Effort

[billoliver40]

A lot of us....and notice I've said US...have commented on lack of effort. Truth is we don't know what type of physicality or abilities these guys have. Or their mental/emotional makeup.

I am not pleased with what Jaxson or Amari have brought to the game. I don't know if it is as much lack of effort as being lost....unsure of what they are supposed to be doing. Same goes with others in stretches.

Good thing about older players is maturity...more knowledge, physically more mature. Bad thing is any bad habits they have are ingrained...and either hard or impossible to shake.

We can all see Williams hasn't made the SEC jump. Not yet. I'm not sure Carr is all the way there. Robinson despite whatever Pope says is lost in his own mind and is freezing up/overtrying/letting himself get flustered and frustrated. Brea is a gunner. Sometimes incredibly on, sometimes not so much. Not physical.
All need to work on box out. Position on defense. Hands up.
Pope has his work cut out for him.

 

[BlueBomb]

Bring back Oscar!

 

[jeffky]

Bring back Oscar!

A lot of us....and notice I've said US...have commented on lack of effort. Truth is we don't know what type of physicality or abilities these guys have. Or their mental/emotional makeup.

I am not pleased with what Jaxson or Amari have brought to the game. I don't know if it is as much lack of effort as being lost....unsure of what they are supposed to be doing. Same goes with others in stretches.

Good thing about older players is maturity...more knowledge, physically more mature. Bad thing is any bad habits they have are ingrained...and either hard or impossible to shake.

We can all see Williams hasn't made the SEC jump. Not yet. I'm not sure Carr is all the way there. Robinson despite whatever Pope says is lost in his own mind and is freezing up/overtrying/letting himself get flustered and frustrated. Brea is a gunner. Sometimes incredibly on, sometimes not so much. Not physical.
All need to work on box out. Position on defense. Hands up.
Pope has his work cut out for him.

Our effort for the last nine years has been piss poor so by now you should be use to it. everybody knows the sec is going to be brutal. give this team time, that's all we can do bitching and whining over a team that was assembled in 60 days everytime we lose is pathetic and senseless we have some great wins with more to come GO CATS

 

[m080470]

The reason it is so glaring is that the other three starters Butler, Oweh and Carr are all effort. It's easy to see when the other two aren't engaged. If Robinson isn't hitting shots his body language looks bad and in fairness to him, it's not that he pouts or then tries to do too much and hurts the team but his facial expressions and then way he runs he just doesn't look happy out there. Amari we don't need scoring from but we do need defense and rebounding and if we don't get those two things, there's not much point to him being out there.

 

[bluedom44]

Effort and hustle comes from the coach. You don't need talent to hustle. I know this won't be popular, but Kelsey has Louisville's players play with a lot of effort and hustle, even if they're not near as talented as we are.

Another thing, we don't defend well and don't know how to defend, which gets a lot of fouls called. Sure, we catch breaks in Rupp, but on the road, we won't get that benefit of the doubt. They need to learn how to defend without fouling. Pope needs to hire a defensive coordinator.

 

[WeWant9]

The reason it is so glaring is that the other three starters Butler, Oweh and Carr are all effort. It's easy to see when the other two aren't engaged. If Robinson isn't hitting shots his body language looks bad and in fairness to him, it's not that he pouts or then tries to do too much and hurts the team but his facial expressions and then way he runs he just doesn't look happy out there. Amari we don't need scoring from but we do need defense and rebounding and if we don't get those two things, there's not much point to him being out there.

That’s why I’d like to see Robinson drive it and try to get to the line. Seems his first few shots of the game are long threes, and if those don’t fall he gets in his own head. Get some easier buckets and build up that confidence.

 

[jeffky]

Effort and hustle comes from the coach. You don't need talent to hustle. I know this won't be popular, but Kelsey has Louisville's players play with a lot of effort and hustle, even if they're not near as talented as we are.

Another thing, we don't defend well and don't know how to defend, which gets a lot of fouls called. Sure, we catch breaks in Rupp, but on the road, we won't get that benefit of the doubt. They need to learn how to defend without fouling. Pope needs to hire a defensive coordinator.

Pope needs to continue to recruit we will be fine and the last time I checked the scoreboard we beat louisville

 

[Wildcat-in-STL]

the players at a blue blood think they have made it and are getting paid good money. So nice guy coaching wont work on some players, you either need to use bribes and offer new NIL bonuses if they play with full effort or win or the coaching staff needs to put the fear of god into the players and threaten they wont play again if they dont hustle and fight.

nice guy coaching worked at BYU and at Butler back with brad stevens because they are underdogs. if the players wanted to win, they had to fight and claw for everything .

 

[docholiday51]

Effort is not a singular thing with this team;

In the transition game we have plenty of effort
Executing 1/2 court offense we have adequate effort
1/2 court defense minimal effort
defensive rebounding little effort

 

[kywildcats8]

Effort and hustle comes from the coach. You don't need talent to hustle. I know this won't be popular, but Kelsey has Louisville's players play with a lot of effort and hustle, even if they're not near as talented as we are.

Another thing, we don't defend well and don't know how to defend, which gets a lot of fouls called. Sure, we catch breaks in Rupp, but on the road, we won't get that benefit of the doubt. They need to learn how to defend without fouling. Pope needs to hire a defensive coordinator.

Am I missing something, but I don't see a lot of fire from our coach, which trickles down to our players- we get pushed around, IMO bad calls go against us and Pope is almost motionless- I would like to see him get mad every once in a while, not like Cal who did it all the time but try to fire the team up, get mad, stop getting bullied- again, maybe I am just missing something

 

[GoAndRunIsGoneAndDone]

Granted, different sport but when I think of a coach with a great overall demeanor in today's game is Mike Tomlin, Steelers coach. He's always calm and collected but no one questions his intensity. Those people are few and far between, with credentials for coaching a top tier CBB program.

