Seems we hit the easy part these next few weeks. 3 out of 4 at home with some momentum and as bad as its seems we are still in the hunt to play on a Friday of SEC Tournament. This stuff is crazy this season. Anyone wanna speculate about this weeks games.
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Need 5-1 over next 6. Can’t lose to usc or Oklahoma either.
If we play the sound basketball we did tonight, we might go 5-1. If we do and are sitting 20-8, 11-4, a LOT of people on this board will owe Mark Pope a BIG apology
This team just doesn’t make sense.
I thought Arkansas was going to beat the brakes off us last night. Then Oweh and crew finally play the way we have been dying for all season. We are 20+ games in and Pope and crew finally showed some fight and passion. So count me in as just being realistic, but the truth is we all have know idea what team will come out and play next game. The Vandy game team (and really the team that we have seen damn near 80% of the season) or the Hogs game team.
This kind of game gets me all hyped up but they could just as easily come out next game, be who they have been most of the season, and we could lose at home to Oklahoma.
And the board will be filled with 30 fire Pope posts.
I like what I saw last night but my guard is still up as I don’t want to watch Wednesday night and all of a sudden I am wanting to break everything in my house watching Oweh look like he doesn’t give a crap to wear the uni.
I still want pope gone too. One game out of 22 does not do it for me.
I thought Arkansas was going to beat the brakes off us last night. Then Oweh and crew finally play the way we have been dying for all season. We are 20+ games in and Pope and crew finally showed some fight and passion. So count me in as just being realistic, but the truth is we all have know idea what team will come out and play next game. The Vandy game team (and really the team that we have seen damn near 80% of the season) or the Hogs game team.
This kind of game gets me all hyped up but they could just as easily come out next game, be who they have been most of the season, and we could lose at home to Oklahoma.
And the board will be filled with 30 fire Pope posts.
I like what I saw last night but my guard is still up as I don’t want to watch Wednesday night and all of a sudden I am wanting to break everything in my house watching Oweh look like he doesn’t give a crap to wear the uni.
I still want pope gone too. One game out of 22 does not do it for me.
To you it doesn't make sense. To those of us who have been around for a long time, around people from all walks of life, who have been a part of building diverse teams of maybe not the most talent but the most heart, it makes sense. People can pretend to not have heard it, but Pope has faced a lot of obstacles in his first two years here, and he's showing the basketball world how to build biscuits from portal scratch. Have faith.
Have to win the home ones and then compete in the road ones and steal a couple
I hope that happens and I'm ready to eat that crow if/when it does!
The USC and OK games are huge. Need to win those to avoid another quad 3 loss on our resume. Pretty much all the rest are Quad 1 and 2. We also need Missouri to win a few games as they are on the Quad 2/Quad 3 line.
JB
If we get this version of Kentucky, we should be able to win most of these.
OU at home is a must. Win
UT--they'll be hungry. But we're at home. Really need to find a way to protect Rupp here. Win
@ Florida--probably a loss, BUT...Fland and Lee both have a way of falling in love with long shots. We make that their game, and we can stay in it. I'll say loss, but can see a world where we still it. Loss
Georgia in Rupp--gotta win. Win
@Auburn--very winnable. They can beat us on their home floor, but they're not some amazing team this year. Win.
@sc--need to win. Win.
Vandy at home--zero confidence after watching them dog walk us in Nashville. Surely the guys go into this one locked in wanting to prove that's not who we are. But, it's possible we just don't match up well with their speed and shooting. I'll say loss.
@A&M--they're a little tougher to figure out. They're 1st place in the SEC. They've looked good. But they also aren't playing any of the top SEC teams so far. I'll say loss for now, but we may think differently by the time the game gets here.
Florida at home--I'll say win.
6-3 to finish out the season. 21-10 regular season. I think that's good for a 6 seed in the big dance. Maybe a 5 if some other teams ahead of us taking some losses.
OU at home is a must. Win
UT--they'll be hungry. But we're at home. Really need to find a way to protect Rupp here. Win
@ Florida--probably a loss, BUT...Fland and Lee both have a way of falling in love with long shots. We make that their game, and we can stay in it. I'll say loss, but can see a world where we still it. Loss
Georgia in Rupp--gotta win. Win
@Auburn--very winnable. They can beat us on their home floor, but they're not some amazing team this year. Win.
@sc--need to win. Win.
Vandy at home--zero confidence after watching them dog walk us in Nashville. Surely the guys go into this one locked in wanting to prove that's not who we are. But, it's possible we just don't match up well with their speed and shooting. I'll say loss.
