IF I'M BEING HONEST

[MasonCoBlue]

I'll be 61 next month and have been a UK fan for life. I was not on the bandwagon of get Cal out of here. I was considering the buyout, along with who would replace him? More so...who would take the position. Even with the frustration of several years, I was very hesitant. When we lost to Oakland...I was done with Cal. Yet still worried about the buyout and not getting a top tier coach.

But when Cal resigned...my first thought...oh crap. Now what do we do? Especially knowing Cal would take our players. Finding a top tier coach played out as I suspected. But my goodness, did we find a diamond with Coach Pope. Heck, even if we weren't doing as well as we are...I'M enjoying the style of play. I'm enjoying a coach who coaches for the University. I'm enjoying players that WANT to be here for the program...not "I'm going to get mine." I'm enjoying playing every play. I'm enjoying how they respect the game. I could go on and on...

Coach Pope is a "BRILLIANT" coach that just needed a chance. One of the best Xs and O's I've seen in a modern offence. How he motivates team winning and unselfishness is quite remarkable.

Now I feel better...lol

 

[will1976]

I'm just happy and give credit to Mitch for making the call!

 

[B.B.H.]

I'll be 61 next month and have been a UK fan for life. I was not on the bandwagon of get Cal out of here. I was considering the buyout, along with who would replace him? More so...who would take the position. Even with the frustration of several years, I was very hesitant. When we lost to Oakland...I was done with Cal. Yet still worried about the buyout and not getting a top tier coach.

But when Cal resigned...my first thought...oh crap. Now what do we do? Especially knowing Cal would take our players. Finding a top tier coach played out as I suspected. But my goodness, did we find a diamond with Coach Pope. Heck, even if we weren't doing as well as we are...I'M enjoying the style of play. I'm enjoying a coach who coaches for the University. I'm enjoying players that WANT to be here for the program...not "I'm going to get mine." I'm enjoying playing every play. I'm enjoying how they respect the game. I could go on and on...

Coach Pope is a "BRILLIANT" coach that just needed a chance. One of the best Xs and O's I've seen in a modern offence. How he motivates team winning and unselfishness is quite remarkable.

Now I feel better...lol

I declared we were Indiana 2.0 when Pope signed. I love overdosing on crow.

 

[ck-2]

I was willing to let one of the student managers coach 2 years to get rid of the fraud that was here.

 

[Bungalow Bill]

What I think is overlooked is if Cal leaves 2,3,4 years ago we don't get coach Pope. Would we have got somebody that we would have been as happy with if the change is made earlier? I'm so happy with Pope I can't imagine anybody else working this well. He's everything I want in a man leading our program. Strange how things work out sometimes.

 

[blue cincy]

I was onboard from the get go with Pope. Just knowing how much he loved KENTUCKY, Its Fans, the school, Lexington and such.

I was not sure how we would do this year till he started getting his roster once he got his coaches, I knew we could be OK this year and would be fine for the future. The future is not as far as Pope is concerned. Players the same. Love the attitude.

 

[ukcatz12]

What I think is overlooked is if Cal leaves 2,3,4 years ago we don't get coach Pope.

I've been thinking this a lot recently. I think if Pope proves to be a long term home run hire almost everyone would have traded that for a few down years with Cal at the end.

 

[Digger-Cat]

I was willing to let one of the student managers coach 2 years to get rid of the fraud that was here.

I will never understand how anyone could still be on the Cal bandwagon after 9-16.

Then, there were still people on his side after Saint Peters, wow that is mind boggling to me.

But, holy smokes, how anyone could possibly think UK was still better off with Cal after the loss to Oakland, just makes no friggin sense.

Like you said, I would take a student manager at that point. Cal was doing absolutely nothing but riding the coat tails of nba prospects so he can say he had more draft picks than everyone else.

That guy is completely washed and out of his mind and those that didn't see it before, should figure it out before the end of this season.

He was destroying this program and we got extremely lucky that he screwed up the way he did.

I hope Mitch learned his lesson too.

