WCS weighs in

philstat

All-American
Jan 3, 2004
9,929
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Guys, let’s just be real for a minute, collegiate sports have been utterly destroyed, any pretense that this isn’t about players trying to get theirs above any and all other things is absolutely foolish. This is the onset of our eventual demise, recall some young guys recently stating they work towards the level of pay they receive, that determines their level of effort, I’m in my 50s and it was the complete opposite in my youth, you busted your ******* *** at all times in hopes of moving onto to the next thing that may offer better opportunity, based on your previous accomplishments, that’s not this generation...
 

Monday Nitro

All-Conference
Jul 3, 2025
2,551
4,773
112
I’d have been happy if he would of “showed up” against Wisky in a Pinto and a pair of Overalls.
 
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kfwa

Senior
Oct 12, 2014
271
528
93
he is right though in the larger view

you have to figure out what motivates these guys. Pope sold us on the idea he'd only bring in guys that understood what the name on the front meant.

Clearly that didn't take with at least a few projected impact players on this team, as well as him landing guys that quite frankly, their former coaches were probably not sorry to see go.

At any rate, I think Pope thought he could convince players to have the same devotion to UK as he did. Last year it felt like that was the case. This year, it looks like they ain't buying what he's selling on the UK brand.
 
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Nov 19, 2025
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He has a point but then explain what use to be considered our rival Duke? They are a super team made up of paid players as are others. It sure appears the Duke players take pride despite the money. By the way I said their name twice which is two too many. Money or not, if Pope sits those not putting forth effort I will feel there is hope. If I see Otega start the next game my expectation when we play a good team will unfortunately be the same.
 

MdWIldcat55

Heisman
Dec 9, 2007
21,091
83,574
113
Did you know Kentucky's new football coach, Will(ie) Stein, played power forward in high school? I think I heard that during a game broadcast.
 
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Woodrow24

Heisman
Dec 21, 2015
5,857
14,410
78
I don’t understand some of these guys on this board. They defend Pope in some threads and then they take up for the players that’s not even trying in games for the guy. If they really liked Pope you would think they would want these guys to play hard for him so that the man’s job isn’t in jeopardy. If they really cared about Kentucky basketball, they wouldn’t be defending the lack of effort we’re seeing. Obvious trolls or just really, really stupid individuals.
 

meteordealer

All-Conference
Nov 20, 2004
11,495
2,153
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This is basically the same thing i said a week or 2 ago. There is no motivation for players anymore. You have 17 and 18 year old kids getting millions while in college.
 

Goingfor9

All-Conference
Jan 27, 2003
15,687
2,329
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Exactly. The money doesn't seem to be a problem for anyone else. In fact, Caleb Wilson, the $4M man, seemed to out-hustle our entire team in the UNC game.
Caleb is playing for something much much bigger than WCS is right. The nil deals need to be loaded with incentives. I’ve asked around including here what a nil contract looks like and no one seems to know. Incentives might make it difficult to recruit but that’s why our coach has to be a top 3 recruiter. Not a dum dum question mark. We need a proven guy who is hungry to win.
 

MegaBlue05

Heisman
Mar 8, 2014
10,276
19,560
66
He's 32 now. I think he probably realizes how immature he was 10 years ago.

There’s a lot of truth here.

20-something me knew everything and had all the answers. You couldn’t tell that hard headed bastard anything because he knew it all.

40-something me realizes the 20-something version was a dumba-s and it’s OK to admit fault or take accountability for one’s actions. There is a lot of stuff I did back then that I wish could undo. But life doesn’t work that way.
 
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TigerMoving

Heisman
Jul 13, 2014
7,819
21,575
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Lots of big time programs aren't having that trouble. Their players are paid big and they are still playing hard and winning. The money excuse is baloney, this is the new era, lots of programs have figured it out pretty quickly, unfortunately we have not.