Curious how some are feeling

[Oldbluefart]

As a UK fan for my entire life of 70 plus years, I am excited to have a "UK" at heart coach and not someone who talks UK only because of their paycheck.
Joe B comes to mind.
Rick was all about UK even with his ego but eventually his ego needed more. With all his faults, he still I believe wishes deeply he had stayed here.
Cal was always about what UK could do for his legacy. As success came, Cal got more and more condescending and arrogant. He lacked the in game coaching skills to match his recruiting skills. As a result, losses pilled up and fans like me just put up with him since he was our coach.

Mark Pope? Nice guy, a UK guy, young, I get all that but would he have gotten a look if not for his ties to UK?
Part of me thinks this is good, to have a younger coach who loves UK and will have UK first and foremost.
Another part of me worries about his lack of experience in dealing with players (recruiting) that are going to be much different in terms of personality then he had been dealing with.

Could we have gotten a more seasoned coach like Pearl, Beard, Oats? Who knows but would we be exchanging somewhat what we had in why they are here with what we already had?

If Mark Pope is our coach, then I will support him. At first I was like, "holy shit" but after hearing him speak more and others who know him in the coaching world, my worries are fading.
When you think about other coaches like Hurley who is at the top of the coaching world, how their first couple years went, and then now, it gives me hope this is what is best for UK.

Recruiting worried me at first but when I read about the restrictions Mark Pope had to recruit under, wow, I wonder how Hurley, Pitino, Cal and others would do only being able to recruit what seems to be players who are OK with no sex, agree to go on a two year mission, don't cuss, drink, look at girls and are one step away from being alter boys and instead of thinking about the NBA think about going to church.
In other words, he could only recruit players who put basketball after all other stuff in their life instead of basketball players who only want to play.
Mark Pope had success with these restrictions.

This is a close to having a UK guy on our bench as we can get.

 

[MrHotDice]

Very difficult to tell who’s genuine or trolls on here. I have about 50 people on block (I like to curate my own experience 😂) and lots were blocked about 3 years ago for being overly negative with Cal as coach and making the reading experience miserable. Well guess what? I see people still arguing (I can’t see what they post just can see that people are quoting them) with those posters today about pope! So I think following my initial gut of blocking them because they just seemed to want to get a rise out of people and start drama was true. Why there are posters like that I have no clue but there’s a ton on this MB.

Good move, it’s easy to figure out the nuts from true real fans. Ike Voltaire said, I may not agree with what you say but I will fight to the death your right to say it. But when every post become the same redundant BS, block their ass.

 

[Wally2000]

Just go by post count.

Some people don’t post a lot. I look for join date. People who change names are suspect to me.

 

[mdlUK.1]

Call me a Cal supporter all you want, I am a UK fan first and foremost! I support whoever our coach is until he isn’t.

 

[1STSergeant]

I loved Cal. Hope Pope has more success. Pope has big shoes to fill. I'll pull for the Cats no matter who is the coach. A little disappointed we didn't get the sexy hire, we was all hoping for. Have accepted and feel good we hired Pope. Looking forward to him to getting us back where we belong.

 

[Cold Stout Beer]

ArkyBB4Ever

 

[Wonky]

I’m actually getting excited about this hire
Mark has a lot to do for sure to prove himself
But I’ve got a positive feeling now. I don’t know why…just that sense that something special may happen

That’s the thing- it may or may not. But with Cal, you KNEW it wasn’t going to.

 

[thedahc]

I was wondering how some of the biggest Cal supporters, like @UKBB4Ever are feeling about the Pope hire.

I know he was adamant that Cal wasn’t going to be leaving for a long time, while many of us thought the clock was ticking.

Not calling him out. Genuinely curious what he thinks of Pope. I know he played college basketball and has spent a lot of time traveling to support the team.

Any others huge Cal supporters who want to chime in with opinions are more than welcome, of course.

I supported Cal through it all and was called all sorts of nonsense for hoping the Head Coach of my favorite team succeeded.

I will now support Pope through it all hoping that the Head Coach of my favorite team is successful.

No reason to be poisonous to our own program and eat our own because our (often unrealistic) expectations were not met.

I supported Cal because I wanted UK to thrive and I support Pope now because I want UK to thrive.

 

[Jamal Mercer]

He predictably has been gone since the Oakland game.

Cals slappies are/were the worst.

 

[anonymous_2011]

For any old heads out there, do y'all remember THE GATHERER from the BCG days?

