How many on here would be pushing for Nate Oats to be fired if he was the UK coach? He is 11-5 so far this year and has lost to every ranked team except Illinois.
Nate Oats?
- Thread starter HappyBlue
- Start date
Im starting to not love him as a potential replacement. Im just not aure he moves the needle enough for what we want. He forces the 3 and D a little too much for my liking, and im not sure if hes keen to adapt to different strategies based on the players hes able to get.
I still don't get why people keep comparing Oats resources at Alabama to what Pope is wasting at UK. It's like the people talking about Pearl at AU. He took a dog crap program like AU to two final fours.
Yeah He had some bad seasons at AU but it's AU.
Most coaches wouldn't waste the UK resources like Pope does. I'm not even saying I'd want Oats or Pearl as first offer. Just saying it's not apples to apples.
Yeah He had some bad seasons at AU but it's AU.
Most coaches wouldn't waste the UK resources like Pope does. I'm not even saying I'd want Oats or Pearl as first offer. Just saying it's not apples to apples.
It wasn't a question about resources, it was a question about Oats having a bad year and UK fans being unrealistic. Part of that unrealistic mind set is that since we are UK we have more resources than anyone and a coach should never miss on talent and a coach should never have a bad season.
Does anyone really know if Oats is operating with that much less resources at Alabama? Is it any real discernible amount?
No one knows, it is just rumor like the crazy rumor that UK spent 22m. But the rumor was that they offered 5m for just 1 player that player being AJ Dybantsa. If they are able to make a 5m offer for just one player, I would say that aren't hurting for "resources"
He might not be at the top of my list but has the most wins in the SEC since he became Bama’s head coach. That current 11-5 record is not concerning considering his resume.
That’s what I don’t understand, what resources? Pretty much every damn school has equal resources to UK. What magic resources does UK have over everyone else? Is Ashley Judd donating a bunch lol. What is this invisible war chest we’re working with? Our practice facility isn’t even nice lol
At this point it’s become apparent Vandy might have some of the best resources in the conference and the Big Ten has waaaaay more money. Duke has to have the biggest basketball resources by a mile. I think the citizens of Kentucky are really having a tough time realizing they live in one of the poorest states in the country and our alumni base is extremely average in terms of high profile people. Kentucky also has one of the highest acceptance rates in the country meaning we’re not attracting the best and brightest.
I’d like to see Ashley Judd’s practice facility! 
Oat's was bitching about Alabama's NIL last season. UK just spent 22 million on our basketball squad. Big difference IMO. Kinda like asking if UK football has the same NIL as Ohio state. Our fanbase is also 2nd to none. You have 365 days a year support.
Nate Oats has the same problem as Pope, his defense sucks. On Kenpom they’re even worse than we are defensive efficiency wise. The best coaches that we could realistically get that have good defenses and offenses are Ozelberger, Lloyd, and May. And who knows if any of those options are available.
If he goes far in the tournament, maybe TJ Ozelberger is the most realistic option? Or is someone going to tell me that his great great grandfather wanted him to coach at ISU or some dumb crap to make excuses as to why he wouldn’t come here.
If he goes far in the tournament, maybe TJ Ozelberger is the most realistic option? Or is someone going to tell me that his great great grandfather wanted him to coach at ISU or some dumb crap to make excuses as to why he wouldn’t come here.
Would still take him.
So shouldn't we give Pope at least a 3rd year to try and get a resume? Look I am not saying Pope is the guy, but if we keep firing coaches after only a year and 1/4 seasons, we are going to be in trouble. What happens if we fire Pope and get Pearl, a coach that a lot want. Then Pearl proceeds to lose 10 games his first season and makes the sweet sixteen, then in his second season he loses 12 games and loses in the 2nd round of the tourney, does UK fire him before a 3rd season? For the next coach hire do they tell the coaching candidates that if they don't make a FF in either the 1st or 2nd season they will be fired?
The fact that he struggled for 4 years at Nebraska before getting somewhere concerns me.
Would you be wanting him fired though when he doesn't win after 2 years?
It's Nebraska. I'd like to see what he can do after this season is over. He could be one to watch, imo.
