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- Thread starter BlueBlood96Cat
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Whatever it is, he should forego it, or make it payable over 20 years or something.
Frank Vogel, TJ Otzelberger, Tommy Lloyd, did Mitch call ANY of these coaches?
Nope. Offered Drew, wife said no. Offered Hurley no. News came out about the swim team. Pope hired.
We’re fd!
Pope you should honor Kentucky and just quit so we can get a damn coach.
Pope you should honor Kentucky and just quit so we can get a damn coach.
I'm not defending this coaching, it’s atrocious. However, it’s hard to be mad at Pope. He didn’t ask to be put in this position. It’s not like he was this once-great coach who regressed the way Cal did. We can’t blame him for taking the job. He was probably just as surprised he was offered as the rest of the country was.
This disaster is 100% Mitch‘s fault. He should’ve never offered someone who had never shown anything to suggest he was qualified for the job. That’s gross negligence for an AD and quite honestly, downright unfair to Pope to place the pressure and expectations on himamd his family. You have to crawl before you walk, but Mitch basically entered a toddler into the 100M sprint at the Olympics
This disaster is 100% Mitch‘s fault. He should’ve never offered someone who had never shown anything to suggest he was qualified for the job. That’s gross negligence for an AD and quite honestly, downright unfair to Pope to place the pressure and expectations on himamd his family. You have to crawl before you walk, but Mitch basically entered a toddler into the 100M sprint at the Olympics
No one at the University will be holding him accountable. They're all at a cocktail party or something.
Two JQ's will not turn this train wreck around. We have no shooters except Chandler and he is streaky. We have no perimeter defense so how is one piece coming off a major injury going to right this sinking ship? Just asking! I hope you are right but help me understand how JQ can turn this team around with all the flaws.
I agree Mark pope is a f----ng idiot period !!! He is killing Kentucky !! He cant recruit and he cant coach worth a ****. Kentucky has been blown out 3 times already this season what a ******* joke !!!!
Dude, I was talking about the person you were talking to. Not you.
To be honest man do we even have complimentary peices. That was the worst Kentucky basketball game of my 30 years as a fan. Ik im young compared to a lot of Cats fans on here but still my point is not an exaggeration. That game was awful. Not even the final score. The beatdown was terrible. We gave no effort
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Imagine Pope stepping down during the season and Mark Fox becoming interim coach...
I'd take Gilispie at this point.
No seriously at this point Pope needs to just tell us a bs excuse to step down or simply say he can’t get the job done. Just treat it like an injury report and hold a small press conference to say you have to step down. Say your thankful keep it short and let us hire a coach.
Somebody with passion. Bruce Pearl is unemployed I think. Even if he’s not so what. If he don’t come here we both know Billy G would come back over
you know I always thought it would be awesome if Billy G got in the Burbon business like Stoops did. He needs his own drink named after him. The Billy G. I’d buy it
Anybody, who cares if you win or lose every game! It's about how much you are getting paid to play in a form of the G league.
It's called not leaving millions of dollars on the table.
I love UK. If they're paying me $5 million a year, they're firing me before I quit.
Only a fool would willingly walk away from that kind of money because he loves a school he played for 30 years ago.
It's 75 percent of current salary owed on the contract that runs through 2029. I think it's $13-16M range.
Hope Stokes likes boos. Will he come be our Mashburn for a year? Come be our John Wall? No it’s to late Pope won’t be here next year I’d bet on it.
Why in the world did Mitch give him another year Barnhart needs let go first
Pearl is in his 70's, you get him and you only get 2 or 3 seasons of him. No , go after Oats, Beard, Iowa State's coach, Billy Donovan, etc. Hell I'd even be ok to go out and punk Louisville and take PK at this point than stick with Pope.
Pope hasn’t seen the ugly side of BBN yet. He’s only ever had positive experiences here. And it’s about to get ugly
Do you think getting Boo’d is gonna help him with Stokes and company. Zero chance we get any top guys next year. I’ve got a feeling the next ten games are gonna be a blood bath, it’s gonna get worse. The only thing he can do is cut players, come out and be honest about what is going on and show he can coach. If not he needs to resign and say things got out of control and it’s best if I step away.
Pope is not this bad of a coach. Something very bad has to be going on internally. Maybe the rumors are true about Oweh and Mo, but why would that make Oweh not play hard? Especially since Mo hasn't played in three games. I'm wondering if guys aren't getting paid. I know it's a baseless theory, but it's the only thing I can think of. Even if the guys we brought in were even just as good as their previous schools we wouldn't be nearly this bad. Hopefully we find out what's happening one day.
This is what i think as well. Pope surprised me last year and exceeded my expectations. Something happened with this team internally, early in the season, that caused them to implode. Pope is a better coach than what we are seeing.
I do not know if he should step down in mid-season, but if the pressure of the job is seriously affecting his family life, he should consider resigning.
Life is too short for you and your family to be miserable. Realizing that maybe you've made a mistake is not a sign of weakness, but wisdom.
Right now, team momentum indicates we may not even make the tournament, which would be disastrous. I have not seen a second of the game, but only saw the score and stats. It looked pretty bad and friends told me not to bother watching the taped replay. Can there be a turnaround ?? Hopefully so, but doubtful. Affecting future recruiting is a concern, unfortunately.
