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Pope Pumpers

W1LDCAT22

W1LDCAT22

All-Conference
Jan 10, 2013
1,096
1,333
113
Good grief it's sad to look at the state of Kentucky Basketball at this point. Pope was clearly not the correct hire from the beginning. He didnt even really accomplish anything at BYU, and now look at BYU since he left. It's funny how BYU can suddenly recruit now. Arkansas is now in a much better position than we are, with no hope in sight for us to return to the glory days. Pope is clearly out of his league. It says a lot when fans don't even care to tune in to watch the games. Of course it's not all on Pope, as Barnhart is the one that panicked on the hire and completely fumbled the assignment. There were so many other options we could have pursued, but he went the homer route. What now? Where do we go from here? I think it starts with cleaning house, from the top down.
 
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bbnkat02

bbnkat02

Heisman
Nov 14, 2017
45,958
68,015
113
Oh, I've already been told on a couple of other sites we are crybabies over here.

Those who accept mediocrity don't belong in BBN, at least on the basketball side. I'm sick of making excuses and I won't anymore.

We are Kentucky. We earned out status and position. We've had FIVE coaches win titles here. No other program has that claim.

We have the second most titles. We have the most wins (that gets torpedoed this year if it keeps up); the lead will be 7 after today.

I'm tired of saying this is ok. It isn't. And I won't apologize for having high standards. Not anymore.
 
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H

HappyBlue

Junior
Dec 1, 2025
200
326
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I have never been a Pope pumper, but the guy has not even been here 2 years. This year he missed badly on the players he picked. There is no way a coach can do what Pope did in his 1st year with all the injuries and then just forget how to coach. Now if year 3 is this bad, then time to move on.
 
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JPFisher

JPFisher

Heisman
Jul 24, 2013
6,409
11,860
113
Pope might get another season, but this product is unacceptable. He knows that. So, he either makes some significant changes to his recruiting by hiring a GM, fixes the slow starts by abandoning some hindrance in pre-game, and generally tweaks his coaching style.

Love Pope. Loved last year's team. What we're seeing now is bs, though.
 
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chattanogawildcat

chattanogawildcat

Senior
Jul 22, 2011
395
710
93
Tim0808 said:
You do not today, but you will after we beat the MIGHTY BASKETBALL TIGERS from the POWERFUL MISSOURI BASKETBALL PROGRAM! Just like after we beat the Basketball Gods of the Indiana Loosiers and the St. John Deadmen.
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So you consider Mizzu a win? Wow!
 
true-blue1

true-blue1

All-American
May 15, 2007
11,551
8,956
93
W1LDCAT22 said:
Good grief it's sad to look at the state of Kentucky Basketball at this point. Pope was clearly not the correct hire from the beginning. He didnt even really accomplish anything at BYU, and now look at BYU since he left. It's funny how BYU can suddenly recruit now. Arkansas is now in a much better position than we are, with no hope in sight for us to return to the glory days. Pope is clearly out of his league. It says a lot when fans don't even care to tune in to watch the games. Of course it's not all on Pope, as Barnhart is the one that panicked on the hire and completely fumbled the assignment. There were so many other options we could have pursued, but he went the homer route. What now? Where do we go from here? I think it starts with cleaning house, from the top down.
Click to expand...
This!
 
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Monday Nitro

Monday Nitro

All-Conference
Jul 3, 2025
2,473
4,657
112
Tim0808 said:
You do not today, but you will after we beat the MIGHTY BASKETBALL TIGERS from the POWERFUL MISSOURI BASKETBALL PROGRAM! Just like after we beat the Basketball Gods of the Indiana Loosiers and the St. John Deadmen.
Click to expand...
LOL at you and your ilk getting angry at people that enjoy life/entertainment. Sux for
you.
 
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U

UKBB4Ever

All-Conference
Jul 3, 2025
985
1,572
93
Pope has embarrassed the brand.

Many things are forgivable. That is not.

I thought the low point was the Alabama game in the SEC tournament last year.

Then I thought the Mich St game in MSG was as bad as it could get.

Then Gonzaga in Bridgestone and UK fans boo’ed them at halftime. Not the end of the game, halftime. UK fans filing out of the arena well before the end.

He’s made UK a middle of the pack SEC team except without the playing hard part.
 