 

[Aike]

For any old heads out there, do y'all remember THE GATHERER from the BCG days?

Yep

 

[fatguy87]

For any old heads out there, do y'all remember THE GATHERER from the BCG days?

Trust in the Gatherer!

I thought that was the alter ego adopted once Cal arrived. Under BCG, wasn't he "The Warrior" or something like that?

 

[anonymous_2011]

Trust in the Gatherer!

I thought that was the alter ego adopted once Cal arrived. Under BCG, wasn't he "The Warrior" or something like that?

Yep! Same guy. 🤣

 

[Elliott Tim]

I was wondering how some of the biggest Cal supporters, like @UKBB4Ever are feeling about the Pope hire.

I know he was adamant that Cal wasn’t going to be leaving for a long time, while many of us thought the clock was ticking.

Not calling him out. Genuinely curious what he thinks of Pope. I know he played college basketball and has spent a lot of time traveling to support the team.

Any others huge Cal supporters who want to chime in with opinions are more than welcome, of course.

Cal, line coach K will be in the minds of some for years to come.

 

[moses1uk]

I’m driving 400 miles to watch Pope announcement. Im all in .

 

[kennyskywalker34]

Never understood how someone like @UKBB4Ever can be more of a fan of the coach than the university.
He absolutely was a Cal fan first and foremost. I'm not convinced he was even a UK fan.
I'll be a Mark Pope fan. But first and foremost I'm a UK fan. No coach will ever be bigger than UK.

 

[The_Answer1313]

The thing even with Dilly and Reed not starting is was Cal intentionally trying to lose games by doing that? I don’t believe that for a second. I really believe that Cal did that thinking it was better for the entire team doing so.

 

[FrankUnderwoodX]

Just go by post count.

Well my post count (on another new account) is low because I forgot my old login credentials 😩

 

[yabbadabbadoo]

I’m feeling pretty damn good

 

[ib4ky]

For me personally, it's like you've finally got your Mother-In-Law (insert relative) to move out of your life. A feeling like after a rainstorm and the bright sunshine comes out. It may not last long, but it feels like a relief right now!!
Most TRUE Kentucky fans knew there needed to be a change at the top!!! Cal may say the right things to the media and fans to divert the pressure, BUT he was ALWAYS going to do it Cal's way, no matter what the AD, media, boosters, fans or the "bennies" had to say or think about it!!!

“I need people who look at adversity as a challenge and failure as a learning opportunity.”​

— John Calipari

These are just words, Cal never seemed to live by them, nor evaluate himself and or his weaknesses that he brought to the team or to the university!!

 

[Ron Mehico]

The thing even with Dilly and Reed not starting is was Cal intentionally trying to lose games by doing that? I don’t believe that for a second. I really believe that Cal did that thinking it was better for the entire team doing so.

He said he did it because he thought it would ruin Edwards and DJs confidence if they lost their starting spot. At the end of the day it was “all about the kids”, not “all about winning”.

 

[JudgeSmells24]

I was wondering how some of the biggest Cal supporters, like @UKBB4Ever are feeling about the Pope hire.

I know he was adamant that Cal wasn’t going to be leaving for a long time, while many of us thought the clock was ticking.

Not calling him out. Genuinely curious what he thinks of Pope. I know he played college basketball and has spent a lot of time traveling to support the team.

Any others huge Cal supporters who want to chime in with opinions are more than welcome, of course.

How do you think he feels?

 

[shodaman]

I was a UK team supporter then and Ill be a team supporter now coaches included . I truly hope coach Pope does as well as I think he will and I hope the people who like to piss and moan all the time doesn't have anything to piss and moan about

 

[ManitouDan]

The thing even with Dilly and Reed not starting is was Cal intentionally trying to lose games by doing that? I don’t believe that for a second. I really believe that Cal did that thinking it was better for the entire team doing so.

As a guy with 2 eyes and a functioning brain , and an above average hoops IQ I dont understand how any human alive could have ran Justin and DJ out there before Rob N Reed and thought " this is just best for the team" . It doesnt pass any test you can throw out there .. unless you are willing to lose games to push an agenda or a promise .

 

[saxonburgcat]

depends on how you define intentionally losing games.

Is losing games by not putting the best team out there intentionally losing games?

I'm not even talking about not starting Sheppard or Dilly, this has been a thing for years with him.

