Pope is not the guy to blame

[21Goose]

Pope took his dream job like most would but he was not even close to qualified. No way he would have been considered if he didn't play here but Mitch panicked after Drew turned him down. Your anger should be at Barnhart. He is the most overrated AD in college sports and I can't wait until his last day on the job.

 

[CutNets]

Not hating, but I believe this has been covered on here.

 

[TTTblue24]

Actually if you want to name anyone it’s cal, he basically quit the last 3-4 yrs here and made it to where a change was needed. Had he stayed hungry and actually coached to the best if his abilities, he’d still be here and be in the conversation with self, K, Izzo those type guys.

 

[Cats4321]

I can't blame Pope for taking his dream job. He clearly didn't have the resume for it, but Mitch hired him anyway. It doesn't mean he shouldn't be asked to resign after this year. He was given an opportunity to prove himself, but the program has trended in the wrong direction the past two years. He can take the millions that he made here and live comfortably, and we will still appreciate what he did as a player. And we can celebrate a new AD and coach this off-season.

 

[Zuma75]

Actually if you want to name anyone it’s cal, he basically quit the last 3-4 yrs here and made it to where a change was needed. Had he stayed hungry and actually coached to the best if his abilities, he’d still be here and be in the conversation with self, K, Izzo those type guys.

Cal jumped the shark … no doubt about it.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

Actually if you want to name anyone it’s cal, he basically quit the last 3-4 yrs here and made it to where a change was needed. Had he stayed hungry and actually coached to the best if his abilities, he’d still be here and be in the conversation with self, K, Izzo those type guys.

Sounds like bias confirmation. Cal had one bad season here. It was really bad and coincided with a worldwide pandemic. Cal's last 3 seasons were a 2,5 and 3 seed. He had reloaded for the 24-25 season.

The '22 season was great. Oscar POY. Just dominated teams. The '24 season was very good. Yes, we got upset in the tourney and that sucks. But if the seasons don't count why is anyone concerned about Pope?

Cal needed to go because of the players first thing. Not because matt jones said so. But there was no reason to hire a clown to take his place.

I didn't want Drew and thought Pope was a home run hire. One of ours!! Instead it's just a miserable failure. Drew would have been a better hire. There were also many better than Drew. No one besides him turned us down. When Drew backed out of their prearranged deal Mitch called only Pope.

 

[OliverSimmonsTwinBrother]

I can surely blame Pope. Was he under qualified? Yes! Has he tried anything at all to improve? Doesn't seem like it. Surrounded himself was a lackluster staff and misused the greatest resources in college sports.

On top of all that, he's very stubborn on the court and refuses to deviate from something that obviously isn't working.

 

[UKortho]

You accept your dream job ($$$) then you own the results.

 

[wccat]

Unfortunately Pope is getting paid and he said he understands the assignment. He should be held accountable. Now he will get a third year like it or not but after next year a decision will need to be made. Pope is not the new AD’s hire so he will have to make the call on Pope’s results and performance. Another season like this one and it will be an easy decision.

 

[Monday Nitro]

Pope took his dream job like most would but he was not even close to qualified. No way he would have been considered if he didn't play here but Mitch panicked after Drew turned him down. Your anger should be at Barnhart. He is the most overrated AD in college sports and I can't wait until his last day on the job.

@MarvinHagler89 called Pope a “degenerate” last night. Can you imagine a sane, functioning human being with an IQ over 25 reading that disgusting stuff??

 

[UKCowboys]

MB retiring certainly changes the equation. If we bring in a legit AD, it would be normal for him to want "his own people" running the programs. Obviously the new football coach is safe, but he could let Pope go without the egg on his face MB would have since he was MB's choice to run the program after he was slapped in the face by his first choice Scott Drew, who is 15-14 at Baylor. If the new guy wants to make a name for himself and get BBN firmly in his corner, making a Homerun hire for Men's Basketball would do that instantly. If the new AD is one of MBs cronies and hires Scott Drew or the like, the program could be in serious danger of melting down completely

 

[Catlogic1552]

Actually if you want to name anyone it’s cal, he basically quit the last 3-4 yrs here and made it to where a change was needed. Had he stayed hungry and actually coached to the best if his abilities, he’d still be here and be in the conversation with self, K, Izzo those type guys.

