All the Doom & Gloomers are out

[BigRedMachineBigBlueNation]

Correct. And the regression is what got Tubby and Cal. Pitino was flying high when he left. I just don’t know if Pope will have enough success on the front end to survive what I consider to be his basement.

Pope has had one team for half a season.

 

[Eagles_Ball]

How many teams this year have zero returning players, and how are they doing?

I have no clue, but I also don’t know what your point is either. I’ll never argue Pope and staff didn’t do a good job putting a roster together. But I’m also not going to pretend, with 1000 available players, putting a roster together is as difficult as it was five yrs ago.

The only argument I’ve ever tried to make is Pope isn’t above reproach. And it’s completely fair, given this teams issues and his past history as a coach, if he’ll be good enough to get it done as the UK coach.

 

[Eagles_Ball]

Pope has had one team for half a season.

I think you’re missing something. I said I thought his success would be Tubby or Joe B like. Tubby lived on his title his last couple yrs. Had he not won that title, he’d have been gone before he was. That’s all I meant. I’m in no way suggesting this team has regressed or anything like that. I think they’re right about where I thought they’d be. Granted, they’ve taken a helluva different path to get there though. A volatile and fun ride. 😂

 

[Terrapin_Station]

I have no clue, but I also don’t know what your point is either. I’ll never argue Pope and staff didn’t do a good job putting a roster together. But I’m also not going to pretend, with 1000 available players, putting a roster together is as difficult as it was five yrs ago.

The only argument I’ve ever tried to make is Pope isn’t above reproach. And it’s completely fair, given this teams issues and his past history as a coach, if he’ll be good enough to get it done as the UK coach.

Ron Mehico and his ilk live in an either/or world regarding Pope. ie Either be happy with Pope or wish Cal were still here. They would do well to apply a both/and philosophy here. It’s both good that Cal is no longer here and it’s possible that the man we’ve hired may not be a good fit in the end. It will suck if that’s true, but this is life.

 

[Ron Mehico]

I have no clue, but I also don’t know what your point is either. I’ll never argue Pope and staff didn’t do a good job putting a roster together. But I’m also not going to pretend, with 1000 available players, putting a roster together is as difficult as it was five yrs ago.

The only argument I’ve ever tried to make is Pope isn’t above reproach. And it’s completely fair, given this teams issues and his past history as a coach, if he’ll be good enough to get it done as the UK coach.

I think it’s something you should look up and see how well we are doing in comparison to other teams with similar amounts of returning experience. I’d also imagine it would be interesting to you since it’s your profession. Might give you some insight into his possible direction as Kentucky coach. Would also imagine, since you’re a coach, how impressive it is he’s doing it with a new coaching staff. Thank you for keeping all us fans grounded and humble, and hopefully we can continue to question if Pope is the right coach for the job for his entire tenure and certainly after every loss on the road.

 

[Fox2monk]

I live in SE Asia. I see these Mormon missionaries walking in twos all over the place. They evangelize full time. Any ball he played for those two years was against very weak competition. I totally understand why he’s behind.

Yeah I figured he would be behind but based on his play early I didn’t expect this.

 

[Eagles_Ball]

Ron Mehico and his ilk live in an either/or world regarding Pope. ie Either be happy with Pope or wish Cal were still here. They would do well to apply a both/and philosophy here. It’s both good that Cal is no longer here and it’s possible that the man we’ve hired may not be a good fit in the end. It will suck if that’s true, but this is life.

That probably describes me perfectly. I really, like REALLY wanted Beard. I wished for Hurley, but knew that was a dream. And given how much of a prick he has shown to be, man am I glad we dodged that bullet. I was less than thrilled when Pope was announced. Like a ton of others like me, he absolutely won me over. Until he proves otherwise, I’ll always be skeptical if he can get it done.