 

[ck-2]

What I think is overlooked is if Cal leaves 2,3,4 years ago we don't get coach Pope. Would we have got somebody that we would have been as happy with if the change is made earlier? I'm so happy with Pope I can't imagine anybody else working this well. He's everything I want in a man leading our program. Strange how things work out sometimes.

Yeah I get what you’re saying, but I don’t look at it that way. Pope is doing a great job, has assembled a great roster, and revitalized the fanbase, but that doesn’t change the fact Cal was just mailing it in and had a big fat one sided contract that should have never happened. Meanwhile there were several posters on here saying we would never recover if Cal was fired or left. On the other hand the rational fans of the program knew this wasn’t and isn’t the university of Calipari.
The problem I have is with those people who justified keeping him as the coach. And for them it wasn’t even about the financial hit we would have taken for getting rid of him. They just thought without him we were nothing. Those people are a joke and I remember who most of them are.

 

[ukcatz12]

I will never understand how anyone could still be on the Cal bandwagon after 9-16.

Then, there were still people on his side after Saint Peters, wow that is mind boggling to me.

But, holy smokes, how anyone could possibly think UK was still better off with Cal after the loss to Oakland, just makes no friggin sense.

I've long been accused of being a Cal slurper, so I'll answer.

In the Spring of 2021 the 9-16 season was a complete fluke during a very strange moment in time. Duke had an awful season, Penn St. football had an awful season, weird things happened across the sports landscape. The year before that we had a great team that won the SEC and were in a good position to make a tournament run. We had also mad the Elite 8 two of the three seasons before that. You simply can't fire a coach with Cal's past after a single bad season, no matter how bad it is. Especially during those weird Covid times.

That St. Peter's season we had a legitimately fun and great team for the vast majority of the season. We blew Kansas off their home court. However, TyTy never fully recovered from his injury at Auburn, Grady could barely walk by the end of the year due to plantar fasciitis, and Oscar was a head case before the St. Peter's game (refused to board the plane because he had visions something bad was going to happen). I wouldn't want Cal fired after losing to St. Peter's any more than I would think K should have been fired after losing to Lehigh or Mercer. In a single elimination tournament anything can happen, and quite frankly it was the first time Cal had been upset like that in the first round.

After the Oakland loss I didn't think we would be better off with Cal. I wasn't going to be too excited coming into this year if he were still here. But if you truly believe it was a guarantee we couldn't have been worse off you're kidding yourself. Pope was a great hire, but he wasn't guaranteed. History is littered with schools thinking the grass would be greener with a new coach and getting stuck in a decades long cycle of mediocrity. And there was a lot of pissed off people on this board the night Pope was hired.

Ultimately, it has worked out very well so far. I don't think there's anyone who truly thinks at this point we would have been better off with Cal going forward. But I also think it's perfectly fair to recognize that there was always a risk his successor didn't work out.

 

[Cleatortoises]

How many titles did Joe B, Rick, Tubby, or 🐄 have before they came here?
Zero
Ky is the turbo charger that makes a difference.

 

[bnewt]

Coach Pope may not win a title, but it won't be for lack of effort. He played under one of the best in pitino and is very knowledgeable about the game. He represents uk and it's fan base in a very classy manner. Perfect example is that he and his staff are wearing suits again. Just the little things that make him the perfect fit

 

[MasonCoBlue]

I will never understand how anyone could still be on the Cal bandwagon after 9-16.

Then, there were still people on his side after Saint Peters, wow that is mind boggling to me.

But, holy smokes, how anyone could possibly think UK was still better off with Cal after the loss to Oakland, just makes no friggin sense.

Like you said, I would take a student manager at that point. Cal was doing absolutely nothing but riding the coat tails of nba prospects so he can say he had more draft picks than everyone else.

That guy is completely washed and out of his mind and those that didn't see it before, should figure it out before the end of this season.

He was destroying this program and we got extremely lucky that he screwed up the way he did.

I hope Mitch learned his lesson too.

To me…and I’m speaking for just me…it was the buyout and who would take the program. I was done as well. But we were in a difficult situation.

