Has Pope ever threatened to sit players for not defending?

[bluedom44]

This is small, but somehow important. Calipari, BCG, Tubby, and Pitino have all said at different times that if a player doesn't defend they will not play....simple as that. They would even sacrifice wins to get players to defend.

The great Bobby Knight once said the bench is the player's greatest motivator. If Pope doesn't threaten to sit anyone not playing D, then nothing will change.

Now I know that right NOW we are short-handed, but I don't recall him ever talking as such even when we had a full roster in the beginning. As a matter of fact, I don't remember him talking like that at BYU either.

 

[BlueWorldOrder74]

Cal said it, don’t remember him doing it.

 

[Delk#00]

Pope is soft

 

[Dreklie]

Just going off everything we can see, I highly doubt he would say that to anyone. He is a very friendly coach, which I think is going to be an issue.

 

[NociHTTP]

Just going off everything we can see, I highly doubt he would say that to anyone. He is a very friendly coach, which I think is going to be an issue.

It already is, and people are trying to deflect from it.

 

[docholiday51]

Well he'd have to sit the whole team so who would play? When we have the ball
we have basketball skills, when the other team has the ball not so much.

 

[GoAndRunIsGoneAndDone]

Tough time to judge a coach when the bench is short and he's desperately searching for answers to that. I don't know the answer to the op's question because it's irrelevant atm. Pope's trying just about every conceivable lineup, which means people ride the bench or get PT, right now and already. So, I guess I'm missing the point here.

 

[GoAndRunIsGoneAndDone]

It already is, and people are trying to deflect from it.

I hope Pope's style is a good thing, long term. I've said it before and I'll say it again...every coach is recruiting his own players(and others)every single day with this nil thing being what it is. We're seeing coaches retire or get out commonly, right now and because of it and the style of coaching they employ likely conflicting with new players that are now professional athletes.
If I were coaching today, I'd get out. I think we might have a good thing in our hands with Pope, going forward, though. CBB is evolving before our eyes and we are in uncharted waters today.

 

[TFCats11]

Probably not, and to be honest, what’s the point if the player behind them doesn’t contribute either?

I’m seeing a trend, and with a lot more teams than just UK…

Dudes with no NBA future to audition for, plus some fat NIL up front, equals playground defense and effort!

These older guys know there’s no “2nd contract” waiting for them to show out for, so take the NIL and just coast on defense, and dare the coaching staff to do anything about it! They are getting paid whether they show up or not!

 

[bnewt]

Cal said it, don’t remember him doing it.

only for his "non favorites"

 

[Bereacat420]

Cal said it, don’t remember him doing it.

if he did it last year they wouldn’t have had any one to play

 

[wkycatfan]

i felt he did a little bit of that last night honestly, with Brea and even Robinson in the 1st half.

 

[BlueTick2]

This is small, but somehow important. Calipari, BCG, Tubby, and Pitino have all said at different times that if a player doesn't defend they will not play....simple as that. They would even sacrifice wins to get players to defend.

The great Bobby Knight once said the bench is the player's greatest motivator. If Pope doesn't threaten to sit anyone not playing D, then nothing will change.

Now I know that right NOW we are short-handed, but I don't recall him ever talking as such even when we had a full roster in the beginning. As a matter of fact, I don't remember him talking like that at BYU either.

Has it ever occurred to you UK doesn't have much in the way of good defense talent?
We have some great shooters not so much great defense skills.

 

[bnewt]

not sure if the lack of defense is lack of effort, or lack of ability.
rebounding is mostly effort, but trying to guard someone that is stronger, quicker is different
no reason that some can't do a better job than we've seen
blocked shots are practically non existent......is that effort or ability

 

[NociHTTP]

Has it ever occurred to you UK doesn't have much in the way of good defense talent?
We have some great shooters not so much great defense skills.

People are talking about lack of effort, not the execution. It does not take a skilled player to put his hands in the air on defense. If the players need to be told to do this, and Pope isn't then he's worse coach than we imagined. It does not take a skilled player to go OVER a screen to put pressure on the 3 pt shooter.

 

[Rideordiewildcat]

Just like in Rounders. Generally the rule is: the nicer the guy, the poorer the card player, these guys despite being cops are real sweet hearts. I'm right on schedule, I'm up forty two hundred. The morning can't get here soon enough.

