Everyone who was skeptical of this hire was called a "fake fan".. It was blatantly obvious that Pope had no business getting this job the second it was announced. Again, not his fault though. Barnhart needed to cover up the story of the rapist swim coach so he had to offer someone he knew would accept.
Worst hire than Billy G. If true (Posted April 2024)
- Thread starter kygent2
- Start date
I wasn’t in that thread. But when I first found out it was Pope I was pissed off. I thought Barnhart was lazy was just looking for a yes man so he could reassert control over the program. Then I started watching all the propaganda videos that came out about all the amazing offense Pope runs that basically just poops great shots. Then I went to the introductory show UK put on at Rupp Arena and allowed myself to get sucked in. It looks like my first instincts were the right ones after all.
Good call
It shouldn't have been left up to Mitch to make the hire, they should have a committee too come up with a list of about 5-10 names and interview all who chose to interview, then make a decision
He might be as bad as BCG but your point is well taken. It was a terrible hire then and it has proved to be what it is. He is who we thought he was. Not UK material. If he is a fan of UK sit in the seats with the rest of us and lets go get a great coach.
BCG brought us Patterson, Miller, Liggins, Harrelson and Orton. I'd say that's better than anything Pope has done for us so far.
Calipari doesn't make his first two FF's or win the national championship without Miller, Liggins and Harrelson.
Calipari doesn't make his first two FF's or win the national championship without Miller, Liggins and Harrelson.
Always had more respect for you. If you think Pope is worse than BCG, I seriously question your intelligence.
This year was not good, but far better than BCG and ended better than Cals last 5 plus.
We need better, but this thread is still utterly stupid.
Spot on, OP! The biggest "what-if" in UK history is how many titles would we have won had Billy G's prized recruits like Dakotah Euton, Vinny Zollo, and Michael Avery actually played here. Sure, we ended up in the NIT Billy G's second year. And sure, all his players hated his guts. But he just needed to get "his players" in there and things would have really turned around.
Sounds like your but hurts, guess you can't handle the truth, but hey, keep Pope alive
Lets take this away from feelings and emotion and look at actual data and results.
Please post the results of BCGs 2 years vs Pope and please point out where BCG wins.
Ill be anxiously waiting for your analysis...
This is such a dumb post. Saying Pope is better than BCG is not a complement to Pope.
It's like saying your frumpy, boring, prude girlfriend (Pope) is better than Alex Forrest from Fatal Attraction (BCG). The bar is low.
It's like saying your frumpy, boring, prude girlfriend (Pope) is better than Alex Forrest from Fatal Attraction (BCG). The bar is low.
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I just see negative minded people vs hopeful people. Nobody was ecstatic. Some were like “give the guy a chance” and others went straight to gloom and doom.
And Clyde was still worse. Granted Pope hasn’t won anything of significance, but 3-2 in the SECT and 3-2 in the NCAAs is still better than 1-2 in SECT and 0-1 in the NCAAs.
I wasn’t happy with the Pope hire. I thought we were being trolled at first. I bought in that weekend because the only other choice is to constantly ***** about something I cannot control.
And Clyde was still worse. Granted Pope hasn’t won anything of significance, but 3-2 in the SECT and 3-2 in the NCAAs is still better than 1-2 in SECT and 0-1 in the NCAAs.
I wasn’t happy with the Pope hire. I thought we were being trolled at first. I bought in that weekend because the only other choice is to constantly ***** about something I cannot control.
Your unwillingness to take the L that you clearly earned puts you in rarefied troll-levels of fail.
For real?
I literally cant find one way BCG was better. Not one of you have told me either. So go right ahead...
Their us no proof he wasn't
, but you only concentrating on one piece of the post, Pope was not a good hire then and its been proven now, but like I said before , keep Pope alive, fans like you like mediocrity. Im not waisting anymore energy with you, it hurts to admit you was wrong , have a great day
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What grade did you make it to before dropping out of school? I know your grammar is bad, but your reading comprehension (let me help you, that means how well you understand the writing) is awful too. Nobody is arguing we should accept mediocrity. Our argument is that Pope is a better hire than the worst hire in UK sports history (Billy G).
Where are we going to get a roster from? We have ZERO recruits, and no NIL money next season. We will be playing a team of walk ons next year.
I disagree. We have enough money that we'll end up having a decent class. Think of those Tubby classes when he lucked into getting a bunch of good dudes at the last moment (e.g., Rondo, Morris, Crawford).
Funny, there is this huge gap between April 2024 and today’s post. Why didn’t you claim your Kudos this time last year???
Pope missed out on a LOT of players, and it wasn't because of money. He can't get top level guys to play for him.
The difference is that BCG embarrassed UK both on and OFF the court. At least Pope isn’t spending his evenings getting slobbery shitfaced drunk in public while pursuing girls far too young for him.
Pope is certainly struggling on the court, but he’s still a far better hire than BCG.
Pope is certainly struggling on the court, but he’s still a far better hire than BCG.
Watching many other coaches this weekend scold their star players & referees, it became apparent that Pope is more of a guidance counselor than a coach of aspiring pro athletes.
SEC HOOPS is not Sunday School - Pope fits the GM POSITION or ATHLETIC DIRECTOR better than Head BB Coach. Being “Too Nice“ is not an asset when playing an 18 game SEC Schedule.