 

[Mike_Edwards]

Cal was a master salesman with a huge buyout as leverage hanging over UK’s head. He did everyone a huge favor walking away. I wasn’t thrilled with Drew, was hopeful for Hurley because of his recent run especially and came around rather quickly once Mark was named. Now after seeing his passion and what he brings I don’t see how anyone isn’t all in and excited like a five year old on Christmas Eve!

 

[B.B.H.]

Coach Pope may not win a title, but it won't be for lack of effort. He played under one of the best in pitino and is very knowledgeable about the game. He represents uk and it's fan base in a very classy manner. Perfect example is that he and his staff are wearing suits again. Just the little things that make him the perfect fit

Gotta win that title to legitimize that effort. Pope has me believing that he can and will win multiple. Look out UCLA!

 

[TheBlueMax]

I'll be 61 next month and have been a UK fan for life. I was not on the bandwagon of get Cal out of here. I was considering the buyout, along with who would replace him? More so...who would take the position. Even with the frustration of several years, I was very hesitant. When we lost to Oakland...I was done with Cal. Yet still worried about the buyout and not getting a top tier coach.

But when Cal resigned...my first thought...oh crap. Now what do we do? Especially knowing Cal would take our players. Finding a top tier coach played out as I suspected. But my goodness, did we find a diamond with Coach Pope. Heck, even if we weren't doing as well as we are...I'M enjoying the style of play. I'm enjoying a coach who coaches for the University. I'm enjoying players that WANT to be here for the program...not "I'm going to get mine." I'm enjoying playing every play. I'm enjoying how they respect the game. I could go on and on...

Coach Pope is a "BRILLIANT" coach that just needed a chance. One of the best Xs and O's I've seen in a modern offence. How he motivates team winning and unselfishness is quite remarkable.

Now I feel better...lol

I initially felt really good about Mark Pope. Many things to like, his personality and intelligence being two things at the top of the list. What I did not realize was his knowledge of the game and his ability to articulate that to his players. His style of play is modern and off the charts. Recruiting has been brilliant. He is one of us, and is poised to be as successful here as any previous coach. The very compelling story that he is writing is one of the most amazing ones in our history. I love his style and do think that this is a championship contending team destined to improve and amaze us over the course of the next five months.

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

He had me when he got off the bus

 

[gbl97]

It's nice that we don't have to worry about Pope leaving for UCLA or similar. The only way we lose Pope is if he gets elected President of the United States. Everyone loves the man.

 

[Digger-Cat]

I've long been accused of being a Cal slurper, so I'll answer.

In the Spring of 2021 the 9-16 season was a complete fluke during a very strange moment in time. Duke had an awful season, Penn St. football had an awful season, weird things happened across the sports landscape. The year before that we had a great team that won the SEC and were in a good position to make a tournament run. We had also mad the Elite 8 two of the three seasons before that. You simply can't fire a coach with Cal's past after a single bad season, no matter how bad it is. Especially during those weird Covid times.

That St. Peter's season we had a legitimately fun and great team for the vast majority of the season. We blew Kansas off their home court. However, TyTy never fully recovered from his injury at Auburn, Grady could barely walk by the end of the year due to plantar fasciitis, and Oscar was a head case before the St. Peter's game (refused to board the plane because he had visions something bad was going to happen). I wouldn't want Cal fired after losing to St. Peter's any more than I would think K should have been fired after losing to Lehigh or Mercer. In a single elimination tournament anything can happen, and quite frankly it was the first time Cal had been upset like that in the first round.

After the Oakland loss I didn't think we would be better off with Cal. I wasn't going to be too excited coming into this year if he were still here. But if you truly believe it was a guarantee we couldn't have been worse off you're kidding yourself. Pope was a great hire, but he wasn't guaranteed. History is littered with schools thinking the grass would be greener with a new coach and getting stuck in a decades long cycle of mediocrity. And there was a lot of pissed off people on this board the night Pope was hired.

Ultimately, it has worked out very well so far. I don't think there's anyone who truly thinks at this point we would have been better off with Cal going forward. But I also think it's perfectly fair to recognize that there was always a risk his successor didn't work out.

Cal stopped getting top end talent in 2016 (Fox/Monk/Bam), his schtick no longer worked, but the SEC was still weak enough where he could still pull it off, however with the exception of the 2020 team, he couldn't win the SEC, or the SECT.

