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Pope has completely blown me away so far!

4

4Frusciante#

All-American
Jan 15, 2021
3,280
5,483
113
I wanted Drew thinking he'd bring Edgecombe and 4-5 Baylor players and recruits and we'd be sure
to have a good team next year. So I was disappointed when we got Pope instead of Drew. But Pope's
energy and enthusiasm and the team he is putting together has made me think we lucked out
and got our perfect coach.
 
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MdWIldcat55

MdWIldcat55

Heisman
Dec 9, 2007
21,116
83,751
113
I think some people are under the impression these are experienced, veteran, but offensively challenged players Pope is bringing in. But all five of these guys averaged between 9 and 14 points against conference competition, two in the Big 12 and one in the ACC. Add Brey, which looks likely, and already Kentucky would have more guys who averaged 9 points or better than last year. And that's not counting either Chandler or Perry being ready to contribute.

This team may be more balanced and efficient in scoring than is readily apparent -- and I think the Cats still add a couple high-octane wing scorers.
 
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C

CatsFan4Evr

All-Conference
Nov 27, 2003
149,072
4,284
73
I haven't seen this level of excitement among even the mid-fans in years. A co-worker of mine that has watched UK basketball sparingly over the last few years is now addicted to Twitter/X and awaiting Fueger's BOOM tweets. There's a ton of excitement right now.
 
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S

Soupbean

All-American
Jan 19, 2007
5,945
8,109
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CatsFan4Evr. said:
I haven't seen this level of excitement among even the mid-fans in years. A co-worker of mine that has watched UK basketball sparingly over the last few years is now addicted to Twitter/X and awaiting Fueger's BOOM tweets. There's a ton of excitement right now.
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And its not just excitement for whats coming, its like we've taken a good long shower and just feel refreshed
 
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C

Catfan2226

All-American
Apr 13, 2012
5,241
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My beloved UK Men's basketball program has a coach that will protect it and understands it. BBN has a coach that understands us and isn't going to treat us like ******** with sarcasm.
Coach Fuegers tweets are fun and he has to know that here on Rafters, it's must see. He's a breath of fresh air as is the staff. They are busting their *** and thus far, it has been pretty impressive how they are building a team that will compete and be pretty damn good.
It's fun again, it honestly is fun again.
 
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M

mrhotdice

All-American
Nov 1, 2002
21,923
5,450
0
ukfan1622 said:
I wanted Drew thinking he'd bring Edgecombe and 4-5 Baylor players and recruits and we'd be sure
to have a good team next year. So I was disappointed when we got Pope instead of Drew. But Pope's
energy and enthusiasm and the team he is putting together has made me think we lucked out
and got our perfect coach.
Click to expand...
We didn’t luck out. Pope wanted the job and the expectations that all the other coaches couldn’t deal with. He gets it.
 
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podgejeff_

podgejeff_

All-American
Dec 4, 2005
8,066
5,265
113
I think there's still some questions on Pope but the biggest one I had was "can he recruit at this level?"

And so far, I think he's proven that he can. Unless we're just outright bad next year, I think this is about as hard of a situation as he'll have here as far as recruiting goes.

I'm hoping we've found one of the big coaches for the next era of college basketball "early" in his coaching career. And he just so happens to bleed blue as much as anybody. The ceiling on this could be high.
 
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E

Elliott Tim

All-American
Dec 10, 2005
10,122
6,290
0
ukfan1622 said:
I wanted Drew thinking he'd bring Edgecombe and 4-5 Baylor players and recruits and we'd be sure
to have a good team next year. So I was disappointed when we got Pope instead of Drew. But Pope's
energy and enthusiasm and the team he is putting together has made me think we lucked out
and got our perfect coach.
Click to expand...
Right coach in an imperfect environment.
 
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C

Cold Stout Beer

Heisman
Dec 10, 2023
9,855
30,784
0
BBUK said:
GO CATS!!!!!!!!



BLUE!!!!!
Click to expand...


​

Clint Eastwood Staring GIF - Clint Eastwood Staring Cat GIFs
 
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D

deep3

All-Conference
May 15, 2002
1,640
2,301
0
podgejeff_ said:
I think there's still some questions on Pope but the biggest one I had was "can he recruit at this level?"

And so far, I think he's proven that he can. Unless we're just outright bad next year, I think this is about as hard of a situation as he'll have here as far as recruiting goes.

