Pitino's Comments about Pope

[WallMash]

Pitino may have fast walked the handshake but he said to the press that we (fans) were bailing on Pope too soon because of losing a few games when he didn't have his best two players healthy - Q and Lowe. And then he applauded Pope for switching from his preferred finesse style to smash mouth.

I say Pope hadn't learned that smashmouth lesson and was still trying to finesse it one game ago - against Indiana by starting Noah and Chandler. I truly truly hope Pope's bought into the smash mouth 100% now, because we sure ain't a 3 point shooting team.

 

[revcort]

I think Pitino is definitely right that Pope completely changed the style for this team to smash mouth, and it has worked. I think he had no choice after our 4th loss. You could argue he started the IU game with that style, but even the half court shots we were taking just weren't falling.

I definitely agree this UK team is not a 3pt shooting team. There are some guys who can make threes, but they lack the confidence to make those shots against strong defense. Once they see some shots go down and the team gets a lead, they seem to shoot much better. (Like Kam Williams last night) But to start games, it's got to be smash mouth.

 

[KentuckyStout]

The season turned at the 13 minute mark in the second half of the Indiana game.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

Pitino may have fast walked the handshake but he said to the press that we (fans) were bailing on Pope too soon because of losing a few games when he didn't have his best two players healthy - Q and Lowe. And then he applauded Pope for switching from his preferred finesse style to smash mouth.

I say Pope hadn't learned that smashmouth lesson and was still trying to finesse it one game ago - against Indiana by starting Noah and Chandler. I truly truly hope Pope's bought into the smash mouth 100% now, because we sure ain't a 3 point shooting team.

I agree. Good post. I think that Noah's days of being a rotation player are dwindling. Kam Williams looks like a guy that will continue to push both Noah and Jelavic out of the rotation. I'm not even sold that Jasper Johnson should be playing high level minutes if Lowe is healthy.

Lowe - Aberdeen - JJ
Aberdeen - Chandler - JJ
Oweh - Williams
Mo D - Williams
JQ - Moreno

Garrison, Noah, and Jelavic are not going to fit what Pope is now doing.

 

[BlueBloodKyFan73]

I agree. Good post. I think that Noah's days of being a rotation player are dwindling. Kam Williams looks like a guy that will continue to push both Noah and Jelavic out of the rotation. I'm not even sold that Jasper Johnson should be playing high level minutes if Lowe is healthy.

Lowe - Aberdeen - JJ
Aberdeen - Chandler - JJ
Oweh - Williams
Mo D - Williams
JQ - Moreno

Garrison, Noah, and Jelavic are not going to fit what Pope is now doing.

THIS is the starting lineup and rotation

 

[Cats_2010]

I think Pitino is definitely right that Pope completely changed the style for this team to smash mouth, and it has worked. I think he had no choice after our 4th loss. You could argue he started the IU game with that style, but even the half court shots we were taking just weren't falling.

I definitely agree this UK team is not a 3pt shooting team. There are some guys who can make threes, but they lack the confidence to make those shots against strong defense. Once they see some shots go down and the team gets a lead, they seem to shoot much better. (Like Kam Williams last night) But to start games, it's got to be smash mouth.

It was good to see Williams hit that 2nd three. He took that with the most confidence I have seen him take a shot all year and the bounce in his step was very noticeable. He wanted that next one too and almost pulled the trigger but pulled it back. Still took a confident shot a couple of possessions later and barely missed. He is definitely one than can knock down 5-7 for us in a game if he gets it going.

 

[UKCowboys]

I think Pitino is definitely right that Pope completely changed the style for this team to smash mouth, and it has worked. I think he had no choice after our 4th loss. You could argue he started the IU game with that style, but even the half court shots we were taking just weren't falling.

I definitely agree this UK team is not a 3pt shooting team. There are some guys who can make threes, but they lack the confidence to make those shots against strong defense. Once they see some shots go down and the team gets a lead, they seem to shoot much better. (Like Kam Williams last night) But to start games, it's got to be smash mouth.

I heard that as well and totally agree. Pitino thought it was a brilliant move, and so do I. While half the board chose to run up the white flag and surrender because we have been banged up and can't shoot the ball, Pope kept fighting and it looks like he may be able to turn this squad into something

 

[bigblueinsanity (the real)]

I agree. Good post. I think that Noah's days of being a rotation player are dwindling. Kam Williams looks like a guy that will continue to push both Noah and Jelavic out of the rotation. I'm not even sold that Jasper Johnson should be playing high level minutes if Lowe is healthy.

Lowe - Aberdeen - JJ
Aberdeen - Chandler - JJ
Oweh - Williams
Mo D - Williams
JQ - Moreno

Garrison, Noah, and Jelavic are not going to fit what Pope is now doing.

I like this except garrison should get run at the 4. Hes looked surprisingly good there last two games.

Noah has a role in the right matchup but yes limited minutes.

I think Aberdeen and Chandler need to share minutes. Jasper should just sit.

Glad to see us find an identity but: 1) why'd it take so long and 2) we still cant compete for even an sec title with this roster and identity.

