Are we Soft! A Pitino team would not get punked like this. His teams doled out the pain. Get a pair of Ba!!s boys!
Post Game Question for Pope
- Thread starter NerlensCat
- Start date
It is never a good thing when your guards are the most physical players on your team.
Excellent observation …
I think at some point you have to stop comparing eras. Pitino has been gone here for almost 30 years. That is ancient history now. Pitino didn't coach n the NIL and transfer era at UK. He wouldn't do what he did n the 90s now at UK IMO.
I thought Williams was a tough guy. Turns out it is Owen and Butler, maybe Carr.
I have a hard time faulting Pope.
The announcers kept shouting out how physical Georgia was playing. At one point Carr got grabbed by the jersey and taken to the ground. No call. In fact, they were apparently debating whether or not Carr committed a foul.
On the flip side, we were called for touch foul after touch foul. I saw a Georgia player slide 12 feet with the basketball. That's legal now.
It's easy to see Georgia's physicality and say "Kentucky couldn't handle it." But we weren't allowed to give it back.
The announcers kept shouting out how physical Georgia was playing. At one point Carr got grabbed by the jersey and taken to the ground. No call. In fact, they were apparently debating whether or not Carr committed a foul.
On the flip side, we were called for touch foul after touch foul. I saw a Georgia player slide 12 feet with the basketball. That's legal now.
It's easy to see Georgia's physicality and say "Kentucky couldn't handle it." But we weren't allowed to give it back.
Playing with pride and a chip on your shoulder never goes out of style.
You can remove Carr from that list. Those freshmen bigs nearly made Carr soil his shorts. He was too soft to successfully commit a flagrant foul to prevent someone from scoring.
That alone isn't enough. You aren't winning a national title or making a final four without high level talent most of the time. This team doesn't have the high level talent so not surprised we see inconsistencies.
I hate to say it, but players take their personality from their coach. At some point Pope has to learn you have to fervently point out where a guy has to improve. Meaning every now and then you have to challenge their manhood!
Plenty of blame to go around tonight. Our bigs tend to play soft and they struggle something awful against aggressive big men. They held their own against Florida but they aren’t dawgs. When we get punked in the paint, we look just plain.
And Jaxson Robinson is the same way. If his defender is aggressive with him, he wilts. Way too soft. We will continue to lose to inferior teams that rough us up if the refs aren’t calling it tight.
And Jaxson Robinson is the same way. If his defender is aggressive with him, he wilts. Way too soft. We will continue to lose to inferior teams that rough us up if the refs aren’t calling it tight.
You aren’t winning one without that either. I didn’t say that is it. But one thing I did agree with Cal on is that kids have to be tough. You can’t just shoot and pass to be elite. You have to be tough minded and fight your ass off.
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Our guys don't know how to play physical, they get frustrated, then they push, grab, shove, swat etc… that's not playing physical, that's playing weak minded.
Didn't Rick literally say last year one of his games was "the most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime"? He's currently coaching teams that get punked. It's not the '90s anymore, college basketball is a different game now.
I lost count on how many times I saw Garrison or Carr with a lane and just give up before they got halfway because a UGA big was close. It was disgusting.
Every game we have played that has been close was because the other team pushed us around. I expect to win every game and if we lose, it better not be because we got pushed around. That is a mindset and coaching personality. I love Pope for his offensive mind, but he has to get this shit fixed because we are in the most physical league in college basketball.
Also, a number of times Robinson cut to the basket, received the pass, and didn't even look for his shot. We treated them like they had Patrick Ewing under the basket.
Bullshit, you don't know jack shit about Pope's coaching unless of course you have a locker room pass and go to practice. What a d- bag
I’ll give you Oweh & Butler……..I’ve seen nothing from Carr at Clemson or tonight that says tough. He gets pushed around more than Williams on the offensive glass & abused off the dribble.
This makes me think there is little to no physical play at all during their practices. During the Florida game, Williams was flexing. I don't recall see him flex against those freshmen tonight.
Don’t be an apologist. I don’t judge on one game, WKU, Ga State, Clemson, OSU, Ga.
If we had not been at home, we probably would have lost to Florida. Why, because they kicked our ass on the offensive boards.
Pope has to do something quick or this is going to turn into a three game(minimu) losing streak.
Totally agree! SEC refs hate UK and it shows almost every night we play! UK is minus 33 on FT’s in the 2 SEC games! It would have been worse if the 3 blind mice didn’t call 6 fouls on GA in the last 2 min n we shot 10 FT’s..😂😂😂
You have to adjust to the refs. This is a physical league. We are going to get our asses handed to us on Saturday and next Tuesday if we don’t.
