Next Years Team

[Yardeth]

Next years team needs to be made up of players that are getting paid by incentives. I would rather have players that are willing to work together and play as a team than a team full of players that don’t care what happens because they are getting paid regardless. If Gonzaga paid only 3 million for their players, why can’t UK get that effort for 7 times the price? If we lose it won’t be from the lack of effort. IMO. It’s a wait and see!

 

[Tri-Countycat]

If Pope is here, It might be a good idea to get some guards. Looking back how did we think we have enough with Lowe, Freshman JJ, Chandler and Oweh. Talk about no shooting compared to last year. And don’t get me started on Kam, Pope must have just watched his YouTube highlights. What a broken shot.

 

[AllBall]

If Pope is here, It might be a good idea to get some guards. Looking back how did we think we have enough with Lowe, Freshman JJ, Chandler and Oweh. Talk about no shooting compared to last year. And don’t get me started on Kam, Pope must have just watched his YouTube highlights. What a broken shot.

But analytics show Kam was a high % shooter. Really, against who?!?!? James Madison

 

[Pensacola_Cat_Fan]

Sad but we’re already having to talk about next year because we know this year is down the drain already.

 

[JohnnyGreen]

Next years team needs to be made up of players that are getting paid by incentives. I would rather have players that are willing to work together and play as a team than a team full of players that don’t care what happens because they are getting paid regardless. If Gonzaga paid only 3 million for their players, why can’t UK get that effort for 7 times the price? If we lose it won’t be from the lack of effort. IMO. It’s a wait and see!

If Pope is here, It might be a good idea to get some guards. Looking back how did we think we have enough with Lowe, Freshman JJ, Chandler and Oweh. Talk about no shooting compared to last year. And don’t get me started on Kam, Pope must have just watched his YouTube highlights. What a broken shot.

Agree with this. If we can bump our NIL budget to 30-35M a year, we should be able to load the roster well.

 

[FitchandMurray29]

Pope can’t get good players while guaranteeing them money… you think he will when he moves to incentives instead of guarantees? Umm not sure about that

 

[theBlues]

It's hard to think about next year without knowing who is coaching next year; if UK misses the tournament as is likely, Pope won't still be the coach. As I said in my deleted thread, the smart move is to make the change now.

 

[One2Three]

Agree with this. If we can bump our NIL budget to 30-35M a year, we should be able to load the roster well.

Maybe we’ll be able to get some 2nd tier role players instead of 3rd tier.

 

[megablue]

Next years team needs to be made up of players that are getting paid by incentives. I would rather have players that are willing to work together and play as a team than a team full of players that don’t care what happens because they are getting paid regardless. If Gonzaga paid only 3 million for their players, why can’t UK get that effort for 7 times the price? If we lose it won’t be from the lack of effort. IMO. It’s a wait and see!

It would be difficult to incentivize players who are not starters and do not get the minutes required to meet or exceed meaningful objectives.
Also, if you told Noah (as an example), he was going to get $3,000 for every three he made, will he be looking to score or play team ball ??

 

[TFCat11]

If Pope is here, It might be a good idea to get some guards. Looking back how did we think we have enough with Lowe, Freshman JJ, Chandler and Oweh. Talk about no shooting compared to last year. And don’t get me started on Kam, Pope must have just watched his YouTube highlights. What a broken shot.

Revisionist history reminds us that Pope missed on the first 4-5 dudes he was after before over paying K Williams. Very sad indeed.

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

I’m one of the most pro-Pope posters on here but if things don’t turn around this season, I think we are going to be left with having to fire him. That makes me sick to my stomach and I don’t think it’s right, but here is why:

Even if you give him another year, most of this roster will be gone. I don’t think there’s a way to salvage this roster after this kind of morale hit. I cannot imagine boosters spending enough for him to reload this roster with the type of talent needed to retain his job after this year.

For the Pope people, he has to fix this to some degree or we are cooked.

