Make votes visible Op. Dare ya!
Does mark Pope have it?
- Thread starter Wildcats1st
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What does any of that rambling mess have to do with my original comment about those who are fixated on substitution patterns are fairly ignorant? Because I'm right that they are.
Where are u getting these stats? I see UK had 5 wins over top 25 teams last season alone.
I'm not disagreeing Pope hasn't been a major upgrade but we need to post accurate stuff.
I can't tell whether Coach Pope has "IT" yet, but he has MORE THAN proven he is a DARN GOOD coach so far!!!!
The next 2 seasons, when he has the opportunity to build his own roster, THAT will determine if he has "IT".
I have a VERY GOOD .feeling that he WILL have "IT" eventually!!
The next 2 seasons, when he has the opportunity to build his own roster, THAT will determine if he has "IT".
I have a VERY GOOD .feeling that he WILL have "IT" eventually!!
Pope has the intelligence, the motivation, the style of play, and the background to succeed here. There's always the hard to identify intangibles that can be the difference so well see how it works out. IMO he has what it takes to succeed here. This year was a pleasant surprise give the short prep time, the circumstances and the constant injuries. It's difficult to imagine very many poeple who could have done a better job.
That was 3 years ago, my bad.
Cal was 2-8 against ranked teams at the beginning of Dec '23
Regardless, he lost his mojo after 2015, and 98% of BBN is glad he's gone
vultures, aka assholes. I expected to read posts like these after losses. I’ve come to realize that it not different opinions, some people are just stupid and completely oblivious to it.
That annoys anyone with sense.
Should be 100% glad he's gone. The 2% are crazy.
Thanks for clarifying on timeline. I know he took a dive against ranked teams 2nd half of tenure.
This is the least tallented team he will ever at UK. The 3 freshman coming in next year are in a different league, tallent wise, over the three fresman on this years team. If UK can win some games in the post season I think it will go a long way in making Pope and UK even more attractive for recruits and portal players. There is no one currently coaching in college that I would rather have over Pope.
Oh my! You just hit him with facts. He doesn't like facts because they get in the way of his agenda.
If we have double digit losses again next year then we have a problem
Another factor about new seasons, you don't know how the competition will be.....Obviously, this year is like an outlier as many sec schools are doing extremely well. You never know, we gotta strike when the iron is hot, and win games when we have a complete team...
This needs to be pinned to the top of the board for the rest of this season!!!!
All the great coaches started out NOT being what they become and some end up NOT being what they were!!!
At UK we have seen ALL sides of this. Why don't some fans remember this???!!!!
I think the response should silence a lot of the naysayers. If it doesn't, there is no doubt that they are here just to trash Pope.
From what we have seen so far, probably not. But we will know for sure by next year. Don't need 3 or 4 years.
There is not another coach in America I would rather have than Pope. If not for injuries, we would be the favorite to win the title this year.
He sure as hell has it. He has coached 29 games at Kentucky and he’s only had a full roster available for seven games. He has a winning record against the top 10 teams in the country this year and no other coach can say that this season. This will be the weakest team that he has moving forward. I truly believe that at the end of his career that he will only be behind Coach Rupp and Pitino in success and accomplishment at UK. I have been with UK since 1962 and have seen them all.
While Bruce Pearl is a very good coach, imagine what the records would look like if Pearl was coaching with UK's roster and Pope had AU's roster. Pope had very little time and limited options to put together his roster.
This board is nearly intolerable after a loss. Every troll and short johnsoned fool comes out and talks trash and idiocy. So many legends in their own minds, with no concept of reality
5th
5th
2nd
2nd
5th
5th
5th
5th
Those are his conference finishes prior to being hired at UK.
He’s never won a conference tourney title.
He’s never won an NCAAT game.
Most of his teams, per the analytics, are some of the best offensive teams at any level of basketball annually.
Most of his teams, per the analytics, are some of the worst at their level in CBB annually.
All the above are facts that can’t be disputed.
He’s done a good job so far this season. It has been a wild ride. It’s far too early to tell what his UK career will be like. To speculate , he’s not going to have the ceiling good Cal or Rick had. He won’t have Clyde’s floor, probably. The hope is the UK brand will elevate his talent on the court, and that combined with his good qualities and traits will be a success. I’m hopeful and skeptical.
5th
2nd
2nd
5th
5th
5th
5th
Those are his conference finishes prior to being hired at UK.
He’s never won a conference tourney title.
He’s never won an NCAAT game.
Most of his teams, per the analytics, are some of the best offensive teams at any level of basketball annually.
Most of his teams, per the analytics, are some of the worst at their level in CBB annually.
All the above are facts that can’t be disputed.
He’s done a good job so far this season. It has been a wild ride. It’s far too early to tell what his UK career will be like. To speculate , he’s not going to have the ceiling good Cal or Rick had. He won’t have Clyde’s floor, probably. The hope is the UK brand will elevate his talent on the court, and that combined with his good qualities and traits will be a success. I’m hopeful and skeptical.
Let’s define excuses.
To me excuses are what people use when there aren’t valid reasons to explain a circumstance.
Sometimes injuries would be an excuse…if this team were completely healthy except for Perry & Chandler against say Colgate earlier in the season, and the Cats lost…yes, that would be a terrible excuse.
