"We're Having A Major Overhaul, Reconsidering Everything.."

[theBlues]

This quote gives me some small level of hope that Pope can be flexible enough to scrap what they've been trying to do and start doing what
fits the players we have.

Most of us thought, when this team was put together, that it looked like it could be a strong defensive team that
would struggle with shooting. JQ, MoD, Aberdine, and Oweh all appear to be better players on defense than on offense and the shooting concerns
have proven to be valid. However, we've sucked just as bad on defense. The defensive ineptitude has been, imo, a combination of coaching, lack of effort, and a
lack of interior defenders. Having MoD and JQ on the court would help with the latter problem. A lineup of JQ, MoD, Chandler, Oweh, and Aberdine
could be a very strong defensive team if the effort and defensive schemes improve.

On offense, Pope must get away from his offensive philosophy of shooting over30 threes a game; this team will get killed all year if it depends on 3 point shooting for offense.
This team can only be good if they become a very good defensive team.

 

[wkycatfan7]

This is not a good 3-point shooting team, so play to whatever strengths this team may have. Their main problem is chemistry and desire imo.

 

[Tim0808]

Pope needs to stop talking and go to work. This crap is why the fans are so pissed, because he talks so much about all the things that they are doing and how good they are going to be, but it is the same crappy product. Be quiet and do your talking on the court against a decent team. Not teams ranked in the 300's.

 

[JPFisher]

Can't speak to what's in the video because I could get better info and insight about the team from listening to a babbling brook for a second than I could from Sleeper's for a day. Not a knock against OP. I just can't stand the Sleeper's guys.

I'm gonna riff, however, undereducated on basketball though I may be. I don't think this team is as bad at shooting as we have seen so far. Almost everyone but Chandler has regressed from what they shot last year. We aren't running great offense (or really any offense, for that matter). Where are the cuts? Where are the extra passes? Are we even getting guys a three ball opportunity that fits them (location on the court, spot-up vs dribble hand-off vs.....)? Kam shoots better than what he has thus far. So does Oweh. So does Jelavic. So should Noah.

I think/hope the overhaul Pope has alluded to will address the complete lack of an offense. I dunno. Something's gotta give because the shooters we have just keep giving up the ghost every night.

 

[wkycatfan7]

This roster may not be fixable this year. No chemistry whatsoever.

 

[JPFisher]

This roster may not be fixable this year. No chemistry whatsoever.

It's fixable if there's addition by subtraction... JQ coming back would relieve us of having to endure most of Garrison's minutes. Getting really tired of watching guys with no heart go out there and earn a paycheck by going through the motions.

 

[Drcatfan]

This team definitely needs a drastic change versus a "tweak". I personally think the only hope to salvage a successful season is a healthy JQ then build around him and a lineup that compliments him. None of the current line up combinations have proven successful.

I would love to see JQ play even a few minutes tonight and ready to step into more minutes against IU and SJU

 

[yoshukai]

It's fixable if there's addition by subtraction... JQ coming back would relieve us of having to endure most of Garrison's minutes. Getting really tired of watching guys with no heart go out there and earn a paycheck by going through the motions.

On his show CMP kinda sounded like he was going to start playing Garrison at the 4. I guess because he made 2 shots ,lol.

 

[hypocrithatr]

Pope has zero business being the head coach at KENTUCKY. He is lost on the sideline, arms crossed and watching OUR team getting destroyed with no idea what to do. I feel bad for him because he should have never been put in this position, BARNHARDT is the reason our program is in the condition that it is, period. He needs to be fired.

 

[theBlues]

On his show CMP kinda sounded like he was going to start playing Garrison at the 4. I guess because he made 2 shots ,lol.

Hopefully, this means there are no more center minutes because JQ is close.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

This quote gives me some small level of hope that Pope can be flexible enough to scrap what they've been trying to do and start doing what
fits the players we have.

Most of us thought, when this team was put together, that it looked like it could be a strong defensive team that
would struggle with shooting. JQ, MoD, Aberdine, and Oweh all appear to be better players on defense than on offense and the shooting concerns
have proven to be valid. However, we've sucked just as bad on defense. The defensive ineptitude has been, imo, a combination of coaching, lack of effort, and a
lack of interior defenders. Having MoD and JQ on the court would help with the latter problem. A lineup of JQ, MoD, Chandler, Oweh, and Aberdine
could be a very strong defensive team if the effort and defensive schemes improve.

On offense, Pope must get away from his offensive philosophy of shooting over30 threes a game; this team will get killed all year if it depends on 3 point shooting for offense.
This team can only be good if they become a very good defensive team.

This team isn’t good enough offensively to ever be competitive with good teams IMHO and they don’t have the defensive intensity or heart to either. Can we get better? Sure, but this roster is so flawed that it can’t be fixed IMHO. I hope he proves me 100% wrong and I have to eat crow.

 

[BlueBomb]

Pope talks a great game.