@A&M--they're a little tougher to figure out. They're 1st place in the SEC. They've looked good. But they also aren't playing any of the top SEC teams so far. I'll say loss for now, but we may think differently by the time the game gets here.
Florida at home--I'll say win.
6-3 to finish out the season. 21-10 regular season. I think that's good for a 6 seed in the big dance. Maybe a 5 if some other teams ahead of us taking some losses.
Pope didn’t do anything last night. The players had enough and just showed what they can do.
It’s actually damning on Pope that he has held these players back.
The question now is will the players continue to self motivate.
Not one person can name anything that Pope did schematically last night to affect the play.
Pope needs to just stay out of the way like Tubby did the season those players took over.
I think that was ‘03?
Last night was a good win and a much needed win. But Pope is the same coach today that he was Friday
It’s actually damning on Pope that he has held these players back.
The question now is will the players continue to self motivate.
Not one person can name anything that Pope did schematically last night to affect the play.
Pope needs to just stay out of the way like Tubby did the season those players took over.
I think that was ‘03?
Last night was a good win and a much needed win. But Pope is the same coach today that he was Friday
Yeah. Those are the worst two teams in the conference. Sooner fans are done with Porter Moser.
I disagree with that. We were prepared to play last night and that is as much Pope rallying the troops and pressing the right buttons coming off a loss as it is the players responding the right way
I said way before the season that 12-6 gets you a double bye this year in my opinion!
So we need to find a way to win 6 more games!
If we win the remaining home games (OU, TN, UF, Vandy and UGA) that’s 5 wins which gets us to 11!
Then gotta steal a road game or 2. Most likely candidate is South Carolina by far, but also think Auburn is winnable. I don’t think we win @Florida or @A&M.
So we need to find a way to win 6 more games!
If we win the remaining home games (OU, TN, UF, Vandy and UGA) that’s 5 wins which gets us to 11!
Then gotta steal a road game or 2. Most likely candidate is South Carolina by far, but also think Auburn is winnable. I don’t think we win @Florida or @A&M.
Not starting anything here, but nobody will owe Pope an apology. This team just played with effort from stem to stern… finally.
Nobody is going to apologize for being angry at UK basketball getting down by 20 over and over, getting hammered by Gonzaga, MSU and Vanderbilt and playing uninspired.
Turn this thing around and play every possession with heart and we will be there to give flowers, but nobody needs to apologize.
Heck, we're 15-7, that's not good and I don't want to hear about injuries, look how good we can be with the players we have. Plus, JQ was a dice roll, Pope knew there was a possibility he might only play sparingly and Lowe was injury prone before he got here.
No, he was right, it doesn't make sense. The inconsistency we have seen the last 2 years isn't normal.
Beating duke, while playing with great effort was awesome, then they come out and get thumped by a very bad Ohio State team. Then there was the great Illinois beat down to get to the sweet 16, then they followed it up with an unbelievable stinker vs Tennessee.
This week is crazy, we looked like we didn't care Tuesday night, then these guys looked like a completely different team last night. It literally does not make sense.
100% correct. It shouldn't take 22 games to finally play with effort from tipoff. If we had seen thus from game 1, our record would be better and Pope would have spared himself a lot of heat.
Sorry but no. There have been too many games this season that are unacceptable by UK standards. Louisville, Michigan state, Gonzaga, UNC, Vandy, home loss to Missouri. When fans start losing interest before Christmas that is not a fan problem.
Last night , was the first game we played to our players strengths first this season.
OO defended their player ad focused on going downhill which he is great at it.
Mo was the energy guy that cleaned the glass.
the team focused on feeding MM in the post and running sets for our 3 point shooters, Chandler, Noah and some extend Jela.
Aberdeen give us good minutes without trying too much and playing for the team and still getting his.
Jela, Garrison and JJ contributed as well and I would like them to continue to play better and fight for more minutes cause we need them.
the game plan was good So kudos to Coach Pope and staff.
we need to be consistent on how we prepare for each game. We need to improve on FT and discipline . if we improve significantly on these I can see us finishing with 20 + wins….
if we revert back who knows… this team likes the rollercoaster rides.
I would like to see a 6-7 game winning streak in SEC after the 5 we just had And no more Injuries. That would prepare us for the ncaa tournament.
if Pope and team can figured it out this could be a Harrison twins type of season where from low seed we made it all the way to championship game because we were battle tested.
OO defended their player ad focused on going downhill which he is great at it.
Mo was the energy guy that cleaned the glass.
the team focused on feeding MM in the post and running sets for our 3 point shooters, Chandler, Noah and some extend Jela.
