No UK fan is ok with us struggling. But to see people say “we suck” over and over every day is like some kind of affliction.
Pope
- Thread starter Monday Nitro
- Start date
I got no problem celebrating beating Cal. I celebrated all weekend. It was a great win. But it doesn’t mask the totality of what’s happened this season. I have a feeling if we keep winning games like Saturday, you will see less and less bitching from the fanbase. Winning solves everything and a lot of season left to go.
This is my problem with it, there are several who gave up on the season about game 5. Season over. We suck. Farr Pope.
Lot of season left to go.
I think this arguing back and forth does nothing to help. We have no control of the situation if you want to call this. I view it as few reasons why this is happening to this team.
1. Pope is still learning how to coach in a power conference. He only was in the Big 12 one year before he became our coach. He is still learning and adjusting.
2. Injuries effects team performance. When you lose your point guard, one of your best shooter, and a big that was counted on to contribute, it is one the hardest things to overcome. This has happened both years here. The real mistake is not getting a backup point guard. Again Pope is going to learn from this.
3. Popes demeaner and approach is postive reinforsement. Although this is good but it must be balanced out with get in you face approach when players are performing below their capability. I have always thought Pope was a little soft and thats one of his main issues but it appears that he is over coming this in the last few weeks.
We all want to win but the constant crying does nothing to improve our team. I think it does affect it when trying to hire a new coach and recruiting. When they read the constant ugly criticism that our fans spew it doesn't help our coach and school. I don't care who the coach is on any team but every one of them needs to have at least 3 years unless it's a contract violation to get things going in the right direction.
Theres this old age saying “Patience is Virtue” So fans should have a little. I know it's hard but it needs to be done. KY will overcome, we always do and thats why we have 8 National Championships. Our expectations are high but our patience is very low too.
We will be alright in the long run. Pope is smart and he will get us to many final fours. After that its a crap shoot to win it all.
Peace brother and sisters, We shall overcome.
1. Pope is still learning how to coach in a power conference. He only was in the Big 12 one year before he became our coach. He is still learning and adjusting.
2. Injuries effects team performance. When you lose your point guard, one of your best shooter, and a big that was counted on to contribute, it is one the hardest things to overcome. This has happened both years here. The real mistake is not getting a backup point guard. Again Pope is going to learn from this.
3. Popes demeaner and approach is postive reinforsement. Although this is good but it must be balanced out with get in you face approach when players are performing below their capability. I have always thought Pope was a little soft and thats one of his main issues but it appears that he is over coming this in the last few weeks.
We all want to win but the constant crying does nothing to improve our team. I think it does affect it when trying to hire a new coach and recruiting. When they read the constant ugly criticism that our fans spew it doesn't help our coach and school. I don't care who the coach is on any team but every one of them needs to have at least 3 years unless it's a contract violation to get things going in the right direction.
Theres this old age saying “Patience is Virtue” So fans should have a little. I know it's hard but it needs to be done. KY will overcome, we always do and thats why we have 8 National Championships. Our expectations are high but our patience is very low too.
We will be alright in the long run. Pope is smart and he will get us to many final fours. After that its a crap shoot to win it all.
Peace brother and sisters, We shall overcome.
Pope should get credit for the big wins but should also get blasted for the nonsense like at Vandy.
But, how long does he get to scrape by being mediocre? The excuse last year was he didn't have enough time to really recruit a great team. This year it's the injuries (even though they sucked when healthy). What will it be next year?
I'm in the boat that this job is too big for him and he will never have huge success here. He can't recruit studs and his coaching is suspect. I could maybe be talked into one more year (reluctantly) but I am not tolerating another mediocre, 5th or 6th place SEC finish, getting annihilated multiple times and one or two NCAA wins.
But, how long does he get to scrape by being mediocre? The excuse last year was he didn't have enough time to really recruit a great team. This year it's the injuries (even though they sucked when healthy). What will it be next year?
I'm in the boat that this job is too big for him and he will never have huge success here. He can't recruit studs and his coaching is suspect. I could maybe be talked into one more year (reluctantly) but I am not tolerating another mediocre, 5th or 6th place SEC finish, getting annihilated multiple times and one or two NCAA wins.
The problem is, let's say Mark Pope fails and he's fired after this season or after year 3. Mitch is still doing the hiring.
What coach currently, who wouldn't come here when Pope did, will come here when we fire Pope? We can throw out a wish list, but who will actually say yes? Who will be better at the job and meet the standard that is available and willing to take on the head coaching position?
Hurley? Won't come here again probably
Few? Won't come here again probably
Oats? Won't come here again probably and likely wouldn't be offered by the board thanks to shady past
Pearl? Would crawl here on his knees but is almost 70 now and the board won't touch him with a ten foot pole
The Ghost of Rick Pitino? No serious person would think that's a good idea
May? He isn't leaving Michigan
Byington? Why leave a better situation in Nashville to rebuild UK
Sampson? Ain't leaving Houston and is aging himself
Painter? Ain't leaving Purdue
Drew? Won't come here and would we really want him?