In 20/21, yeah, it was weird, but Cal sat there and watched Brandon Boston do everything in his power to lose games. Richmond had no problems with Covid, they came into Rupp and beat our NBA draft guys. Dontae Allen was the better player, but Cal refused to play him. and this is Kentucky, why the hell are we rolling with Devin Askew and Sahvir Wheeler? Heck, he rolled with Wheeler for 2 years. How do you go from John Wall to Sahvir Wheeler?

Bottom line is, he used UK to be a middle man for the NBA draft. He was shepparding kids to the draft that were going to get drafted no matter where they went to school. He put individual goals and accomplishments over the program and gave UK fans the middle finger while doing it.

What ended up happening was there wasn't that duper high end talent to cover up the BS.

We should never lose to Evansville, Richmond and UNCW anywhere, let alone at home.

In my opinion, Pope is closer to a Players first coach than Cal and it's not close. Cal has better talent at Arkansas, but when you watch Arkansas, you're seeing UK from 20-24 and the 17/18 team that had 7 future NBA players on it that lost 10 games.

Cal was washed many years ago, some good players just did a good job hiding it from some.

 

[Digger-Cat]

To me…and I’m speaking for just me…it was the buyout and who would take the program. I was done as well. But we were in a difficult situation.

Yeah, the buyout was a big issue, but that doesn't stop us from realizing Cal was washed and no longer the right man for the job.

This is a 10 year job, JC stayed way too long, but he loved being the mob boss.

UK gives coaches and players the big stage with the bright lights, if you have the drive, you can be great here. Cal isn't a HOF coach without the stage UK provided.

 

[kennyskywalker34]

I had no idea who would be the next UK coach.
I'm far from a know it all fan. But I truly don't understand why some of you didn't think Pope would do well at UK.
If a coach can win at BYU with all the recruiting restrictions. Then he can certainly win at UK so I'm not surprised at all. I am a little surprised it has happened so fast. I thought he would have a 20 win tournament team year one. With a sweet 16 ceiling.
This team ceiling now is a title. I don't think they will win it. But they are one of 8-10 teams that has a legitimate shot.
Forget about Pope having never won a tournament game. He was coaching BYU.

 

[fatguy87]

I was on the "Cal must go because he was steering the ship into an iceberg" bandwagon. Regardless of the prospective next coach, he had to go to avert certain catastrophe and let us start to process of getting the ship back on course. If it were a process with some lean seasons, then so be it. Better to take care of it now than later.

 

[Digger-Cat]

I had no idea who would be the next UK coach.
I'm far from a know it all fan. But I truly don't understand why some of you didn't think Pope would do well at UK.
If a coach can win at BYU with all the recruiting restrictions. Then he can certainly win at UK so I'm not surprised at all. I am a little surprised it has happened so fast. I thought he would have a 20 win tournament team year one. With a sweet 16 ceiling.
This team ceiling now is a title. I don't think they will win it. But they are one of 8-10 teams that has a legitimate shot.
Forget about Pope having never won a tournament game. He was coaching BYU.

Well, did Pope actually win at BYU though? He had a good season last year, but he was a 6 seed that got upset in the first round.

That win at KU, didn't KU have some key injuries?

I'm being honest, at first, I hated the hire and I thought it was a desperate hire.

Nobody could have possibly known Pope was capable of doing anything close to what he has done to this point. This is like a fiction tale right now and I'm glad I was wrong.

 

[kennyskywalker34]

Well, did Pope actually win at BYU though? He had a good season last year, but he was a 6 seed that got upset in the first round.

That win at KU, didn't KU have some key injuries?

I'm being honest, at first, I hated the hire and I thought it was a desperate hire.

Nobody could have possibly known Pope was capable of doing anything close to what he has done to this point. This is like a fiction tale right now and I'm glad I was wrong.

My point was he got a 6 seed coaching at BYU in one of if not the best conferences last year. Also BYUs first year in a power conference.

