We Have Turned On Each Other

[Phil_The_Music2]

The injury excuse is old. We have Kam back who was I believe the 4th leading scorer on Tulane. JQ was always a longshot as his injury was known and IMO he could play now but is worried about his draft status. Yes we lost Lowe who was the only point on the roster which was a stupid move by Pope.

This line of thinking is just so bizarre. It would be like if I broke my leg and couldn't mow the yard, and my wife yells that she's tired of excuses. It's not an excuse. It just is what it is. I agree that bringing in JQ was a mistake. I didn't like that idea from the beginning. But it's a mistake that Pope can learn from and not repeat. Pope had backups for Lowe. One decided at the last minute not to honor his commitment, the other (Aberdeen) has done the best he can but your backup is the backup for a reason. Kam was improving and had just started to make an impact. Even if he wasn't an all star, he still spreads the defense which is very important for us. Just ignoring all of this like it doesn't matter isn't logical thinking. You are being emotional and letting that control you. But even with all of that, most folks will still concede that even if Pope has injuries next year and can't get the job done, it's time to move on. We just want to see what he can do with a relatively healthy full roster and we hope he gets that chance next year. That's not unreasonable at all.

 

[Phil_The_Music2]

I just want to know what these people see from Pope that gives so much optimism? I get we’ve had injuries but so have other teams. Over 2 seasons he’s had a mediocre final record and made a sweet 16. I feel like there are a lot of coaches that could do that here.

This question has been answered ad nauseum and every time the response is "oh is that Kentucky now? Hanging banners for xyz?" Many posters have pointed out the reasons we believe Pope MAY be able to turn this thing around. But you don't really want an answer. You just want us to agree with you.

 

[MegaBlue05]

There is no reason to call Pope supporters a "cult." Why can't you be civil in discussing a different perspective. I agree that this year has been bad. I just don't think Pope is a bad as you do. I even think he can turn this around. If he doesn't, yeah, he will be gone in due time. That isn't anything we can affect. We are just fans on a chat board.

This guy has to be young enough to where his main frame of reference for UK basketball is Calipari era and forward.

This board fought an absolute war over Tubby for his last two seasons. This Pope stuff is tame compared to 2006 and 2007. We had a few fans who followed Tubby to Minnesota they were so mad and others who hated Tubby so bad they propped up anything BCG did as an improvement.

 

[preacherfan]

This guy has to be young enough to where his main frame of reference for UK basketball is Calipari era and forward.

This board fought an absolute war over Tubby for his last two seasons. This Pope stuff is tame compared to 2006 and 2007. We had a few fans who followed Tubby to Minnesota they were so mad and others who hated Tubby so bad they propped up anything BCG did as an improvement.

I remember that time well. I wanted Tubby gone but was not at all happy with the BCG hire. I made some friends on the board back in those days and some of them were sending me private emails trying to get me to publicly support BCG. One of them even started a thread entitled, "Post here if you support Coach G." I never signed on.

At the time, a poster who claimed to work in the AD's office made some wild claims about BCG and took a lot of heat for it. All of her claims were eventually verified but she disappeared off the board and I never saw her username again. As bad as it was, I made a lot of friends on both sides. One of the biggest Tubby supporters and I often talked outside of RR via email. kybassfan was a poster I argued with a lot but I think we actually had a friendship as well. Those were the days!

 

[TotheMoon88]

I actually agree with you, I don't think Pope can do it either, but that doesn't mean I'm going to turn a blind eye to the things he has overcome and done well and it doesn’t mean I can't hope he starts winning at a high level.
So many of you guys aren't satisfied with just saying he's not the guy, you discredit his accomplishments, discredit the injuries and bury him with insults.
So, just because I HOPE he does great and wins at a UK standard, it somehow means I'm lowering expectations.

This seems very hypocritical of you honestly because you did the same thing to cal, and no I don’t want Calipari back it was his time to go

 

[warrior-cat]

Here, let me translate this:

Jeff is a big meanie that isn't agreeing with everytbing I say, so he's being irrational.

 

[warrior-cat]

Anyone who loves winning and hates losing is my brother. Anyone who loves something other than winning first is not my brother and is against me. I’m not hear to watch games. I’m here to watch our team win about 75% of the time. Every other year should be an elite 8 final 4 ever 3 years and a title every 8 or so. These 10 loss seasons are unacceptable unless sandwich in between elite 8s. That’s all there is to it. I think some uk fans are young and don’t understand our tradition. Some of our fans don’t care if we win because that’s what they re used to with football. We have to get back to winning very regularly. Much more than pope. We have broke free of that perpetual quarter century loser. That’s exactly why there is this rift in the fan base is Barney. He caused it. Really it’s been going on for a long time. Too many fans were hoodwinked by Barney and protected him like he was the center of their haram. Those fans are why we are at this point. When I was you I remember coming off probation “ah Kentucky is finished” but our fan base refused it. Now they say “kentuckys finished” again. And our fan base is crickets. Everyone is resigned to the future sucking and pope deserving a 3rd year. The man has been paid plenty so he deserves nothing. From the Barron to Cal generations of winning mindsettted Kentuckians were minted into blue blooded fans. Our media had a**holes why really scrutinized UKbb. Now they placate the enablers. That night pope was hired we should have life for Mitch unbearable. Just like tamu with stoops. We should have run that snake oil salesman out of Kentucky 15 years ago. We thought cap was bad. You question Barney and he acts like a king his ego is so big. We need a governor like I’ve said that is a uk guy and opens an investigation into Barney Eli and their corruption. Eli shouldn’t even continue on as president the guy is old and the guy has been at UK too long. Last thought. We as fans need to demand Eli’s job based on Barney’s golden parachute alone. Or how about some common sense. Stop working backwards from coaches to admin. Start with admin first and the prez first so the new guy can bring in his guy. Then the new ad could bring in his coaches. Instead maybe the new prez doesn’t care for the ad or new ad doesn’t care for our fb coach or even pope. Frigging old washed out past their retirement date whatever should never make a hire. They need to be shown the door. Cal my winning minded friends was like 20% of the problem. His stupid contract and AD ego in a pissing contest sent messages that cal didn’t have to work anymore. That was Barney’s mo. Create a Cush position for all his guys and give them one sided contracts.