 

[AzubuikeandFitch]

Defense is 80-90% effort and attitude.

 

[Rideordiewildcat]

I mean even in Mayberry that put Otis in jail even if it was lighthearted 🤡

 

[gojvc]

Probably not, and to be honest, what’s the point if the player behind them doesn’t contribute either?

I’m seeing a trend, and with a lot more teams than just UK…

Dudes with no NBA future to audition for, plus some fat NIL up front, equals playground defense and effort!

These older guys know there’s no “2nd contract” waiting for them to show out for, so take the NIL and just coast on defense, and dare the coaching staff to do anything about it! They are getting paid whether they show up or not!

Chris Beard has some guys with no “2nd contract” that play like piranha.

 

[JumperJack]

Then let an assistant be the bad guy. Pitino would have scared the shit out of his guys for this kind of defense. Who wouldn’t?

 

[CrimsonCats]

Defense is 80-90% effort and attitude.

Maybe at youth levels. I don’t really agree with that at the high D1 college level like we’re talking about. There’s some truly elite athletes at that level, and if you don’t have that lateral quickness to stay in front of them, you’re not going to no matter how much you’re focused on wanting to.

Other than Butler, who’s currently hurt, and maybe Oweh and Chandler (even though his offense is bad), we mostly have spot up shooters who lack the first step quickness needed to be good on ball defenders. I do hope we’re able to change that roster construction in the next year or two when Pope isn’t scrambling just to put a team together, but it might just be what it is for this year. I don’t think any amount of browbeating from the coach is going to significantly change it with this group of players.

 

[ArtLaibsGhost]

This is small, but somehow important. Calipari, BCG, Tubby, and Pitino have all said at different times that if a player doesn't defend they will not play....simple as that. They would even sacrifice wins to get players to defend.

The great Bobby Knight once said the bench is the player's greatest motivator. If Pope doesn't threaten to sit anyone not playing D, then nothing will change.

Now I know that right NOW we are short-handed, but I don't recall him ever talking as such even when we had a full roster in the beginning. As a matter of fact, I don't remember him talking like that at BYU either.

Did you ever consider he might handle such matters in private, say between him and the player. I think if I hear any more of this HORSESHIT : Pope is too nice, my head will explode.

 

[ArtLaibsGhost]

Defense is 80-90% effort and attitude.

At the high D1 level it IS NOT.A high school mentality that in no way describes the realities of elite level basketball

 

[cathouse]

i felt he did a little bit of that last night honestly, with Brea and even Robinson in the 1st half.

He does it in every game.

Not sure what some of these "fans" are watching.

 

[GoAndRunIsGoneAndDone]

People are talking about lack of effort, not the execution. It does not take a skilled player to put his hands in the air on defense. If the players need to be told to do this, and Pope isn't then he's worse coach than we imagined. It does not take a skilled player to go OVER a screen to put pressure on the 3 pt shooter.

Totally agree about the "hands up" on D point. I told a friend the same earlier today. It's not new. We've been doing this most or all season long. It's been worse without Butler. Hell, everything has been worse without him! But Carr, too. Those two do it well. Lots of examples of most everyone with hands down or at head height... bs. It shouldn't take much coaching but a bit of listening and doing what you were told! I put that on the players, frankly. It's about as elementary as a teacher telling her students to bring their pencils.

 

[Boyd94]

Trolls are out in full force.

 

[GoAndRunIsGoneAndDone]

Chris Beard has some guys with no “2nd contract” that play like piranha.

He's got very good players that have bought into playing defense and take pride in it.

 

[ImTheVillageIdiot]

Trolls are out in full force.

Yep, it’s sad what’s going on.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

You need alternatives to sit players.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

Defense is 80-90% effort and attitude.

84.3 percent of statistics are wrong.

 

[ImTheVillageIdiot]

You need alternatives to sit players.

Yep. You can’t even build a defensive five out of any combination we have on the roster. People on here are something else lol

 

[NociHTTP]

Totally agree about the "hands up" on D point. I told a friend the same earlier today. It's not new. We've been doing this most or all season long. It's been worse without Butler. Hell, everything has been worse without him! But Carr, too. Those two do it well. Lots of examples of most everyone with hands down or at head height... bs. It shouldn't take much coaching but a bit of listening and doing what you were told! I put that on the players, frankly. It's about as elementary as a teacher telling her students to bring their pencils.