If anyone thinks there is a way to fix it, please let me know how. I’d absolutely love to have some hope that it can still work.

 

[mdluk1]

If the $22 million is true, you’d think we could have got at least ONE STUD

 

[Bill_the_cat]

It would be difficult to incentivize players who are not starters and do not get the minutes required to meet or exceed meaningful objectives.
Also, if you told Noah (as an example), he was going to get $3,000 for every three he made, will he be looking to score or play team ball ??

That is the concern.

 

[Bill_the_cat]

I’m one of the most pro-Pope posters on here but if things don’t turn around this season, I think we are going to be left with having to fire him. That makes me sick to my stomach and I don’t think it’s right, but here is why:

Even if you give him another year, most of this roster will be gone. I don’t think there’s a way to salvage this roster after this kind of morale hit. I cannot imagine boosters spending enough for him to reload this roster with the type of talent needed to retain his job after this year.

For the Pope people, he has to fix this to some degree or we are cooked.

If anyone thinks there is a way to fix it, please let me know how. I’d absolutely love to have some hope that it can still work.

Who is leaving? We only have a few seniors.

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

Who is leaving? We only have a few seniors.

Can you see a lot of these guys wanting to return at this point? I don’t. I think it’s going to be a big transfer portal exit.

 

[Cats4321]

With the performance of this year's team, recruiting isn't going to get any easier for Pope.

 

[megablue]

Can you see a lot of these guys wanting to return at this point? I don’t. I think it’s going to be a big transfer portal exit.

I agree. But, to be truthful ... wouldn't a bunch of them leaving perhaps be the best thing that could happen to the program ??

 

[Woodrow24]

IF this continues we will have different players and another coach. Still gotta wait and see how it all plays out

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

I agree. But, to be truthful ... wouldn't a bunch of them leaving perhaps be the best thing that could happen to the program ??

It depends. Have no idea if there are trouble guys on the roster —- any of those would be addition by subtraction if they left.

The following are guys that have returning eligibility that I wanted to return as starters:

Chandler
Moreno

The following are guys that have eligibility that I wanted to return as rotation pieces:

Williams
Jelavic
Noah
Hawthorne
Johnson

I would like for Lowe to have returned, but unsure how to handle him due to injury history and size.

At this point, I’d assume most of those guys want nothing to do with playing here anymore. Before I get blasted again, let me state that booing was understandable, the negativity is understandable, etc. But it doesn’t matter how justifiable the toxicity is, if the players feel like we don’t take care of our own, they will leave. Some will say that’s a good thing because the players suck and so on. I can hear you, but we can’t really ever build a roster without keeping players.

We will end up with a lot of rentals again and that’s gonna be almost impossible for Pope to win big with. He may be a sitting duck already as we speak. If we miss the tournament, the most pro-Pope position is probably a mercy kill. Move on.

 

[Bill_the_cat]

Can you see a lot of these guys wanting to return at this point? I don’t. I think it’s going to be a big transfer portal exit.

Ok. Makes sense.

 

[The_Catfather]

I bet Chandler's already bought his one-way ticket back to Provo. Hard to blame him. I'd want out of this mess too.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

Next year isn't looking anymore promising than this year. Pope can't recruit or evaluate talent.

 

[Coach777]

I’m one of the most pro-Pope posters on here but if things don’t turn around this season, I think we are going to be left with having to fire him. That makes me sick to my stomach and I don’t think it’s right, but here is why:

Even if you give him another year, most of this roster will be gone. I don’t think there’s a way to salvage this roster after this kind of morale hit. I cannot imagine boosters spending enough for him to reload this roster with the type of talent needed to retain his job after this year.

For the Pope people, he has to fix this to some degree or we are cooked.

If anyone thinks there is a way to fix it, please let me know how. I’d absolutely love to have some hope that it can still work.

See my thread “don’t blame the players” I posted today - although it didn’t gain any traction. Let me know your thoughts.