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A

Allcats08

All-Conference
Feb 13, 2019
1,578
2,877
113
HappyBlue said:
I have never been a Pope pumper, but the guy has not even been here 2 years. This year he missed badly on the players he picked. There is no way a coach can do what Pope did in his 1st year with all the injuries and then just forget how to coach. Now if year 3 is this bad, then time to move on.
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Are you serious? How many times did we get embarrassed last year? Numerous. We only had that many good wins because we played 25 quad 1 games lol. Yeah you’re gonna win some by default. What next year could possibly even give you any hope? Losing every high major prospect we’ve went after?
 
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JPFisher

JPFisher

Heisman
Jul 24, 2013
6,409
11,860
113
HappyBlue said:
I have never been a Pope pumper, but the guy has not even been here 2 years. This year he missed badly on the players he picked. There is no way a coach can do what Pope did in his 1st year with all the injuries and then just forget how to coach. Now if year 3 is this bad, then time to move on.
Click to expand...
He missed badly and he's missing with recruits and seems to be against hiring a GM that would fix the recruiting and portal issues. Cal couldn't adapt and had to go. Pope needs to adapt or he needs to go.

I love Pope. Huge fan of his. Love his demeanor and his connection to the program. That said, there are real issues that aren't being addressed – at least not publicly. The product on the court says the issues aren't being addressed privately either.
 
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W1LDCAT22

W1LDCAT22

All-Conference
Jan 10, 2013
1,096
1,333
113
JPFisher said:
Pope might get another season, but this product is unacceptable. He knows that. So, he either makes some significant changes to his recruiting by hiring a GM, fixes the slow starts by abandoning some hindrance in pre-game, and generally tweaks his coaching style.

Love Pope. Loved last year's team. What we're seeing now is bs, though.
Click to expand...
I liked last year’s squad too, but nobody thought we had a chance to actually compete for anything meaningful last year. That team lacked the firepower, simple as that.
 
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JPFisher

JPFisher

Heisman
Jul 24, 2013
6,409
11,860
113
Allcats08 said:
We only had that many good wins because we played 25 quad 1 games lol. Yeah you’re gonna win some by default.
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No? That's not how it works. You put a BCG team on the court last year and we're extremely lucky to get 12 wins.
 
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HappyBlue

Junior
Dec 1, 2025
200
326
63
Allcats08 said:
Are you serious? How many times did we get embarrassed last year? Numerous. We only had that many good wins because we played 25 quad 1 games lol. Yeah you’re gonna win some by default. What next year could possibly even give you any hope? Losing every high major prospect we’ve went after?
Click to expand...
Are you serious? Do you think a bad basketball team can when as many quad 1 games as UK did last year by default? GTFO
 
B

BigBlueGuru

All-Conference
Feb 10, 2007
1,707
2,794
103
I did not support the hire and even commented afterward that Mitch should be fired as a result. Then I went into well I cant do anything about it but try to be supportive and give him a fair chance. I have up to this point but the recruiting whiffs in the portal and high school is concerning not to mention the results this season.
 
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W1LDCAT22

W1LDCAT22

All-Conference
Jan 10, 2013
1,096
1,333
113
HappyBlue said:
Before all the injuries I thought UK was a FF team. If you didn't, then you were just a Pope hater from the start and refused to have an objective view.
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Lmao! I am a Pope hater because I didn't have any faith that last year's team was a Final Four caliber squad?
 
rick64

rick64

Heisman
Jan 25, 2007
24,054
32,718
113
I guess Pope has lost the keys somewhere to this Ferrari he says he has.
 
U

UKCowboys

All-Conference
Oct 14, 2019
1,246
2,055
113
W1LDCAT22 said:
Oh there were plenty of them. I was attacked constantly since he was hired because I knew he wasnt the guy for the job.
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You were attacked because you openly root against the team. You would rather the team suck and say you were right than have them do well. This is not a good basketball team, but it doesn't mean Pope is a terrible coach. Pretty much every HOF coach has had a poor season. This is Popes one. A second will do it for him. But not one
 
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HappyBlue

Junior
Dec 1, 2025
200
326
63
W1LDCAT22 said:
Lmao! I am a Pope hater because I didn't have any faith that last year's team was a Final Four caliber squad?
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No you are Pope hater because you said nobody thought we had a chance to compete for anything. If you thought that before we got decimated by injuries, then you were just a Pope hater.
 
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