Pope on Basketball and Life
- Thread starter bbncal02
- Start date
After 4 games with Pope and listening to his post games I’m having a hard time remembering who our coach was the last 4 years. I guess because our seasons were so short. 😆
The problem is it's contrary to human nature. Human behavior is attracted to the negative. We focus and really, tbh, thrive on it.
It's proven in headlines. Bad headlines get WAY more views than good. Bad news spreads 100x faster than good.
Yeah, he is very impressive to me as a coach. He's really a brilliant guy and his teams play like he thinks. Having all these upperclassmen MUST be a huge advantage to a guy like Pope. They've learned how to accept coaching over multiple years and he knows how to communicate what he wants effectively. And we're seeing them put his genius into practice.
I think your example is true but Pope is taking about internalizing vs external forces you’re talking about. He’s talking about the antidote to your true statement.
People do gravitate towards negativity IMO and all forms of media know/profit off of that. But you can combat that by focusing your internal thoughts and your intentions towards the positive outcomes you want to see.
Even with internal processes it's VERY easy to focus on the negative (ask anyone who's ever suffered from depression) and it compounds.
It's from our survival instincts where we had to be vigilant and prep for really bad stuff. And while that hasn't totally faded away, we are much safer these days than our ancestors. BUT, the mental acuities remain. And it's easy to assume the worse.
Nonetheless, yes, it's so much easier to focus and succeed when you try to focus on the positive. But to me it's about finding a balance too. Because if you go too far into the positive you get delusions and unicorn rainbow farts (and lands knows, we've had waaaaay too much of that in society at times.)
We have the Xs and Os of Rick and the kindness warmness of Tubby.
Damn, we may have found the perfect coach for Kentucky.
I agree with you. He fits UK so much better than I ever expected. In my defense, I didn't know Mark Pope all that well even from his UK days. And I didn't know much about him at all after he left UK. But now that I've heard his coaching philosophy and seen his demeanor and heard him interact with players and his assistant coaches and media and fans, I really do think he fits UK perfectly. The UK job is not just a coaching job, like so many others are. You have to be a great coach, a great communicator with media, a great communicator with fans. If I'm grading him, he's got an A+ right now.
This. That's why I can't stand when some say, "I don't care about relations/morals, just want them to win!"
Yes, winning is apart of it. But if you're willing to sacrifice your soul, or morals, or relationships to win? Your victories will be hollow. Your success a whited sepulcher.
Ah yes, like a whitewashed tomb... I'm with you bbncal.
I must say, it feels great for me, as a Christian, to be able to feel like our coach is leading the team and even interacting with the media and fans in ways that honor his faith. I know basketball isn't necessarily always a journey of faith. Coaches can be good at their job without being morally and spiritually good. Some have been good motivators going the other direction, in fact. But for me (and I don't expect everyone to feel this way, nor do I require it in any way) it just feels good to be able to support my favorite team without having to compromise at all, because I know Mark Pope is doing things the right way.
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