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Boogie Fland and UK

Not enough to win a tourney game this year. Pro pope people seem to downplay his shortcomings. Hope he does well but UK should have been prepared when they knew Cal was looking in Feb to get better.
Please list Pope’s specific shortcomings.
 
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I think Fland and JQ will at least listen to the new coach, but I wouldn't assume they would remain with UK.

Don't have a read on any of the others, but doubt Somto is a fit anyway.
Still don’t get it. Those guys are Cals recruits. The came to play for Cal. Not for Kentucky…..They want the 1 and done brand. We are toast wit these types of players.
 
All of those recruits, sans Perry, are gone! Don’t waste time thinking anything else
 
Still don’t get it. Those guys are Cals recruits. The came to play for Cal. Not for Kentucky…..They want the 1 and done brand. We are toast wit these types of players.
Your right you don't get it apparently. What part of "I wouldn’t assume they would remain with UK" is confusing?

JQ and his dad literally said he wanted to see who we hired. Fland hasn't decomitted yet, probably waiting to see who was hired first and make a decision. Probably won't matter for either anyway, but that's why I said they would at least take the call.
 
Not enough to win a tourney game this year. Pro pope people seem to downplay his shortcomings. Hope he does well but UK should have been prepared when they knew Cal was looking in Feb to get better.
NIL changes the game. He’ll have more than 4 million to hit it hard. Find the right guys and those shortcomings disappear for the most part.
 
That one is obvious and has been mentioned many times.
Shortcomings is plural - so name some more
He’s never had a recruiting class in the top 50. That’s speaks volumes about his ability to coach. But he’s never been able to get players.
 
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THe thing about NIL is that Pope will be able to recruit. He won't recruit at Cal levels but apparently 2 guys he tried to get to BYU called him and asked if he would take them at UK. Top 10-15 guys might be out of our sights for a couple years but we can still sign 15 to 30 pretty good and add in 2 or 3 transfers every year.

24,000 fans that also show up at away games still sells itself. We just haven't been recruiting guys that care about that.
 
THe thing about NIL is that Pope will be able to recruit. He won't recruit at Cal levels but apparently 2 guys he tried to get to BYU called him and asked if he would take them at UK. Top 10-15 guys might be out of our sights for a couple years but we can still sign 15 to 30 pretty good and add in 2 or 3 transfers every year.

24,000 fans that also show up at away games still sells itself. We just haven't been recruiting guys that care about that.
I've been a Kentucky fan since the 40s. At one point, there were kids that cared about that. But in reality, we have had very few great players that actually came from Kentucky. Before, when only a few teams actually got a nationally televised game, it mattered. But now, every single game played is on TV somewhere. The players are getting paid. I just don't think we are going to get kids that really care about UK basketball, or any team for that matter, the way that the fans do. The times have changed. I remember when Curt Flood won the right to be a free agent and everyone complained that it would change baseball forever and the fans wouldn't support their team anymore. Then Pete Rose left the Reds and everyone said the same. It is now happening in college sports. It will take awhile for the water to reach a level, and I most likely won't get to see that happen, but it will eventually get to a point where everyone is fine again. To your point about fans though, I do think once kids get here, they appreciate the fact that the fans travel and support them home and away. Unfortunately, social media has ruined quite a bit of that because there are group of fans, albeit maybe just a few, that make it tough on these kids through social media. And while the kids might not see it all, their parents do, and it makes it tough when people are toxic about something as trivial as kids playing a game.
 
I've been a Kentucky fan since the 40s. At one point, there were kids that cared about that. But in reality, we have had very few great players that actually came from Kentucky. Before, when only a few teams actually got a nationally televised game, it mattered. But now, every single game played is on TV somewhere. The players are getting paid. I just don't think we are going to get kids that really care about UK basketball, or any team for that matter, the way that the fans do. The times have changed. I remember when Curt Flood won the right to be a free agent and everyone complained that it would change baseball forever and the fans wouldn't support their team anymore. Then Pete Rose left the Reds and everyone said the same. It is now happening in college sports. It will take awhile for the water to reach a level, and I most likely won't get to see that happen, but it will eventually get to a point where everyone is fine again. To your point about fans though, I do think once kids get here, they appreciate the fact that the fans travel and support them home and away. Unfortunately, social media has ruined quite a bit of that because there are group of fans, albeit maybe just a few, that make it tough on these kids through social media. And while the kids might not see it all, their parents do, and it makes it tough when people are toxic about something as trivial as kids playing a game.
I don't disagree with you but I think playing in front of packed arenas is more attractive than playing in glorified HS gyms with half empty seats. I think showing up to a tournament and having home court advantage makes kids feel good whether they care about UK or not. That's what I was talking about "selling itself". I agree the name "UK" doesn't sell like the old days because of the tv contracts but there is still a difference between playing guitar for the Rolling Stones and playing guitar for Nickleback... Yea Nickleback had a good little run and have a few good hits but the Stones fill stadiums and people still scream and yell at their concerts while the other is playing at casinos and county fairs.