 

[Eagles_Ball]

I think it’s something you should look up and see how well we are doing in comparison to other teams with similar amounts of returning experience. I’d also imagine it would be interesting to you since it’s your profession. Might give you some insight into his possible direction as Kentucky coach. Would also imagine, since you’re a coach, how impressive it is he’s doing it with a new coaching staff. Thank you for keeping all us fans grounded and humble, and hopefully we can continue to question if Pope is the right coach for the job for his entire tenure and certainly after every loss on the road.

Or, since you’re trying to make some point from it, you could just tell me. And does it need to be zero? Is that any different than returning 15% or less of your production. I get zero returning players is a sexy narrative, but again, a lot of teams return hardly a thing. Especially after a coaching change. All of this to say, I’ve never said he hasn’t done a good job this year. In your world I should just walk around and pretend there aren’t concerns. If that’s you, cool. It ain’t me. It’s like me coaching a team, ignoring their weaknesses and just trying to get better at what we do well. That’s not a good recipe, IMHO.

 

[Eagles_Ball]

Yeah I figured he would be behind but based on his play early I didn’t expect this.

Man, that’s just so wild for me to imagine doing. I’m not a religious guy at all, but even I can appreciate the dedication and willingness to serve a higher power. In today’s society and world though, it just seems wild to me. I just can’t imagine basically not playing for two yrs and then trying to compete at this level. I’m really not surprised at all where he’s at currently. That’s a big freaking hurdle.

 

[fatguy87]

Since our loss to Ohio State, we've basically bounced around in that top 15-25 range.

How many people thought we were going to be a top ten team coming into the season? I'd say we are right about at the level of the board's collective preseason expectation.

 

[Fox2monk]

Man, that’s just so wild for me to imagine doing. I’m not a religious guy at all, but even I can appreciate the dedication and willingness to serve a higher power. In today’s society and world though, it just seems wild to me. I just can’t imagine basically not playing for two yrs and then trying to compete at this level. I’m really not surprised at all where he’s at currently. That’s a big freaking hurdle.

Yeah. It shows the kid has a good heart and his head is in the right place. Not everyone values the same things and as you said in times like these it’s even more rare a young man. Let alone a NBA type prospect would have those values and still take away time from his craft for that long to follow his value and heart.

 

[Terrapin_Station]

Yeah. It shows the kid has a good heart and his head is in the right place. Not everyone values the same things and as you said in times like these it’s even more rare a young man. Let alone a NBA type prospect would have those values and still take away time from his craft for that long to follow his value and heart.

It’s not so rare for a young Mormon. It’s hard to find data on this, but I’d venture to say at least 25 to 35% of young Mormons go on these missions.

 

[Fox2monk]

Is it "doom and gloom" to suggest that we go 9-9 in the SEC and earn a 4 or 5 seed?

This is an insanely difficult conference with five or six legit Final Four contenders.

Where's the shame in winning 9 games in the hardest league in all of sports?

You predicted 11 wins. Maybe that happens, but I just don't think it's likely. That's not a knock on Pope. It's the reality of his first year coming in the SEC's most difficult season in history.

Gonna be a battle to get to 11 but we can do it if we get healthy. Until then one game at a time and a win at UT no matter how unlikely would be a great boost. I hope Pope gets creative and starts mixing defenses up. I want to see some press, zone, man, man/1-3-1 hybrid like against Duke. We showed we could slow down talked T and fight back. Watch that Auburn tape because they really slowed them down and we can win a game in the 60’s. Just have to guard them. If we have a 3 point explosion we could easily win but it’s a long shot right now.

 

[Fox2monk]

It’s not so rare for a young Mormon. It’s hard to find data on this, but I’d venture to say at least 25 to 35% of young Mormons go on these missions.

Yeah of course not for a young Mormon, but not many teens at all are that religious anymore. Trips like these are pretty exclusive to Mormons which makes that percentage even lower across the US.

 

[kywildcat41035]

It’s fine to critique. However, it’s quite another to see some BS that’s posted here. It’s absolutely crazy and downright pathetic sometimes. Everyone knew it was gonna be extremely difficult to win on the road this season in SEC.