However, injuries are a VALID reason for losses, and you think so as well. The question is how many injuries does it take to be a valid reason instead of an “excuse” for you? 2 starters? 3?
What if Pope was down to only 5 scholarship players for a whole game? Would that be a valid reason for a loss then?
I know that is an exaggeration, and it was intentional to prove my point. There is a line where injuries are an excuse, but there is also line where they are a valid reason for a team struggling.
He also isn't coaching in the same cupcake conference that Kentucky's previous coaches coached in. This conference is historically good. Many knowledgeable people are saying it is probably the best conference in the history of the game.
To be fair, when you started a discussion with a statement that included,
“Regression throughout the season is a massive coaching red flag. And I don’t want to hear excuses.”
it doesn’t really portray that you are wanting discussion. That usually signifies someone is looking to make a blast statement and doesn’t want to hear varying opinions.
For any team to lose 3 key starters (the backup for one of them already lost for the season) for a significant portion of games at the end of the season doesn’t automatically mean regression due to coaching issues. If you really still see that as a blind excuse, then you aren’t willing to have a reasonable discussion.
Are there areas Pope could improve? I’m sure, but there is a HUGE gap between saying that vs the point you seem to be trying to push.
Agreed. That’s part of my concern. I have no clue if he can get it done or not. All I know is, his past experiences certainly don’t make me think he can. They also don’t make me think he definitely can’t either. I’d be surprised if after three years he’s got a regular season or conference tourney title or a FF. But after those three years we will all probably have a solid grasp of what he can REALLY do.
The flip side of that is the 2 excuses I hear the most around here (I bet it happens for every team in every sport!) are "It's the injuries" and "It's the refs".
Absolutely zero title contending teams were built in 3 months. Even Duke has 1-2 returning good talents .
Auburn, Florida, Alabama, Houston, Iowa State, St Johns , Mich State were all built over 2-4 years.
First year, no returning players, trying to get portal players with only 1 season of coaching in a big conference and then all the injuries. and Still is 15 in the NET, and a top 25 team... If you dont think he has the potential to get us some great seasons then you're a troll or crazy.
Auburn, Florida, Alabama, Houston, Iowa State, St Johns , Mich State were all built over 2-4 years.
First year, no returning players, trying to get portal players with only 1 season of coaching in a big conference and then all the injuries. and Still is 15 in the NET, and a top 25 team... If you dont think he has the potential to get us some great seasons then you're a troll or crazy.
It's the same 10 or so emotionally weak guys.
It's comical and yet sad at the same time.
The point is how does Kentucky show up to play great basketball for one and not the other?
The facts are also he's been at 2 Mormon schools and mid majors at that . He had mid major talent in the 1 year he was in the Big 12 and did pretty damn good with guys recruited to a mid major team. And BYU is able to recruit better because Pope proved the school can compete in the big 12, Pope never got to recruit with the fruits of his labor, his 1 year in the big 12 he could only recruit that year on the mid major accomplishments and by the time all his huge big 12 wins happened , recruiting was mostly over for high school players.
I just think the not winning an NCAAT game can be easily understood but he has to win some NCAAT games this year or next.
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Sometimes I think theres a portion of Kentucky fans who deserve what may be coming, for having such lofty and impossible expectations.
We're questioning if Mark Pope has it? Based on what? Who thought this year and this roster was going to do any better? What did some of you expect for year 1 when the SEC is as good as it is.
How many coaches need to turn UK down before some of you stop and say "oh, maybe the most elite coaches don't give a shit about coming to UK"?
We're questioning if Mark Pope has it? Based on what? Who thought this year and this roster was going to do any better? What did some of you expect for year 1 when the SEC is as good as it is.
How many coaches need to turn UK down before some of you stop and say "oh, maybe the most elite coaches don't give a shit about coming to UK"?
most likely the psychology of them knowing Robinson was done , I mean that news got us all depressed a little, the team would have known before the game and they arent immune to getting down due to bad news.
Well that plus we hardly ever come out to play intense in the first half anyways. Which isnt a trait of Pope's teams at BYU so its weird.
I would think that the players would want to come out and play harder for that reason. Evidently not.
A top 4 seed with a roster he put together in a couple months. And played the season with a full roster in only 7 games due to injury. Anyone that says he doesn’t have it needs their head checked. What he has done in his first year is nothing short of amazing.
I find it disturbing 20.1% are voting no.
Look at UKs history. Other than drunk G and drunk Sutton, every guy has won a title here since Rupp. Hall, Pitino, Smith and Calipari. Why wouldn't Pope be able to do the same?
Look at UKs history. Other than drunk G and drunk Sutton, every guy has won a title here since Rupp. Hall, Pitino, Smith and Calipari. Why wouldn't Pope be able to do the same?
20% sounds about right for rival trolls/imposters and Cal lovers who want it all to burn since we "pushed" him out.
and of course 20% is around the % of people who didnt want Cal to leave .
I gotta be honest, I don't think this is Cal lovers. Although thinking about your explanation, it does make sense.
But Wildcats1 was one of the bigger negative posters during the Cal days. And nothing has changed. What I'm realizing more and more is that we just have a real lunatic fringe of this fanbase that's stuck in the good old days of Kentucky basketball. The same posters who wanted to throw Cal to the curb after 2015 are the same ones who have already given up on Pope.
