The problems with this team go far past coaching.
Pope may be in over his head for the totality of the job but he is not this bad at coaching.
Pope may be in over his head for the totality of the job but he is not this bad at coaching.
Quick breakdown on Mark Pope’s deficiencies as a coach
- Thread starter Possum
- Start date
Yup, this is why fans are booing. We aren’t stupid and the lack of effort is just embarrassing. Coaching….well I haven’t seen much of it this season.
I love all these coaching experts who most likely never coached a pee wee game breaking down Pope's deficiencies
I'll be the first to admit that my coaching knowledge is in baseball, not basketball. You won't hear me giving my opinion on x's and o's. But anyone who has coached or even just watched a lot of sports can see when there is a lack of effort. I'm not sure what the problem is, but it's some of the ugliest basketball I've ever seen.
That is not fixable folks. That clip is absolutely despicable.
Things are going to get very ugly as the season progresses.
Things are going to get very ugly as the season progresses.
That part I agree with but I can tell you as a former coach, getting effort especially in college can be challenging when one or two have a bad attitude.
What would Rick Pitino do with this?
He‘d play the managers and walk-ons the next game and call this garbage out publicly.
He‘d play the managers and walk-ons the next game and call this garbage out publicly.
He definitely does, poor little fella is trying his best at trolling but is failing miserably.
@Possum No one is saying this team is killing it, what we are saying is that you are very uneducated and lack basic comprehension if you want to fire Pope this soon. It’s borderline mental to think that way. It’s more than likely just a lack of basic basketball knowledge on your part, though and not truly mentally challenged.
You don’t need a coaching doctorate to see the embarrassing lack of effort. And it’s not like this is the first time that it’s happened this season. Even going back to last season, they had games where the effort was clearly lacking.
You don’t have to be a coaching genius to see that. And it all falls at the feet of the coach.
Yes it does, but for some reason this team just does not click, and I am not sure why,
First off you cannot coach effort but you do control who plays. If Oweh is not giving effort, bench or suspend him. If any player is causing dissension, do the same or kick them off the team!
Obviously, I have never been to practice but have studied Pope’s offense and believe it can succeed if it is run properly and players are cutting hard to the basket which is a primary tenant of this offense. Lack of effort leads to offense and defense breakdowns.
My main beef with Coach, from my 30,000 ft observation point of view, is a lack of “hard coaching”. By this I question whether a player gets the wrath of Pope when that wrath is justified? I don’t think that is the case. Pope is ultra positive to a fault, IMO.
Another problem to me seems that he tends to over analyze the game. Not many of us have his intellect and I feel he forgets that he is talking to young kids. Simplify your messaging in practice and to the team. For example, Not we need you to rebound, but you rebound or your sitting by me. Here is what I need you to do and this is the consequence KISS! A parent has to love his child but also discipline that child at times. Pope has surplus love (positivity) but lacks in the discipline area.
Obviously, I have never been to practice but have studied Pope’s offense and believe it can succeed if it is run properly and players are cutting hard to the basket which is a primary tenant of this offense. Lack of effort leads to offense and defense breakdowns.
My main beef with Coach, from my 30,000 ft observation point of view, is a lack of “hard coaching”. By this I question whether a player gets the wrath of Pope when that wrath is justified? I don’t think that is the case. Pope is ultra positive to a fault, IMO.
Another problem to me seems that he tends to over analyze the game. Not many of us have his intellect and I feel he forgets that he is talking to young kids. Simplify your messaging in practice and to the team. For example, Not we need you to rebound, but you rebound or your sitting by me. Here is what I need you to do and this is the consequence KISS! A parent has to love his child but also discipline that child at times. Pope has surplus love (positivity) but lacks in the discipline area.
Man that would be one helluva a committee I'd throw Delk on there too just because he's my all time favorite player lol.
I watched SJ against Ole Miss. His team has been considered a disappointment as well to this point, but they did seem to play hard - absolutely terrible on offense - but effort seemed to be there. Although sometimes it's hard to tell if apparent effort is more performative (and not necessarily intentionally) than dialed in. For example, SJ was not only terrible on offense, they were consistently very sloppy and unfocused. To be fair, Ole Miss was as bad but they didn't have as much firepower as SJ.
No, he's a known troll here to bash the fans. He's a Calboi from last year.
You and your sidekick are so blocked.He definitely does, poor little fella is trying his best at trolling but is failing miserably.
@Possum No one is saying this team is killing it, what we are saying is that you are very uneducated and lack basic comprehension if you want to fire Pope this soon. It’s borderline mental to think that way. It’s more than likely just a lack of basic basketball knowledge on your part, though and not truly mentally challenged.
