good to win a big game if you go out and **** the bed the next game.

 

[Anon1751561414]

He doesn't know how to coach defense...his teams have been bad defensively every year...He has to figure it out or his time will be short lived here

 

[FitchandMurray29]

I’m much more worried about his “too niceness” when it comes to roster construction. Once you see something doesn’t work with a player, don’t bring them back with big paychecks. There are too many good players out there.

He’s paying money for the opportunity to develop players that aren’t getting better. That’s a failure in multiple ways imo

 

[seccats04]

He doesn't know how to coach defense...his teams have been bad defensively every year...He has to figure it out or his time will be short lived here

 

[chasingwildcat]

I’m much more worried about his “too niceness” when it comes to roster construction. Once you see something doesn’t work with a player, don’t bring them back with big paychecks. There are too many good players out there.

He’s paying money for the opportunity to develop players that aren’t getting better. That’s a failure in multiple ways imo

Heard Garrison got 3M

Dont know if this is true...

 

[chasingwildcat]

We have little athleticism upgrade with huge downgrade in shooting

We probably will have another 10 loss regular season

 

[blackcat714]

Pope spread the money out on too many players

 

[Monday Nitro]

Heard he chewed Mo's *** in practice recently.

Exactly. He doesn’t go nuts in public. It’s refreshing.

 

[Monday Nitro]

Look at this thread. The season ended last night?? Good grief!

 

[TTTblue24]

Gotta be a mix of both, ability to get mad and upset then also have that calm energy when things are going bad. These guys are being paid to play, asking them to do their job daily comes with it.

I thought alot of our 3s were contested or near the end of the shot clock cause we ran terrible half court sets. If Noah & Williams can’t knock down shots consistently, they’re going to be very hard to play cause they can’t create their own and struggle mightily on D.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Heard he chewed Mo's *** in practice recently.

He needs to chew some *** in games. I know it’s exhibitions but we have a year of actual games to refer too as well. It’s a trend that when we don’t show up, we don’t have a shot with his teams. Seems when our energy level is low we get beat badly. That is concerning to me, in a tourney setting one game like that sends you home. We should almost always come out with fire and aggression.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Heard Garrison got 3M

Dont know if this is true...

There is no way in hell. There is no universe in which he got that kind of money. He would have been told to hit the road with a demand like that.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Gotta be a mix of both, ability to get mad and upset then also have that calm energy when things are going bad. These guys are being paid to play, asking them to do their job daily comes with it.

I thought alot of our 3s were contested or near the end of the shot clock cause we ran terrible half court sets. If Noah & Williams can’t knock down shots consistently, they’re going to be very hard to play cause they can’t create their own and struggle mightily on D.

Exactly, we ran no offense and our shots were bad shots. Chandler got blocked on a 3 because everyone knew he wouldn’t run anything. He just chucked up a terrible shot.

Almost every three we took second half came off no ball movement, or off balance, long heaves at the end of the clock.

The one positive last night was how well we battled for extra possessions. If we have that kind of energy on the boards in games where everyone is available we will be very good.

 

[ala_kat2]

Gotta be a mix of both, ability to get mad and upset then also have that calm energy when things are going bad. These guys are being paid to play, asking them to do their job daily comes with it.

I thought alot of our 3s were contested or near the end of the shot clock cause we ran terrible half court sets. If Noah & Williams can’t knock down shots consistently, they’re going to be very hard to play cause they can’t create their own and struggle mightily on D.

Good point, and we have to figure out ways to get our shooters open looks. Hope Lowe can do that when he returns. On another matter, we’re missing Amari Williams and his ability to pass and back down defenders. Garrison cannot create and Moreno needs a jump shot that isn’t a set shot 3. I think Moreno is going to get a lot better.

 

[philstat]

Is there such a thing as being too nice.

Yes, when you’re the leader of men, there’s a balance, you can always be nice, though you need to also can put someone on their *** if necessary.

Heard Garrison got 3M

Dont know if this is true...

If that is true, HF, BG was absolutely deplorable last night, he killed the offensive flow, holding the ball on nearly every trip down the floor for 5-10 seconds, causing players to put up rushed shots.

 

[ZaytovenCat]

Heard Garrison got 3M

Dont know if this is true...

There’s no way. If so then Pope is a moron. Stokes supposedly is wanting $4M. UK didn’t even offer Caleb Wilson $3M.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

I still want to see this team with all its starting guards before i freak out like some of yall.