I still think Cal’s demise was linked to Barnhart. Their relationship really soured after Peavy left, who ran interference. And remember Cal wanted a new practice facility, even if he raised the money himself, and Barnhart said no. I think that lit the fuse.

 

[Cats4321]

@MarvinHagler89 called Pope a “degenerate” last night. Can you imagine a sane, functioning human being with an IQ over 25 reading that disgusting stuff??

Pope deserves all the criticism he gets as a coach, but it shouldn't get personal. Getting personal just takes away from the argument.

 

[TheDude73]

Both can be at fault. Mitch for hiring someone not qualified, and Pope for thinking this is OK performance at UK. Honestly, if he has a healthy and decent team next year and they still suck, he should recognize he's in over his head and quit on his own. This year he does get a *slight* pass from me due to injuries to three key players. I will always wonder how he/we would have done had there been no injuries and JQ came back and stayed back.

 

[gbl97]

@MarvinHagler89 called Pope a “degenerate” last night. Can you imagine a sane, functioning human being with an IQ over 25 reading that disgusting stuff??

@SugarRayLeonard would knock him out if he saw that.

 

[billCgmx_]

OP is Pam Beesly

 

[Monday Nitro]

@SugarRayLeonard would knock him out if he saw that.

Pretty sure Marvin punches himself, daily.

 

[Eight_Banners]

Sounds like bias confirmation. Cal had one bad season here. It was really bad and coincided with a worldwide pandemic. Cal's last 3 seasons were a 2,5 and 3 seed. He had reloaded for the 24-25 season.

The '22 season was great. Oscar POY. Just dominated teams. The '24 season was very good. Yes, we got upset in the tourney and that sucks. But if the seasons don't count why is anyone concerned about Pope?

Cal needed to go because of the players first thing. Not because matt jones said so. But there was no reason to hire a clown to take his place.

I didn't want Drew and thought Pope was a home run hire. One of ours!! Instead it's just a miserable failure. Drew would have been a better hire. There were also many better than Drew. No one besides him turned us down. When Drew backed out of their prearranged deal Mitch called only Pope.

Why do you think Drew would have been a better hire? He's 15-14 this year at Baylor. He was 20-15 last year. I can't imagine where we would be if he had taken the job.

 

[Seth_C]

I don't blame Pope for taking the job, but his failure to accomplish the job to an acceptable level I obviously blame on him. I also won't feel any pity for him if he loses his job after a few months or a year.

 

[MarvinHagler89]

@MarvinHagler89 called Pope a “degenerate” last night. Can you imagine a sane, functioning human being with an IQ over 25 reading that disgusting stuff??

commenting about bull **** again I see. For someone that has me on ignore, they sure reply back and mention me frequently.

 

[21Goose]

Sounds like bias confirmation. Cal had one bad season here. It was really bad and coincided with a worldwide pandemic. Cal's last 3 seasons were a 2,5 and 3 seed. He had reloaded for the 24-25 season.

The '22 season was great. Oscar POY. Just dominated teams. The '24 season was very good. Yes, we got upset in the tourney and that sucks. But if the seasons don't count why is anyone concerned about Pope?

Cal needed to go because of the players first thing. Not because matt jones said so. But there was no reason to hire a clown to take his place.

I didn't want Drew and thought Pope was a home run hire. One of ours!! Instead it's just a miserable failure. Drew would have been a better hire. There were also many better than Drew. No one besides him turned us down. When Drew backed out of their prearranged deal Mitch called only Pope.

Just curious why did you think Pope was a home run hire? The only reason could be the nostalgic nature of him being a former player. I got caught up in that some too but hindsight tells me I was wrong. Go Cats

 

[MichaelGray]

Pope took his dream job like most would but he was not even close to qualified. No way he would have been considered if he didn't play here but Mitch panicked after Drew turned him down. Your anger should be at Barnhart. He is the most overrated AD in college sports and I can't wait until his last day on the job.

