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Beating Duke was more than just winning a basketball game.

True. This is the start of the Pope era. Losses will happen. Bad games will happen. Bonehead mistakes will be made. Nobody is perfect. But, to date, Mark Pope is batting a perfect game for what he could have done since being hired. He will be given a lot of grace for the aforementioned blemishes if he keeps being the awesome leader and role model he is, listening to the fans and producing such a sexy and successful hard working product.

Kentucky basketball is BACK baby!

If Boley starts...

Stoops can't afford to lose this game. Boley isn't starting. If he does, it's just for show and GW will get the bulk of the snaps. He's not ready to start against anybody, especially with this OL.


See 2016 New Mexico St game when Drew Barker started... everyone including the coaches thought there was no reason to play Stephen Johnson.
If the OL struggles against Murray then should have their scholly's revoked.
Cutter should be able to manage this game with ease as should be the case with any QB on the roster.
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I’d like to share some embarrassing quotes from myself from back in April

Let's not do this. Anyone saying hey knew exactly how Pope would do so far is being disingenuous. No one knew. We all had hope he'd do well. So far so good!

Pope had (and still has) a lot to prove. He doesn't have a tournament win. That's just a fact.
However, what he has shown is he understands the assignment and can beat great teams. (He beat KU at KU and now Duke on a neutral floor).

Lots of season left and lots of reasons to be excited. Let's celebrate for 24 hours and then it's on to the next!
I knew he would do great at UK. I wasn't sure he would be great year 1. Due to the fact he got a late start and had to put together a complete team at the last minute.
Too many people underestimate just how hard it is to win like he did at Byu with the incredible recruiting restrictions. Yet he still won and beat top ranked big 12 teams.
Yes I know 0 tournament wins but again just getting Byu to the tournament with those restrictions is a great accomplishment.
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This prick

With all the excuses, many we heard from ourselves about the annual losses we took lately, wonder why folks like these Duke writers don't compare player salaries and see if they got their moneys worth?
I know our guys get NIL as well, but if you're getting paid like we do in the real world, then there has to be a "ROI".
Sorry, it just pisses me off when teams win and others can not give them their due.
Down 9 at the half and came out fighting hard. Your cramps are on you; period.
Maybe our shooters had a better night.
We hit 6 more threes and people act like we hit 30 more.
Give our players some credit.
Give our coaches and trainers some credit.

My favorite part….we didn’t play great

I mean credit Duke for that. That's probably the most athletic team we'll see this year. Their defense is real.

Pope's offense is just REALLY hard to guard for 40 min. And apparently he knows of a coaching secret called halftime adjustments that we're not used to seeing.


Their game plan to make us start our offense 30 feet from the basket was a great move with our lack of drivers, but puts a major stress on the legs of those defenders who already struggle with conditioning. And even still, we hit 10 from 3 for 40%. More "on" nights would see us adding a few more to the tally.

But truly how many bunnies did we miss inside? This was a C+ to B- overall game as far as offensive efficiency goes but an A+ on heart, effort and adjustments made needed to win. If we ever get an A level offensive game, idk who could stop us at that point.
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Depth and adjustments!

What I saw in last nights game was that Duke has 10 elite, and I mean elite, level defenders and rebounders. But UK having 10 players that can all score, and who moved with high energy, wore Duke down. Duke players were gassed at halftime, and that Duke defense was never extended in the second half like it was in the first. Also, Coach Mark Pope made constant adjustments to our defense, and mixed in several zone looks, that really slowed the Duke offense down. As talented as Duke is, it appears that they only have Flagg and Kneuppel to do the majority of the play making and scoring. And Flagg is very vulnerable to getting his pocket picked when we doubled whenever he got to the lane. Kneuppel kind of disappeared in the second half....maybe that was our defensive adjustment?

How about a shout out to Carr???

Pope made him the 5 and let him cook. 🤣


I really liked that look too. Carr and 4 guards is lethal, especially with Owehs ability to guard face up 4s on the perimeter (less so more traditional 4s).

Id like to see that look more often this year. If Carr and 4 guards who can shoot can all be on fire while on the court together, it could get ugly quick for opposing teams.

It Only Took Three Games!!

He might be referring to wins when he was a player
Must be. But I don't think UK played Duke in Pope's UK playing career. And I highly doubt Washington played them 4 times in 2 years.
I must have heard wrong. But he clearly mentioned I'm 3 and 2 against them now. He did say "Them" I just automatically thought he was referring to Duke.
Anyway we know he won the one that counted last night.
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Player of the game

Can you believe several IDIOTS were comparing him to Wheeler in the game thread
That game thread was pure trash. There are a bunch of people who should be ashamed, but that would require a conscience. Calling out players like that is just plain pathetic. And a ton of those same posters have very little actual basketball intelligence.
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