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A week in….what are you most excited about?

I'm not optimistic. And I'm not watching another UK basketball game until Barnhart retires or get fired. And this is coming from someone that was born in Kentucky, was in the marching band at the University of Kentucky, and was a season ticket holder. Pope's teams will have less wins than Billy G's teams. And Pope's team's will have no more than 1 NCAA Tourney wins in his first 3 years.
Nostradamus?
 
Wanting it's great, but it's more imperative you actually do it. So far, his resume doesn't show the latter.
Agree but Ellen’s roommate did not care about winning. Pope has a .67 winning percentage as a head coach for 9 years, not far from everyone’s darling, Danny Hurley at 71%. Disagree that his resume does not show he has won!
 
Agree but Ellen’s roommate did not care about winning. Pope has a .67 winning percentage as a head coach for 9 years, not far from everyone’s darling, Danny Hurley at 71%. Disagree that his resume does not show he has won!
Lol, try 63.4% for his career.
Only one of those years did he coach in a p5 conference. 0 NCAA tournament wins, 0 conference championships, and only making the NCAA twice isn't that solid of a resume.
 
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I think it’s fair to point out that Pope is not qualified for this job by resume alone. It’s also fair to point out that recruiting restrictions he endured hampered him severely at BYU, and the UK brand will elevate him and give him the best chance to succeed. Only the alcoholics that we hired have managed to completely fail here.
 
Lol, what is with everyone comparing us to ArK and Cal? I thought the idea was to move on from that, but so far every just compares what we're doing to Cal and Ark and rationalizes we are okay because we're in the same situation.
Bc all these reset teams are at the same place? It's easy to compare when we've had about the same time to put together a team. Idk why I'm wasting my time on half of these troll accounts, yours included. But once again who did we miss out on? Hmmm? That's all I was really asking. I guess you could say Khalifa? But he's redshirting.
 
Bc all these reset teams are at the same place? It's easy to compare when we've had about the same time to put together a team. Idk why I'm wasting my time on half of these troll accounts, yours included. But once again who did we miss out on? Hmmm? That's all I was really asking. I guess you could say Khalifa? But he's redshirting.
What's it like living in a world where everyone is a troll simply because they think differently from you?

So we just want to compare ourselves to Cal and Arky?

We've missed on every player we had that transfered. We missed out on our entire recruiting class sans Perry. We lost out on good, proven assistant coaches. We have wiffed onna few transfer guys and seem to be about to whiff on some others.
 
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I'm most excited about having a program where players get developed again. There's still going to be some one and dones. But there's also going to be some three and dones and even some four and dones.

Get the players in shape to play hard for 40 minutes--muscle them up--inspire them with the tenacity to rebound--shoot the three. As for the NIL, use it to motivate them to improve their numbers.

Pitino ball for the new millennia.
 
Having a coach that “understands the assignment” and cares about the program and fans.
What worries me most is we have some fans that won’t give him a chance.
I want to see what his record is after 25 games this year. Remember Cal had been here around 10 years and had a 9-16 season.
 
I'm uh.. not sure yet?

I guess I'll be excited to finally hear some news. Glad we got our assistants down, I think that was an important first step.
 
Popes been here around a week now.
He’s made some moves on hires. So far the roster is pretty bare but that was expected.

If you can name one thing you’re most optimistic about and only ONE, what would you pick? Potential recruit he could steal? One of the coaches he’s hired? Etc etc

Also, feel free to name ONE thing that worries you the most.

And feel free to update as time goes on.

I’ll start.
I’m very optimistic about the move away from cow and trying something different. I don’t care if Pope goes 5-30 this year, it’s worth the chance to get away from a guy who we know couldn’t win anymore.