Overrated? I never realized he was ever good enough to be rated lol.

 

[MichaelGray]

MB retiring certainly changes the equation. If we bring in a legit AD, it would be normal for him to want "his own people" running the programs. Obviously the new football coach is safe, but he could let Pope go without the egg on his face MB would have since he was MB's choice to run the program after he was slapped in the face by his first choice Scott Drew, who is 15-14 at Baylor. If the new guy wants to make a name for himself and get BBN firmly in his corner, making a Homerun hire for Men's Basketball would do that instantly. If the new AD is one of MBs cronies and hires Scott Drew or the like, the program could be in serious danger of melting down completely

The sad reality is the fact that it probably will be one of his cronies, like the chick married to the JMI "Hill" guy i believe? The prominent boosters need to step in & have a say in all of this, I'm fairly certain they're as fed up with **** as we are, probably even worse since they're paying millions to watch this **** show.

 

[MarvinHagler89]

Pope deserves all the criticism he gets as a coach, but it shouldn't get personal. Getting personal just takes away from the argument.

He’s a degenerate for a head coach. How’s that personal?lol

 

[MichaelGray]

@SugarRayLeonard would knock him out if he saw that.

@SugarRayLeonard would knock him out if he saw that.

Sugar Ray Leonard wouldn't knock him out but he would definitely hit him more times & get the win lol. Then Hagler would say he never hurt me I watched that fight, Sugar Ray Leonard was my favorite boxer.

 

[The_Answer1313_rivals]

Ultimately the coach is going to be blamed for any underperformance and credit for any over performance.

OF COURSE he is to blame here lol.

Mitch making a bad hire doesn't change the fact the head coach isn't getting the job done.

 

[MarvinHagler89]

@SugarRayLeonard would knock him out if he saw that.

Damn showing sad boxing IQ there.

 

[The_Answer1313_rivals]

Another thing that I rarely see but needs to be ...........players need to be held accountable as well.

You can't just blame one person for this.

Mitch made this hire
Pope is the one coaching and recruiting the talent
The players are underperforming as well

There's plenty of blame to go around here.

 

[Zuma75]

Pope didn't create the mess that he stepped into.

It seemed like his first year, he was making some progress in cleaning it up. But Year 2 he ran bus into the ditch. That part is his responsibility. He better get it out of there and running right in a hurry, or he won't be driving it much longer.

 

[HogCoyote]

Pope didn't create the mess that he stepped into.

It seemed like his first year, he was making some progress in cleaning it up. But Year 2 he ran bus into the ditch. That part is his responsibility. He better get it out of there and running right in a hurry, or he won't be driving it much longer.

I blame Pope for continuing to make the same mistakes over and over again, and make the same comments over and over again like its Groundhog Day. He's literally giving us the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.

 

[Skyguyb27]

@MarvinHagler89 called Pope a “degenerate” last night. Can you imagine a sane, functioning human being with an IQ over 25 reading that disgusting stuff??

I’d say described sane person would know there are all types in forums especially in a team’s board after another embarrassing performance from an unqualified coach again. So what was the point your were trying to make? You seem to like to put other posters down directly and indirectly that down agree with your nut hugging mentality

 

[UKGrad24]

It doesn’t matter. Fix the problem. When my kids give me the ole “it’s not my fault”, what do we as parents do? We tell them it doesn’t matter whose fault it is, we need to fix the problem. Listening to kids tell you it’s not their fault 30 times per day, what do we do? We say whose fault it is doesn’t matter, this is what YOURE doing, not stop doing it or there are consequences. Barnhart and Pope are the issue, regardless. And the players being at fault goes under the head coach. His players his responsibility. Especially when he takes out his best players during key moments.

Mark cannot coach at Kentucky because we’ve got a 12 year sample size and we’re expecting seasons that he cannot produce. It’s that simple. No sense in arguing over this stuff. If you want to give him more time then you not making sense. You’re wanting seasons that he’s NEVER produced. He’s not young, this is who he is. Even if he could produce a good season he’s not going to be consistent. It’s over.