 

[IL Wildcat]

I'll be 61 next month and have been a UK fan for life. I was not on the bandwagon of get Cal out of here. I was considering the buyout, along with who would replace him? More so...who would take the position. Even with the frustration of several years, I was very hesitant. When we lost to Oakland...I was done with Cal. Yet still worried about the buyout and not getting a top tier coach.

But when Cal resigned...my first thought...oh crap. Now what do we do? Especially knowing Cal would take our players. Finding a top tier coach played out as I suspected. But my goodness, did we find a diamond with Coach Pope. Heck, even if we weren't doing as well as we are...I'M enjoying the style of play. I'm enjoying a coach who coaches for the University. I'm enjoying players that WANT to be here for the program...not "I'm going to get mine." I'm enjoying playing every play. I'm enjoying how they respect the game. I could go on and on...

Coach Pope is a "BRILLIANT" coach that just needed a chance. One of the best Xs and O's I've seen in a modern offence. How he motivates team winning and unselfishness is quite remarkable.

Now I feel better...lol

You're not alone MasonCoBlue. There were many who had similar worries and concerns. I had many of those same concerns in recent years, wondering if we could find someone who could recruit like Calipari and if he would take all his players if he got fired, and how much money we'd lose on the buy-out. Hoping against hope that maybe Cal would eventually get it figured out. But 3 years in a row, losing the first weekend of the NCAA-T. 2 of those years were first round losses to double-digit seeds. When we lost to TX A&M in the SEC-T and then lost to Oakland, I was angry and wanted Cal gone, and I didn't care what it meant. And then it looked like he was gonna survive somehow. But when he resigned, I was happy. When we hired Pope, I didn't like it at first. But when he was introduced and I heard what he had to say, I knew it was gonna be OK, one way or another.

 

[Digger-Cat]

My point was he got a 6 seed coaching at BYU in one of if not the best conferences last year. Also BYUs first year in a power conference.

Yup, I gotcha, but we're talking about the head ball coach at Kentucky. There are a lot of coaches with those things on their resume.

We definitely got lucky here, could you imagine offering the job to Todd Golden? My first thought was, that's exactly the level of coach we were getting. He 100% does not have the resume of a coach that should get offered the UK job.

But, he is proving to be a diamond in the rough and Mitch took one hell of a chance on him. The last thing he needed was another Billy Gillispie situation.

 

[yoshukai]

I'll be 61 next month and have been a UK fan for life. I was not on the bandwagon of get Cal out of here. I was considering the buyout, along with who would replace him? More so...who would take the position. Even with the frustration of several years, I was very hesitant. When we lost to Oakland...I was done with Cal. Yet still worried about the buyout and not getting a top tier coach.

But when Cal resigned...my first thought...oh crap. Now what do we do? Especially knowing Cal would take our players. Finding a top tier coach played out as I suspected. But my goodness, did we find a diamond with Coach Pope. Heck, even if we weren't doing as well as we are...I'M enjoying the style of play. I'm enjoying a coach who coaches for the University. I'm enjoying players that WANT to be here for the program...not "I'm going to get mine." I'm enjoying playing every play. I'm enjoying how they respect the game. I could go on and on...

Coach Pope is a "BRILLIANT" coach that just needed a chance. One of the best Xs and O's I've seen in a modern offence. How he motivates team winning and unselfishness is quite remarkable.

Now I feel better...lol

You weren’t very smart

 

[Bkocats]

I think most of us are in the same boat
I personally was ready for Calipari to leave after he absolutely blew the Wisconsin game in 2015
Relented a bit in 2017 but was pretty much done after 2018
we had some good players who we loved in that time
At any rate…I was so excited about the news of Calipari leaving I didn’t care who we got…for a minute anyway
I was scared we’d end up with Drew. Hurley was a better choice but didn’t like him
Actually didn’t even think about Mark Pope until I heard he was being considered. I was actually very excited when he was hired
And obviously very pleased with the direction we’re now going

 

[Fox2monk]

I've long been accused of being a Cal slurper, so I'll answer.