Overall, I really like Pope... and his approach is probably best in most cases ....with today's paid players. Every game, every practice and every minute with your team is a recruitment of your own players, as well as other prospects. People respond to both approaches differently but I can imagine players and coaches interacting more like the NBA, as time goes especially. Just sayin, I'd say coaching is challenging in this day. Lots are stepping down. It gets blamed on NIL a lot, and in a roundabout way, it is. So, it doesn't work for all coaches, for various nil related reasons. Do paid players coach up differently? I'd say yes and that 18 to even 25 year old millionaires can probably be a challenge.

I'm more "old school" fire and brimstone, but I question that style in the near future, and maybe today. Time will tell.

 

[CatFanInIlliniLand]

Granted, different sport but when I think of a coach with a great overall demeanor in today's game is Mike Tomlin, Steelers coach. He's always calm and collected but no one questions his intensity. Those people are few and far between, with credentials for coaching a top tier CBB program.

Overall, I really like Pope... and his approach is probably best in most cases ....with today's paid players. Every game, every practice and every minute with your team is a recruitment of your own players, as well as other prospects. People respond to both approaches differently but I can imagine players and coaches interacting more like the NBA, as time goes especially. Just sayin, I'd say coaching is challenging in this day. Lots are stepping down. It gets blamed on NIL a lot, and in a roundabout way, it is. So, it doesn't work for all coaches, for various nil related reasons. Do paid players coach up differently? I'd say yes and that 18 to even 25 year old millionaires can probably be a challenge.

I'm more "old school" fire and brimstone, but I question that style in the near future, and maybe today. Time will tell.

Pope is more Brad Stevens style, IMHO. He’s got to stay true to himself. I am old school and more used to tough nosed coaching, but both styles can work.

 

[jeffky]

Effort is not a singular thing with this team;

In the transition game we have plenty of effort
Executing 1/2 court offense we have adequate effort
1/2 court defense minimal effort
defensive rebounding little effort

The keyword "TRANSITION" That's what Kentucky basketball is experiencing right now . Let's just enjoy this season and next year too . We are in good hands and us fans have to give COACH POPE a chance to succeed here .

 

[docholiday51]

The keyword "TRANSITION" That's what Kentucky basketball is experiencing right now . Let's just enjoy this season and next year too . We are in good hands and us fans have to give COACH POPE a chance to succeed here .

Pope has done all that can be expected thus far

 

[BBUK]

Effort is not a singular thing with this team;

In the transition game we have plenty of effort
Executing 1/2 court offense we have adequate effort
1/2 court defense minimal effort
defensive rebounding little effort

Why Doc, whatever do you mean?

 

[BBUK]

Pope has done all that can be expected thus far

Cow was sitting in his chair....

 

[Rockfly78]

Bring back Oscar!

I was told this is a bad idea. I was told he would clog he paint. I can't imagine why a generational rebounder would be playing in the paint.

 

[Rockfly78]

Pope is more Brad Stevens style, IMHO. He’s got to stay true to himself. I am old school and more used to tough nosed coaching, but both styles can work.

I was hoping we had at least one coach on staff that could drag some nastiness out these guys.

 

[docholiday51]

Cow was sitting in his chair....

Pope doesn't need to do much to get the bulge on a dub like him

 

[docholiday51]

Why Doc, whatever do you mean?

You know very well what I mean, and those refs probably couldn't win a spelling contest either

 

[Farsight]

Effort and hustle comes from the coach. You don't need talent to hustle. I know this won't be popular, but Kelsey has Louisville's players play with a lot of effort and hustle, even if they're not near as talented as we are.

Another thing, we don't defend well and don't know how to defend, which gets a lot of fouls called. Sure, we catch breaks in Rupp, but on the road, we won't get that benefit of the doubt. They need to learn how to defend without fouling. Pope needs to hire a defensive coordinator.

Rondo for Def Cord?

 

[bucsrule8872]

These guys are not robots.

We were coming off a big win against UF.

UGA was coming off a big loss and needed desperately to win their home opener.

They wanted it more. They got the W.

 

[kats23]

I will say this is the least athletic Kentucky team we've had here since 2008-2009. And I think from a fan perspective that's where people perceive the lack of effort. We have grown accustomed to watching guys just make plays and dunking the ball. Being able to blow past their opponent using their sheer athletic ability. I don't know how many times I've watched us make a great cut, be wide open under the basket and the guy with the ball hesitates for one second too long and that guy is covered by the time the pass is made. Offensively, we seem to settle for layups at the rim instead of just attacking it short of Oweh. But are we settling, or do we just not have the ability to dunk in traffic? I think this is a large part of it.

You hope that the 3-point shooting and the more mature players help push you to victory this year until you can build a roster with a little more athleticism, but right now in college ball you have a lot of mature teams because of the Covid rule.

 

[NociHTTP]

That’s why I’d like to see Robinson drive it and try to get to the line. Seems his first few shots of the game are long threes, and if those don’t fall he gets in his own head. Get some easier buckets and build up that confidence.

I highly doubt Jaxson is going to drive with the intention of getting to the line. He doesn't like contact.

 

[wccat2969]

The comments I heard from Pope was that the team was distracted, no focused. But these guys are veterans. Maybe they are not use to being at a place like UK where every game is the opposing team's Super Bowl (isn't that what OO told the GA player last night). Hopefully they will be quick learners and figure it out quickly or they will find themselves at the middle or lower part of the SEC.

 

[NociHTTP]

Cow was sitting in his chair....