The What if Game

[Buckwheat Otay Is Dead]

Lowe had never separated his shoulder.
cam had never broken his foot.
JD had recovered and played by Jan.1 st

Iif BG had played hard and Moreno didn’t have to start.
Jasper played like a 5 star. Aberdeen could have not learn the PG position.

Last year was not normal.What hurt us the most? I thinkoWE and JQ..what does everyone lthink.

 

[Monday Nitro]

Good luck. You're going to get crushed.

 

[Cats_2010]

What if there was no tomorrow, there wasn’t one today.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

If Mama Cass had shared that ham sandwich with Karen Carpenter they might both be alive today...

That said, if any program and coach is due a run of good luck, it is Kentucky and Mark Pope. Let's hope the universe decides to even things out. I have a feeling by this time next week Kentucky will have a roster that would be pretty impressive, if healthy...

 

[UKWildcats1987]

Last year was a train wreck all around.

Why not do this for a team that matters like poy n 2015 or wcs in 2014 or da in 1997 or Bogan n 2003?

We werent winning anything that matters last season regardless. And JQ could have come back and didn't. That's pretty obvious.

 

[BookofMormon]

Did you watch the clip of the team walking around not playing defense with horrendous body language? That was your 2026 UK. They were lucky to win a tourney game, very lucky. Pope should not have a worse team in his second year with all that money - if anything his rep is leaking out into the circuit.

 

[BleedBlue_22]

What if we hired a coach to the standards of The University of Kentucky?

 

[moses1uk]

Pope gets a 3rd year due to injuries . Now he will have no excuse

 

[ftp000]

What if we hired a coach to the standards of The University of Kentucky?

What if you went back to the board of whatever team you are actually a "we" of?

 

[howitis_rivals115807]

What if Pope was a good coach?
What if Barney was Willing to hire someone who wasn't a religious?


Edit: maybe I shouldn't type on my phone

 

[kyjeff1]

Pope gets a 3rd year due to injuries . Now he will have no excuse

That's where I'm at with Pope. He showed enough in year one to tell me he can beat anyone, he just has to figure out a way to get it where he can't also LOSE to anyone at the same time.

The 25/26 team was poorly constructed, they didn't like each other and there were injuries. I honestly don't think we saw Pope's best this year, it came off the rails and all he could do was make the crash as soft as possible.

But year 3 needs to be a success, no if's, and's or but's about it.

 

[UK Cats in FL]

If Mama Cass had shared that ham sandwich with Karen Carpenter they might both be alive today...

That said, if any program and coach is due a run of good luck, it is Kentucky and Mark Pope. Let's hope the universe decides to even things out. I have a feeling by this time next week Kentucky will have a roster that would be pretty impressive, if healthy...

I’ve got to assume you didn’t make that up yourself, but I’ve never heard that before and is quite funny!

 

[BookofMormon]

What if we hired a coach to the standards of The University of Kentucky?

Critical hire too as the programmed entered the full blown evolution of the portal/NIL.

 

[ZaytovenCat]

The team sucked even when healthy. They did have like 2-4 games where everyone played and they lost most or all of them.

 

[anon1777473514]

The team sucked even when healthy. They did have like 2-4 games where everyone played and they lost most or all of them.

Oh that’s great…until you realize there were zero games where they were healthy. Healthy to you means they literally were able to play.

Healthy ≠ Played in a Game

 

[UKBB4Ever]

If Mama Cass had shared that ham sandwich with Karen Carpenter they might both be alive today...

That said, if any program and coach is due a run of good luck, it is Kentucky and Mark Pope. Let's hope the universe decides to even things out. I have a feeling by this time next week Kentucky will have a roster that would be pretty impressive, if healthy...

Why is Pope due?

His teams don’t play hard.

He deserves nothing. He made this bed.

 

[megablue]

Lowe had never separated his shoulder.
cam had never broken his foot.
JD had recovered and played by Jan.1 st

Iif BG had played hard and Moreno didn’t have to start.
Jasper played like a 5 star. Aberdeen could have not learn the PG position.

Last year was not normal.What hurt us the most? I thinkoWE and JQ..what does everyone lthink.

Hard to know for sure, of course, but how they would've been playing in March is what matters most. Too bad we didn't get to find out !!

 

[Anon1774274437]

Lowe had never separated his shoulder.
cam had never broken his foot.
JD had recovered and played by Jan.1 st

Iif BG had played hard and Moreno didn’t have to start.
Jasper played like a 5 star. Aberdeen could have not learn the PG position.