SEC HOOPS is not Sunday School - Pope fits the GM POSITION or ATHLETIC DIRECTOR better than Head BB Coach. Being “Too Nice“ is not an asset when playing an 18 game SEC Schedule.
You sounded like an arrogant jerk in 24 and you’re repeating it now. Why it’s hard for you to admit they both have stunk as coaches here is strange. There are ways that BCG was better than Pope as a coach unfortunately. If you can’t figure that out on your own that’s on you.
To all the people arguing that this isn’t as low as the BCG era, How is this much different? Zero Commits, 22 million dollars worth of soft role players this season. And we’re gonna run it back for year 3 lol
In '24? Ive been around this board since the beginning. Ive always been an arrogant jerk and im not changing my stripes now.
Cant find one single way BCG was better. Do tell...
I can tell you why he's right and why you're wrong.
You're arguing a straw man, that BCG was a worse COACH. Gent is arguing that Pope is a worse HIRE. There's a distinction, even a difference. You live by the technicalities, you die by them.
BCG was fired after going 22-14 in year 2. Pope won't be, despite going...wait for it...22-14 in year 2. Why? Because Barney gave Pope a STUPID, MONSTROUS BUYOUT.
That makes this a WORSE hire. We have to CONTINUE this path to hell. At least BCG's failure was terminated.
You're also trying to use stats to discredit a TWO-YEAR-OLD prediction post where you called it "dumb post of the year."
You might be trying to argue that his hyperbole is factually questionable, but YOURS is off the charts ridiculous.
So you lose.
Find your sack and take the L.
When was this thread started, Einstein? 2024! Billy G was a better recruiter than Pope. Patrick Patterson, Darius miller, Deandre Liggins, Josh Harrellson, and Daniel Orton. And that was without the portal. And guess what, Gillispie sucked at recruiting too. Cool you even admit you’re an arrogant jerk too. That’s hilarious
Cart before the horse...
BCG had division 3 recruits and a record of abuse in the locker room.
Pope is in an era where you can completely change your team in one season.
So let's say he gets the right pieces and makes a run next season... not outside the realm of possibility at all. In fact, im expecting it. Was not even a possibility with BCG.
The OP was dead on in '24 and he's still right now. Pope was and is still not the guy for the job. Just like BCG wasn't the guy for the job. The common thread is that Duckfart hired them both. He hired Calipari against his will and even that went sour because they hated each other.
Anyone with even half a brain can see Pope is lost trying to captain this ship. If for no other reason than the basic X's and O's of the job. Now, Pope is going to have less NIL money to work with. So, just exactly what gives anyone hope? The fact that he may or may not be minimally better (if at all) than BCG? That's not much of a standard.
Anyone with even half a brain can see Pope is lost trying to captain this ship. If for no other reason than the basic X's and O's of the job. Now, Pope is going to have less NIL money to work with. So, just exactly what gives anyone hope? The fact that he may or may not be minimally better (if at all) than BCG? That's not much of a standard.
I mean dang he was being a jerk to the OP in the beginning and doubled down on it now. Even a decent person would have admitted that Popes not working out so far.
You said you couldn’t think of one way he was better than Pope? People have told you ways and you don’t want to read it.
Good luck Albert. I hope you’re right and he does go on a run next year, but from what he’s shown so far I doubt it. If he does, kick this thread up and I’ll admit if I’m wrong and won’t react like a jerk. I’m better than you are. Proud of that too.
You're arguing your point, but you still haven't validated your "dumb post of the year" accusation. In fact, it's fallen on its face.
Some big time revisionist history here.
- Tubby strongly initiated the PPat recruiting and Billy G was able to close the deal.
- Liggins was a four-star who mostly came off the bench for Billy G.
- Daniel Orton averaged 3.4 pts a game for us at UK and played 55 games in the NBA
- Josh Harrelson averaged 4.7 pts and 4.7 rebounds in his career at UK. He played 75 games in the NBA.
- Billy G was not able to bring his top recruit from A&M to UK (DeAndre Jordan)
- Rapist Michael Porter was our starting PG in 2008-09
- Nerd Mark Courey was our starting PF in 2007-08
- Billy G then started signing the likes of Zollo, Avery and Eutah
- Oweh
- Amari Williams
- Brea
- Butler (mostly hurt)
- Robinson (got hurt)
- Carr
- Aberdeen
- Moreno
- JQ (allegedly hurt)
- Lowe (got hurt)
- I don't think you know what "straw man argument" means, because you are making a straw man argument about it being a worse hire.
- You compared records of going 22-14 in year 2 of Pope to the same for BCG. Well Pope was a 7 seed in the real tournament - and lost his starting PG, a backup wing, had Oweh hurt with turf toe, and whatever was going on with JQ - and still made it to the round of 32. Billy G had a full squad until the very end of the season in a crap SEC and made the NIT. So an honest assessment is that in Year 2, Pope did better. And he definitely did better in year 1.
- You can't argue that Billy G was a better hire because we got to fire him after two years. Why? Because a) you all didn't have the contract details in place during the initial post, and b) the original focus had no discussion on the buyout of Pope's deal vs Billy G's. Worth noting, Billy G didn't sign the contract, which prevented him from getting his $6M buyout (he got half), and that was in 2009 dollars (around $9M today). Pope's buyout is $13M. It will go down a third after next year.
- Take the L