In the Spring of 2021 the 9-16 season was a complete fluke during a very strange moment in time. Duke had an awful season, Penn St. football had an awful season, weird things happened across the sports landscape. The year before that we had a great team that won the SEC and were in a good position to make a tournament run. We had also mad the Elite 8 two of the three seasons before that. You simply can't fire a coach with Cal's past after a single bad season, no matter how bad it is. Especially during those weird Covid times.

That St. Peter's season we had a legitimately fun and great team for the vast majority of the season. We blew Kansas off their home court. However, TyTy never fully recovered from his injury at Auburn, Grady could barely walk by the end of the year due to plantar fasciitis, and Oscar was a head case before the St. Peter's game (refused to board the plane because he had visions something bad was going to happen). I wouldn't want Cal fired after losing to St. Peter's any more than I would think K should have been fired after losing to Lehigh or Mercer. In a single elimination tournament anything can happen, and quite frankly it was the first time Cal had been upset like that in the first round.

After the Oakland loss I didn't think we would be better off with Cal. I wasn't going to be too excited coming into this year if he were still here. But if you truly believe it was a guarantee we couldn't have been worse off you're kidding yourself. Pope was a great hire, but he wasn't guaranteed. History is littered with schools thinking the grass would be greener with a new coach and getting stuck in a decades long cycle of mediocrity. And there was a lot of pissed off people on this board the night Pope was hired.

Ultimately, it has worked out very well so far. I don't think there's anyone who truly thinks at this point we would have been better off with Cal going forward. But I also think it's perfectly fair to recognize that there was always a risk his successor didn't work out.

Oscar proved to be right. Something terrible happened.

 

[HCaulfield]

Great posts. Pope is nothing like Cal. That difference was scary to me when he was hired. Cal’s model no longer works. The point made earlier that he was no longer getting the very best young talent is exactly right and Oakland was indeed the tipping point. It hurts to lose to the good teams but it’s infuriating to lose to the teams where we allegedly had better talent.

 

[WallMashKyBall]

A year ago I had posted "be careful what you wish for, we could end up like Indiana." And wasn't convinced that wasn't happening when Pope was named. I gotta say, from jump street, I was impressed with his goofy, pull off the suit and reveal a UK jersey stunt. His passion and self-less (I'll use the word goofiness again) was breath of fresh air.

But I don't think anyone could have seen when he was initially hired what he would do once he was given the keys to a blue blood car. My theory is he developed a D-II style of offense that was not dependent on superior athletes because he din't have any, only Perry and Noah type of shooters at his first small college hire, he brought that to BYU and put in a few better athletes and it worked. And now he's brought it to UK and added more length, more athleticism, more defense, but still has his D II emphasis on shooters and pass the ball, over giving the ball to a Zion Williamson or Cooper Flagg, and I'm drinking his Koolaid.

 

[Cleatortoises]

A year ago I had posted "be careful what you wish for, we could end up like Indiana." And wasn't convinced that wasn't happening when Pope was named. I gotta say, from jump street, I was impressed with his goofy, pull off the suit and reveal a UK jersey stunt. His passion and self-less (I'll use the word goofiness again) was breath of fresh air.

But I don't think anyone could have seen when he was initially hired what he would do once he was given the keys to a blue blood car. My theory is he developed a D-II style of offense that was not dependent on superior athletes because he din't have any, only Perry and Noah type of shooters at his first small college hire, he brought that to BYU and put in a few better athletes and it worked. And now he's brought it to UK and added more length, more athleticism, more defense, but still has his D II emphasis on shooters and pass the ball, over giving the ball to a Zion Williamson or Cooper Flagg, and I'm drinking his Koolaid.

Self praise stinks, but I saw it.
Pope was my first choice.
All of the coaches with titles here since 78 didnt have one before they got HERE.
Rupp basically created the behemoth.
So the common denominator is.... HERE.
GBB!

 

[Kyhoward]

I initially felt really good about Mark Pope. Many things to like, his personality and intelligence being two things at the top of the list. What I did not realize was his knowledge of the game and his ability to articulate that to his players. His style of play is modern and off the charts. Recruiting has been brilliant. He is one of us, and is poised to be as successful here as any previous coach. The very compelling story that he is writing is one of the most amazing ones in our history. I love his style and do think that this is a championship contending team destined to improve and amaze us over the course of the next five months.