 

[Monday Nitro]

THIS is the starting lineup and rotation

No way. Lowe, Oweh, JQ, Mo and Moreno. That's a nasty five and Oweh will be back to his old self with that lineup. He looked pretty good with 20 pts yesterday.

 

[DraftCat]

I mentioned this the other day but this team has to be "Houston" of the last few years to have success.

Play hard nose defense, rebound the ball and get to the free throw line.

 

[One2Three]

I think Pitino is definitely right that Pope completely changed the style for this team to smash mouth, and it has worked. I think he had no choice after our 4th loss. You could argue he started the IU game with that style, but even the half court shots we were taking just weren't falling.

I definitely agree this UK team is not a 3pt shooting team. There are some guys who can make threes, but they lack the confidence to make those shots against strong defense. Once they see some shots go down and the team gets a lead, they seem to shoot much better. (Like Kam Williams last night) But to start games, it's got to be smash mouth.

Pope is gonna have to learn to balance defense and offense better. He went too far in the other direction this year.

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

Here is what I hope for —- not what I know:

IF Quaintance, Lowe and Dioubate remain healthy, it will help the shooting. Why? Because of the relentless enthusiasm these guys play the game with. That kind of thing is infectious. There’s a hidden skill in basketball that is difficult to teach and that’s the ability to get so lost in the game that you become free from distractions. Aka Getting in the zone. We have several players who are still shooting far below their catch and shoot/spot up numbers from a year ago, but Pope believes it is still coming. Until then, we play smash mouth —- frankly, it’s good to learn how to win multiple ways. Do I think this team is winning a championship? No — I still do not. But if you can put all these pieces together for an SEC championship, SEC tournament championship, elite eight or final four, it could be something to build for going forward.

 

[CrossPlainsCat]

Pitino may have fast walked the handshake but he said to the press that we (fans) were bailing on Pope too soon because of losing a few games when he didn't have his best two players healthy - Q and Lowe. And then he applauded Pope for switching from his preferred finesse style to smash mouth.

I say Pope hadn't learned that smashmouth lesson and was still trying to finesse it one game ago - against Indiana by starting Noah and Chandler. I truly truly hope Pope's bought into the smash mouth 100% now, because we sure ain't a 3 point shooting team.

BBN overreacts to a few games... nahhh... can't be....

 

[Tim0808]

I agree. Good post. I think that Noah's days of being a rotation player are dwindling. Kam Williams looks like a guy that will continue to push both Noah and Jelavic out of the rotation. I'm not even sold that Jasper Johnson should be playing high level minutes if Lowe is healthy.

Lowe - Aberdeen - JJ
Aberdeen - Chandler - JJ
Oweh - Williams
Mo D - Williams
JQ - Moreno

Garrison, Noah, and Jelavic are not going to fit what Pope is now doing.

I disagree. Garrison deserves minutes. Garrison has not played perfect, but this board continues to slamhas him even though he has played solid the last couple of games. If that was Garrison instead of Moreno that blew the wide open layup in the last game, fans would be calling for his scholarship.

 

[Catman100]

I for one am ready for Pitino to stop being the spokesman for Pope and UK.
Start paying more attention to St. Johns and good luck.
And FO while you at it.

 

[BlueBloodKyFan73]

I disagree. Garrison deserves minutes. Garrison has not played perfect, but this board continues to slamhas him even though he has played solid the last couple of games. If that was Garrison instead of Moreno that blew the wide open layup in the last game, fans would be calling for his scholarship.

lol you must’ve not seen the main thread where we were yelling at him to dunk it instead of bricking a bunny

 

[Tim0808]

lol you must’ve not seen the main thread where we were yelling at him to dunk it instead of bricking a bunny

I did not, but if it was BG that missed the layip the thread would not have been about dunking, it would have been about leaving BG in Atlanta and not bringing him back to Lexington.

 

[Jazzycat]

With all the attention that UK’s bigs should be attracting that will open up Williams, Oweh, Aberdeen and Lowe to take that 3 point shot…if you have Garrison and MoD shooting from the perimeter OCCASIONALLY, that will be even better..

 

[Farsight Clone]

I agree. Good post. I think that Noah's days of being a rotation player are dwindling. Kam Williams looks like a guy that will continue to push both Noah and Jelavic out of the rotation. I'm not even sold that Jasper Johnson should be playing high level minutes if Lowe is healthy.

Lowe - Aberdeen - JJ
Aberdeen - Chandler - JJ
Oweh - Williams
Mo D - Williams
JQ - Moreno

Garrison, Noah, and Jelavic are not going to fit what Pope is now doing.

I would argue that Jelavic can fit in the future. He is a stretch four and stretch center for sure. He has massive potential to be very good. It's just that right now JQ and Moreno are the two best bigs. If Jelly sticks around next year he can be good. Just hope that BG transfers out next year. However, BG has showed in spurts he can play. But he regresses quickly.

