After 18 games, would anyone still trade Pope for either Hurley or Drew?
After 18 games, would anyone still trade Pope for either Hurley or Drew?
- Thread starter Catzman
- Start date
Wouldn’t have traded him for either after the press conference. Love the guy. Initial reaction was, “oh hell no!” By the next evening I was happy as could be .
Nope. Hurley is a gigantic, insufferable ass, and Drew flat out isn't as good.
I wonder how many of the people who freaked out when the Pope hire occurred would admit it now? We were very lucky.
I think Hurley would've won here, but his antics would've worn on alot of people over time. Drew, never wanted him. To answer your question, no wouldnt trade Pope for either
I freaked out, thought it was just a panic hire by Barnhart. I was wrong. I also freaked out when I thought we were getting Drew, I don’t think I was wrong about that one lol
I will admit when I first heard it I was worried. I happened to be in Lexington visiting and got to listen to some locals take on the hire. By the next day, I was thinking it might work. When I watched the announcement on Sunday and all the "boxes" Pope was checking, I really thought it would work. But I never expected it to be as good as it is this year.
I was very skeptical when Pope was first hired. But he's killed it for putting together a team in 3 weeks without a single returning player.
I'll admit it. Early on, when someone said Pope could be the coach, I said: "THE Pope has a better chance of coaching Kentucky than MARK Pope."
I was very disappointed. I'm all good now for sure.
At first I thought UK could get a more experienced head coach but when I went and sit in that packed Rupp Arena and heard Pope speak.... It was game on from that point.... He is one of us he worships this University!
I was really worried for a few days that Kentucky would hire Hurley. Make no mistake about it, Hurley was passed the baton as biggest asshole in the sport by Bobby Knight.
Immediately I was terrified we would actually land Drew. I didn’t want him anywhere near our program. Guy is so boring, and I hate his style. So so happy his wife didn’t like Lex. Thank the Lord.
I think most of us believed a Drew hire for UK was the equivalent of kissing your sister.
I was pretty excited from Day 1 when Pope got the job. I wouldn’t trade him for any coach in the country at this very second. Let the man build a program and I think we’ll all be thrilled with the results
I like Hurley and this job you have have an arrogance about yourself. I love Tubby but he was too nice and the team takes on the coaches persona I believe and plays like it.
When UK loses three or four in a row at some point how will the fans react to the nice guy personality that Pope has. I’m just curious if the fans will feel like he’s talking down to them when he explains in detail what went wrong
How could you not trade for the “best f***ing coach in the game” other than the fact that he’s a giant douche, not doing great and seems to be an insufferable prick. Other than that, the best!
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I didn't freak out but Pope certainly wasn't in my top 4-5 or even maybe on my radar. Glad we have him. I think he will do big things.
No. Hurley is being exposed for his character issues that will likely get worse, while Drew is being exposed for maybe not being that consistently good. For all of his catastrophic errors with contracts, Barnhart somehow simultaneously hit the PowerBall and MegaMillions by attacking Cal's contract violation (if that is what actually happened) and hiring Pope.
At this point, I’d rather have Drew Franklin or Drew Carrey as coach over Scott Drew
I agree 100% regardless of what our record was going to be this season. I didn’t expect that we would be this good with a team of transfers and no stars. Coach Pope understands Kentucky people and what the University means to so many families past and present. Hurley could care less and it’s all about him (we already had one of those) Scott Drew would struggle here, this job is way too big for him. He wouldn’t like being in the spotlight like a Rockstar. He is in the perfect place for him and his family to live and not be recognized out in town and win his fair share of ballgames. We might have missed on them but we hit a Homerun on the 3rd pitch!!!
Absolutely not for Drew, not even day 1, actually.
I'm not sure if Pope will deliver what Hurley has, but I'm willing to roll the dice with Pope that he could be right there with Hurley while being 10x better of a person.
This was a great move by UK.. Sure, we could have had some of the same ol' retread hires. Guys who won something once or twice, but never again. But they just likely don't move the needle. Pope was a bit of a gamble, but thats what you have to try sometimes if you want that next great coach.
I'm not sure if Pope will deliver what Hurley has, but I'm willing to roll the dice with Pope that he could be right there with Hurley while being 10x better of a person.
This was a great move by UK.. Sure, we could have had some of the same ol' retread hires. Guys who won something once or twice, but never again. But they just likely don't move the needle. Pope was a bit of a gamble, but thats what you have to try sometimes if you want that next great coach.
Kentucky is too big for Hurley. He can get away with his BS in a smaller environment, but the BBN would chew him up. His wife knew they weren’t ready for Kentucky-level scrutiny.
UConn will tolerate this asshole because they just don’t know any better.
Nah, he’s a perfect fit. Obviously a lot of people may take Hurley but he’s not a personality fit for sure. He crushes Drew. The only other option would be Oats IMO. I think Pope will do very well here long term.
Knew Hurley was never going to take this job. That being said, be who you are. In the case of Hurley-he is who he is, doesn't hide it and it's worked for him. He's an East Coast guy all the way, now you see why he'd not last 1 month in the NBA as well. He's built to be a CBB Coach and he's a carbon copy of his Dad who was the exact same way at St. Anthony's. For those who don't know, he's been open about struggles with mental health as well and think you are seeing that play out on the sidelines this year. Know it's bad when even UConn fans are asking for him to tone it down and they are some of the most obnoxious people who grace the sports fandom world. lol
Pope is who he is and that's been refreshing and like what I've seen to this point. But saying this after the fact....I mean do the same poll in April and see the difference in response. The one thing I've learned--thank you Rick Pitino and thank goodness the #1 choice of the AD was not hired--Scott Drew has been a hot mess since Jerome Tang left his staff. Back to Pope, like the staff hires, the calm demeanor during games that doesn't waver-he's consistent and that resonates with players no matter what your personality is-be that way thick/thin. Love the adjustments made during games and believe once he is able to put together a team as he envisions (blending HS/Portal) we'll see his vision play out with great and sustained success. One underrated thing that has really helped him accelerate to handling this job was spending a year in Big XII. That year was invaluable for jumping into this year's SEC.
I honestly don’t see him losing 3-4 in a row with the type staff he has and the way the approach the game. It’s possible in a conference this tough but still.
Tang isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire right now, he may be an assistant candidate again pretty soon.
Honestly, I wanted Hurley or Donovan. I think most on here did. I was skeptical and somewhat sick to my stomach after the hiring of Pope, but after the press conference I was all in! Wouldn’t trade Pope for either today.
i was thrilled when pope was hired. i watched his games whenever i could when he was at utah valley then byu. i always thought he would be a great coach someday. i even threw his name out here a couple of years ago when somebody started a “who would you replace cal with?” thread
Pope had me when he got off the bus and held the press conference.
Hurley's tenure would have ended as disastrous as the Billy G era. Would have started better and lasted longer but the media and fans would have ate him alive as payback for being a jackass as soon as there was even a glimmer of things not going well.
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