Golden? Seems to really enjoy Florida and likely wouldn't come here
I mean maybe, MAYBE, you could go hard after Grant McCasland from Texas Tech, TJ Otzelberger from Iowa St (both about to turn 50), or do you go for Brad Underwood (who is 62) from Illinois? Outside of Scheyer at Duke, what young, charismatic, proven successful in both recruiting and post season play is available that would leave their current job for UK? I say all that to say, getting rid of Pope too soon might make us even worse for even longer. If Pope is getting axed, the back channels need to be worked and the absolute home run hire needs to be all done but the announcement first before you fire him. Otherwise, stick with the devil we know until an upgrade is found, signed, and delivered.
What coach currently, who wouldn't come here when Pope did, will come here when we fire Pope? We can throw out a wish list, but who will actually say yes? Who will be better at the job and meet the standard that is available and willing to take on the head coaching position?
Hurley? Won't come here again probably
Few? Won't come here again probably
Oats? Won't come here again probably and likely wouldn't be offered by the board thanks to shady past
Pearl? Would crawl here on his knees but is almost 70 now and the board won't touch him with a ten foot pole
The Ghost of Rick Pitino? No serious person would think that's a good idea
May? He isn't leaving Michigan
Byington? Why leave a better situation in Nashville to rebuild UK
Sampson? Ain't leaving Houston and is aging himself
Painter? Ain't leaving Purdue
Drew? Won't come here and would we really want him?
Golden? Seems to really enjoy Florida and likely wouldn't come here
I mean maybe, MAYBE, you could go hard after Grant McCasland from Texas Tech, TJ Otzelberger from Iowa St (both about to turn 50), or do you go for Brad Underwood (who is 62) from Illinois? Outside of Scheyer at Duke, what young, charismatic, proven successful in both recruiting and post season play is available that would leave their current job for UK? I say all that to say, getting rid of Pope too soon might make us even worse for even longer. If Pope is getting axed, the back channels need to be worked and the absolute home run hire needs to be all done but the announcement first before you fire him. Otherwise, stick with the devil we know until an upgrade is found, signed, and delivered.
You don't know if any of those coaches would listen or not. The same was said about Calipari on this board in 2006/7. Including the same BS we hear from Pope fanboys, that "UK isn't the job it once was" and "Why come here"?
Basically, "The UK job sucks and we should just be lucky we even got a coach, because nobody wants to come coach here, so lets hang onto our nostalgia hire, because he's the best we can do".
I agree with most but I can almost guarantee future prospects for coaching UK don’t log onto forums to help decide what they wanna do. If they did the probably aren’t the right fit for this school.
Then why don’t you fire him, Richie? That’s how it works, isn’t it? We just round up all the message board villagers and agree that “WE ARE KENTUCKY” and the administration sees that our standards are higher and that nullifies the coach’s contract? Isn’t that how it works? That’s how many of our posters behave — if you don’t want to fire the coach, you’ll be blamed for his continued employment as though your message board opinion decides the fate of the coach. I respect your opinion so I’ll hang up and listen.
Emotional post. None of us control firings and hirings obv, we are just talking sports. But, Pope shouldn't be the coach, because he can't recruit. And gets abused by NIL agents.
Pope will be here longer than Cal and end up having more success. Might be year five before he wins a title but he’s winning one.
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At least we agree that we are all talking sports and our posts are not transformational. That’s a start.
What a smug response. Good thing he's getting a 3rd year whether you are reluctantly talked into it or not. lmao
If Pope gets to a final four this year all the bad losses are forgiven from me. I was worried about making the tournament and freaking out. We are a lock now. Get past the sweet 16 at least and I’ll feel better about everything.
Lose in the first weekend all my worries come back.
Lose in the first weekend all my worries come back.
Tournament Oweh will show up and we at least win the first two.
It’s funny a lot were wanting Hurley to come. Hurley was nothing up until his two back to back championships. He was barely over .500 prior to UConn. His first years at UConn were rocky as well.
How bout winning 6 out of 7? More like nothing can change the crybaby rants of spoiled fans
6 of 7 last time I checked
Sorry you’re moving the goal post or forgetting what the discussion was even about. This has nothing to do with the last 7 games which has been mostly against the bottom of the SEC, but the Arkansas game only. Yes the majority of the board was wrong about the game (focus now, I am still talking about just the Arkansas game) and we were all pleasantly surprised. Until the team that showed up at Arkansas starts showing up on a consistent basis (as of now I’d settle for just a 2nd time) we will remain skeptical of a turn around and that Pope is not need the right man for the job. At this moment he’s still on the outside looking in relatively speaking in that regard with the fanbase.
6 of 7 and you immediately dog out the competition to diminish it. But the multiple injuries we have had don't matter at all in the losses. Who is moving goalposts dude?
You. We had Lowe for less than 6 games. And he sucked in most of them. Pope recruited JQ and paid him millions, knowing he was a risk coming off an ACL tear. The only valid excuse is Kam Williams being out.