And Barnhart didn’t make a panic hire. He was hiring a guy he could control on his way out. A guy that won’t have a lot of leverage and he could ride out the JMI debacle with a yes guy. Pearl was likely set up, he didn’t want it.

 

[Snarks]

Agreed, I’m also upset that Mitch gave pope the sweet 16 auto extension. Way more expensive to buy him out if he has a decent season.

 

[CutNets]

It doesn’t matter. Fix the problem. When my kids give me the ole “it’s not my fault”, what do we as parents do? We tell them it doesn’t matter whose fault it is, we need to fix the problem. Listening to kids tell you it’s not their fault 30 times per day, what do we do? We say whose fault it is doesn’t matter, this is what YOURE doing, not stop doing it or there are consequences. Barnhart and Pope are the issue, regardless. And the players being at fault goes under the head coach. His players his responsibility. Especially when he takes out his best players during key moments.

Mark cannot coach at Kentucky because we’ve got a 12 year sample size and we’re expecting seasons that he cannot produce. It’s that simple. No sense in arguing over this stuff. If you want to give him more time then you not making sense. You’re wanting seasons that he’s NEVER produced. He’s not young, this is who he is. Even if he could produce a good season he’s not going to be consistent. It’s over.

And Barnhart didn’t make a panic hire. He was hiring a guy he could control on his way out. A guy that won’t have a lot of leverage and he could ride out the JMI debacle with a yes guy. Pearl was likely set up, he didn’t want it.

As usual you nailed the true issue with Pope and that's precedent. He's doing here what he's done everywhere. Big wins followed by inexplicable losses. The only difference? Inexplicable losses at UK are far different than at BYU. They stand out more. BYU beats Kansas? Wow! Amazing! They take a "bad loss" against Duquesne? Who cares, we beat Kansas!


Doesn't work that way at UK, yet he's continued that trend in his move from BYU to here. Regular season matters here (more wins than anyone in history/highest winning percentage). Conference titles matter here (more than all schools combined). National Titles matter here (second most all time).


There's no such thing as "ups and downs" for Kentucky basketball. You have ups and downs? Hit the road, next man up.

 

[AJG-15]

I agree with OP that the current situation is due to Mitch decisions.

I was not a fan of how he treated Cal either. We, Kentucky , could have used Cal after he was done coaching, as a basketball ambassador or GM. Imagine using Cal’s network, relationship to the benefit of the university And basketball program.


Pope does not know what he is doing. He could have reached out to Cal, to former assistants of Cal and even former players. However , he made his own team of assistants that cannot even count 6 players on the court. I feel bad for him not succeeding here. I know he does too.
however, he is getting paid a lot to learn on the job. I would adventure to say he is overpaid.


Mitch is not going anywhere. Just different title. listen to Uk President and Pope last press conference and see that Mitch will still have a great influence on our program and also get paid generously for it.


UK is overpaying for mediocrity and unfortunately it will continue…

 

[MarvinHagler89]

Sugar Ray Leonard wouldn't knock him out but he would definitely hit him more times & get the win lol. Then Hagler would say he never hurt me I watched that fight, Sugar Ray Leonard was my favorite boxer.

Hagler won.

 

[MichaelGray]

Hagler won.

Uh, noooooo he didn't, Sugar Ray Leonard won, but Hagler says "He didn't hurt me"

 

[bbnkat02]

Mark Pope to Mitch:


Meanwhile this season personified for all of BBN:

 

[anon1772831261]

June isn't soon enough to get Mitch out of here.

 

[rivercatinfl]

Just curious why did you think Pope was a home run hire? The only reason could be the nostalgic nature of him being a former player. I got caught up in that some too but hindsight tells me I was wrong. Go Cats

I fell into the same trap. I loved Pope as a player. I watched some of his teams play on occasion. They were competitive and he seemed to be making the right moves.

He ran into a buzz saw with injuries and recruiting gaffs. He absolutely must get high end talent for next year with a couple players or we are going to rinse and repeat.

Man, I hate for him, but given the choice to see my Cats back towards the top in wins and keepin Pope with records like this, it's a no brainer. Find someone else but pick the right guy this time. IMO Scott Drew ain't it.