I know the proof will be in the pudding. But I don't see anyway he gets less than an "A+" building this first roster from scratch. We all went nuts (lol) and looking back, it was only like a month and he moved efficiently and methodically building a roster I think we're all proud to be representing UK.
Pope aced the first test
- Thread starter Tubbyfan78
- Start date
I don't see how he could of done much better, that's for sure. His staff is impressive and the roster looks to be well thought out. The ingredients for success appear to be there. Now all he has to do is win.
Nobody on here ever goes on a roller coaster ride.
The guy was given ZERO players and created an entire roster in less than two months. That's amazing.
Press Conference: A+
Staff: A
Roster Build: A
He's killing it so far.
Staff: A
Roster Build: A
He's killing it so far.
Don’t dismiss Travis Perry. He will be a contributor.
My only real question remaining is how will our defense look? It wasn't terribly impressive at BYU under Pope but he's got athletes and DPOY transfers here that he could never get at BYU.
The ingredients are there.
Everything else looks great. This was a mulligan year for me anyway, the fact that we might have something already is very impressive.
The ingredients are there.
Everything else looks great. This was a mulligan year for me anyway, the fact that we might have something already is very impressive.
The roster is fabulous, but that's more like the pre-test. We need to stop getting hung up so much on recruiting. Wait until we see how a TEAM actually plays when it has a purpose and a plan and motivation to win college basketball.
Don't know about an A+, there were probably a couple of players we could have landed to get to that, but a solid A is a really good start. To think we had a lot of impatient fans on here pissed and worried that the sky was falling because he didn't have a roster built by day 5.
Now that we have a virtually full roster, we can finally turn our attention to that. Do they have any summer trips scheduled? something to give us a taste? or is it just pure speculation till late October.
I’m not dismissing him. That guy could’ve left like 99% of recruits do when there’s a coaching change. He decided to still play for Pope.
He never played for Cal so I’m not referring to him as a Cal player.
Pope is known for his offense, but him going after defensive players first (Williams, Butler, Oweh) shows he’s serious about having a strong defensive team
If we have a good year, which I think we will. Pope and this staff might start bringing in some top 5-10 guys consistently. But I really love this team. It has everything
I'm at a "B" after grabbing Jaxson. And I could bump that to an "A" if we can grab that "top" piece which would be the last thing we need.
But.. let's not forget that he retained zero players from last years team, and just 1 recruit, who was a UK guy since he was born. Those may not be his fault at all, but I can't give him a perfect score for that either.
And then we did have some misses on bigger transfers. We didn't get one transfer in the top20, and only 3 in the top50. That's pretty good, but for a Kentucky roster that was totally bare? I also can't give that an "A".
.. having said all that.. I'm not sure Pope could have realistically gotten much higher. He's still an unknown coach, so I don't expect every player to lineup for him I think the next few years are when we will see that.
So I give him a "B" and I'm pretty pleased with how this has gone so far.
But.. let's not forget that he retained zero players from last years team, and just 1 recruit, who was a UK guy since he was born. Those may not be his fault at all, but I can't give him a perfect score for that either.
And then we did have some misses on bigger transfers. We didn't get one transfer in the top20, and only 3 in the top50. That's pretty good, but for a Kentucky roster that was totally bare? I also can't give that an "A".
.. having said all that.. I'm not sure Pope could have realistically gotten much higher. He's still an unknown coach, so I don't expect every player to lineup for him I think the next few years are when we will see that.
So I give him a "B" and I'm pretty pleased with how this has gone so far.
We as Kentucky fans are going to have to adjust our thoughts about recruiting. We've been focused on how many *s has been next to a recruits name that if he's not a 5* he's a multi year player or a role player. For a decade guys have been recruited based upon their ranking and not how they fit together to make a team. Pope has changed all of that, he's actually built a team with players that fit together to make a great team. He might actually bring in a guy based upon how well he sets screens to free up shooters, which to Pope he might be more valuable than a potential lottery pick for the success of the team. Remember, it's about banners and championships now, not "ending generational poverty".
Understood. I am sorry if you took it as an attack it was not meant to be. It never ceases to amaze me how so many on the board don't include or don't think today's Kentucky kids are worthy of discussion with out-of-state kids. I go back to 1962 with Cotton Nash. Back then through Coach Rupp and Coach Hall eras especially, and really even through Pitino years there were never discussions about who was or wasn't from Kentucky...one didn't think Kentucky guys were inferior...I think that just started in recent years with when the talent level did take a dip but recently there has been a resurgence...the former coach had no interest in having Kentucky kids on the team. Arguably his best player last year he offered out of obligation but did not recruit. What would that team have done without Reed Sheppard. It is sad that younger fans who have only known one coach at UK, like that coach tend to dismiss the Kentucky guys.
The KENTUCKY brand’s demise has been greatly exaggerated. Pope never doubted it…many in the BBN did.
As effective the press was under Pitino, I never could understand why other teams used excuse after excuse to not use it. One excuse was rule changes like no hand checking. Thats not the case anymore. A another was you couldnt play 10-15 a game hard with an unathletic team with 7-8 players. Why not unless the coach is protecting his players. Sound familar? The Pitino press doesnt need great athletic players but players that are very good at zone reads and anticapation.