Man you are a straight up, Kentucky hating troll. If you think Lowe "sucked" then you don't understand basketball. If you think Pope was wrong to take a chance on JQ, you don't understand basketball. I guess Kansas shouldn't have taken a chance on Daryn Peterson either?
Dog out the competition
. Dude it’s called reality, you should try it out sometime. Mississippi St. 13th in SEC
LSU 14th
TN. 6th (great win)
Texas 9th
Ole Miss 12th
Vandy 5th (blown out)
Arkansas 4th (great win)
What is it with you and this multiple injuries angle. How is injuries effecting us while winning 6 of 7? Lowe or JQ didn’t factor into any of the last 7 (Lowe played 3 minutes against state before injury) and Williams has missed the last 3 that we have gone 2-1. Your injury argument is weak and pointless.
You and a few other trolls not only shamelessly move the goalposts to the “glass completely empty” option anytime anything positive is said here, you peck at your little computers to find research to support your agenda. What a wayward crew of misfit toys. lmao!Dog out the competition
Mississippi St. 13th in SEC
LSU 14th
TN. 6th (great win)
Texas 9th
Ole Miss 12th
Vandy 5th (blown out)
Arkansas 4th (great win)
What is it with you and this multiple injuries angle. How is injuries effecting us while winning 6 of 7? Lowe or JQ didn’t factor into any of the last 7 (Lowe played 3 minutes against state before injury) and Williams has missed the last 3 that we have gone 2-1. Your injury argument is weak and pointless.
So you don’t like to hear facts, sounds about rightYou and a few other trolls not only shamelessly move the goalposts to the “glass completely empty” option anytime anything positive is said here, you peck at your little computers to find research to support your agenda. What a wayward crew of misfit toys. lmao!
Take a chance on him sure, but don’t use his injury as an excuse when he was recruited hurt to begin with. Nobody knew Peterson would have injury issues, everyone knew JQ was coming off an acl injury
That's not what I said though. I think Pope is in over his head for this job. Moreso on the recruiting side of things than the actual coaching side of things, but he's not elite at either. What I basically said is you can't fire Pope right now and hope you can land someone better. You have to backchannel the home run hire who is definitely better with a proven track record BEFORE you fire Pope. And none of that matters anyways because Barney is still the AD and would be running that shipwreck of a coaching search even if he did decide to admit he made a bad hire in Pope and fire him, which is also highly unlikely.
LMAO. Is Kansas the same without Peterson? They knew he was hurt
And your hate for the program is plain and obvious. A WIN IS A WIN.Dog out the competition
Mississippi St. 13th in SEC
LSU 14th
TN. 6th (great win)
Texas 9th
Ole Miss 12th
Vandy 5th (blown out)
Arkansas 4th (great win)
What is it with you and this multiple injuries angle. How is injuries effecting us while winning 6 of 7? Lowe or JQ didn’t factor into any of the last 7 (Lowe played 3 minutes against state before injury) and Williams has missed the last 3 that we have gone 2-1. Your injury argument is weak and pointless.
I couldn't care less if we get down by 30 as long as we win. Your ego gets fractured not only by losing but by even trailing? Do you happen to drive a really big truck? It sounds like you might be overcompensating for something fella
He was not hurt before the season what are you talking about? And they’ve went 8-2 without him so not too bad
I hope you are correct! That would be awesome, but I do not see it happening. I do not think Pupe relates well with today's kids and I do not think he consistently is able to develop a game plan. The number of times this program has been blown out in a little over a year and a half is staggering. I agree, he has had some good come back wins and he has done a great job of keeping this team together with all the low moments this year. However, there is nothing that makes me believe he will succeed. When watching Kentucky play, I am just hoping the game is competitive and not another embarrassing performance. At the end of the day, I hope he succeeds and I agree if he makes the tournament he deserves a third year. I would love to eat crow on this one. So, please prove me wrong Coach!
Not the point. He has only played 11 games and may miss more. Was it a mistake to bring this injury riddled player in?
Yeah and it's always the usual suspects. May be time to do some cleaning up.
I'd like to understand why "Woodrow24" and nobody else had any issue at all with the thread titled "Pope Pumpers"? He even continbuted to it but somehow this thread is worse? Isn't that completely disingenuous ? It appears that you want this forum to be a "crap on the coach" forum. Is that true? Funny how Woodrow24 seems is a "close" friend. You'll ban me for free speech but that will just reinforce the disgraceful bias here.
Don't be so dramatic. No one said anything about banning you. My post is in reference to all the bickering by the usual people. Why do you think that included you? You assumed.
Ask Woodrow why he has an issue with thread title if he does. IDK and I don't care if he does. If he's a close friend of mine, I didn't know it. He's a message board poster that I have seen on here a while. So are many others. Guess they are my close friends too.
If I wanted this forum to be a crap on the coach forum I'd delete all the pro Pope posts. Again you're reaching for something that isn't there.
You need to know what free speech is. It's the ability to legally speak out against the goverenment, it's not a green light to say what you want on a privately owned message board.
The Woodrow24 account specifically seeks me out and attacks anything I say and distorts it to try and run me off. It's all being noted.