Said it from the time I heard he wasn’t going to keep Antigua. I knew it was a big mistake letting him go & knowing that he wanted to actually be here. Point being, I think we would have reeled in 2-3 recruits with him here.
Pope’s Biggest Mistake Was Letting Antigua Go !!!
- Thread starter WallCousins
- Start date
I’ve screamed this from the mountain top since the moment it happened. Antigua is better than anyone we have on staff now.
Brooks and Hart should be good enough to sell UK basketball especially with the funds they have at their disposal.
It all boils down to Pope regardless of assistants.
He hasn't had time to establish himself as one of the top coaches in CBB.
He's definitely behind Cal, Self, Hurley and Scheyer who still riding the legacy of K.
It all boils down to Pope regardless of assistants.
He hasn't had time to establish himself as one of the top coaches in CBB.
He's definitely behind Cal, Self, Hurley and Scheyer who still riding the legacy of K.
Bogus. Pope created a team overnight his first year and realed in plenty of talent this year. It his job, he doesn't need 2-3 recruits. He is doing fine
Pope is doing great. Sweet 16 his first season, and has high character guys wearing the Kentucky uniform.
I swear we have fans that just want to outspend everyone and buy a championship. What’s the point in that? If you do that and win a title, you don’t get any credit, because you should win it.
If you don’t win a title, then you look like idiots.
I swear we have fans that just want to outspend everyone and buy a championship. What’s the point in that? If you do that and win a title, you don’t get any credit, because you should win it.
If you don’t win a title, then you look like idiots.
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I hope I’m wrong, but there may end up being more pressure on JQ to be better than he is, or can ever be, to make us a legit FF contender.
People apparently still need to hear this but:
There is no more recruiting. There is only money. Money is all that matters.
There is no more recruiting. There is only money. Money is all that matters.
Here’s the problem I can see happening with JQ. If he starts playing, and he’s not playing great,
he shuts it down and says his knee is still bothering him. If he’s playing well, he shuts it down to not take any chances of reinjuring his knee.
I didn't think we had a problem. We have a damn good roster and Antigua wasn't going to change that enough to warrant a thread like this.
Who was OA going to get that the current staff missed on?
As was said a few posts above, it's about money more than anything now.
We have played 1 regular season game, you guys are actung like we just lost in the NIT.
Who was OA going to get that the current staff missed on?
As was said a few posts above, it's about money more than anything now.
We have played 1 regular season game, you guys are actung like we just lost in the NIT.
I mean a lot of the transfers are one and done types sometimes too of a different shade.
NIL and money are king. We have the most expensive roster n basketball so obviously fans are gonna expect big results going forward and nothing wrong with that.
People also need to understand spending the most guarantees nothing. It just theoretically will have us in elite 8 or so contention every year and there and beyond you need to be healthy, lucky and make sure the refs dont cheat you.
When I heard we weren’t bringing him back, I said Zaytoven is absolutely losing his mind right now. I pray he doesn’t take it out on his dog.
I actually agreed with not keeping O when all was said and done. Pope wanted to clear out all Calipari era guys. It’s been said that Pope didn’t want a connection to it and wanted to get Kentucky back to what Kentucky is, and keeping around Calipari era guys aren’t the best way to do it. He intentionally brought none back. At first I thought it would be good to keep a connection to the former players of Cals era though. But Pope seems to have steadied that.
I really like Orlando and appreciate his time here, he’ll always be part of the tradition. But assistants and recruiting is basically them showing up showing the briefcase the coach sends. And O was mainly a recruiter. Clean break from all Cal era was the right move.
I realize Zaytoven thinks differently lol.
I really like Orlando and appreciate his time here, he’ll always be part of the tradition. But assistants and recruiting is basically them showing up showing the briefcase the coach sends. And O was mainly a recruiter. Clean break from all Cal era was the right move.
I realize Zaytoven thinks differently lol.
Maybe you misunderstood. Pope wanted the entire staff free of all Calipari era guys. He wanted his own guys that fit what he does. He didn’t want any distractions. told a while back that Pope wanted to be clean from that era to re-establish what he believed Kentucky should look like. Calipari really neglected some things his last 7 years and pope wanted to rebrand us. That’s why the banners are the only thing hanging. That’s why Barnhart said we’ve got to “find our way back”. It’s why Pope is fully geared toward our traditions and fans. In the early Calipari years he made sure to appear to “buy in” to Kentucky but his last 7 he didn’t at all, and his last 3 or 4 the program was totally neglected.
Bringing back Orlando doesn’t send that message. And Orlando is a Calipari guy, he’s not necessarily a UK guy.
The reason I wanted him retained at first is because I knew the breakup would be bitter and I wanted a connection from the Calipari era players to the program, but Pope has steadied that anyway. That breakup could have been much, much worse, especially with Pope taking their pictures down and setting the table back to UK instead of individual NBA accolades. But he managed to do both, we only saw a few players go rouge. Pope made the right call and has steadied the gap between UK and the players in Calipari’s absence. There’s no reason for Orlando to be here.
also I’m not sure Pope would have trusted Orlando fully. There is a lot of money and corruption in this sport, you have to be careful who you trust.
So it’s very important to bridge the gap between UK and Calipari players but Pope is making sure to do that. Bringing in Calipari loyalist to the staff and everyday operations? Don’t think it would have been wise.
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I know it ruins your agenda, but money is definitely not all that matters. For some, that is the force that drives them, but even though everyone needs money, it's not the only thing that matters to a LOT of people.
Some people really don’t realize that money is not the end all with all. I’ve turned down a lot of money in my life to protect my kids from family members and to work in a field I feel I was called to work in. I could be making a lot more money but chose not to. And I mean a lot. I’m not the only person who decided against wealth in favor of other avenues.
I chose against business in favor of serving. Many of us out here.
Im not talking about myself. Im talking about recruiting. I don't have an agenda. The sooner fans understand the landscape, the sooner they can understand how it works.
With this much money flying around there are agents, teams, etc; so the kid isnt even the only stakeholder and decision maker.
The only time traditional recruiting moves the needle is if the money is close. Otherwise its just the money.
Not to say everyone choosing business is bad at all. Know a lot of wealthy men that are good men that use their wealth in meaningful ways. Definitely think today though, too many don’t. But I do know some that would give the shirt off their back. Different ways of doing this.
Does seem that those few big names in business don’t invest in infrastructure like the Vanderbilts and Carnegies used to do.
Or if they do it’s not as known. Seems though they have a more vested interests I fifth vacation homes and large yachts.
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Yea I think we’ve entered a realm where there’s just too many that aren’t playing the game the way it was intended. But I do know some wealthy men who give as much as they can.
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this. I don’t mind rich folks. I mind rich selfish ********.
We also missed on atleast two key guys in the portal. Would Antigua have landed them? Maybe not but I’d atleast feel like had as good of a shot to get them as possible if he were here.
One of Brooks/Hart shouldn’t have been hired. IMO it would have been Hart left off in favor of Orlando. I feel even more sure of that after seeing the recruiting results the first 1.5 years.
He's obviously done well enough to recruit enough talent to warrant a top 10 ranking this season and we made a sweet 16 last year when he had to assemble a whole roster from stratch in little time.
While I have some concerns about him reeling in talent when going up against say the likes of Duke, Kansas and other top programs, I think he's doing just fine for now.
While I have some concerns about him reeling in talent when going up against say the likes of Duke, Kansas and other top programs, I think he's doing just fine for now.
Personally, I don’t care if we miss out on a recruit or two. We had a great tourney in Popes first year with a flawed team. I think we will be as good or better this season. Why knock the man's decisions?