Even if you believe that he was getting playing time so these players were going to be ready for March,
its pretty easy to make the argument he'd take a loss to keep players getting minutes

then if you don't believe that, we can go into not playing zone, not adapting to modern basketball and having his teams (and himself) woefully unprepared to face opposing teams on multiple occasions

Yeah, I would not call that "intentionally losing games." Cal was arrogant enough to believe that he could do it HIS way and still win. Remember when Tubby Smith started his best practice players? Rondo didn't start. That was stupid and arrogant but I don't think he was intentionally losing games. And, Tubby refused to adapt. He defended his "system" right up to the end and that stupid ball line d got us killed in the tournament. Most of our tournament losses were due to the other team shooting around 50% from 3 during this tenure.

Tubby is gone. Cal is gone. Billy is gone. Now we have Mark! I am excited for the future.

 

[BStockfan01]

Well my post count (on another new account) is low because I forgot my old login credentials 😩

Same ive been here since 2006 and now everyone thinks im a troll lol

 

[Aike]

How do you think he feels?

I don’t know. He might think Pope is the second coming. That’s why I asked.

 

[Aike]

Never understood how someone like @UKBB4Ever can be more of a fan of the coach than the university.
He absolutely was a Cal fan first and foremost. I'm not convinced he was even a UK fan.
I'll be a Mark Pope fan. But first and foremost I'm a UK fan. No coach will ever be bigger than UK.

He’s a UK fan.

 

[jace2012]

I thought Calipari did a better job coaching when he had less players to manage, once they got healthy it went south.

 

[jbne222]

MdWildcat
ukcatz12
Jwukfan11 - left Team Cal in March, 2024
Leadbelly - troll
Philstat
Saxonburgcat
Jamalsunburn
ColdStoudbeer - likely troll
JLoad
UKbb4ever
Kybassfan
Spamburgerhamburger
Sejonesy
gracetoyou
saxonburgcat
JamesLee32
Wildcatfaninohio officially defected on March 26th, 2024
Chattanoogawildcat
Wildcatfanatic64
sk73
k14015
Jayce
Kybluedude
bluefaithful
JFCats
BBBLazing
Shodaman
MdIUK.1
cats#1again
Oboro3
gojvc
Deli Owl
BlueTick 2 - troll
Woodsmoke
NuthinbutNylon
jc4446
caneintally
HenryMuto
Dreadlox
ftp000
toeriver
Pasdfs07
247Cats
Toddadams1980
Omahacats - troll
Lempface - publicly defected from Team Cal on March 21st

This is insane lmao

 

[TankedCat]

Yeah, I would not call that "intentionally losing games." Cal was arrogant enough to believe that he could do it HIS way and still win. Remember when Tubby Smith started his best practice players? Rondo didn't start. That was stupid and arrogant but I don't think he was intentionally losing games. And, Tubby refused to adapt. He defended his "system" right up to the end and that stupid ball line d got us killed in the tournament. Most of our tournament losses were due to the other team shooting around 50% from 3 during this tenure.

Tubby is gone. Cal is gone. Billy is gone. Now we have Mark! I am excited for the future.

we won't agree on this.

as for Tubby, he at least implemented a reward system for players saying whoever worked the hardest earned the spot. They won 3 of the 4 games doing that after coming off 3 straight losses

I think its hard to argue Tubby didn't want to shake things up.

 

[Slowwalker]

I have always been a pretty vocal Cal supporter. I have not been pleased with his results the past few years, but can definitely appreciate what he did for the program and the players he brought here.

I’m indifferent on the Pope hire. Not what I expected for sure. I expected a much more experienced coach with past results. With that said, I’m going to support and cheer just like I would any other game. I’m hoping that he can come in and recruit at a level we expect and produce wins in both season and tournament.

 

[jbne222]

Since I made the list, not once but twice, I guess I should answer. I had my doubts about Cal but I felt the criticism of this board was over the top. For example, I never thought he was intentionally losing games or sabotaging the program. I also felt that people saying he failed in the tournament the past 5 years was simply not truthful since they included the covid no tournament year. I also vehemently argued against the notion that we were now IU.

As for Pope, I am excited. I believe he can do what Cal was failing to do the past FOUR years. I think Cal leaving was a win/win. I can see Arkansas fielding a decent team and I HOPE we win the SEC next year and make a deep run in the tournament.

I think this is how mostly people feel. There are a lot of extremes on this board.

I was ready for Cal to go but always thought it was ridiculous when people said “he doesn’t care about winning” or intentionally did anything. He just lost his touch and was stubborn in his approach to winning.