 

[UKJenning]

It's hard to think about next year without knowing who is coaching next year; if UK misses the tournament as is likely, Pope won't still be the coach. As I said in my deleted thread, the smart move is to make the change now.

Barnhart won’t do it! Pope will be here as long as Barnfart is here no matter how badly we suck!

 

[JonathanW2]

But analytics show Kam was a high % shooter. Really, against who?!?!? James Madison

Who you are hitting them against doesn't really matter, as long as you have the ability to create your own shot when your teammates are not getting paint penetration. Reeves showed that.
My concern w/ Kam (& I was saying this in the summer) was that even at a mid-major he was the 4th or 5th option on that team. If you add a mid-major guy, he needs to have been the 1st or 2nd option on that team.
But as the 4th or 5th option, he was probably getting all open looks.

 

[UKJenning]

If the $22 million is true, you’d think we could have got at least ONE STUD

We did in JQ but he’s injured. We could’ve gotten one or two more but Pope rolled the depth over talent dice and failed.

Weird thing is we’re still not deep because we can’t overcome any type of injured player.

This roster has to be the worst failure in the NIL history of college basketball.

The return is pitiful considering the investment.

 

[JonathanW2]

It would be difficult to incentivize players who are not starters and do not get the minutes required to meet or exceed meaningful objectives.
Also, if you told Noah (as an example), he was going to get $3,000 for every three he made, will he be looking to score or play team ball ??

exactly!

Even if you made it strictly based on minutes played (so not scoring), then you would likely end up with guys not happy about going to the bench, even in blowouts vs cupcakes, thus bad chemistry. I suppose you could try to use some metric that also takes into account sharing the ball & hustle plays & boxing out & screens etc....

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

I know we’ve somewhat ret-coned this but Oweh was supposed to be one of our studs. He was SEC preseason of the year, so there was a general consensus that he was going to be one of our studs. Fast forward and this has been inexcusably bad from Oweh, Pope and everyone else, but the notion that we went into the year without studs is not reality. We thought we had 2.5 studs (Oweh, Quaintance, Lowe). We don’t know what we have with JQ yet but he isn’t a fairy, so we are left with a pumpkin regardless

 

[The_Answer1313_rivals]

Wonder if Cal will come back lol.

 

[ComebackCats98]

If this staff is back including Pope it will set the program back quite a bit.

 

[FLBBNFAN]

I bet Chandler's already bought his one-way ticket back to Provo. Hard to blame him. I'd want out of this mess too.

I was thinking the same thing. He plays hard, will only get better so why stay here. He can go back to BYU that has a better program right now and replace Saunders.

 

[Kyhoward1]

I’m one of the most pro-Pope posters on here but if things don’t turn around this season, I think we are going to be left with having to fire him. That makes me sick to my stomach and I don’t think it’s right, but here is why:

Even if you give him another year, most of this roster will be gone. I don’t think there’s a way to salvage this roster after this kind of morale hit. I cannot imagine boosters spending enough for him to reload this roster with the type of talent needed to retain his job after this year.

For the Pope people, he has to fix this to some degree or we are cooked.

If anyone thinks there is a way to fix it, please let me know how. I’d absolutely love to have some hope that it can still work.

I’m one of the most pro-Pope posters on here but if things don’t turn around this season, I think we are going to be left with having to fire him. That makes me sick to my stomach and I don’t think it’s right, but here is why:

Even if you give him another year, most of this roster will be gone. I don’t think there’s a way to salvage this roster after this kind of morale hit. I cannot imagine boosters spending enough for him to reload this roster with the type of talent needed to retain his job after this year.

For the Pope people, he has to fix this to some degree or we are cooked.

If anyone thinks there is a way to fix it, please let me know how. I’d absolutely love to have some hope that it can still work.