Aberdeen give us good minutes without trying too much and playing for the team and still getting his.
Jela, Garrison and JJ contributed as well and I would like them to continue to play better and fight for more minutes cause we need them.
the game plan was good So kudos to Coach Pope and staff.
we need to be consistent on how we prepare for each game. We need to improve on FT and discipline . if we improve significantly on these I can see us finishing with 20 + wins….
if we revert back who knows… this team likes the rollercoaster rides.
I would like to see a 6-7 game winning streak in SEC after the 5 we just had And no more Injuries. That would prepare us for the ncaa tournament.
if Pope and team can figured it out this could be a Harrison twins type of season where from low seed we made it all the way to championship game because we were battle tested.
Hold up, are you saying because pope has had to deal with some injuries (like most schools) that he gets a pass on his team playing most of the first 22 games like they couldnt care less to be wearing the uk jersey? Otherwise, what other obstacles has poor ole pope had to deal with?
And by the way I’m 48 and have been die hard since my dad got me hooked at age 12.
So I think that qualifies me as having been around awhile.
He also walled off their guards and turned them into jump shooters.
He went zone a few possessions, which Arkansas scored easily on, but we didn't pick up any fouls.
His lineups were well done, he played the guys that played winning basketball.
He got the team to play together and to me, that's the biggest thing. This team didn't like each other much at Vandy.
Our defense was really good last night, the players executed a well designed defensive scheme. Keeping those guards out of the paint was something no other team could do, not even Houston.
I don't agree. Fans don't lose interest. Fans are there win or lose and they support their team. They can complain and not be happy about things, but if they're a fan, they still be there pulling for their team to win.
Actually, I think we match up very well with Florida. They have a thin backcourt and they rely on a very deep front court.
I like having Moreno, BG and Mo D in that matchup and I'm not so sure they have a good answer for Oweh and DA.
Spoiled and entitled poster child
Your the one who needs to " stay out of the way"
That’s what a history of excellence does, it raises expectations. If those expectations are frequently not even close to being met then your status that was built over decades starts to diminish. Indiana ring a bell.
That excellence is earned my guy, not just given because it says Kentucky on the front. And its not achieved by throwing your coach under the bus
Damn right it’s earned and teams earned that over decades of dominance and consistent play. Not getting blown out multiple games per season or consistently losing 10 plus games. When your coach is not living up to those expectations it’s not throwing him under the bus it is shining a damn light on reality. Billy G lasted two seasons here for that very reason and pope is in a similar trajectory.
You gave your coach an empty bench. You can't buy a championship SMH
Man I am not looking to fight either, but I think the injuries are a big deal. And I think its hypocritical because everytime we play someone missing a player, there are always people (not saying you) on here blabbering about, oh my gosh, they were missing their starting SG and I am like dang, what would that be like?
I’m not even sure what this means? His empty bench was year 1. All agreed he did well last year under those circumstances. This is about this year with the team he constructed, the consistent Lack of effort, the no accountability on players, the weird substitution patterns, the consistent slow starts, the same mistakes made over and over, basically the lack of common coaching. And this was with an open ended checkbook to throw money at whoever you wanted. Throw on top of that we are 0-fer in recruiting and likely looking at a bleak outlook for year 3 thus the reality of the situation. Sorry but none of the above can be refuted.
Right, but JQ was never going to be the same guy here, but losing JQ and Kam are big losses for sure.
However, Pope brought in a lot of players, we have had 8+ solid guys all year, so Pope had guys, but he made a lot of mistakes that caused the 7 losses we have.
You can't mix and match lineups every 2 minutes like he started out doing this year, then, these games where we look totally unprepared and lifeless for 2 years in a row, tie back to the common denominator (Pope).
I want him to be the guy, but you have to agree, he wasn't qualified for this job. Eventually he will figure it out, because he's smart and driven, but is that going to be 5-10 years down the road? Next year already looks bleak, given all the top hs targets are essentially gone.
Like I said though, I'm not apologizing for having standards as a fan. I didn't say anything I regret because he won a game against a bad coach.
Speculating about this team is futile - who knows how they will look in any given game!
Arkansas isn't that good. What happened last year scared people. They were skyhigh, angry. Big Z, Thiero and Wagner hit everthing they threw up. This year. No Z, No Thiero and Wagner a bench player. No fire. I wouldn't even be surprised if Wagner was a cancer now.
Never said he was qualified. I'm just trying to give him a fair shake after Mitch hired him
Exactly. Honestly can’t look past anyone left on the schedule. We aren’t good enough to.