 

[Farsight]

KyBassFan was abhorrent lol

What happened to the guy who used to make crazy predictions on here? Kwilt4three? I forget his name

 

[BlueSince92]

Is one of those Kwilt's new handle?

kWilt is now LXWildcat and he got off the Calipari bandwagon after the Oakland loss.

He’s actually the first one of us who broke the Cal to Arkansas news, so early (Friday iirc) that the mods deleted it thinking it was fake. He did stay with Cal too long for my blood in general he’s just very pro UK unapologetically optimistic, which is how I think Cal hooked him. He’s been permanently and vocally over Cal since the Oakland loss.

Somewhat OT lots of people claim KWilt is a troll and a tard fan but I just don’t see how it could be or why he would do it. He spends so very much of his time posting here, and all things that are very pro UK, some over the top Cal loving notwithstanding the past year or so before Oakland, but he was hardly alone in that and very very rarely stooped to the “if you don’t support Cal then you’re not a fan” type stuff. Generally what he posts is a very high volume of staunchly optimistic, pro Kentucky, pro Kentucky fans material. I just don’t see why you would possibly sustain that for 15 years if you weren’t a Kentucky fan. People claim to have caught him bragging on UL’s board that he got us stirred up by saying such and such a thing. But I don’t know: have those claims/connections ever really been verified? Even if those claims are true I would honestly think it’s a case where someone else in the household has access to the account before troll. I can’t make troll fit the picture of fifteen straight years of generally very well informed, generally very pro UK high volume posting, especially since he’s always been consistent about the eastern Kentucky town he’s from, I forget which one offhand.

And as to that volume, a lot of people call it spam. But it’s pretty middle of the road and it always generates conversation. That’s harder to do than it looks. I know from the likes I get that my views on most things are at least in line with a good-sized chunk of us at least most of the time. But eight out of ten times if I start a post, it’s a very awkward silence, don’t quit my day job kind of thing. Maybe some nervous laughter or a golf clap. Worst case, even if he is a “troll,” which I don’t really believe, KWilt adds value to this board imo.

 

[Aike]

kWilt is now LXWildcat and he got off the Calipari bandwagon after the Oakland loss.

He’s actually the first one of us who broke the Cal to Arkansas news, so early (Friday iirc) that the mods deleted it thinking it was fake. He did stay with Cal too long for my blood in general he’s just very pro UK unapologetically optimistic, which is how I think Cal hooked him. He’s been permanently and vocally over Cal since the Oakland loss.

Somewhat OT lots of people claim KWilt is a troll and a tard fan but I just don’t see how it could be or why he would do it. He spends so very much of his time posting here, and all things that are very pro UK, some over the top Cal loving notwithstanding the past year or so before Oakland, but he was hardly alone in that and very very rarely stooped to the “if you don’t support Cal then you’re not a fan” type stuff. Generally what he posts is a very high volume of staunchly optimistic, pro Kentucky, pro Kentucky fans material. I just don’t see why you would possibly sustain that for 15 years if you weren’t a Kentucky fan. People claim to have caught him bragging on UL’s board that he got us stirred up by saying such and such a thing. But I don’t know: have those claims/connections ever really been verified? Even if those claims are true I would honestly think it’s a case where someone else in the household has access to the account before troll. I can’t make troll fit the picture of fifteen straight years of generally very well informed, generally very pro UK high volume posting, especially since he’s always been consistent about the eastern Kentucky town he’s from, I forget which one offhand.

And as to that volume, a lot of people call it spam. But it’s pretty middle of the road and it always generates conversation. That’s harder to do than it looks. I know from the likes I get that my views on most things are at least in line with a good-sized chunk of us at least most of the time. But eight out of ten times if I start a post, it’s a very awkward silence, don’t quit my day job kind of thing. Maybe some nervous laughter or a golf clap. Worst case, even if he is a “troll,” which I don’t really believe, KWilt adds value to this board imo.

I think the Meeks43 accounts are a series of parody accounts. Never been entirely sure what his whole game is, or what team he really roots for, but not sure it really matters. Just another flavor on this insane board.

