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Pope's first regular season exceeded the expectations of 71% of this board

gbl97

Junior
Mar 12, 2002
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The poll below is from June 19th.
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I actually thought I was amongst the most optimistic in the preseason .... 8 regular season losses and a 3 seed in the SEC and a 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. I wasn't far off. If you'd told me the SEC was going to be THIS historic great, then I would have gone on and said - ok, we will FINISH 8TH JUST LIKE THEY SAID WE WOULD, BUT WE WILL STILL GET A 3 SEED IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT. I'd said OK. We will lose more. And we did.

The only difference was all the crazy injuries and adversity of destroying the completeness of the team and team continuity this year. Seeing Kriisa and Jax sitting on the bench is a punch to the guts. But that's life. We've faced adversity in spades this year and we have done very very well. We responded positively each time, and that is a reflection on how actually great of a coaching job Coach Pope has done this year.

But I thought I was pretty wildly optimistic, and saying we would get our two wins in the NCAA tournament this year, making the sweet sixteen. which I will still stand by.

As I recall.

But wow, Pope's Patchwork, Rollercoaster Cats' this year are something else to watch ! I'm just glad to see this team finally get to the end to perform as hard as they can and give it everything as a team. That's all I, or anyone, could ever ask for. We're getting that with this team, this family !!!

Go Big Blue !
 
I was one of the fans who thought we'd get a 4 to 6 seed. The fact that Pope has done as he has with a limited roster is massively impressive.

The man can coach.

It's all going to come down to NIL in the days ahead. Our fans need to chip in.
I’m not dogging you, but if you show me your contribution receipt, I’ll match it. I’m all for the participation with NIL. I agree we can be a difference, I think fans hit a million last season, I expect this season to be greater.
 
Pope did great. I thought we would have been an 8 seed like BCG's first year. Instead, Pope beat people we have no business beating. He also lost to people we had no business losing too. Net, net good result. Get to the S16, and this was a good season end to end.
 
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Pope did great. I thought we would have been an 8 seed like BCG's first year. Instead, Pope beat people we have no business beating. He also lost to people we had no business losing too. Net, net good result. Get to the S16, and this was a good season end to end.

11 seed in coach g first season. Lost to Marquette without patterson. Crawford with a courageous effort but not enough.
 
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I’m not dogging you, but if you show me your contribution receipt, I’ll match it. I’m all for the participation with NIL. I agree we can be a difference, I think fans hit a million last season, I expect this season to be greater.

Would think that would be relatively easy. I donate $25 a month through Club Blue. Would only need 3,332 other gullable Gary's like me to get to a cold mil.
 
I said 4-6. I feel no shame. I felt like we would finish in tbe top 15-20. Of course, I haven’t complained about this season. Very satisfied so far.
 
I thought we'd be in the 20-30 range.

This has been the most enjoyable Kentucky basketball season in a long time for me. My expectations weren't extraordinary. I've sat back and just enjoyed the ride. It's liberating to be free of the cloud that lingered over the program. I can see the sunshine again.
 
That's good.
But I wish someone had the foresight to ask which All SEC team Otega Oweh would make.
That would've exposed the true Nostradamuses.
 
That's good.
But I wish someone had the foresight to ask which All SEC team Otega Oweh would make.
That would've exposed the true Nostradamuses.
Before the season started I said Otega was my favorite and thought he'd be the best. He was touted as being good on both sides of the ball and though not a great shooter, wouldn't shoot a bunch of 3s knowing it's not his game and would take just open ones. He's mostly stuck to that. I didn't expect that he had a superman cape in his locker room he was allowed to bust out a few times though.
 
I looked at this today and thought, I wonder if I voted. If so, I probably would have selected 7-9 seed. Sure enough, 7-9 is what I selected.

I firmly believe we would be a 2 seed if not for all the injuries.

Absolutely REMARKABLE regular season in his first year!!
 
Not that I'm a big fan of dragging up old threads to show you're right or wrong, but I chimed in as one of the first posts and said 3-5. So we're on the high end of that.

Looking back at the season, if we hadn't had the injuries we'd have likely been a 2.
 
Would think that would be relatively easy. I donate $25 a month through Club Blue. Would only need 3,332 other gullable Gary's like me to get to a cold mil.
You’d think so, but the math says nearly a quarter can’t afford it, the other half have wives that won’t allow it. Thus we’re left with the rebel men and singles lol.

In all seriousness, people can still do a one time donation they can afford. The product always determines the investment. No one was lining up to back Cal, but I think this offseason we’re going to see the bank build for this program.

However, I can’t help but throw a stone at those that think we’re a bottomless money pit (UK) and can throw millions at everyone and roster 15 ballers.

Let’s all enjoy this ride first and everyone can donate after the fact according to their emotion.
 
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no i see it different. The sec was so difficult this year that it pulled us up a seed line or two. I don’t think anyone saw the sec getting 2 1s 2 2s and 14 teams in. 6th best team in the sec is usually a 6ish seed. If you did a poll on tournament success I think that’s where the expectations lie.
 
I didn't vote in that thread but I was a 7-9 guy.

I wanted to just make the tournament in year 1 given the roster that had to be assembled out of thin air.

This season has surpassed my expectations for year 1.
 
I predicted 20-12, off by 2 games. Had us as a 4 or 5 seed.

Good on Pope, with JRob and Butler healthy all year we're a 1 seed looking at a Final Four.
 
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