Pope in the Future

[teampupnsuds]

The vast majority of what I’ve read and heard about Pope is that his team likes to shoot lots of 3’s, play fast, find the open man, etc. – love it and I’m on board. But I have a question for BBN.

Both the college game and NBA have changed a lot in the past 10 or 20 years. Do y’all think Pope will be able to change his basketball philosophy if the game changes? Cal mastered the one and done’s but didn’t adapt. Pope has done great with the transfer portal IMO. I don’t know what the next iteration of basketball is but, do you all believe Coach Pope will be able to adapt to future changes?

 

[catfan220]

Only time will tell! He really hasn't been in coaching that long, despite being the oldest UK coach hire since before Rupp. With that said, he's clearly a bright guy, and the fact that he believes in analytics as much as he does it would suggest he'll be willing to adapt as styles of play change. Let's see if his current style of play can get it done at UK before we worry about the long term.

 

[DraftCat]

I mean how much more can the game change at this point?

Until they adopt the 4 point shot or remove the corner 3... I think the changes are done.

 

[BlueSince92]

Pope mastered basketball. He played for both Rick Pitino and Larry Bird!

Cal only ever mastered marketing. After seeing how he pissed away Welch’s system I’m not even convinced anymore it was really Cal who brought DDMO to Memphis and not just one of his assistants. I could be wrong. Regardless I don’t see the game ever getting away from Pope.

For example, the individual things that work best for defense will surely shift as the years go by. But the fact that the human brain gets freaked out if you switch up a defense, that will never change. A man who’s constantly tinkering with how to gain advantages from things like that and always thinking about geometry. We probably have one of the most future-proof coaches in history.

 

[know1]

The vast majority of what I’ve read and heard about Pope is that his team likes to shoot lots of 3’s, play fast, find the open man, etc. – love it and I’m on board. But I have a question for BBN.

Both the college game and NBA have changed a lot in the past 10 or 20 years. Do y’all think Pope will be able to change his basketball philosophy if the game changes? Cal mastered the one and done’s but didn’t adapt. Pope has done great with the transfer portal IMO. I don’t know what the next iteration of basketball is but, do you all believe Coach Pope will be able to adapt to future changes?

I fully expect that Pope's "system" will be a constant evolution and be adapted by year and circumstance to put th team in the best position to win. And just because you've seen how he ran it at BYU does not mean that's how it will run here next year. These are both things we haven't seen much at UK in the last 15 years.

 

[Phil_The_Music]

Listening to him talk, he sounds pretty humble to me. Humility is what you need in order to realize something you are doing is no longer working and needs to change. Pope seems to care more about winning than pride so I don't foresee any problems with him changing things up if it becomes neccessary.

 

[NociHTTP]

The vast majority of what I’ve read and heard about Pope is that his team likes to shoot lots of 3’s, play fast, find the open man, etc. – love it and I’m on board. But I have a question for BBN.

Both the college game and NBA have changed a lot in the past 10 or 20 years. Do y’all think Pope will be able to change his basketball philosophy if the game changes? Cal mastered the one and done’s but didn’t adapt. Pope has done great with the transfer portal IMO. I don’t know what the next iteration of basketball is but, do you all believe Coach Pope will be able to adapt to future changes?

Sounds like someone who misses Cal.

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

I thought this was going to be a photoshop of Pope driving a spaceship.

 

[rob_47]

I mean how much more can the game change at this point?

Until they adopt the 4 point shot or remove the corner 3... I think the changes are done.

Good post. I think the game will swing back in forth in some ways here and there but there will always be teams that have success in varied ways. The game is about as wide open as can be and it is all about spacing. Running sets that create space for shooters is the goal. I just don't see any way it can change all that much.

 

[DDMatUK=NBA]

Good post. I think the game will swing back in forth in some ways here and there but there will always be teams that have success in varied ways. The game is about as wide open as can be and it is all about spacing. Running sets that create space for shooters is the goal. I just don't see any way it can change all that much.

Make the court wider and longer. That would change things! Not serious but yeah, it would change the game drasticlly, even just making it about 3 ft bigger in both directions. So would moving the 3pt line but almost need a wider court to do that already.

 

[Blueaz]

the Title sounds like a straight to streaming movie on Sci-fi channel

 

[Bluegrassking]

He is very data driven so I would guess he will continue to follow the numbers.

In fact, I'd expect to see modifications from BYU right away.

 

[Rideordiewildcat]

 

[teampupnsuds]

Sounds like someone who misses Cal.

What did I write that makes you think that?

 

[NociHTTP]

What did I write that makes you think that?

You claim to love Pope's style, and then go on to try and compare him to someone that hardly any of us like or wanted her for years. Why not just be supportive and talk about all the great things coming? Cal couldn't "adapt". That's what happens when your agenda lies elsewhere.

 

[Elliott Tim]

The vast majority of what I’ve read and heard about Pope is that his team likes to shoot lots of 3’s, play fast, find the open man, etc. – love it and I’m on board. But I have a question for BBN.