I have been a lifelong KY fan my entire life (73), but honestly realize the BBN lives in an unrealistic bubble. We are not what we think we are ... and really never have been. Relevant, yes, of course, but not the unreal destination for players ... especially in this modern NIL$$$ era ... wider nets now.
We are in a position as a program now where we simply have to RE-EARN national respect ... it more difficult now than ever, regardless of who is coach. Not impossible, of course, but still very difficult. Everybody can get players now ... as we ALL have seen and realize. GO CATS !!
Life is too short for you and your family to be miserable. Realizing that maybe you've made a mistake is not a sign of weakness, but wisdom.
Right now, team momentum indicates we may not even make the tournament, which would be disastrous. I have not seen a second of the game, but only saw the score and stats. It looked pretty bad and friends told me not to bother watching the taped replay. Can there be a turnaround ?? Hopefully so, but doubtful. Affecting future recruiting is a concern, unfortunately.
I have been a lifelong KY fan my entire life (73), but honestly realize the BBN lives in an unrealistic bubble. We are not what we think we are ... and really never have been. Relevant, yes, of course, but not the unreal destination for players ... especially in this modern NIL$$$ era ... wider nets now.
We are in a position as a program now where we simply have to RE-EARN national respect ... it more difficult now than ever, regardless of who is coach. Not impossible, of course, but still very difficult. Everybody can get players now ... as we ALL have seen and realize. GO CATS !!
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And what booster is going to pony up for next year’s roster?
Remember, you don’t need a real PG with the offense we run. The “system” generates good shots like programmers generate code.
I do not want to, in any way whatsoever, mean to diminish the benefits of having a quality PG, but the entire objective of an offense is to get a good shot before the shot clock expires. Good shots are irrelevant if you cannot hit them, unfortunately. We are a very poor shooting team, with no reasonably effective inside game. Our weaknesses and limitations extend far beyond PG play, imho.
Here is the reply from AI to "has Kentucky basketball had a disappointing season" ... fwiw:
Yes, Kentucky basketball's 2025-26 season has been widely considered very disappointing, bordering on a "dumpster fire" by fans and media, marked by high preseason expectations, significant losses to ranked teams (like a 94-59 rout by Gonzaga), poor shooting, and criticism from former players, especially given their highly-touted $22 million roster under new coach Mark Pope.
Key Indicators of Disappointment:
Despite high hopes and a talented roster, the early part of the 2025-26 season has been a significant underperformance, leading to widespread disappointment and panic in the Bluegrass State.
Yes, Kentucky basketball's 2025-26 season has been widely considered very disappointing, bordering on a "dumpster fire" by fans and media, marked by high preseason expectations, significant losses to ranked teams (like a 94-59 rout by Gonzaga), poor shooting, and criticism from former players, especially given their highly-touted $22 million roster under new coach Mark Pope.
Key Indicators of Disappointment:
- Preseason Hype vs. Reality: Ranked 9th in preseason polls but quickly dropped out, struggling to find quality wins.
- Lopsided Losses: Suffered significant defeats to ranked teams, including a 35-point loss to Gonzaga where fans booed them off the court.
- Fan & Media Reaction: Calls for change, criticism of effort ("no heart"), and expressions of embarrassment from the fan base and even ex-players like DeMarcus Cousins.
- Statistical Struggles: Poor shooting percentages, particularly from three-point range, and getting dominated on the boards.
- Coaching & Roster Concerns: Questions arose about the $22 million roster's effectiveness and coaching under Mark Pope, with injuries adding to the challenges.
Despite high hopes and a talented roster, the early part of the 2025-26 season has been a significant underperformance, leading to widespread disappointment and panic in the Bluegrass State.
Man that would stink. Would mean the NIL stuff is bigger. Maybe it’s all worse than we realize. Football and basketball.
Ik we hated Cal at the end but he basically let us know. Stoops basically came out and said it. Pope is the only coach not complaining about it. You better believe Barney will do everything in his power to keep Pope around as long as he can
It's a theory based on nothing, but I don't know what else it could be. Surely Pope didn't hit the most unlucky lottery and none of these guys have any heart and are the lowest IQ basketball players ever. Someone posted on another thread that some rumors say Pope gets guys to the 1 yard line in recruiting and then the money doesn't seem guaranteed anymore or something along those lines. Maybe Pope was told he'll have a $22 million budget and now people don't want to, dare I say, pony up?
You need to take this crap to the Arkansas board or whoever you really cheer for. No need for that here. What are you , twelve?
I’m not sure why it’s unreasonable to give the man a full second year to see if he can get this thing turned around. He did a helluva job
last year with what he had to put together. If he can’t turn it around and he sees he’s not the man for the job, he will do the right thing. I understand the anger about last night. I was borderline homicidal. But this talk of him stepping down immediately is dumb and would be bad for the program.
last year with what he had to put together. If he can’t turn it around and he sees he’s not the man for the job, he will do the right thing. I understand the anger about last night. I was borderline homicidal. But this talk of him stepping down immediately is dumb and would be bad for the program.
It sounds like the stress of Popes job is affecting about 95% of the people on this board. Some of the crap being posted is beyond ridiculous.