I'm hoping we've found one of the big coaches for the next era of college basketball "early" in his coaching career. And he just so happens to bleed blue as much as anybody. The ceiling on this could be high.
Click to expand...
I believe we have look at his bench coaching ability and the type of offense he runs. Can you imagine being ask to run that type of offense😂
 
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JPFisher

JPFisher

Heisman
Jul 24, 2013
6,437
11,909
113
podgejeff_ said:
I think there's still some questions on Pope but the biggest one I had was "can he recruit at this level?"

And so far, I think he's proven that he can. Unless we're just outright bad next year, I think this is about as hard of a situation as he'll have here as far as recruiting goes.

I'm hoping we've found one of the big coaches for the next era of college basketball "early" in his coaching career. And he just so happens to bleed blue as much as anybody. The ceiling on this could be high.
Click to expand...
Staff and recruiting were my co-#1 concerns. [✓]

Now it's whether he can win big in the regular season. [ ]

Then it's whether he can win in the NCAAT. [ ]

Can he handle the pressure of the job? [ ]

Can he win it all? [ ]
 
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HagginHall1999

HagginHall1999

Heisman
Oct 19, 2018
15,897
28,327
113
ukfan1622 said:
I wanted Drew thinking he'd bring Edgecombe and 4-5 Baylor players and recruits and we'd be sure
to have a good team next year. So I was disappointed when we got Pope instead of Drew. But Pope's
energy and enthusiasm and the team he is putting together has made me think we lucked out
and got our perfect coach.
Click to expand...

Hate to tell everyone I told ya so....not really....but told ya so!

J/K, I will say I was behind it from jump and as I said that night, "I don't know why I am but I am".

I always thought Pope would be a candidate here but I thought it would be when Cals contract expires not if he left or took ambassador.

In terms of x/o and effort he will be hard to beat. He wasn't wildly successful at BYU because it was BYU. Left there with second highest win percentage in school history (post 1925)...ultimately I think he would have been 1st if continuing trajectory.

His x/o is not in question...clearly he can build a staff...now it is just developing roster/recruiting. Should be a big winner long term.
 
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A

Allcats08

All-Conference
Feb 13, 2019
1,585
2,913
113
ukfan1622 said:
I wanted Drew thinking he'd bring Edgecombe and 4-5 Baylor players and recruits and we'd be sure
to have a good team next year. So I was disappointed when we got Pope instead of Drew. But Pope's
energy and enthusiasm and the team he is putting together has made me think we lucked out
and got our perfect coach.
Click to expand...
Honestly I feel the same. I was about done with the program when he was hired. I was so down about it but he’s changed it quickly.
 
B

BBNinSC_rivals62411

All-American
Jan 2, 2015
2,788
5,695
0
podgejeff_ said:
I think there's still some questions on Pope but the biggest one I had was "can he recruit at this level?"

And so far, I think he's proven that he can. Unless we're just outright bad next year, I think this is about as hard of a situation as he'll have here as far as recruiting goes.

I'm hoping we've found one of the big coaches for the next era of college basketball "early" in his coaching career. And he just so happens to bleed blue as much as anybody. The ceiling on this could be high.
Click to expand...
I believe a big part of recruiting is hard work and the quality of your assistants. Pope seems to have those things going for him
 
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C

cats#1again

All-Conference
Nov 27, 2011
8,011
4,587
0
MdWIldcat55 said:
I think some people are under the impression these are experienced, veteran, but offensively challenged players Pope is bringing in. But all five of these guys averaged between 9 and 14 points against conference competition, two in the Big 12 and one in the ACC. Add Brey, which looks likely, and already Kentucky would have more guys who averaged 9 points or better than last year. And that's not counting either Chandler or Perry being ready to contribute.

This team may be more balanced and efficient in scoring than is readily apparent -- and I think the Cats still add a couple high-octane wing scorers.
Click to expand...
You have to remember. Some of our fans didn't want Reeves back last year lol. Just because someone avg 10 at previous stop doesn't mean they can't be the focal point of a new team. Players get better year to year
 
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*Fox2Monk*

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
43,183
76,992
113
ukfan1622 said:
I wanted Drew thinking he'd bring Edgecombe and 4-5 Baylor players and recruits and we'd be sure
to have a good team next year. So I was disappointed when we got Pope instead of Drew. But Pope's
energy and enthusiasm and the team he is putting together has made me think we lucked out
and got our perfect coach.
Click to expand...
I was never disappointed, I had worries based on his tourney history but this job has always elevated coaches. He has a genuine love for the school and wants to accomplish the things he did as a player. You can beat that in a guy that is capable of doing it. I’m sure Kenny Payne wanted that for UofL but he wasn’t a head coach. We at least have plenty of evidence that Pope is a head coach and has a great staff too.
 
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