 

[txcat24]

I was born a Kentucky fan 70 years ago and will die a Kentucky fan. I was also a huge Cal fan. I loved how he brought the best players in the country with him and instantly restored Kentucky as the most exciting and premiere program in the country. I loved the recruiting and followed the high school prospects and the McDonalds game and could not wait to see these talents arrive on campus. i just loved seeing the best choose Kentucky. I knew it was best and was so happy when the top players saw it too.
I was dismayed at Cal's lack of preparation and poor game management. I do believe his failure to start Dilly and Reed was his version of platooning without having to call it that and was designed to take pressure off of them and it did seem to cause them to flourish until the pressure got them in the tournament. I also think the NBA card was great for recruiting, as well as, his ego. That is what the top players want - why not stress it.
It was time for Cal to go and we got off without having to pay him to leave, so that all worked out well.
I have always liked Mark Pope and Coach Pope is growing on me the more I learn about him. He has my support and NIL money. Go Big Blue.

 

[kywildcat41086]

MdWildcat
ukcatz12
Jwukfan11 - left Team Cal in March, 2024
Leadbelly - troll
Philstat
Saxonburgcat
Jamalsunburn
ColdStoudbeer - likely troll
JLoad
UKbb4ever
Kybassfan
Spamburgerhamburger
Sejonesy
gracetoyou
saxonburgcat
JamesLee32
Wildcatfaninohio officially defected on March 26th, 2024
Chattanoogawildcat
Wildcatfanatic64
sk73
k14015
Jayce
Kybluedude
bluefaithful
JFCats
BBBLazing
Shodaman
MdIUK.1
cats#1again
Oboro3
gojvc
Deli Owl
BlueTick 2 - troll
Woodsmoke
NuthinbutNylon
jc4446
caneintally
HenryMuto
Dreadlox
ftp000
toeriver
Pasdfs07
247Cats
Toddadams1980
Omahacats - troll
Lempface - publicly defected from Team Cal on March 21st

Philstat doesn’t need to be in this list he makes a lot of joking posts.

 

[IL Wildcat]

Well, I'm kinda surprised I'm not on that list. I supported Calipari until the end of this season. I think my support was more about supporting the UK coach than supporting a man. I will admit, I was blinded to his biggest faults. I just wanted peace in the fanbase and wanted the team to do well. I justified the post covid debacle. I tried to believe the St Peter's loss was a fluke. I was very irritated with the Kansas St loss and stopped posting as much for a while. The 2023-24 team got me back in and invested and willing to give Cal another chance. The loss to Oakland was the final straw. My conclusion was that Calipari lost something along the way, perhaps his passion for UK and BBN, the UK athletic director and department, I'm not sure but I concluded that he was obviously done at UK. 4 seasons of unacceptable results. You can only make excuses for so long. Some here were upset with me saying Cal should be done because I didn't say it sooner.

As for the Pope hire, my first reaction was that it was a joke. When I realized it was legitimate, I was angry about it to be honest. I wasn't mad at Pope. I was mad at Barnhart. It felt like Pope was his #3 choice. I'm not 100% sure that is true, but it felt that way. And truthfully, I haven't followed Pope's coaching career closely enough to know how good a coach he will be. My estimation was that he might be among the top 10-15 candidates.

Now, after letting it sink in that Pope is the coach, checking on and catching up with him, watching some team's highlights, listening to guys like Kelvin Sampson talking about his style, and listening to other coaches trying to figure out how to defend BYU, and struggling with it, and mainly listening to Pope talking about UK, his love for the university, his love for the fans, and realizing the limitations he had recruiting at BYU (they require players to sign agreements to not have sex, not drink any alcohol, and requiring them to take a Mormon mission for 2 years), I have changed my tune. I'm still not sure Barnhart should have picked Pope so quickly, but I am excited about many different things Pope may bring. And I may be most excited to be rid of some of Calipari's biggest flaws because Pope is the exact opposite of Cal in so many ways. I'm excited about guys playing for what's printed on the front of the jersey again. So, I'm gonna support him. Let's go. 👍😀

 

[kywildcat41086]

I think this is how mostly people feel. There are a lot of extremes on this board.

I was ready for Cal to go but always thought it was ridiculous when people said “he doesn’t care about winning” or intentionally did anything. He just lost his touch and was stubborn in his approach to winning.

I don’t going back to how stories are coming out now Cal checked out way back in 2019…. He said so himself he wanted to leave to go to UCLA. The results have shown the dude checked out and was just collecting a free check and using the University of Kentucky to do so he basically stole money. I’m glad that he’s gone and I do still believe that he wasn’t worried about winning he wanted to get his boys to the NBA… HE IS ARKANSAS PROBLEM NOW!