See Cal, it wasn’t impossible. You just had to coach a little.
Young players not wetting their pants
- Thread starter seccats04
- Start date
I don't think he's in here
This proves that we needed more "bucket getters" and playmakers, badly. Pope's offense, while great and effective, tends to hide the lack of playmakers, and probably a big reason he runs these particular sets. It is also evident that when a play doesn't yield an open shot, the offense gets very ugly because we do not have enough kids that can create. Another con to this type of offense is when shots aren't falling, what do we do then?
Amari Williams in ISO at the top of the key is painful. He has tried to break his man down off the dribble at least 4 times now in the 1st half. Not good!
Amari Williams in ISO at the top of the key is painful. He has tried to break his man down off the dribble at least 4 times now in the 1st half. Not good!
Lot of days in the past year to take a dig at Cal.
Tonight, as we get mopped by Duke so far, probably isn't one of them.
Tonight, as we get mopped by Duke so far, probably isn't one of them.
Halftime is sickening, putting it on mute til the second half starts. It’s everything Duke night🤮
I'd actually rather have last years UK team, even this early, if I'm trying to win this game.
Maybe not having Cal as the coach lol.. but yeah, that team would have a chance to win this.. and I don't think we have a chance unless we start really hitting 3s.
Maybe not having Cal as the coach lol.. but yeah, that team would have a chance to win this.. and I don't think we have a chance unless we start really hitting 3s.
He’s not wrong. I started thinking it as reality started to set in that we weren’t winning this game. It’s like, this is what it must have felt like playing against Wall, Cousins, Davis, MKG, etc.
Last edited:
People let the fact that they were happy to move on from Cal convince them this was a Nate Oats style juggernaut. It was pretty clear after the first two games the lack of athleticism and playmakers would be a problem against a high quality team.
Just mad that Duke looks good with a bunch of young guys. That’s all.
Yeah we played great against 2 poor teams but reality is setting in.
They honestly might be the best team. Jay is right, sadly.
That, or our team that's comprised of mid-major type of talent just can't do much against them.
But I have faith that Pope can get his guys after a few years. We already will have more elite talent next year, than we have this year.
They have high quality old guys too, something our old coach wasn’t a fan of attracting or keeping around.
Pope runs the sets because that's the type of offense he runs, not because he doesn't have enough bucket getters or playmakers.
Bro he is watching Andy Griffith he doesn’t have time for ball.
Flagg sure did piss down his leg when the game was on the line.
What you got to say now, hater? Conspicuously silent.
Where you at chicken little? Same old song and dance from you. Go call some piggies to the trough.
I stand by what I said. It was a problem in the first half and will be a problem against other teams that rely a ton on raw talent. The outcome doesn't necessarily change that. Pope will have to bring his A game every night against teams like that to make adjustments and to get our guys easier shots.
What you do is bring effort and intensity on defense and don’t stop shooting until they start falling.
Scrolling through this reminds me why I stay off rafters during a big game.
Good thing Pope HAS an A game, unlike your lover Cal.
Lol I moved on from Cal a long time ago, unlike a lot of people here. But being excited for a new era shouldn't make legit criticism unwelcome. Pope did an amazing job assembling a team from a group of transfers and they looked very good in the second half last night. But they will get out-talented this year on occasion and it'll probably cost them a few games. Which is fine. They'll probably win a few they shouldn't with hustle, playing as a cohesive unit, and coaching.
If this is really your takeaway from last night you’re a hater. Sounds like you’re mad we won.
Lot of good posters here with some steamy hot takes. Should probably pin this one as a warning for future generations.
Great points, I see it just as you do. I was surprised Duke even went out and picked him and Garrison up past the free-throw line. To his credit, Garrison did make a long shot from the top of the key. If we cannot get to the rim off the dribble, quality opponents will see that and tighten up their perimeter defense even more and make things tougher on us. We'll need better screening and cutting to respond.
I'll give a not-in-the-moment hot take that you probably won't like.
I'm not sure we win if Duke's 7 foot 2 monster doesn't get limited all 2nd half with cramps and knee issues.
I'm glad we made the right changes, and Pope did indeed adjust VERY well. We certainly played better and we got ourselves back into the game. But we ALSO looked like shit in the first half, and that does reside on the players AND coaching.
Let's be real, we got a LITTLE bit lucky there. If we were on the losing end of that game, we all know what we'd be thinking.
We’ve been on the losing end of that for pretty much 15 years. This is one of the first times as a Kentucky fan where I watched us win by being the clearly less talented team. Jaxson Robinson played like absolute ass, we looked completely out of synch, ton of turnovers etc and we fought and gutted out a win against a top 10 team on a huge stage. We were 7.5 pt underdogs. And it was extremely satisfying and fun and amazing. What a great job by the guys sticking together as a team and fighting. And if, in popes 3rd game, this is the type of heart and fight we can expect moving forward then look out college bball. What a great game,
You may be right. Even if we'd lost the game, I think it's clear that we have a good team, should improve, should have a good year and might make a nice run in March. It will be interesting to see how the team grows and evolves as the year moves along, no doubt.
We all know the big test will be when we struggle from beyond the arc, like Duke did. Then, what do we do and how do we respond ??
Agree 100%. And one could argue that Duke losing it's composure down the stretch and tightening up WAS because of our experience, our 2nd half resurgence, and Duke having a good deal of young players maybe not ready for this moment just yet.
I think the only thing I still want to see in this new era.. is maybe a little more talent. I still suspect that what will ultimately doom UK in the tournament, will be a team like Duke that has NBA talent almost across the board. BUT.. we're getting that level of talent as soon as next year, with guys like Lewis, Moreno, and Johnson. That's really it for me.. I saw enough last night in the 2nd half to think that Pope will be just fine as far as X's and O's, game management, etc.
I’m not here to make excuses for Duke. We had our own challenges and overcame them. That’s what wins games.
Similar threads