Last year was not normal.What hurt us the most? I thinkoWE and JQ..what does everyone lthink.

One more year, it's gonna get ugly

 

[RedwoodHigh]

One more year, it's gonna get ugly

Pope has got 2 more years especially with new AD coming from Utah friendly Boise State.
if he makes it to Sweet 16 he ll get another year . His contract runs till 2030 at $6million a year average.

 

[BigBluefoot]

What if Barnhart wasn't lazy and actually hired a coach who could coach and recruit at this level?........
STOP THE EXCUSES!

 

[BigBluefoot]

Oh that’s great…until you realize there were zero games where they were healthy. Healthy to you means they literally were able to play.

Healthy ≠ Played in a Game

Most teams have injuries or are not 100%.

 

[BigBluefoot]

Pumper club gaslighting strategy meeting.
1. Blame the fans. Call em toxic.
2. Blame injuries.
3. Repeat ad nauseum

 

[Goingfor9]

Lowe had never separated his shoulder.
cam had never broken his foot.
JD had recovered and played by Jan.1 st

Iif BG had played hard and Moreno didn’t have to start.
Jasper played like a 5 star. Aberdeen could have not learn the PG position.

Last year was not normal.What hurt us the most? I thinkoWE and JQ..what does everyone lthink.

I think we ended up there and lost players due to Mark Pope. I’m not even sure Low was terribly injured. I mean it was an elective procedure.. so having a low tolerance for pain probably mean he’s not very tough. I didn’t like the pace of our games when he played he didn’t defend.. and he liked to try and play hero ball. He was a freaking a taller version of Wheeler without a doubt they were the same type of player so we dodged a bullet. I think Aberdeen is a much better player. I think the fact that Florida golden went hard after him when it will take a waiver for him to play it says how good a player that Aberdeen was. Totally misused by pope and totally misjudged by big blue nation I think..

Do you have all these what if of like negative things that happen. And here’s a bottom line you can play what if all day long but if one thing happens or does it happen something else has to happen or not happen in it it’s place.. I think we dodged a bullet. I think we were headed to miss the tournament. I think JQ was a cancer to the team and I believe that he was brought and just appease the fan base. But these negative things that happen you could say or what if JQ girl played and Low played maybe we don’t make the tournament. You know maybe right now we have a new coach.. it’s not necessarily a positive thing. I mean Low is the best player on a really bad team.. and I can’t recall where he transferred, but it was no world beater. It’s not like Pope was pining for Low to come back.

 

[Dr.LutherSan]

What if Pope decides to stay at Washington and play.
We still win the championship in 1996.

-Fast forward to 2024:
-Scott Drew and Dan Hurley say no
-Pope is hired, strictly because he is a former player.
-Shaka Smart is hired, but given that he has no previous ties to the university, nor an elite coach, he's not given the top NIL UK is knocked out in the second round of the tournament in his first season and the first round his second season.
-Given that Shaka Smart is not a former player, all of BBN in unison is ready for Shaka Smart to leave.
-After year three of getting knocked out in the first round of the tournament, UK "decides to go in a different direction" and Shaka is no longer the head coach.
-The new AD decides to reach out to several ELITE ELITE head coaches, but is turned down.
-Jai "The-Prince-that-was-Promised" Lucas is introduced as the next men's head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky.

 

[CRZ4UK]

What if Barnhart wasn't lazy and actually hired a coach who could coach and recruit at this level?........
STOP THE EXCUSES!

Don’t fool yourself. Barnhart couldn’t hire the coach you speak of. No established coach would come work for him. Calipari and Stoops both complained about his restrictions after NIL. No coach would want JMI and Barnhart putting obstacles in their way. Even his best friend told him No once he came here and saw how our system works. Of course the media claimed it was his wife. The only established coach he was ever able to hire was Calipari . Cal didn’t mind the restrictions because he didn’t need to cheat to recruit. That all changed with NIL. Cal started complaining then and his recruiting crashed. He’s recruiting much better at Arkansas.
Have you read any of the articles that detail how teams have figured out ways to cheat the NIL go system???? How they are offering cash and payments beyond their year there??
JMIs contract specifically states they must follow all NCAA rules or void their contract. We at UK work under different rules than everyone else. That’s Barnharts doing. Not CMP.
Barnhart hired CMP because that’s all he could lure here. A unproven coach. Same as Stein.