I won't include JQ in the above as he will be out way longer. We have to prove we can win without him for a while.

 

[Vek96]

This has been a legitimate concern of mine since Pope came here. Last year we could get up for the big games but then turn around and lose to Vandy, Ole Miss or a Georgia.
It’s great that Pope is such a sunshine pumper but every now and then I want to see him get in someone’s *** if they’re loafing. I saw a lot of loafing tonight and he would just clap and slap their butt when they came back to the bench. That needs to change.

Honestly, this is a legitimate question. I would actually like to see him get after a player that deserves it. Sometimes you have to get their attention. He doesn’t seem to have that in him.

 

[K_TIME]

I don't care about his demeanor either way....(Jay Wright wasn't known as a screamer...nor was Billy Donovan...Self isn't a screamer).

But here is the quick observation on small sample size.....

- He is a top notch offensive mind, scheme, development, spacing, etc...
- He is a below average defensive mind, getting players to grind and switch schematic plans during a game. We almost try to play like the Old Steve Nash/Stoudamire/Dantoni Suns teams. We dont' play great defense. This happened last year before Robinson/Butler got hurt (Vandy, Ole Miss stretch of season)....and I see the same 'meh' effort on defensive end.

We chase over ball screens, allow teams into the lane way too much, we don't cheat off non shooters to force the ball to non playmakers, we arent' handsy on perimeter ball handlers, we allow players to get to their spots too often, etc...

I do have a concern that Pope isn't in the same league as Pitino teams defensively and all around fight of the team. We chalked up last year that Carr, Brea, Almonsor, Perry, Noah, etc... not elite athletes. But Kam, Jasper, Diabate, Alberdeen, Lowe, Kam, Oweh, Chandler, etc.... will fix that. Last night that was not about athleticism....we had no desire to stay in front of ball screens...andn that was the coachign design.

 

[Apple14]

He doesn't know how to coach defense...his teams have been bad defensively every year...He has to figure it out or his time will be short lived here

Bro hit the nail on the head. In Pope's decade+ of coaching, this has NEVER changed. If we don't hit our shots, we're toast. Period.

 

[wildcat111]

This has been a legitimate concern of mine since Pope came here. Last year we could get up for the big games but then turn around and lose to Vandy, Ole Miss or a Georgia.
It’s great that Pope is such a sunshine pumper but every now and then I want to see him get in someone’s *** if they’re loafing. I saw a lot of loafing tonight and he would just clap and slap their butt when they came back to the bench. That needs to change.

He says a lot of the right things...I am just waiting for him to start doing the right things!!

 

[bigblueinsanity (the real)]

This generation of players as a whole aren’t mentally tough enough to handle getting chewed out like guys could in the past. That leads to one issue I have with the transfer portal. Some guys can run from adversity when things don’t go their way, when in a lot of circumstances if they stuck it out and worked through things they would be better basketball players and be more able to handle tough times mentally. Sports can be a valuable tool to teach life lessons. In the game of life you can’t always run from your problems and you gotta face them and put the work in to change your situation.

This combined with the insane nil world and Pope is taking the right approach. The old school stuff just doesn't work. Kids will just keep your money and get in the portal or have a nagging injury that magically never heals.

Its just how it is.

 

[kybassfan]

Far Pope!!! Har BCG. Make’em eat them pop tarts and run’em till they puke. If they gets hurt, rub dirt on it and shove’em back out thar. Where’s ma cattle prod..

 

[Runt#1969]

Far Pope!!! Har BCG. Make’em eat them pop tarts and run’em till they puke. If they gets hurt, rub dirt on it and shove’em back out thar. Where’s ma cattle prod..

I need a coca coler after that one, huckleberry! haha

 

[CoffeeCat]

Is there such a thing as being too nice.

Yes. Where I used to work we had a guy we labeled as Mr. Happy. He was a really nice guy but just over did it in an annoying way.

 

[TreyzAllDay]

I’m much more worried about his “too niceness” when it comes to roster construction. Once you see something doesn’t work with a player, don’t bring them back with big paychecks. There are too many good players out there.

He’s paying money for the opportunity to develop players that aren’t getting better. That’s a failure in multiple ways imo

Can anyone say Brandon Garrison? I’m sorry but he’s not worth a spot on this roster. Just doesn’t get it done. Chandler better get his *** in gear too because he’s been *** so far and everyone talked him up waaayyy too much this offseason. Hell Trent too if we’re being honest.