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Pope Will Not Tighten Lineup

Heck I think Kemba Walker played 40 mins for like 10-12 games straight from the Big East tournament all the way til the final game of the NCAA tournament lol.
Yeah and Forrest Gump ran across America several times. Neither has anything to do with this set of UK players. Pope knows his teams limits. If he says Brea cannot play 38 minutes I trust him over ourselves armchair coaching.

I remember in 97 against Minnesota Mercer played a bunch of minutes. On Monday morning at Final Four I ran in to Pope. I asked him about the team and what he thought about the game tonight against Arizona. His first statement was about Mercer, said he was not in the best of shape and had not recovered from Saturday nights game. Pope said the guy for Arizona Miles Simon was gonna score easy on him. Said other players would have to step up. He knows his stuff. Always has.
 
As the season has drawn along minutes have fallen for guys who shouldn’t. These guys want to see lay in the nba but not do what it takes.
 
Good for pope, agree totally. For years people complained about Cal's tighter rotations and now the same people are complaining about the a different tactic. Will you guys please make up your mind?
 
Sounds like our conditioning isn’t up to par, maybe we should look into that this off season along with the fact of the injuries we’ve had all season long. I’ve said for a month that we look tired and pretty much out of shape, but the sad part is there’s tv timeouts and coaches timeouts and 100 reviews a game that’s basically more time outs…..so why are we so tired and why can’t guys play 30-35 mins/game then?
 
So the women’s team basically plays only 6 but the guys can’t? Interesting.
There is 0 comparison between men and women's game,none. Guys are much bigger, 20xs stronger, quicker and much more physical. It is a FANTASY that women compare to men at this level. I remember about 3 or 4 years ago the US women's soccer team lost to a Texas boys high school team.
 
So, we used to bitch about Cal playing his starters 36 mpg, having no depth, riding the starters so hard they get hurt and we only have seven healthy guys available any given night by Valentine's Day.

Now, we are mad Pope uses a longer bench to play 8-10 guys in an effort to keep starters fresh.

Alright then.
He’s been put in this situation. Cal chose it. Big difference.
 
Where are people getting 22 and 25 minutes? Pope is just saying he cant play Brea for 38 (very understandable) and Amari for 31 (also fair).

I also wonder if the coaches just know things about players that we don't. Some people here think it's some travesty why Pope and Cal aren't playing some player.. maybe they have information we dont.
 
Good for pope, agree totally. For years people complained about Cal's tighter rotations and now the same people are complaining about the a different tactic. Will you guys please make up your mind?
Why is it so freaking hard for all of you guys that make this statement to realize the bench isn’t what it was! Goodness. Wake up. It would be fine to play the bench longer runs if it consisted of Kriisa, Brea, Almonor, and Garrsion. But it doesn’t. It includes a few dudes that are seriously struggling to compete at this level currently. What’s the answer? Play those dudes that can’t hang? Or shorten the rotation? Nobody would be saying this if Kriisa and Robinson were healthy.
 
Too early to know that…best way to find out is….drum roll please…widen the lineup.
You haven’t seen enough evidence to know? Might wanna yank your head out. Hell, have someone that subscribes to the analytics give you the numbers when those dudes are on the floor. It won’t be pretty.
 
Why is it so freaking hard for all of you guys that make this statement to realize the bench isn’t what it was! Goodness. Wake up. It would be fine to play the bench longer runs if it consisted of Kriisa, Brea, Almonor, and Garrsion. But it doesn’t. It includes a few dudes that are seriously struggling to compete at this level currently. What’s the answer? Play those dudes that can’t hang? Or shorten the rotation? Nobody would be saying this if Kriisa and Robinson were healthy.
So your strategy is that we're better off running our starters into the ground even though the last 5 minutes they may be tanked? We should do it because we can't rely on our bench? There are negatives both ways. Does your boy Bruce do that? I thought he had an expansive bench this year.
 
You haven’t seen enough evidence to know? Might wanna yank your head out. Hell, have someone that subscribes to the analytics give you the numbers when those dudes are on the floor. It won’t be pretty.
Gotta develop them. I don’t think it’s been all bad. We can certainly see their weaknesses but there are also bright spots. So have I seen enough to know? No.
 
So, we used to bitch about Cal playing his starters 36 mpg, having no depth, riding the starters so hard they get hurt and we only have seven healthy guys available any given night by Valentine's Day.

Now, we are mad Pope uses a longer bench to play 8-10 guys in an effort to keep starters fresh.

Alright then.
People say they want Pitino or Pearl ball then also demand you play 5 guys. I agree some people just like to be angry
 
Yeah and Forrest Gump ran across America several times. Neither has anything to do with this set of UK players. Pope knows his teams limits. If he says Brea cannot play 38 minutes I trust him over ourselves armchair coaching.

I remember in 97 against Minnesota Mercer played a bunch of minutes. On Monday morning at Final Four I ran in to Pope. I asked him about the team and what he thought about the game tonight against Arizona. His first statement was about Mercer, said he was not in the best of shape and had not recovered from Saturday nights game. Pope said the guy for Arizona Miles Simon was gonna score easy on him. Said other players would have to step up. He knows his stuff. Always has.
It’s obvious you’re not smart enough to understand my comment.

If you wanna win big, having players who are willing to sacrifice is a must. And guess what? I’m not sure we have many this year that fit into that category. That’s gonna hurt your little feelings but it’s the truth. My message to Pope would be to recruit national championship type players like Walker.

What’s your goal for UK from here on out, smart ass? You good just with tournament appearances?
 
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