I watched several BYU games last year. His team though outmatched athletically, by most of their opponents, were getting open 3’s and layups. Then I saw an interview with Sampson (Houston coach) and he talked about how BYU was a nightmare to defend. I don’t think we have seen the entire offensive playbook in yet. Most good teams improve as the season goes on but Our team will improve even more as familiarity with each other and the offense increases. Defense is good now but should also improve. I am impressed with the lack of fouling which can be attributable to the depth but means that solid defensive principles are being taught. Kudos to Coach Pope but also the entire staff. Coaches together, players together and we will be a tough team by March

 

[TheBlueMax]

I watched several BYU games last year. His team though outmatched athletically, by most of their opponents, were getting open 3’s and layups. Then I saw an interview with Sampson (Houston coach) and he talked about how BYU was a nightmare to defend. I don’t think we have seen the entire offensive playbook in yet. Most good teams improve as the season goes on but Our team will improve even more as familiarity with each other and the offense increases. Defense is good now but should also improve. I am impressed with the lack of fouling which can be attributable to the depth but means that solid defensive principles are being taught. Kudos to Coach Pope but also the entire staff. Coaches together, players together and we will be a tough team by March

Great points. Very true...most refreshing to see us not be the fouling machine that we have been in recent years.

 

[drew_ukfan]

Pope loves his players but he also loves the University and the state. I think cal loved his players and definitely loved himself, that’s about it

 

[Digger-Cat]

I watched several BYU games last year. His team though outmatched athletically, by most of their opponents, were getting open 3’s and layups. Then I saw an interview with Sampson (Houston coach) and he talked about how BYU was a nightmare to defend. I don’t think we have seen the entire offensive playbook in yet. Most good teams improve as the season goes on but Our team will improve even more as familiarity with each other and the offense increases. Defense is good now but should also improve. I am impressed with the lack of fouling which can be attributable to the depth but means that solid defensive principles are being taught. Kudos to Coach Pope but also the entire staff. Coaches together, players together and we will be a tough team by March

I remember that Sampson quote. That's big praise from a guy that has one of the most potent defensive programs in the country.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

I was so pro-cal.

I slept in Brad Calipari PJ's and only ate brownies for treats.

 

[clevenger32]

I'll be 61 next month and have been a UK fan for life. I was not on the bandwagon of get Cal out of here. I was considering the buyout, along with who would replace him? More so...who would take the position. Even with the frustration of several years, I was very hesitant. When we lost to Oakland...I was done with Cal. Yet still worried about the buyout and not getting a top tier coach.

But when Cal resigned...my first thought...oh crap. Now what do we do? Especially knowing Cal would take our players. Finding a top tier coach played out as I suspected. But my goodness, did we find a diamond with Coach Pope. Heck, even if we weren't doing as well as we are...I'M enjoying the style of play. I'm enjoying a coach who coaches for the University. I'm enjoying players that WANT to be here for the program...not "I'm going to get mine." I'm enjoying playing every play. I'm enjoying how they respect the game. I could go on and on...

Coach Pope is a "BRILLIANT" coach that just needed a chance. One of the best Xs and O's I've seen in a modern offence. How he motivates team winning and unselfishness is quite remarkable.

Now I feel better...lol

Been following since Rupp and Nash. Knew Pope was the answer. Will go down as one of the top 3 coaches in UK history.

 

[kyrx]

OP, your thoughts were exactly my thoughts, except one: I was shocked, then extremely worried when we hired Pope.

I wanted Billy D. I did not want Hurley (must have been his last name), Pearl, Smart; I wasn't excited about Drew.

But, please do not crucify me for this, here is who convinced me: Ricky P.
The video he posted explaining why Pope was the right hire did it for me.

And I'm with you on age, almost. My goal was to witness our 12th before my time is done. Now, I'd be happy to watch 1-2 more titles with my wife and sons, who are all huge UK fans--proud to say that!

Now with Pope, that is very possible.

 

[Montana81]

There are people that would rather be stuck in mediocrity than confront the uncertainty of change. We call them “pussies”.