Williams got F’d on 3-4 no calls when he was fouled, grabbed, pulled down! We didn’t play well but it’s hard when the whistle isn’t consistent! SEC refs hated Cal, and they’re calling games like he’s still our coach!!
Look, there’s a reason a ton of us were skeptical about the hire. Pope has done a TREMENDOUS job of quieting that a bit. But still, his teams aren’t exactly known for being battlers or tough. The reality is, he was a reach. But he’s also very capable. I still have super big doubts. I’m also extremely excited to see what he can do if he acquires elite talent. I’m not disappointed at all. Also, I’m not over the moon excited. Call me cautiously optimistic.
I am a huge fan of Pope. With that said, it is clear that there isn't a lot being done in practice to prepare these guys for the kind of physical play that occurs in the SEC. No, I am not at UK's practices, but if they had physical practices, they wouldn't shy away from it during games. I am not advocating killing each other in practice, but you have got to get use to shooting with body contact and being pushed some when rebounding.
The meal will never be better than the ingredients used to prepare it. Pope can only do so much with players who lack the will and the talent to fight. The only thing this team is missing is a quality big man. That has nothing to do with coaching so don't try to use this as an opportunity to go after Pope. I can assure you this team wouldn't have been close to top 10 with Cal as coach.
He rightfully was not the first person to be called, but he is an excellent coach. He has to find a way to bring out the toughness in these guys.
I don't recall us being tough with Cal as the coach. We just had way more athletic bigs that we do now.
There's nothing Pope can do to just flip the physicality switch with these guys. Durant will never be Shaq down low no matter how hard he tries. Sometimes guys just are what they are.
Durant would perform better under the basket than what we have. Durant was skilled enough to have gotten all of their bigs in foul trouble. We don't even seem to understand the pump fake well enough to get players off their feet to force fouls.
Almost all of these guys are 4th and 5th year seniors. If they were inclined to play rough and tumble basketball they would be doing it by now. Maybe they are what they are, and screaming shouting and stomping our feet by fanbase or coach is not gonna change that. You guys are conditioned by 12 years of watching freshman play to think that way. These are veteran players and most are playing as good as they are EVER going to play. This isn't the 96 Cats folks, it is the best guys we could get in the portal on short notice. I am trying to enjoy the season based on that knowledge. Those of you expecting this team to go to FF are deluded.
We were in the early years, Cousins, Wall, MKG, T Jones, Knight, etc. The last one was probably either the Herro or Richard’s, Quickly teams. Certainly agree, not in the last 4 years. My point was not to say that Cal was a better coach, just agree that players have to be tough minded and physically.
There are more coaches than Cal and Pope. I HATED Cal at the end. Popes teams are historically soft AF. This one is no different. Had Pope played at Wake Forest or Clemson he wouldn’t be the coach. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, just stating facts. I think his offenses are brilliant. I think he cobbled together a roster that can compete. I’m also super excited to see what he can do under the UK brand. But I’m also skeptical as hell, because this team is soft AF like his previous teams.
This is the same coach many were proclaiming was the NCY Saturday night. I read all the BULLSHIT when he was hired about giving him this year based on fact we had 0 players at the start of June. I knew when he lost a game or to you PRICKS would come out of the woodwork and start snipping. I so wish you guys would slither back in your holes and let the fans who are trying to enjoy the season do so without listening to your DRIVEL
I think he has to find a way to bring out a toughness in his own coaching. This isn’t the only soft a$$ team he’s coached. In fact, that’s the moniker of most of his teams. I think he will be fine, but I’m not convinced of it.
Look man, I said I think he’s done a tremendous job in some aspects. And this league is NO JOKE. Zero NCAAT wins. Zero conference titles. If he’d played ANYWHERE but UK we wouldn’t have hired him. We’ve gotten bitch slapped by three pretty average teams and have made ZERO adjustments. I don’t have to give him a pass for everything. The man can be doubted or questioned. You can drink his juice just like the Cal huggers did. Personally, I think the jury is still out. I honestly think he could kill it. But I also think we could lose ten games a year for the next five years too. I’m just not convinced. Call me whatever you need to do you feel better, just the facts.
As a counterpoint to your 3 losses to mediocre teams Explain to me how he is 3-0 against top 10 teams, something Cal hadn't done in 8 years. In fact no first year coach but Adolph Rupp has EVER done that
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