I think Mark has a great chance to deliver big time at UK. He put this team together at the last minute and obviously overachieved.
That said I have these concerns moving forward:
Need to win some major recruiting battles. It is still very early in Pope's career here thus he hasnt had a real chance yet, but we need real talent and players that are not easily rattled.
We were obviously not prepared for this Sweet 16 game. Game plan was bad, the enthusiasm was nonexistence, and we came out extremely soft and nervous. That is troubling, especially with a week to prepare.
I hope Pope’s “positive energy only” culture does not contribute to our lack of mental toughness.
After 35 games Amari still thinks it is a good idea to shoot beyond 6 feet, he has zero shooting talent more than a few steps from the rim.
After 35 games Oweh still believes he is a good jump shooter off the dribble.
After 35 games Oweh stills drives out of control into multiple defenders. He never makes that layup and will never get a foul. He is dominate taking one defender to the rim.
Pope talks a lot about pride in the name Kentucky on the chest, tonight’s game was an utter failure in that sense, likely the worst EFFORT game we have ever witnessed in the NCAA tournament.
Edited to reflect the bolding of "effort", we have had worse performances, but in my humble opinion this was a low effort, low energy, low fight, game by our boys.
That said I have these concerns moving forward:
Need to win some major recruiting battles. It is still very early in Pope's career here thus he hasnt had a real chance yet, but we need real talent and players that are not easily rattled.
We were obviously not prepared for this Sweet 16 game. Game plan was bad, the enthusiasm was nonexistence, and we came out extremely soft and nervous. That is troubling, especially with a week to prepare.
I hope Pope’s “positive energy only” culture does not contribute to our lack of mental toughness.
After 35 games Amari still thinks it is a good idea to shoot beyond 6 feet, he has zero shooting talent more than a few steps from the rim.
After 35 games Oweh still believes he is a good jump shooter off the dribble.
After 35 games Oweh stills drives out of control into multiple defenders. He never makes that layup and will never get a foul. He is dominate taking one defender to the rim.
Pope talks a lot about pride in the name Kentucky on the chest, tonight’s game was an utter failure in that sense, likely the worst EFFORT game we have ever witnessed in the NCAA tournament.
Edited to reflect the bolding of "effort", we have had worse performances, but in my humble opinion this was a low effort, low energy, low fight, game by our boys.
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