We probably win yesterday if not for the 2/3 late turnovers. Not to mention, our starting 4 man didn’t even play. This same Vanderbilt team beat Tennessee last week. The final score wasn’t indicative of how Vanderbilt controlled that game.

All the people on Butler’s back too considering he’s been lingering with a few different issues for quite a few games. The boy is trying to play through it all considering he’s our only true PG that’s still able to play right now. Butler is an awesome player!!!!

 

[Fox2monk]

All the people on Butler’s back too considering he’s been lingering with a few different issues for quite a few games. The boy is trying to play through it all considering he’s our only true PG that’s still able to play right now. Butler is an awesome player!!!!

Yeah he is and he’s playing the hardest he can. We are in bad shape and he’s giving his all. Can’t fault him for not being 100%.

 

[Terrapin_Station]

All the people on Butler’s back too considering he’s been lingering with a few different issues for quite a few games. The boy is trying to play through it all considering he’s our only true PG that’s still able to play right now. Butler is an awesome player!!!!

He’s a good player. 67th in the NCAA in assists per game. He’s had one monster scoring game and a handful of high assist games. His defense hasn’t been as good as advertised.

 

[true blue1]

So predictable. This type of response is why I started that post about the board melting down if Ark were to upset us.

“8-10 is our likely record”
“9-9 is our ceiling”
“Auburn and UT will destroy us”
“Pope isn’t ready for this job”
and more incredibly negative things I’ve read on here.

We all knew the SEC would be a battlefield this year. The worst SEC team won’t qualify for it, but if did could do some damage in the NIT.
Sure injuries happen to many teams. Do I think we lost because of injuries? No. We lost because of TO’s plain and simple! But injuries didn’t help, maybe guys are a little looser with the ball when tired or banged up.

But let’s not forget the same team that beat us yesterday, beat that UT team whom many of you think will “destroy us” just 1 week ago. UT also got “smoked” at Home by 30 by that Florida team we beat.
And that Auburn team that will destroy us in 5 weeks in Rupp, yet they barely survived at SEC worst USC down most of the game taking the lead with 4 seconds to go. And then they also barely survived at Georgia by 2. But Auburn is very good, finds a way to win.

And those of you who are talking shit about any of our players are pond scum!!
It’s fine to say Chandler is not ready. But to say he should transfer to BYU is ignorant. We knew he would need time to dust off his skills after not playing for 2 years. It’s fine to say we need Williams to play better, but to call him a “pussy” is being one yourself. He has showed up big in some games, just not vs Vandy, but he is still our best rebounder and rim protector and we need him to win.

I liked what we got from Almonor and Noah. Perry struggled. Oweh was a beast. Garrison struggled. Brea struggled. Robinson the past 3/4 games is now making shots when he is squared up and not shooting them off a curl. I think Butler is trying to put too much on his shoulders, like Robinson did earlier, and he’s just not that guy. So yeah, we need more than 3-4 guys playing well to win. But we should get more than that most games.

I don’t understand why you’re saying doom and gloom. Everyone expected losses this season because the SEC conference is the best it’s ever been. I can promise you the majority of this fanbase knows basketball. Yesterday’s game was winnable and we should have won it. The substitution rotations have to be cleaned up.

 

[jeffky]

Just be glad we got a team
the shit show that left and headed for Arkansas ,left our program bone dry. I love watching this team and we need to get healed up fast . Carr really hurts us he is a match up problem for alot of teams . I still like our team come march .

 

[TTTblue24]

When there is no urgency, no effort, and lackadaisical play, undisciplined offensive sets, not going after 50-50 balls

it’s perfectly normal and acceptable to ask questions and criticize the team/coaching. If not, it just means you don’t care.

^^^^ this, 2 things can be right at the same time. Love that pope is here but the team looked bad overall Saturday and he has to take some of the blame. Some think “oh well, we lost” and then feel the need to talk those that question things……no one is “more of a fan” than the other but a healthy debate and discussion over decisions in the game and why certain players continually get a lot of pt, can’t see anything wrong with that. I hate when people try to tell others how to fan.