If he had a final four, 2 elite 8s, and 4-5 SEC titles since 2020. I'd think that would buy him some leeway....
If he misses the tournament with a $20 million budget, it’s going to be very hard to convince boosters to continue supporting Pope’s NIL endeavors going into next year. Whether you like it or not, Pope will be doomed for failure coming into next season with an NIL budget even smaller than last year’s.
So you are saying we need to give Pope time to see if he can get a FF and 2 E8's and 4-5 SEC titles in 5 years before we move on?
Edit: Just checked Oats doesn't have 2 E8's he has one. So in 5 years he has one FF, one E8, 2 sweet 16's, and a first round loss.
It bought Cal enough leeway that we are where we are now.
Serious question. And I do the exact same thing so it’s not just to you. Do we as fans assume Kentucky has all these extra resources that other teams don’t have? I honestly don’t have a clue so I’m asking. How are the facilities when placed side by side? The campus? Winning losing culture as of lately. Last ten years. NIL. Overall money in general. On and on.
Are we really way above everybody or is that something we just assume because it’s our team and they have a lot of history. We look at us as number one but are we ? Are there way more resources at Kentucky?
Ik some of you can’t wait to give a one word answer..
Did not know he was bitching about NIL. Figured they could easily outspend us if they want to as he has brought on some top players like Brandon Miller, etc. I need at least one more year from Pope though, as I want Barnhart gone before our next hire and curious how the Iowa coach does the next couple years.
Oats was 1st in the SEC, won the SEC tournament and had a Sweet 16 his 2nd year… Pope will be fortune enough to finish above .500 on a $20 million budget.
Nate Oats went 26-7 in year 2. He didn't start 10-6 and 1-2 in SEC play. He was 10-3 at this point in year 2. And 4-0 in SEC play. After an awful year one at Alabama. That's consistent improvement. A sign of a good coach. Pope is regressing in year 2.
We are where we are now, because Mitch flubbed the post-Calipari hire.
Poor had $22 million of resources for this current roster. UK is giving more of its revenue share to men’s basketball than anyone in the country. Basketball drives the donor pool almost entirely at UK.
Season ticket prices and required KFund fees for the tickets are way more expensive than any other school. UK basketball doesn’t have any worries about money resources.
Before and after games every player goes up to Kelly and Joe Craft in their court-side seats and shakes hands with or hugs them. They are making sure UK basketball has what it needs.
Isn’t our NIL budget like double the next highest team? The fact that we’re willing to spend football money on the basketball program makes us in pretty elite company, I’d think.
I'd say the one thing we have that most don't is rabid fan support. But, that is also what creates the pressure that the job carries. Also, where the Boos come from. So, maybe it cancels itself out.
I have been around for every coaching change since Coach Hall retired, and we have never gotten our "first" choice. Let that sink in.
If we ever get TJ Ozellberger, it is very important that we pay him enough money so he can buy shirts that fit.
I keep hearing this 22 million argument. Can someone post something that proves that? Or are we just supposed to believe rumors????
The short answer is because we really did have far better and far more resources in the past. You’re right, it’s no longer true. This is why, as frustrated as we all are, the best case scenario would be for Pope to win back support by proving he can handle this job. I still am pretty certain he isn’t the guy long term but we aren’t going to throw him in the trash this season unless it goes significantly worse. As of today, we aren’t even a bubble team on Bracket Matrix. If it gets to a point where we have to hire a new coach, there is no one we can definitively say will come here for the reason you stated. Other schools can easily allocate many of the same resources that once made us special.
He was also 6th in the SEC and got blown out by 29 points to Alabama in the quarterfinals. I guess we can ignore that.
The number was leaked via Pope and his boys.
Yes we can, just fans like you ignore we lost our back pg to injury, had a starting pg that was playing with one arm, and lost our best player for the tourney.
Yeah, I agree. There's a lot of schools who just dropped 22 million dollars on a roster.
Nobody in the college basketball world would crush UK for firing Pope after this year if he misses the NCAAT after spending 22 million on a roster.
And Pearl has earned enough street cred, that a 10 loss season would be viewed as an outlier. The odds of him stringing together a bunch of 10 loss seasons and not getting to a FF at UK, would be very low.