Two questions
- Thread starter FurdTerguson
- Start date
1. What is the roster? Other than shep I doubt anyone else would have been on the team if Popes coach. So can't answer that not knowing the rest of the roster. Shep would have started so there'd that.
2. Idk that Oscar comes here play for Pope.
2. Idk that Oscar comes here play for Pope.
Oscar didn’t do a lot of the things needed in Pope’s approach BUT he ran like the T-1000 and you can never not like his rebounding. I suspect if Pope had had him Oscar would have found ways to learn and Pope would have found ways to use him to advantage while he was learning without clogging the lane or otherwise hosing the offense.
1. FF or better
2. He would be used in a way to highlight his skill set so he would have been better off. Cal’s square peg round hole never worked for some.
2. He would be used in a way to highlight his skill set so he would have been better off. Cal’s square peg round hole never worked for some.
I’m damn sure Sheppard and Dillingham wouldn’t have spent their UK career coming off the bench.
Pope is THE ideal coach for this past season’s roster, IMO. Holy shit, Reeves, Sheppard & Dillingham in Pope’s offense would be scary good. And, Pope, like every other coach on the planet, WOULD’VE played those 3 together as much as possible. He might’ve even gone as far as switching defenses, occasionally, to offset the futile M2M torture.
And, Mitchell & Ivisic, both big guys who can pass & shoot, would be great fits, too. I think Edwards, Burks & Bradshaw would’ve been better in this system, as well. Really, everybody except UGO was born to play this style.
Oscar would be a bad fit, IMO. He is the antithesis of a Pope center. He’s not the quickest in-game decision maker (with the ball), he’s not a perimeter shooter, he’s not a passer & he’s not really a rim protector. Guys in Pope’s system need to be above average in at least 3 of those 4 categories.
And, Mitchell & Ivisic, both big guys who can pass & shoot, would be great fits, too. I think Edwards, Burks & Bradshaw would’ve been better in this system, as well. Really, everybody except UGO was born to play this style.
Oscar would be a bad fit, IMO. He is the antithesis of a Pope center. He’s not the quickest in-game decision maker (with the ball), he’s not a perimeter shooter, he’s not a passer & he’s not really a rim protector. Guys in Pope’s system need to be above average in at least 3 of those 4 categories.
I love how a guy that has never won a tournament game is all of the sudden Pat Riley on this board. I obviously hope we do well with him as our coach, but come on guys. I really hope he succeeds here, because it is going to be ugly if he doesn't, considering how quickly this fan base turns. And, everyone has a memory of I told you so, despite not telling us so.
As others have said, Pope wouldn’t have gotten that roster to come to UK, so it’s a useless hypothetical.
As for Oscar, it’s hard to beat being a 2 time All American and NPOY.
As for Oscar, it’s hard to beat being a 2 time All American and NPOY.
1) I think the team would’ve fared better. Reason being if Pope can go into Phog Allen with a BYU roster and come out with a dub he could’ve gotten last year’s team to improve over the course of the season, IF all the players were coachable. Last year’s team did not improve over the season. Everyone’s %’s stayed around the same (except Reed’s 3pt % which only went up most of the year). And nobody’s individual defense, nor the team defense, improved. The dude that yells a lot pointed that out in his analysis and cited early season footage to the last game and dudes were making the EXACT same mistakes. At that point, it is coaching (or lack thereof).
2) I’m not how much more Pope would’ve gotten out of Oscar. I think his defense would’ve improved, instead of regress, but I’m not sure by how much. I’m also unsure how much better Oscar’s defense needed to be when the dude averaged 16 and 13. Oscar was Cal’s scapegoat. He chased him off for Dickinson and karma served Cal a turd sandwhich.
Well Cal and those in the fanbase who bought the Oscar haterade got exactly what they deserved. Y’all got what you wanted and despite running off Oscar’s (supposedly) team wreckingly bad defense, our defense the season after was… WORSE.
And I’m not saying Oscar was the perfect player- he wasn’t. He did need to improve his pick n roll defense. Absolutely agree with that. But that’s on the coaches. And I never saw or heard anything about Oscar that would lead me to think he wasn’t willing to put in the work. On the other hand, I have PLENTY of reasons to think Cal and crew failed him as a staff.
I posted the questions. Wanted to see what you thought Pope could have done with three Cal teams that were huge disappointments.
I think he would have been a much better coach for last season's team. It has more to do with Cal than Pope. Father Time is undefeated. Cal became so stubborn and set in his ways, and he was going against coaches eager to earn some cred beating a Hall of Famer. Every time the other team adjusted we were dead in the water. Pope, on the other hand, is that young coach looking to earn his stripes. Willing to try new things. No way we lose to Oakland with Pope on the bench
I agree with what many of you said about Oscar. I wish Payne had been on staff during the Oscar years. But Oscar doesn't seem like the type of player that would be happy in a three-heavy offense. Too many long rebounds.
I think he would have been a much better coach for last season's team. It has more to do with Cal than Pope. Father Time is undefeated. Cal became so stubborn and set in his ways, and he was going against coaches eager to earn some cred beating a Hall of Famer. Every time the other team adjusted we were dead in the water. Pope, on the other hand, is that young coach looking to earn his stripes. Willing to try new things. No way we lose to Oakland with Pope on the bench
I agree with what many of you said about Oscar. I wish Payne had been on staff during the Oscar years. But Oscar doesn't seem like the type of player that would be happy in a three-heavy offense. Too many long rebounds.
Maybe it's because we believe what the coaches who have played against his teams have said , rather than the moronic utterances of message board hacks.
There are certain traits you just can see in a coach during game coaching and off the floor which tells you this guy is a winner. Coach Pope excels in them. This guy is just a winner.
It was a hypothetical question assuming Pope was the coach of the same roster and how he would have fared. Really shouldn’t be a hard concept to understand. You weren’t the first but after reading about 3 of the same type of responses it got on my nerves 😂
I have heard opposing coaches say that Pope runs offense that’s hard to defend. In contrast, the Oakland coach was confident in beating us after watching tape on our offense
All hypotheticals are useless - none will be proven as none will come about. The definition of hypothetical. But speculation on them is what gets the fans through the summer.
For #1:
Not sure seeding and record compared to what we actually did, but man it would have been fun to watch Pope with that shooting team. Would definitely be a top 4 seed considering he was a 6 with BYU. As for the end result, you can't do worse than losing in the first round like we did.
Reed, Dillingham, Reeves, Tre, and Big Z all 5 can shoot and pass. And most importantly would have started and played the majority of minutes. The might of average 90 a game.
For #2:
Oscar would have no chance in Pope's system. Can't shoot and wasn't a very good passer either.
Not sure seeding and record compared to what we actually did, but man it would have been fun to watch Pope with that shooting team. Would definitely be a top 4 seed considering he was a 6 with BYU. As for the end result, you can't do worse than losing in the first round like we did.
Reed, Dillingham, Reeves, Tre, and Big Z all 5 can shoot and pass. And most importantly would have started and played the majority of minutes. The might of average 90 a game.
For #2:
Oscar would have no chance in Pope's system. Can't shoot and wasn't a very good passer either.
Yeah some people are turning on him before he has even coached a game.
Last edited:
Similar threads