Thank you. If you took a bunch of elementary school basketball players, where ALL the coaches are yelling "hands up on defense!", and made them all collegiate height, a whole bunch of AAU and NBA fans on here would look stupid. I really do hope Pope's long-term plan for success isn't "let's run 'n gun!".

 

[*CatinIL*]

Cal said it, don’t remember him doing it.

Cal sat Shaedon Sharpe for not playing defense...wait, SS sat himself.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

Cal sat Shaedon Sharpe for not playing defense...wait, SS sat himself.

He could have been injured in warm ups

 

[Seth_C]

Cal said it, don’t remember him doing it.

That’s basically 99% of Calipari’s tenure here. He was honest when he said he would eat first though.

 

[Fancatstik]

Twice I've seen Brea taking ridiculous almost half court 3's that missed and killed our momentum and Pope didn't sit him either. That clearly sends a message, do whatever you want and you won't be pulled.

 

[Edgarman]

if he did it last year they wouldn’t have had any one to play

If Pope actually did this we would be forfeiting every game.

 

[Kyhoward]

My $02.
I support CMP, this staff, and these players.
All new to each other but after 22 games you can draw some conclusions.

1. If we are not hitting 3's or beating the other team down the floor for easy buckets, we can't win. You score 84 points and get blown out! That is inexcusable but shows that are defense is very poor and scoring 90+ a game is mandatory. There is not a game left on our schedule that I feel confident we will win. Thought we were a shoo in for the NCAA Tourney a few weeks ago, but have serious doubts that we will make it now.

2. We have maybe 4 good defensive players on this team; Butler, Chandler, Oweh, and Williams. The others do not seem to have the quickness to keep between their man and the basket without backing well off their man. If you watched Ole Miss last night, they were up in our guys grill the first half. You can only play that way defensively if you know you are quicker than the man you are guarding. It was difficult for our guys to get into a triple threat position. Most of the time, man with the ball was not looking to make a play or scoring pass, but just get rid of the ball before he turned it over.

3. Defense is bad with Butler but much worse without him. He pressures the opponents main ballhandler, slows down the pace of the opponent's offense resulting in eating up the shot clock. Butler also helps us offensively as he can get the ball up the floor quickly for easy buckets or getting into the offense quickly. BYU did that well last year and would be into their offense with over 20 seconds left on the shot clock. Poor Jackson and Pery were just trying to beat the clock and get the ball over half court.

4. Offensively, I don't understand why we are not setting the picks and cutting backdoor as we did earlier in the season. How do you counteract pressure - cut to the basket, make the defense pay for overplaying. This offense should make a team pay that likes to pressure.

How can our defense improve?
1. Get Butler back.
2. Don't know if the 1-3-1 would help but give it a try. Maybe trap some in the halfcourt and run the 2-2-1 press in the backcourt. Lateral quickness is not something you can teach but mixing up the defenses can slow down the opponent and cause them to think.
3. I think we help too much off of our man, if that is possible, trying to help our teammates leaving 1-3 offensive players open for a 3 point shot. Most of the 3-point shots taken against us are wide open as we are too deep towards the paint to recover.
4. I would use the entire roster each game to try and wear out our opponent. You cannot say we are giving up defense when we go to the bench.

I don't know if any of the above will help but we need to be more aggressive and try to force some turnovers ourselves. If Butler does not come back, we are NIT bound.

 

[ukfan1622]

Pope might be a nice guy with a high IQ but he's also been a jock all his life so I think it's delusional to think he's too nice to threaten to bench a player or actually bench them for not playing defense. The problem is, outside of Oweh and the injured Butler and sometimes Williams, we don't have any good defensive players. That's the only place our relative lack of athleticism hurts since we've seen that Pope's offense can put up numbers against good defenses on most nights with the athletes we already have.

I'm beginning to think this team's ceiling isn't as high as I'd hoped but I still have confidence in Pope and know we'll have better athletes more able to defend one on one next year.

 

[MakinMusic]

I’m serious when I say I don’t think he has enough players to sit them for not playing defense.