Most players don't care like they used to but some do and we just need a good balance of heart and talent and we can win big. Some of our best teams only had a couple pros.
 
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That one is obvious and has been mentioned many times.
Shortcomings is plural - so name some more

His complete lack of recruiting experience. Thats incredibly important. Reports were he never went to any even moderately high level aau events. Makes total sense for BYU but not for UK. Yes we want to divorce depending on one and done but not be completely devoid of incoming talent.

He needs a top flight recruiter. That's an absolute must.
 
4-6 byu guys??? Wth???
Why would that be so bad? Handpick the best ones off that roster and build from there. They were a 6 seed and had some really good wins, including @Kansas, a team we couldn’t beat on a neutral court. I can’t think of a better way to jumpstart this team next year than to have some players on the roster who know the way Pope coaches and know the system, who can help bring everyone else along.
 
His complete lack of recruiting experience. Thats incredibly important. Reports were he never went to any even moderately high level aau events. Makes total sense for BYU but not for UK. Yes we want to divorce depending on one and done but not be completely devoid of incoming talent.

He needs a top flight recruiter. That's an absolute must.
Agree that recruiting is important but as a coach, I would be more concerned with fit (which I believe Pope will) rather than how many stars are by their name (main concern of Ellen’s roommate). He has experience recruiting with 9 years of being a head coach.

True, none of his classes are even ranked near the top 20 in the country. This tells me 2 things:
  1. Of all the schools to choose from, how many players want to go to BYU?
  2. Pope must be a good coach to take low star recruits and yet build teams that rank in the top 25 each year.
The pool of players he will be able to recruit at UK versus BYU will increase exponentially. I don’t know and have not read anything about him not attending AAU events. If you can, please list these sources. With the portal and NIL, high school recruiting is not nearly as important as it was just a few years ago. It used to be the case that most of the players that transferred were disgruntled at their school as they had to sit out an entire year (wish it were still that way). Today, most players jump in the portal although they may be happy at their current school for the $$$. I am sure Pope will have 1 or more “recruiting” coaches on his staff.
 
Hiring Mark Pope was a calculated risk, but a solid hire with upside since we struck on our top choices. This can work out well if we get behind him.
 
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No reasonable person would make judgements about a coach based on extremely limited results from a single game elimination tournament. It took Jay Wright a decade to win a tournament game. It's the most random even in sports, losing in the first round twice isn't anything that shows he can't coach.

Again, it's BYU. They sabotaged their own season a decade ago when they suspended one of the best players on the Jimmer team because he admitted to having sex with his long time fiancé. The type of player you can realistic get at BYU is much worse than they type of player he'll get here.
Lots of so called reasonable persons made judgments about losses in the tournament from a certain former coach. Not saying that is wrong, but it absolutely is how everyone is judged at UK. And to have a coach with 0 tournament wins is a recipe for disaster here. I hope I’m wrong and he does great, Just don’t see it. We will have a very weak roster and an inexperienced coach. Not a good combo.
 
Never had a good defense.
Multiple 10 loss seasons
Yes, agree with the 10 loss seasons yet, he has a winning percentage of 67% at BYU! Think he might attract more talented players at UK
Defense - I have only watch 1 game against Baylor and I would say they were average.
 
Definitely. My only point is, to 95% of us on the board (maybe more?) we had accepted the fact that Caliparis incoming class and mass departure would not result in a successful season.
I do think it was his worst class but I expect Ark to do much better than us this year since most freshman have already signed. We really need to get some guys back.
 
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