 

[theBlues]

I would argue that Jelavic can fit in the future. He is a stretch four and stretch center for sure. He has massive potential to be very good. It's just that right now JQ and Moreno are the two best bigs. If Jelly sticks around next year he can be good. Just hope that BG transfers out next year. However, BG has showed in spurts he can play. But he regresses quickly.

I think Jelly's opportunity to play will depend on him not having to guard a good post scorer. He really put up NO resistance to Ike or Huff and he hasn't played since against our two decent opponents. We've focused on defense and Jelly will be on the bench until he focuses on defense, imo.

 

[KFuqua]

I for one am ready for Pitino to stop being the spokesman for Pope and UK.
Start paying more attention to St. Johns and good luck.
And FO while you at it.

Agreed. I don't care what Pitino has to say I'd rather he keep his scumbag self far away from Kentucky.

 

[BlueBloodKyFan73]

I did not, but if it was BG that missed the layip the thread would not have been about dunking, it would have been about leaving BG in Atlanta and not bringing him back to Lexington.

Both got ripped for missing bunny shots as they should

 

[BlueBloodKyFan73]

I think Jelly's opportunity to play will depend on him not having to guard a good post scorer. He really put up NO resistance to Ike or Huff and he hasn't played since against our two decent opponents. We've focused on defense and Jelly will be on the bench until he focuses on defense, imo.

Nobody stopped Ike or Huff none of the 3 bigs and I didn’t think they would

 

[MidseasonTweak]

Pitino fast walked the handshake due to being furious at his own team, and as you stated, the post-game confirms it as he has a lot of respect for Pope.

 

[Hoskins91_rivals]

He gets a grace period because of the injury, but once JQ gets into game shape, if pope sticks with these goofy rotations I’m gonna break something. Same thing with Lowe and not starting him. Those two should be out there as much as possible.

 

[Hoskins91_rivals]

Pitino would stand up for his guy no matter what, but yes. The people wanting to fire him mid season were delusional.

 

[theBlues]

Nobody stopped Ike or Huff none of the 3 bigs and I didn’t think they would

As I said in the "want the Zags" thread, I'd like to see them try it against JQ and MoD.

 

[JHR1932]

I mentioned this the other day but this team has to be "Houston" of the last few years to have success.

Play hard nose defense, rebound the ball and get to the free throw line.

Perfect analogy, play like Houston and they might be able to get to 20 wins

 

[theBlues]

Pitino fast walked the handshake due to being furious at his own team, and as you stated, the post-game confirms it as he has a lot of respect for Pope.

I think Rick is so competitive he probably always hates the opposing coach at hand shake time and then later remembers "oh, I like him".

 

[NociHTTP]

Pitino may have fast walked the handshake but he said to the press that we (fans) were bailing on Pope too soon because of losing a few games when he didn't have his best two players healthy - Q and Lowe. And then he applauded Pope for switching from his preferred finesse style to smash mouth.

I say Pope hadn't learned that smashmouth lesson and was still trying to finesse it one game ago - against Indiana by starting Noah and Chandler. I truly truly hope Pope's bought into the smash mouth 100% now, because we sure ain't a 3 point shooting team.

Generate better looks from 3, and you might be wrong.

 

[Blue Jesus]

I missed the first few mins of the game, who started against St Johns?

Pitino may have fast walked the handshake but he said to the press that we (fans) were bailing on Pope too soon because of losing a few games when he didn't have his best two players healthy - Q and Lowe. And then he applauded Pope for switching from his preferred finesse style to smash mouth.

I say Pope hadn't learned that smashmouth lesson and was still trying to finesse it one game ago - against Indiana by starting Noah and Chandler. I truly truly hope Pope's bought into the smash mouth 100% now, because we sure ain't a 3 point shooting team.

 

[BlueBloodKyFan73]

As I said in the "want the Zags" thread, I'd like to see them try it against JQ and MoD.

And like I said I replied to you talking about Jelavic I threw in the other 2.

 

[revcort]

Pope is gonna have to learn to balance defense and offense better. He went too far in the other direction this year.

Yeah, there is no doubt he went too far in the defensive direction with this group. I don't think he realized how far in that direction he went until just recently. Based on his interviews and comments, he genuinely believed this team had multiple shooters. It seems he still feels like they're better than we've seen. I hope he's right on that.

It seems to me this group is very fragile mentally. The other part is that they struggle with the physicality we've been getting from these better teams we've lost to. We can blame Georgetown for that one. They showed the others how to beat us. Get up in our faces, make as much contact as you can get away with, and even commit some fouls along the way. Our guys have struggled with that.

So, combine those 2 issues- mental fragility and disliking physicality and it's a recipe for disaster on the offensive end. Add in some key injuries and it's a likely loss.

Now, we've also seen that this team, when shots fall and they begin to stretch a lead, can start making those shots, and it also becomes as contagious for this group as the missed shots in the other direction.

So, the returns of Dioubate, Lowe, and now Quaintance are huge because it raises everyone's confidence. These fragile guys become confident when they know guys will rebound their shots and when they see a lead growing. It could snowball in a good direction.

That's my hope at this point.