Why would Pope cover for Quaintance?

[UKreturntogreatness]

The truth is we don't know if he truly has knee swelling that is preventing him from playing or is choosing to sit out to prevent his draft position from dropping. I personally hold the opinion it is the latter as some knee swelling for other players isn't a totally unplayable factor. I don't see even playing some limited minutes being a challenge to any increased debilitation. But, the latest is that he isn't even practicing (yet people have observed him walking around seemingly fine).

If you believe the latter like I do, what would be the motivation for Pope to cover for him?

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

Because agents and camps related to these kids are petty. There’s little to gain by pointing fingers if you’re Pope. Keep relationship as good as you can so as not to close doors to others in the future. JQ not playing in the state we seen him last may be in Pope and JQs best interest.

 

[UKCowboys]

The truth is we don't know if he truly has knee swelling that is preventing him from playing or is choosing to sit out to prevent his draft position from dropping. I personally hold the opinion it is the latter as some knee swelling for other players isn't a totally unplayable factor. I don't see even playing some limited minutes being a challenge to any increased debilitation. But, the latest is that he isn't even practicing (yet people have observed him walking around seemingly fine).

If you believe the latter like I do, what would be the motivation for Pope to cover for him?

The kid is hurt SMH. Everything isn't some conspiracy

 

[Anony Moose]

The truth is we don't know if he truly has knee swelling that is preventing him from playing or is choosing to sit out to prevent his draft position from dropping. I personally hold the opinion it is the latter as some knee swelling for other players isn't a totally unplayable factor. I don't see even playing some limited minutes being a challenge to any increased debilitation. But, the latest is that he isn't even practicing (yet people have observed him walking around seemingly fine).

If you believe the latter like I do, what would be the motivation for Pope to cover for him?

Hurts recruiting and relationships going forward. Also means publicly admitting you got played by a kid and his handlers and you lack any real ability to do anything about it.

No different than Peterson at KU. You will never convince me he isn't just picking and choosing when he plays and doesn't.

 

[BlueWorldOrder74]

What else is Mark gonna do? He can’t blast him publicly. That would be detrimental to any recruiting he could possibly do. Just has to sit there and deal with the seriously bad decision he made in bringing him here. It’s the old “you made your bed” situation. His own fault. He should be the one held accountable, not JQ. Marks fault completely.

 

[NociHTTP]

What else is Mark gonna do? He can’t blast him publicly. That would be detrimental to any recruiting he could possibly do. Just has to sit there and deal with the seriously bad decision he made in bringing him here. It’s the old “you made your bed” situation. His own fault. He should be the one held accountable, not JQ. Marks fault completely.

Why would it bother any recruit who wants to play for UK? I know you don't mean it this way, but it reads as "let's not call out character issues" even though enabling it is a character issue.

 

[Anony Moose]

Ohh, no. You got me good!

 

[UKCowboys]

Awww, the poor thing is all up in his feels. Just suck harder, you'll feel better!

Pound that keyboard fella

 

[Anony Moose]

Pound that keyboard fella

You mean like you just did to type out your message? Lol.

 

[UKCowboys]

You mean like you just did to type out your message? Lol.

Keep at it, itll grow eventually kid

 

[Anony Moose]

Keep at it, itll grow eventually kid

It's already big enough to accomplish everything I desire to accomplish. ; )

 

[UKCowboys]

It's already big enough to accomplish everything I desire to accomplish. ; )

No doubt peanut

 

[Vek96]

The truth is we don't know if he truly has knee swelling that is preventing him from playing or is choosing to sit out to prevent his draft position from dropping. I personally hold the opinion it is the latter as some knee swelling for other players isn't a totally unplayable factor. I don't see even playing some limited minutes being a challenge to any increased debilitation. But, the latest is that he isn't even practicing (yet people have observed him walking around seemingly fine).

If you believe the latter like I do, what would be the motivation for Pope to cover for him?

He doesn’t still have knee swelling. If he does, his Surgeon needs to find another career.

 

[JwUKFan11]

Same reason Cal couldn't kick Sharpe off the team. The harm it would do with families, agents, media, etc is far greater than any benefit.

 

[cornbreadnmilk]

Same reason Cal didn't bash Sharpe. To keep bitter agents from keeping other players away and not hurt recruiting.

 

[Anony Moose]

No doubt peanut

What's with the obsession with nuts?

 

[UKBB4Ever]

It's probably both things. JQ is not 100% and maybe could play. But also afraid that he would hurt his draft stock and scared of reinjury.

Lindsey Vonn went down a mountain on a torn ACL. But she's already a pro. She didn't have an upcoming draft to worry about.

Pope can't really say more than he has. Well, maybe he could? How could Pope hurt his recruiting anymore? JQ's dad already blasted him. And his record of not developing players is on full display.