These guys claim they like Pope but they’re defending players that’s not giving any effort at all for the guy. No real fan would defend these guys for their conduct on the court. I’ve never seen a UK team lack effort like this that I can remember
While I am a Pope fan, this is just flat bad coaching the players has talent hard to understand it like they don't care, but the buck stops with the coach.
If Pope would make an example out of the worst one of the bunch (BG) and put everyone else on notice I bet they’d man up.
Poor rube needs a lesson in reading comprehension. Nowhere in my post did I call for Pope to be fired. I was pointing out his deficiencies as a coach which was clearly illustrated on the clip i posted. Are you so stupid you can’t draw the distinction? Basic basketball knowledge ? Lmao. It doesn’t take a basketball savant to see the elementary mistakes being committed by Pope.He definitely does, poor little fella is trying his best at trolling but is failing miserably.
@Possum No one is saying this team is killing it, what we are saying is that you are very uneducated and lack basic comprehension if you want to fire Pope this soon. It’s borderline mental to think that way. It’s more than likely just a lack of basic basketball knowledge on your part, though and not truly mentally challenged.
Look at the video and tell us you don’t see the breakdowns. If not, tell us how the “coaching expert” who made the video is wrong. This should be interesting:
How are you supporting the coach when some of the players aren’t playing hard for him? It’s a proven fact when you watch the games. You’re definitely not supporting UK or you would want those guys to play with effort and not embarrass the program or coach.
Pope doesn’t understand uk basketball. He understands we have high expectations but he played 2 years at Kentucky and it’s not like he’s been cutting his teeth in Kentucky or the area. Pope is a laid back west coast guy. He loves UK bb don’t get me wrong but he doesn’t have the giant ego that makes him king of the bluegrass. UK basketball requires a guy who is motivated by ego to win. I don’t think pope was that guy until Kentucky came calling and you can only fake it for so long. Pope is a decent coach who is a UK fan. UK made him rich. He should be grateful and walk away on his own if the season continues at current trajectory. The best thing would be for pope to announce he’s not returning by Feb so we have adequate time to find a coach. If we haven’t turned it around by Feb it won’t matter season will be finished
Insults from a troll don't bother me. Head back to the Duke boardNo but you need this. Learn the game fan boy:
You are the one not supporting the team. You bailed on coach Pope. You live with it, cause 5 years from now when he is still here and has an NCAA championship under his belt, I am damn sure going to remind you daily
Mark Pope doesn't understand UK Basketball but Rafters poster Goingfor9 does...if this doesn't say it all about the state of part of this fanbase, I don't know what does
I haven’t bailed on anyone. You’re not very smart are you cowboy? Hahahaha keep posting Albert, leave no room for doubt
This is horsecrap and shows the ignorance of anyone using this against Pope. You guys can't have it both ways with the "these are paid players" narrative. . By your analysis, I guess 100% of current NBA coaches as well as past HOF coaches should all be fired today or back when. Because I can pull up clips from every team in the NBA today where there are players not playing hard, every single one.
Keep posting this stupid crap. I’ve never said anyone should be fired. Like I said, keep leaving no room for doubt. I’m glad you keep making a fool of yourself lol
What I've been puzzled about all year with this team is how is that Coach cant get them to run the offense? This offense, the one that Pope has made his signature is based on spacing and cutting and constant ball movement. And that alone is dependant on a high energy level and hustle because when one guy decides he's just gonna stand there and not cut then it all breaks down. When you have multiple guys deciding to do that and just stand around there literally is no more offense!!!
But if thats the case, what I cant understand about Coach is why he doesnt demand this change??? I mean I understand sometimess teams come out flat to start games and may not be moving like they should etc. But IF SO, at the first TV timeout I'm fixing that and reminding them that its not an option, you run the offense or sit down. Then from there on out I"m substituting based on who is or is not running my offense with energy and effort.
To me that should be at the basic level of what a Coach can control, but in this case it doesnt look like Pope has any control over that at all and that's the most disturbing thing for me. I love this guy and want him to succeed and will back him all I can but I just dont understand this part of it.
But if thats the case, what I cant understand about Coach is why he doesnt demand this change??? I mean I understand sometimess teams come out flat to start games and may not be moving like they should etc. But IF SO, at the first TV timeout I'm fixing that and reminding them that its not an option, you run the offense or sit down. Then from there on out I"m substituting based on who is or is not running my offense with energy and effort.
To me that should be at the basic level of what a Coach can control, but in this case it doesnt look like Pope has any control over that at all and that's the most disturbing thing for me. I love this guy and want him to succeed and will back him all I can but I just dont understand this part of it.