 

[Catsfan2025]

Hunting 3's is always a bad idea. When the offense is flowing and players are driving, setting screens, and sharing the ball, it opens up better looks thus more makes. Shoot the 3 ball in the flow of the offense, do not go hunting 3's and taking bad attempts just to take X number of 3's. If the offense is flowing and only 15 3's are taken but with a better make %, it benefits the overall offense. Quality of shots is always better than quantity of shots. If it is better to make 6 3's on 15 attempts than it is making 9 on 30 attempts, so be it. That leaves 15 extra shots at making a higher % / higher conversion on a 2 point shot. The name of the game is score the most points possible. By taking better quality 3's (lesser # of 3's) and higher % 2's and maybe getting to the foul line by driving the ball, it would result in more wins or at least being competitive. Jacking a 3 is the lazy way out and least effort needed, but not the most effective, especially for a team that struggles to get good looks period. I know it sounds so basic and grade school, but it is true.

 

[Catsfan2025]

This team isn’t good enough offensively to ever be competitive with good teams IMHO and they don’t have the defensive intensity or heart to either. Can we get better? Sure, but this roster is so flawed that it can’t be fixed IMHO. I hope he proves me 100% wrong and I have to eat crow.

Why happened between the Purdue exhibition and the Georgetown one ? Whatever happened, it hasn't changed since.

 

[CardFanVA]

Odd…MoD and Oweh play like players that “think” they are good 3-point shooters. Aberdine is a solid 3 pt shooter…he is just taking too many forced & contested shots due to the lack of offensive movement.

 

[akaukswoosh]

Pope needs to stop talking and go to work. This crap is why the fans are so pissed, because he talks so much about all the things that they are doing and how good they are going to be, but it is the same crappy product.
Exactly.

 

[KyKevin]

Pope has zero business being the head coach at KENTUCKY. He is lost on the sideline, arms crossed and watching OUR team getting destroyed with no idea what to do. I feel bad for him because he should have never been put in this position, BARNHARDT is the reason our program is in the condition that it is, period. He needs to be fired.

He's made over 10 000 000 that's ten million dollars, how bad do you really feel for him? I did until I looked at the money he is making. If they have to buy him out, because every one wants him gone, he is set for life, and learned a life lesson for sure.

 

[true-blue1]

I hope he can get it fixed.

 

[BigBluefoot]

Great coaches are proactive.
Okay coaches are reactive.
The fact that he saw no need for major changes to this point is troubling in and of itself.

 

[bigblueinsanity (the real)]

This is a start but how could they be so wrong about their initial impression of this team? There was a time to get this all figured out and that was months ago.

 

[KyKevin]

Pope talks a great game.

Maybe he should go into politics like Pearl.
But I would much rather see him turn this s..t show around, and prove every one wrong. But I'm afraid Pope is in a bad place, knowing all the negative BS that we have with team and fans.

 

[carolinacat]

Our problem is none of our guys over 6-5 can shoot. We literally have zero players at the forward/center positions that are any kind of offensive threat beyond 15 feet. We have zero quality spacing (unlike last year's team). It's hard to run Pope's system with that kind of personnel. I guess you could go with a 4 guard system (Chandler, Aberdeen, Johnson, and Oweh/Lowe)....keep Moreno as the facilitating big, and try and beat people with quickness and decent enough outside shooting.

OTOH, we have 4 guys over 6-10 (assuming JQ plays). We could go to the other extreme with a "bully ball" lineup starting 3 bigs and transforming ourselves into an inside power team. I'm not a huge fan of Jelavic, but he did show some good post up moves against UNC. Bring back the Joe B. twin towers concept.

Not too many good options really. I wish we had a 6-7 do it all forward, but alas, we don't.

 

[preston-lemasterpiece]

Stop taking 30 threes a game and play bully ball. I thought that's why we got guys like Dioubate and JQ? WTF

 

[BlueSince92]

• JQ—if he’s healthy and if he had time to learn the system, which he doesn’t
• Mo—if he’s healthy and his head’s in the right place
• Chandler
• Oweh—if he’s healthy and his head’s in the right place
• Aberdeen—sometimes
• JJ—maybe next year
• Moreno—sometimes
• Lowe—possibly if he was fully healthy from Day One and if magically he couldn’t be injured

I don’t think we have five guys who belong as starters on a top 25 team. How much are we going to overhaul?

I seem to be an outrageous optimist as far as I still think there is a path for Pope to right the ship comparatively and come back next year. (Who he would get to play for him next year is a different question.)

But as far as how you use this roster to do anything but minimize the damage, I don’t see it.

 

[TFCat11]

Translation: Nothing will change, except putting players in even more awkward positions!

 

[theBlues]

Just to be clear, I'm in the camp that Pope has to right the ship to come back next year. If we have a losing record this year there is no way he can come back next year and if we have a repeat of the Gonzaga game against IU...that's it. I'm not optimistic about our chances; I just havn't lost all hope. I do think our chances of turning things around are slim, just not zero.