 

[Skyguyb27]

Why would it bother any recruit who wants to play for UK? I know you don't mean it this way, but it reads as "let's not call out character issues" even though enabling it is a character issue.

Because if he demonstrates he doesn’t have a players back publicly no one will ever trust him fully to have theirs.

 

[Loucatfan30]

What I don't get is why nobody has the same level of problem with JQ and Pope that they had for CAL and Sharpe. I agree it is very little to gain from throwing a kid under the bus but at a minimum people should be very upset. Imagine if you were the donor that paid the 3M to get him. It could hurt future recruiting by wasting a big donors money like this. Sharpe cost us nothing financially.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

What I don't get is why nobody has the same level of problem with JQ and Pope that they had for CAL and Sharpe. I agree it is very little to gain from throwing a kid under the bus but at a minimum people should be very upset. Imagine if you were the donor that paid the 3M to get him. It could hurt future recruiting by wasting a big donors money like this. Sharpe cost us nothing financially.

It’s a different situation. Sharpe was not hurt.

Cal did right for Sharpe. There was nothing to gain for Sharpe by playing. It wasn’t right for UK. But Cal always maintained he was players first. Not program first. So he did what he said he would do. That bought his his cache with recruits.

JQ was/is hurt. He was always a gamble. But it was a gamble most coaches would have taken. Pope says he is program first. I believe he is. And being program first you can’t damage the program’s future by throwing JQ under the bus.

Just suppose he told JQ “the doctors have cleared you so you need to play or go home”

The only way that works out is if JQ plays and stars. If he plays and drops his draft status then Pope is toast. If he gets reinjured then Pope is the bad guy. If JQ just packs up and goes home then Pope is the bad guy.

It’s hard to know what to do in that situation. But the coaching staff has more info than anyone and they obviously think the juice is not worth the squeeze.

 

[Uncle ByeBye]

Go brush your teeth. We don't wanna smells Pope's s e m e n on your breath. It's offensive!

You're a class act man !

 

[NociHTTP]

Same reason Cal didn't bash Sharpe. To keep bitter agents from keeping other players away and not hurt recruiting.

So we can recruit more players like him? I know that's not exactly what you meant, but someone needs to put an end to it.

 

[NociHTTP]

What I don't get is why nobody has the same level of problem with JQ and Pope that they had for CAL and Sharpe. I agree it is very little to gain from throwing a kid under the bus but at a minimum people should be very upset. Imagine if you were the donor that paid the 3M to get him. It could hurt future recruiting by wasting a big donors money like this. Sharpe cost us nothing financially.

Out someone who is refusing to play isn't throwing them under the bus. It's not some "mistake".

 

[Anony Moose]

You're a class act man !

Lulz. It's a message board. Go change your tampon, princess. It's clearly saturated.

 

[Uncle ByeBye]

It's probably both things. JQ is not 100% and maybe could play. But also afraid that he would hurt his draft stock and scared of reinjury.

Lindsey Vonn went down a mountain on a torn ACL. But she's already a pro. She didn't have an upcoming draft to worry about.

Pope can't really say more than he has. Well, maybe he could? How could Pope hurt his recruiting anymore? JQ's dad already blasted him. And his record of not developing players is on full display.

I think you said it best. I don't think he's 100% .he didn't look the same to me after St. Johns. And there probably are some mental barriers with his knee. Doesn't trust it fully, fear of reinjury. There's no telling

 

[FatCatMan]

Pope’s a nice guy. He isn’t gonna bust the chops on one of his players. Of course, being buddies with your players isn’t gonna lead to much success, especially at a school like Kentucky.

 

[rick64]

I'm beginning to understand even more why coaches like Wright, Ratface, Saban, etc. retired and got out of coaching.

 

[Anon412784ffff.]

The kid is hurt SMH. Everything isn't some conspiracy

You mean just like Darren Peterson

 

[CatEye2010]

You're a class act boy !

FIFY

 

[Anony Moose]

FIFY

Wow, that's a dagger to the heart!

 

[wildcat111]

Because agents and camps related to these kids are petty. There’s little to gain by pointing fingers if you’re Pope. Keep relationship as good as you can so as not to close doors to others in the future. JQ not playing in the state we seen him last may be in Pope and JQs best interest.

Hurts recruiting and relationships going forward. Also means publicly admitting you got played by a kid and his handlers and you lack any real ability to do anything about it.

No different than Peterson at KU. You will never convince me he isn't just picking and choosing when he plays and doesn't.

Pope being played LOL!!

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

Pope being played LOL!!

Why would our current coach being played be LOL? If you’re a fan of the school, shouldn’t that be frustrating or upsetting rather than prompting laughter? Watched some more of the Chris Adams guy on YouTube and the guy is always smiling after a loss — never understood fans being happy about being right because the season is going bad. Unless that was a nervous or sarcastic LOL…. This has been a very difficult year for the “through thick and thin, for better or worse” types of fans like me…nothing I personally feel like saying LOL about.