The thing I’m most pessimistic about is the roster. Unless pope gets some of these names we’ve contacted that are good, this potential roster is going to struggle to compete.
He is going to get a roster, how good will they be, time will tell. I think they will be entertaining and competitive. No national title but compete for SEC, I expect more season 2. I wish he could have kept Coach O around
 
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Rockfly is one of the Cal cult guys that will be watching Arkansas more next year than Kentucky in hopes to run to this board and scream “told y’all” if Arkansas outperforms Kentucky.
Nah, he is a UK fan through and through. It is okay to be skeptical about Pope, but no one should be on the Cal train anymore. That broken steam engine hurt our brand. It should be noted he did it with a smile.

Anyway, Rockfly is a good dude with good intentions.

Also, Pope is going to be great here. The first year might be rough, as we are all expecting, but once he gets settled and his offense/defense gets on a national stage, I think we will see a shift in how people and players look at us. He is incredibly smart and a great Xs and Os coach. That will certainly be a change of pace.
 
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Good: Understands expectations.
Concerned: With one of the better BYU teams in years, lost to 11 seed Duquesne in first round.
 
I like Pope, but it’s looking like his being hired was a mistake. The UK brand isn’t pulling anyone in.
I've been a fan of Pope for awhile. He's smart and knows how to coach kids to get the most out of them.
I know he will get talent. I also like that he is trying to construct a roster that will be a team. Not just a random bunch of players out for their own glory.

This year he will be challenged by assembling a team from scratch. The man can coach and will be hard to beat once he gets his players into his system.

Other teams better get him this year because in the years to come competitors will wish UK still had (what's his name as our coach)!
 
It's obvious at this point that Calipari used Kentucky to get guys into the NBA. After he sat Sharpe for an entire season to get him drafted 2 years ago, that really got under my skin.

We aren't getting the big talent and what good are these top recruits in the end when we haven't been to the Sweet 16 in 5 years.

Anyone expecting Pope to do amazing things his first year better get your Valium prescription ready.
 
I'm excited for a fresh group of coaches that are passionate about scouting and playing modern basketball. A coach that not only evaluates players after each game's performance, but also coaching performance, and what can be applied or done differently next time. Understanding the fan base, and not side-stepping the craziness. Pope has a unique opportunity to do something really special here.
 
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Everything to be honest.. a roster that makes sense according to a system and style of play. Coaches on the bench that aren’t failures and buddies of the coach. Coaches contributing to the program rather than being placeholders. Was so tired of the Calipari era.. grateful we have a coach that loves the program like we do and will work tirelessly to get all the right people on board to assure its success.
 
I can't wait to see the difference in Xs and Os next season. Both on offense and defense. Running actual plays and sets, switching defenses, etc. What a welcome site that will be.
 
Popes been here around a week now.
He’s made some moves on hires. So far the roster is pretty bare but that was expected.

If you can name one thing you’re most optimistic about and only ONE, what would you pick? Potential recruit he could steal? One of the coaches he’s hired? Etc etc

Also, feel free to name ONE thing that worries you the most.

And feel free to update as time goes on.

I’ll start.
I’m very optimistic about the move away from cow and trying something different. I don’t care if Pope goes 5-30 this year, it’s worth the chance to get away from a guy who we know couldn’t win anymore.

The thing I’m most pessimistic about is the roster. Unless pope gets some of these names we’ve contacted that are good, this potential roster is going to struggle to compete.
Well, being that he is our only player, I guess I'm most excited about seeing what rust, if any, that Collin Chandler has since being away from basketball for 2 years! Lmao
 
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He has 2 former head coaches on staff? Damn. Sounds like his ego is large enough to put up with advice from others, which is a very very good thing.
 
Positive: recruiting different type of player. Not all about McDDs all Americans.

Negative: fans that saw what happened the last 5 years with McDDs all Americans and still pissing and moaning about this hire.

There are a couple in this thread. Some of our fans must have to wear a helmet at all times.
 
I'm not optimistic. And I'm not watching another UK basketball game until Barnhart retires or get fired. And this is coming from someone that was born in Kentucky, was in the marching band at the University of Kentucky, and was a season ticket holder. Pope's teams will have less wins than Billy G's teams. And Pope's team's will have no more than 1 NCAA Tourney wins in his first 3 years.



fail marching band GIF by Brett Eldredge
 
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