IMO, there are 2 categories of issues that Coach Pope should address at the next team meeting:

A. Chemistry -

1. We (the staff) know which player(s) are instigating discord. The following player(s) will be suspended for a number of games the time of the suspension tbd by their adherence to a punitive discipline regimen. Complete the regimen AND apologize to the entire team and be reinstated, not agreeing to this discipline results in immediate dismissal.
2. As a previous poster suggested, Pope states that all UK gear that the program generally supplies will no longer be supplied for the remainder of the season (apply this to all players). You all make money now and can buy your own.
3. Once reinstated there is a zero tolerance policy. Next violation and you are gone.
4. This is a team game and not a dress rehearsal for your NBA career. UK is your employer and can terminate you at any time.


B. Basketball issues.

1. Playing time will be determined based on effort in practice and in games. Each of you will be graded daily so you know where you stand. Not giving effort means you must be tired and should rest on the bench.
2. We will be instigating a combination of full court pressure defenses. Defense can only be successful if you have desire and are giving maximum effort. By a show of hands, who is willing to commit to playing this defense.
3. The offense is going to change. We are immediately going to run the offense that was successfully run by last year’s team. Constant movement, passing, and hard cutting. We will concurrently de emphasize 3-point shooting.
4. We are going to run at every opportunity. Get the defensive rebound and immediately make the outlet pass.

Putting on the UK uniform is a privilege. Playing time is not guaranteed to any player in this room. We are all starting at ground zero at the next practice. No one is guaranteed to start or even play.

A one-on-one meeting with me (Coach Pope) will be scheduled with each player to discuss your adherence to these new stipulations. It will not be a session of finger pointing and griping

I’m one of the most pro-Pope posters on here but if things don’t turn around this season, I think we are going to be left with having to fire him. That makes me sick to my stomach and I don’t think it’s right, but here is why:

Even if you give him another year, most of this roster will be gone. I don’t think there’s a way to salvage this roster after this kind of morale hit. I cannot imagine boosters spending enough for him to reload this roster with the type of talent needed to retain his job after this year.

For the Pope people, he has to fix this to some degree or we are cooked.

If anyone thinks there is a way to fix it, please let me know how. I’d absolutely love to have some hope that it can still work.

 

[kywildcat1021979]

I bet Chandler's already bought his one-way ticket back to Provo. Hard to blame him. I'd want out of this mess too.

He can take Pope back with him too.

 

[Kyhoward1]

Does anyone have the breakdown of NIL each player is receiving? Plus what did Oweh make last season?

 

[true-blue1]

This was a horrible constructed roster. If Pope gets another year there has to be someone hired to help put together a roster because I don’t think Pope and his staff are capable. A GM needs to be put in place.

 

[mdluk1]

This was a horrible constructed roster. If Pope gets another year there has to be someone hired to help put together a roster because I don’t think Pope or his staff is capable. A GM needs to be put in place.

The head coach is responsible for putting the roster together. He has to do a better job of judging talent and what his team needs.

 

[blackcat714]

Can you see a lot of these guys wanting to return at this point? I don’t. I think it’s going to be a big transfer portal exit.

They will have to take a big pay cut if they dont start playing any better

 

[One2Three]

This was a horrible constructed roster. If Pope gets another year there has to be someone hired to help put together a roster because I don’t think Pope or his staff is capable. A GM needs to be put in place.

I wouldn’t count on any coaching changes if Pope returns. He seems pretty loyal to his buddies. We all thought he was going to put together an elite coaching staff but when Orlando Antigua, one of the best recruiters in basketball. was practically begging to be retained Pope refused while hiring the old Georgia coach, his mentor Mark Fox.

We should seriously be wondering if Pope is as serious about his job as he claims when he hires his friends, behavior that we never cared for when Cal or even when Tubby was coach.

 

[blackcat714]

If this staff is back including Pope it will set the program back quite a bit.

If Pope is back he needs to replace his whole staff

 

[true-blue1]

The head coach is responsible for putting the roster together. He has to do a better job of judging talent and what his team needs.

I don’t think he can and he sure can’t recruit.