Pope Yes or No
- Thread starter jedwar
- Start date
Analytics would say we HAVE to fire him literally as soon as possible. You have to be top 25 in offensive and defensive efficiency. We have Quaintance, Dioubate, Aberdeen, Oweh, Williams etc and still have the 34th ranked defense. Pope will NEVER have a better defensive roster than this and we are still not even sniffing top 25.
After 50 Games Coaching UK, BCG was 33-17 but 16-5 in the SEC; Pope is 33-17 and 11-10 in the SEC. Thanks to poster @dlh331 for the info.
He is not qualified to coach here.
It was clear, early on, to many people.
Realism versus optimism and wishful thinking ... becoming obvious.
I think Pitino knew this, too.
Still, though, I feel sorry for Pope.
It was clear, early on, to many people.
Realism versus optimism and wishful thinking ... becoming obvious.
I think Pitino knew this, too.
Still, though, I feel sorry for Pope.
I would love him as a UK ambassador, but the coaching experiment is an obvious failure.
No I do not. We need to hire someone who has won something that matters.
No not even a little bit. If a coach is stinking it up they have to have something else to give you hope.
Like if he locked down Stokes or literally any other top recruit he targeted then the losses would still suck but I would be like well he’s got talent on the way.
There’s no hope for me. No hope for Pope. Wanted him to get a boost from the UK brand but at some point the coach has to come with his own brand at least a little bit and Mark Pope doesn’t sell. Not to recruits not to fans not to anybody. Even when he wins it’s like a miracle. Move on now. Why waste more time? Oh yea because Barney don’t care.
Like if he locked down Stokes or literally any other top recruit he targeted then the losses would still suck but I would be like well he’s got talent on the way.
There’s no hope for me. No hope for Pope. Wanted him to get a boost from the UK brand but at some point the coach has to come with his own brand at least a little bit and Mark Pope doesn’t sell. Not to recruits not to fans not to anybody. Even when he wins it’s like a miracle. Move on now. Why waste more time? Oh yea because Barney don’t care.
he will get one more year no matter what cause Mitch is incompetent.
Was very excited about coaching and style last year. This years team is either vastly underperforming, our recruiting was poor or both.
It will take a miracle for me to be excited about next years team, given we’ve lost or are losing in all the high school recruiting. Of you aren’t excited about year 3, the question answers itself.
It will take a miracle for me to be excited about next years team, given we’ve lost or are losing in all the high school recruiting. Of you aren’t excited about year 3, the question answers itself.
No. But that doesn't mean I am not pulling for him
I think im out on him now. Its just too many games where theres a lack of preparation, and his inability to control the team. I can forgive a bad season, but this is too big to ignore.
There's a real part of me that would prefer we just absolutely tank to force the coaching change (and I dont like really anyone on this team outside of Moreno, so id enjoy watching their careers go up in flames)... than if we go on a run, get a 6-seed and he buys himself some time. I am very close to that point of ripping the bandaid off.
There's a real part of me that would prefer we just absolutely tank to force the coaching change (and I dont like really anyone on this team outside of Moreno, so id enjoy watching their careers go up in flames)... than if we go on a run, get a 6-seed and he buys himself some time. I am very close to that point of ripping the bandaid off.
Same. I want him to win at a high level. But I’m also done asap if he can’t. I don’t have faith he can wjth what we’ve seen so far in his tenure.
i was never on board with pope, recruiting is just way too poor
Yep, the bad defense is the most damning thing, because this roster was built for defense. So there’s just no excuse for it.
I knew this team would not shoot the ball as well as last year’s team, but I thought they’d make up for it by being a much better defensive team. At least on paper, this roster looked like it was made to be a defensive force.
But, nope, we also suck on D.
Losing is one thing. The fact that Kentucky has played 7 power conference teams and trailed by double digits in 6 of those 7 is another. On top of that you have former players and broadcasters calling out the pitiful effort in multiple games this season. That I can’t handle
We’d have to be a disaster for him to be fired this year, and that would be the case anywhere else in the country. Either that or we find out he’s doing something inappropriate/illegal off the court.
Exactly. You’re seeing through all the BS and getting to the point. If we were losing close games and the defense was really good and we struggled on offense, I’d be fine. I’d look at it as cold shooting and look for improvement —- we know Pope can coach offense, even if this team doesn’t play the way he wants to on that end. The fact that it seems like it doesn’t matter literally who Pope has on his roster, the defense still sucks —- that tells me all I need to know. It never will work and never can work. This game was very eye opening to me, given that we had 11 days to prepare defensively and THAT abomination of a gameplan was what we came up with after ELEVEN ****ing days? Fire Pope NOW and get it over with. It’s not getting better.