 

[Kyfan96]

Great coaches are proactive.
Okay coaches are reactive.
The fact that he saw no need for major changes to this point is troubling in and of itself.

Great coaches would've still looked for weaknesses in games like the Purdue game and tried to fix those

 

[Tri-Countycat]

Great coaches wouldn’t have even tried to play a 5 out offense with no shooters. Pope had months to see his teams strengths and adapt. Now he is scambling trying to throw something at the wall and see if it sticks.

 

[megablue]

Pope needs to stop talking and go to work. This crap is why the fans are so pissed, because he talks so much about all the things that they are doing and how good they are going to be, but it is the same crappy product. Be quiet and do your talking on the court against a decent team. Not teams ranked in the 300's.

His desire to communicate with BBN hurts him.

 

[megablue]

This team isn’t good enough offensively to ever be competitive with good teams IMHO and they don’t have the defensive intensity or heart to either. Can we get better? Sure, but this roster is so flawed that it can’t be fixed IMHO. I hope he proves me 100% wrong and I have to eat crow.

We can be better than we've been, but not as good as expected. This seems obvious now.,

 

[megablue]

Pope may be too poor at evaluating talent.

 

[ComebackCats98]

Let’s see if they can just show fight tonight. Get on the floor for loose balls. Crash the boards. Play like they actually want to be there.

 

[Artlaibesghost]

The seasons over , there's no hope Pope sucks , let's jump up and scream for the next 3 months. That's about the sum of every thread posted on here right now. You guys need some new matetial

 

[Bluesbrother]

This team definitely needs a drastic change versus a "tweak". I personally think the only hope to salvage a successful season is a healthy JQ then build around him and a lineup that compliments him. None of the current line up combinations have proven successful.

I would love to see JQ play even a few minutes tonight and ready to step into more minutes against IU and SJU

Yes ... we're well beyond a "tweak", not even sure a drastic "twerk" would change anything.

 

[FLBBNFAN]

Can't speak to what's in the video because I could get better info and insight about the team from listening to a babbling brook for a second than I could from Sleeper's for a day. Not a knock against OP. I just can't stand the Sleeper's guys.

I'm gonna riff, however, undereducated on basketball though I may be. I don't think this team is as bad at shooting as we have seen so far. Almost everyone but Chandler has regressed from what they shot last year. We aren't running great offense (or really any offense, for that matter). Where are the cuts? Where are the extra passes? Are we even getting guys a three ball opportunity that fits them (location on the court, spot-up vs dribble hand-off vs.....)? Kam shoots better than what he has thus far. So does Oweh. So does Jelavic. So should Noah.

I think/hope the overhaul Pope has alluded to will address the complete lack of an offense. I dunno. Something's gotta give because the shooters we have just keep giving up the ghost every night.

Since we have depth why not press? We seem to be better in transition off steals etc offensively and it may get guys some decent looks . Im not an expert either but we had success pressing with Pintino. Our offense is horrible for sure and your right there are no cuts, no ball movement.

Just standing on the perimeter right now until the shot clock winds down then we just chuck up a 3 or drive into traffic.

 

[FLBBNFAN]

On his show CMP kinda sounded like he was going to start playing Garrison at the 4. I guess because he made 2 shots ,lol.

Ugh

 

[CoffeeCat]

The only change that would be worth listening to is Pope giving back most of his salary that he clearly doesn’t deserve.

 

[senonesy]

Pope needs to stop talking and go to work. This crap is why the fans are so pissed, because he talks so much about all the things that they are doing and how good they are going to be, but it is the same crappy product. Be quiet and do your talking on the court against a decent team. Not teams ranked in the 300's.

Yeah I’m sure Pope’s not working. He wants it more than anyone. C’mon now.

 

[MidseasonTweak]

The issue is that our players are simply not very good. Pope whiffed badly. Perhaps that's the reason he does no adjustments. Our guys are just not talented.

 

[sefus12]

Pope has zero business being the head coach at KENTUCKY. He is lost on the sideline, arms crossed and watching OUR team getting destroyed with no idea what to do. I feel bad for him because he should have never been put in this position, BARNHARDT is the reason our program is in the condition that it is, period. He needs to be fired.

Just to play Devil’s Advocate, I think about rational person would say that Pope did a phenomenal coaching job last year. I’d claim he 100% overachieved based on how he put together a roster out of the clearance bin of the transfer portal in a short time.

If the above is true, how does this year prove he’s not qualified for UK? I’d argue that this year was a big miss on roster construction combined with a handful of guys simply being much worse than expected. Yes, the misses by the coaches in both areas is concerning, but I wouldn’t say it shows he doesn’t belong here, at least not yet. He did too much with very little in year 1 for a month of year 2 to show he can’t cut it.

Sorry for bringing common sense to a RR thread.