Not sure but listening to Pope, he’s going to put a lot of emphasis on the team building and meshing everyone together aspect. He said it’s the secret sauce.
Not sure if that means trips to Kings Island, a ropes course, capture the flag lol or what but they’re going to be very intentional and dedicate a good amount of time to off the court team building.
You have to put into consideration that for the most part, the talent level during Tubby through the Cal era level was not up to UK standards.
Like you said, there's a resurgence in talent for Kentucky kids. That's definitely something to look forward to.
Amazing how the tide shifted from when Chaz announced to when Jaxson committed.
Can't wait until we hear the Rupp Arena PA announcement next season say 'And the coach of the Wildcats MARK POPE!!!"
Don't know if it has been talked about but I am sure Tom Leach is pretty happy. Can't see Pope bailing on a post game press conference.
Can't wait until we hear the Rupp Arena PA announcement next season say 'And the coach of the Wildcats MARK POPE!!!"
Don't know if it has been talked about but I am sure Tom Leach is pretty happy. Can't see Pope bailing on a post game press conference.
Pope could have had a B- with the adversity he entered with and I would have been ok with that. He did not have but 1 player and that was Perry. Using the portal and NIL he was successful in my opinion. On top of that give me a Coach who is about UK and it's tradition.
In fairness, this was the pivotal piece. It's not the same ceiling or floor without Robinson. I think it took this from a "B" to an "A+." If you wanted to say "A" or A-" but could get to an "A+" with the cherry piece on top I'd get that. Anything less than that isn't even being fair though. This is now a really really good roster.
Not all of us went nuts. I wanted him before Drew made his decision and said so here.
Not only did they doubt it, they wanted Barnhar’s head in a platter and some STILL act like they are “too good” to be bothered with Pope. Idiots.
If you look under Cal's tenure you will see many KY. kids start and become contributors on other teams. These kids did not fit Cal's NBA model and they would have been lucky to ever see the floor. However, Brad could get minutes and we had equal or better players on the bench from KY. or from parts unknown to use a wrestling term. Reed would have rode the pine last year, but, he made the most of his minutes to start the season and Cal was forced to give him lots of PT.
One excuse is too many good ball handlers and passers now than before, a lot of the bigs in the 90’s couldn’t handle the ball or pass it as good as most bigs these days. But I agree with you, I miss it and it can really wear the other team down if you can keep rotating in fresh bodies and they only play 7-8 main guys. One drawback is unnecessary fouls but if you play 10 you have some to give
So did I. I just felt a good rising coach, Pope in particular, would have and bring more enthusiasm than one who has been to the top. I believe one is usually more excited the first time on most anything than the second.
Did you ever think that maybe he didn't really want any of Cals existing players? I think he offered them a spot as a courtesy but none of them really fit his style cept for Sheppard and maybe Big Z. I don't know of course, but my gut says none of the others were primary targets of his.
I can't say that I was all for the hire at the time but the time was while we were hearing conflicting reports about some bone head turning down a $100 million contract, which is still inconceivable to me.
When reality set in and Pope was mentioned, I had watched them play and was not against it nearly as much as some. But it's a big step, at the time, away from the hottest coach in college to a relatively unknown coach.
I was impressed with his offense but in all honesty, I would never have considered him at the time. I think Mitch deserves a lot of credit for this hire, regardless of the money, mostly. I truly can see Pope as a real up and coming coach that happened at the right time. Maybe Mitch knew all along but had to at least try to get a bigger name before going with Pope. Idk but for now, he's checking all the boxes and things look promising to me.
Another excuse I often see cited is too many TV timeouts now keep the opponent fresher.
I do agree that ball handling improved over the years, but IMO it has since taken a dip again. I think the Pitino press is one of those things that could come back into fashion again.
Cals team was all sorts of various degrees of 1AD talent, experience, and position. Hard to imagine he didn't want ANY of them. If anything, I think he might have known most would be tough to retain so maybe he didn't go crazy trying to keep him.
But still, when you add up the players and recruits who left.. we're like what? 1/10? It's hard for me to say that's great even if I don't think it's bad.
Last edited:
That isn't an excuse it is a reason that it has limited effectiveness and is mostly just a curve ball or something to leverage against poor ball handling teams
Even the Master doesn't rely on as much now and started dialing back on it as early as 97.
Even Calipari's teams were all but unphased when people would try it and you know he wasn't installing many breaks or anything.
The game changes and evolves and no amount of nostalgia will make it super viable again.
Pope will attack the opponents legs on offense.
Hottest coach was who, Cal? Glitz over substance will fail at UK. Any coach, no matter will fail at UK if you try and please the mob. Pope is here to win championships, not just win. That is expected this year and next and the reason the BBN is what it is. All the other coaches that were talked about for this job were all cowards. Pope embraced the job instead of running away from it. Mark Pope wants to win championships more than most so called fans. The difference is he is one of us he gets it.
No, I was referring to Hurley. We were all hyped up over him and then Pope was announced. There was an initial letdown but in the end, I love the hire.