I’m sure he’s an awesome guy and what not but……. Not ready for this stage, not even close unfortunately.
It’s not coincidence that once he left BYU they started to recruit big time players. Might have been the dumbest hire in UK history. At least BCG was a proven recruiter at the power 5 level. A decent X’s and O’s coach as well. Just had way too many demons.
No. He’s so out of touch with reality that he compared this team to our 96 team before the season started. Compared them to having a Ferrari in his garage as well. Mitch suckered us all in to liking this hire and most of us fell for it including myself. He didn’t have the resume for this job and he shouldn’t have been hired in the first place.
It was no before he was hired.
It was no when he was hired.
It yes after his press conference (he said the right things).
It was yes after the team he brought in with no time.
It was yes after the performance despite injuries last season.
It was maybe based on the roster this season.
It was maybe while we had players injured.
As of today, it’s a hard no.
He isn’t even starting the players who give us the best chance to win. I can’t accept that. It’s dumb. It tells me he is living in some dream world where he has months to get this right. He doesn’t. He is a few losses away from the end of his career at Kentucky and if he doesn’t realize that he isn’t as smart as people say.
It was no when he was hired.
It yes after his press conference (he said the right things).
It was yes after the team he brought in with no time.
It was yes after the performance despite injuries last season.
It was maybe based on the roster this season.
It was maybe while we had players injured.
As of today, it’s a hard no.
He isn’t even starting the players who give us the best chance to win. I can’t accept that. It’s dumb. It tells me he is living in some dream world where he has months to get this right. He doesn’t. He is a few losses away from the end of his career at Kentucky and if he doesn’t realize that he isn’t as smart as people say.
I want him to succeed. I just don't think it'll be here. Before NIL he was perfect at a school like BYU. NIL changed everything there. They have the money and a great conference to support them and their NBA experienced coach. Here, he was never qualified for this job.
Correct. We all know the ONLY thing that qualified him for this job was that he played at Kentucky. We all were afraid he wasn’t ready for this job and might never be — everyone on this forum felt that way. We are trying to give him the opportunity to prove us wrong but he is quickly, very quickly running out of time.
Year 2 cannot be worse than year 1, when he had a month to build a roster. It simply cannot be. If it is, then he isn’t the right person for the job. He won’t get 5-6 season to figure it out and learn on the job. Not at Kentucky.
I dunno about decent x and o's. We had a dude block a FT....
No. I didnt like the hire when it started.
Went to his press conf. Changed my mind, gave him the benefit of a doubt.
Over achieved his 1st year.
Degressed his 2nd year.
Did not fix coaching issues from 1st year.
Can't Recruit.
I wanted it to work out for Pope so badly. He's one of us. But at the same time his consistency of coaching blunders is what has done me in.
Its funny. I wanted Dan Hurley. Most of you said "no" because he's an *******. And now you would have him over Pope if you could.
Went to his press conf. Changed my mind, gave him the benefit of a doubt.
Over achieved his 1st year.
Degressed his 2nd year.
Did not fix coaching issues from 1st year.
Can't Recruit.
I wanted it to work out for Pope so badly. He's one of us. But at the same time his consistency of coaching blunders is what has done me in.
Its funny. I wanted Dan Hurley. Most of you said "no" because he's an *******. And now you would have him over Pope if you could.
Who cares what anyone thought of Hurley? He said “NO!” himself…and he didn’t just say “No!” —- he made it as public and humiliating as he could. Lol. As if Rupp Rafters cheering on Hurley would have made him accept the contract? He was NEVER EVER EVER coming here, bro. At least fantasize about something can theoretically happen.
I'd take BCG back in an instant over Pope. He recruited better plus the UK media hated him so we got some funny stories during his tenure. Pope just gets blown out and zero stories leak.
I like Noah, Oweh, Chandler, JQ. The others I am kinda meh about, but I don’t really know them so I can’t say for sure. As far as players here it’s all kinda meh because we look so bad so often.
It’s pathetic that any decent team we play we can’t even stay within 15 points most of the game. That is a ridiculous level of sucking x
He’s all smoke and mirrors. The entire hire was based on nostalgia not results or resume.