Have your hired a publisher yet? Breaking down into paragraphs will probably be his/her first request.

 

[kyjeff1]

This seems very hypocritical of you honestly because you did the same thing to cal, and no I don’t want Calipari back it was his time to go

Cal was coaching for the draft and mocking UK fans as he was losing at a record pace.

Worst season in UK history
2 worst NCAAT losses in UK history
Losses at home to Evansville, Richmond and UNCW

When did Pope do these things?

Don't mock me while you're getting 10 million a year to underachiev like that.

How is that hypocritical of me?

 

[TotheMoon88]

Cal was coaching for the draft and mocking UK fans as he was losing at a record pace.

Worst season in UK history
2 worst NCAAT losses in UK history
Losses at home to Evansville, Richmond and UNCW

When did Pope do these things?

Don't mock me while you're getting 10 million a year to underachiev like that.

How is that hypocritical of me?

It’s hypocritical because you weren’t content with just saying cal wasn’t the right guy, instead you would discredit his accomplishments and bury him with insults. It’s hypocritical. And you mean the same record pace pope is on?

 

[kyjeff1]

It’s hypocritical because you weren’t content with just saying cal wasn’t the right guy, instead you would discredit his accomplishments and bury him with insults. It’s hypocritical.

Can you quote me and tell me what accomplishments I discredited?

Before you do that, keep on mind, I always said "the version of Calipari we had from 09-2019, is long gone, the guy we had from 21-24 is a shell of what he used to be".

Also, I don't want to be a guy that just crushes every coach the second things go wrong, Pope has been here 2 years, has some massive wins, got us to a SS, something Cal hadn't done since 2019 and Pope cares about winning at UK. Cal cared about the draft. That alone will cause me to want you fired. UK needs to come first.

 

[TotheMoon88]

Can you quote me and tell me what accomplishments I discredited?

Before you do that, keep on mind, I always said "the version of Calipari we had from 09-2019, is long gone, the guy we had from 21-24 is a shell of what he used to be".

Might be wrong on that, I do remember you burying him with personal insults though

 

[kyjeff1]

Might be wrong on that, I do remember you burying him with personal insults though

Personal insults???

I want UK to come first, you start putting the draft first and losing games because of it, you're damn right I'm going to be pissed.

Pope is putting in the work, he just can't get the talent and he has a lot of deficiencies to fix. He gets next year to fix them.

But don't get it twisted, I have bombed Pope plenty this year, but I would love it if he righted the ship and killed it next year. It would be a great story.

 

[TotheMoon88]

Personal insults???

I want UK to come first, you start putting the draft first and losing games because of it, you're damn right I'm going to be pissed.

Pope is putting in the work, he just can't get the talent and he has a lot of deficiencies to fix. He gets next year to fix them.

But don't get it twisted, I have bombed Pope plenty this year, but I would love it if he righted the ship and killed it next year. It would be a great story.

I guess we’ll see. Don’t really see pope fixing anything. And no I’m not hoping he fails because I say that, I want him to be great next year and fix this embarrassment. Just don’t think he can

 

[Dward13]

Lowe was not the savior. He was like our 3rd or 4th choice at point guard for a reason. He just isn’t that good.

JQ would have helped if healthy. But shame on Pope for putting the season on a guy coming off an acl injury.

Things could be worse. We made the tourney both years after basically having to start fresh.

But there are flaws in Popes principles. He’s not a good motivator. That so many players so often lacked effort is a huge red flag. That so many guys haven’t gotten better or even regressed over the last 2 seasons is another red flag. The talk of fatigue is another one.

 

[UkBluePrint]

It’s not possible to post anything positive or supportive on this board without someone attacking you for being dumb or a homer. We’re all disappointed about our team’s and Coach Pope’s lack of success, but could we stop with the hatred?

dumbass!! but I love ya man!

 

[USARMYWILDCAT]

The problem is to some people if it’s not sunshine and roses it’s hatred. I have no ill will towards Pope and this team. I just call out obvious short comings and I do not accept them. My expectations for game success and recruiting are higher than what we are getting. Until my expectations are meet, I will continue to call it like I see it.

 

[kyjeff1]

I guess we’ll see. Don’t really see pope fixing anything. And no I’m not hoping he fails because I say that, I want him to be great next year and fix this embarrassment. Just don’t think he can

Well, we're on the same page then