 

[Phil_The_Music2]

Why would our current coach being played be LOL? If you’re a fan of the school, shouldn’t that be frustrating or upsetting rather than prompting laughter? Watched some more of the Chris Adams guy on YouTube and the guy is always smiling after a loss — never understood fans being happy about being right because the season is going bad. Unless that was a nervous or sarcastic LOL…. This has been a very difficult year for the “through thick and thin, for better or worse” types of fans like me…nothing I personally feel like saying LOL about.

Nail on the head here. You know I've been defending Pope a lot, and after the Georgia game, well, I'm losing the faith. But it breaks my heart. Not just for Pope, but for the program. If Pope doesn't work out, it's going to set us back no matter how you slice it. There's no guarantee the next coach will succeed, and even if he does, it likely will take some time. But there are posters on here who seem positively delighted to see Pope fail. And I think it's simply because they didn't like the choice, and would rather see Kentucky fail than admit they were wrong. I don't think they are really fans of the program so much as they are fans of winning. I find it very odd that they are miserable when we win and almost seem delighted when we lose.

 

[CatBlueBlood]

Go brush your teeth. We don't wanna smells Pope's s e m e n on your breath. It's offensive!

I don't offend easily, but your comment is beyond crass.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

Nail on the head here. You know I've been defending Pope a lot, and after the Georgia game, well, I'm losing the faith. But it breaks my heart. Not just for Pope, but for the program. If Pope doesn't work out, it's going to set us back no matter how you slice it. There's no guarantee the next coach will succeed, and even if he does, it likely will take some time. But there are posters on here who seem positively delighted to see Pope fail. And I think it's simply because they didn't like the choice, and would rather see Kentucky fail than admit they were wrong. I don't think they are really fans of the program so much as they are fans of winning. I find it very odd that they are miserable when we win and almost seem delighted when we lose.

The next coach cannot be worse than this.

There is absolutely nothing Pope does well as a coach.

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

The next coach cannot be worse than this.

There is absolutely nothing Pope does well as a coach.

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^ Those two guys were almost your coach right now. It can definitely get worse. If it doesn’t work with Pope, I’ll be just as ready as anyone to move on, but the “becoming Indiana” people have yet to see what becoming Indiana really means.

 

[UKGrad24]

Because agents and camps related to these kids are petty. There’s little to gain by pointing fingers if you’re Pope. Keep relationship as good as you can so as not to close doors to others in the future. JQ not playing in the state we seen him last may be in Pope and JQs best interest.

I’m no fanboy of Mark these days obviously but objectively there’s nothing he can do. If he got played you don’t highlight it, you get through it quietly. He starts attacking like that and recruiting is going to get worse. Agents are connected to a lot of players, things in this area spread quickly.

To me it looks like Mark might have signed JQ as a momentum piece, and something to possibly make himself look like he’s a destination for lottery picks. I don’t think he ever meant it as an impact. JMO. I think it was more of a strategic move, with a hope. It’s why I think it’s totally dishonest to even try to use his injury as an excuse. He was not really ever part of this roster and that was known from the beginning.

There were reports his injury could linger into February. There’s no way he was signed to be a major impact, if that’s the case then he wouldn’t even be in game shape at all. Heard reports that he might be ready by mid January at the earliest. That puts him in game shape maybe around the tournament. And this is all a hope and a prayer. To me, think it’s possible he was really signed for optics and a shot at the end.

 

[UKGrad24]

Nail on the head here. You know I've been defending Pope a lot, and after the Georgia game, well, I'm losing the faith. But it breaks my heart. Not just for Pope, but for the program. If Pope doesn't work out, it's going to set us back no matter how you slice it. There's no guarantee the next coach will succeed, and even if he does, it likely will take some time. But there are posters on here who seem positively delighted to see Pope fail. And I think it's simply because they didn't like the choice, and would rather see Kentucky fail than admit they were wrong. I don't think they are really fans of the program so much as they are fans of winning. I find it very odd that they are miserable when we win and almost seem delighted when we lose.

I don’t think many actually are laughing at Pope as in, not liking him. I think they’re laughing in response to how many people were not catching on, because there’s been a lot of back and forth. It’s directly more towards posters that were attacking everyone for simply seeing the truth and calling it objectively.

That’s how I view it. Anytime I’ve said something similar it’s for 2 reasons. I’m almost mocking some of the hardened pumpers, or if I didn’t laugh I’d cry. One of the reasons I want this over is so Mark can salvage some of himself here and not be known for where this is headed. So no matter what I say the answer is always I like Mark.

 

[NociHTTP]

..

 

[peterpiper09]

Because he has no other choice
Just another thing out of his control