Both the college game and NBA have changed a lot in the past 10 or 20 years. Do y’all think Pope will be able to change his basketball philosophy if the game changes? Cal mastered the one and done’s but didn’t adapt. Pope has done great with the transfer portal IMO. I don’t know what the next iteration of basketball is but, do you all believe Coach Pope will be able to adapt to future changes?

Time will tell.

 

[MrHotDice]

The vast majority of what I’ve read and heard about Pope is that his team likes to shoot lots of 3’s, play fast, find the open man, etc. – love it and I’m on board. But I have a question for BBN.

Both the college game and NBA have changed a lot in the past 10 or 20 years. Do y’all think Pope will be able to change his basketball philosophy if the game changes? Cal mastered the one and done’s but didn’t adapt. Pope has done great with the transfer portal IMO. I don’t know what the next iteration of basketball is but, do you all believe Coach Pope will be able to adapt to future changes?

The team that scores the most points wins. What has changed other than the players. 3 point shooting has been with us since the 90s, that has not changed . Are defenses any different? I dont think so. Are players different? Probably taller and quicker but that in every sport. Comparing college to the NBA is a bogus argument. Score the most points and you win.

 

[JB_Cat]

Listening to him talk, he sounds pretty humble to me. Humility is what you need in order to realize something you are doing is no longer working and needs to change. Pope seems to care more about winning than pride so I don't foresee any problems with him changing things up if it becomes neccessary.

This. We saw how Tubby and Cal failed later in their tenure. Square peg in a round hole, if you will. Adaptability and, most importantly, willingness to change is the biggest factor, and while I guess it remains to be seen, Pope does seem to "get it" when it comes to what's required to win.

 

[ukfan1622]

I fully expect that Pope's "system" will be a constant evolution and be adapted by year and circumstance to put th team in the best position to win. And just because you've seen how he ran it at BYU does not mean that's how it will run here next year. These are both things we haven't seen much at UK in the last 15 years.

Exactly. People look at BYU film and say Pope doesn't post up his bigs; he does it with his guards. Well, he didn't have any bigs there anybody would want posting up and now he does. So that will be one area of change. I'm also sure we'll see defensive changes since he'll have more athleticism at UK.

 

[DreadLox]

Exactly. People look at BYU film and say Pope doesn't post up his bigs; he does it with his guards. Well, he didn't have any bigs there anybody would want posting up and now he does. So that will be one area of change. I'm also sure we'll see defensive changes since he'll have more athleticism at UK.

I thought he posted Traore a lot. Big back, big back end. Strong. Traore just backed his guy down as if he were Charles Barkley. His offense didn't just throw it around the perimeter until someone got open.

 

[Snarks0]

We shall see, that’s the mark of a great coach IMO. Always had respect for Saban for changing QBs at halftime of the NC game and also hiring Kiffin to revamp his offense. Cal would have done neither of those.

 

[Skyguyb27]

From what I have watched of BYU’s offense, he was changing the offense some depending on his personnel there. I don’t think it’s an issue for him.

 

[ukfan1622]

I thought he posted Traore a lot. Big back, big back end. Strong. Traore just backed his guy down as if he were Charles Barkley. His offense didn't just throw it around the perimeter until someone got open.

Honestly, I don't watch any games unless UK is one of the participants(I used to watch a lot but my priorities changed as I got older), so I was just going by some things I'd read. I don't think we're in any disagreement; we both agree that Pope is smart enough to adapt.

 

[BigRedMachineBigBlueNation]

 

[DDMatUK=NBA]

Write this down for future reference, as it'll be said later....

Our bigs gotta have good hands and good foot work.
Our bigs have gotta run the floor, not well...but great, too.
I think we could do well with a good PG, a C with good hands that can run the floor and three F's or whatever you wanna call them, as long as they run the floor and shoot the ball reasonably well.
The ball WILL move, which includes to the C, wherever he happens to be and we'll see lots of lobs because of the motion. The guard must be able to create his own shot too, with dribble penetration but the ball won't touch the floor much in this offense. Pass, pass, pass, pass and pass one more time, is what I think we'll see a lot of. The ball may not hit the floor from baseline to basket...often, hopefully.

Just my recollection of a prior coach that was Pope's coach.

 

[PhattyJ4UK]

What did I write that makes you think that?

Don’t even reply to that CDS suffering lunatic.

I don’t know if it’s possible for it to make a single post without either a swipe at our former coach or an accusation of someone being a former coach fan as opposed to uk fan.

Most likely no life outside of this board and/or living vicariously through college athletes.


To answer your question: it’s just dependent on what the change is and how long it took to see coming.

people like to cuss him and call him names and belittle his entire career but what cal didn’t see coming is the transfer portals making teams older and stronger. Our lead guards the last 3-4 years were not championship level guards they weren’t tough enough or determined enough. Cal didn’t foresee that and it reared its head every single year at the end. Todays teams will win with a mix of one or two elite talents and 2/3 tough, battle hardened, smart, dependable players… which pope seems to get- the question will be can he get elite talent to balance the scale. I think he will be able to. Hopefully so.

 

[kywildcatsfannumber1]

If the game evolves overtime, it will be up for every coach in the game to adjust. Pope is an innovative coach and see no reason why he wouldn't adapt with the times.