 

[Jtf2217]

And what if I was born without nuts is be tavisha instead of Travis

 

[paulcalhoun_rivals397471]

What if Pope decides to stay at Washington and play.
We still win the championship in 1996.

-Fast forward to 2024:
-Scott Drew and Dan Hurley say no
-Pope is hired, strictly because he is a former player.
-Shaka Smart is hired, but given that he has no previous ties to the university, nor an elite coach, he's not given the top NIL UK is knocked out in the second round of the tournament in his first season and the first round his second season.
-Given that Shaka Smart is not a former player, all of BBN in unison is ready for Shaka Smart to leave.
-After year three of getting knocked out in the first round of the tournament, UK "decides to go in a different direction" and Shaka is no longer the head coach.
-The new AD decides to reach out to several ELITE ELITE head coaches, but is turned down.
-Jai "The-Prince-that-was-Promised" Lucas is introduced as the next men's head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky.

Lucas has been a head coach all of one year and had the advantage of a fairly weak schedule. Looking at the Sports-reference SRS rating (performance vs. schedule) Miami's rating was 17.69 which is considerably lower than the 21.26 and 19.13 that Pope has posted in his two years at UK.

Jai Lucas Coaching Record | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Jai Lucas Coaching Record

www.sports-reference.com

 

[Dr.LutherSan]

Lucas has been a head coach all of one year and had the advantage of a fairly weak schedule. Looking at the Sports-reference SRS rating (performance vs. schedule) Miami's rating was 17.69 which is considerably lower than the 21.26 and 19.13 that Pope has posted in his two years at UK.

Jai Lucas Coaching Record | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Jai Lucas Coaching Record

www.sports-reference.com

You continuously bring up Pope's SRS rating over other coaches like it's a great accomplishment. The SEC has been ranked higher, so that's going to happen naturally.

Jai Lucas is only 37 and has only coached one season, but has a lot going for him in regards to potential:
-His father was an NBA player and coach, so he has a lot of great connections
-Played under both Rick Barnes and Billy Donovan
-Was an assistant under Rick Barnes, Shaka Smart, John Calipari, and Jon Scheyer. That said, he knows what works and what doesn't work in top Power 5 schools.
-Given his position in previous programs, he is well known and experienced in recruiting
-He reached the second round of the tournament in his first season as a head coach.

Pope is 53 and has coached 11 seasons
-his SRS rating is higher than the coach that was fired:
-played under Pitino for two years
-he's a former player
-he got his first NCAA tournament win in his 10th year as a head coach

 

[ZaytovenCat]

Oh that’s great…until you realize there were zero games where they were healthy. Healthy to you means they literally were able to play.

Healthy ≠ Played in a Game

They could have been 100% healthy all year and they’d still been a 10+ loss team. The team had major holes. PG and shooting being the biggest. I’m not a Lowe fan at all and think he would have cost us as many games as he’d won us. Lowe being out was a blessing. If Aberdeen had played all year like he did the last half of the year then you could say we didn’t miss Lowe a bit.

 

[anon1777473514]

They could have been 100% healthy all year and they’d still been a 10+ loss team.

That is 100% unknowable

The team had major holes.

Agreed

PG and shooting being the biggest. I’m not a Lowe fan at all and think he would have cost us as many games as he’d won us.

I don’t agree. But again we have no way to know this.

Lowe being out was a blessing.

No way to know that.

If Aberdeen had played all year like he did the last half of the year then you could say we didn’t miss Lowe a bit.

Aberdeen filled in admirably but he wasn’t a natural point

 

[TX Wildcat]

The injuries sucked for sure. However, even if healthy, the team was not well constructed. Tons of hero or "me" ball. Just didn't ever gel as a team or create a true winning identity (on either side of the court, much less off of it). Effort alone as a unit was less than that of a mid-tier SEC team. This all forced Pope to try to learn on the fly, which he did not do well.

To me what hurt us the most was roster construction and lack of constant effort, leading to a bunch of wtf coaching moments.

 

[DelkBowl]

What if Sampson or Kidd had picked UK?

What if Moses Malone, Dirk N., or Kemp had played for us.

 

[Dr.LutherSan]

What if Sampson or Kidd had picked UK?

What if Moses Malone, Dirk N., or Kemp had played for us.

Or Tracy McGrady

 

[wildcat111]

Lowe had never separated his shoulder.
cam had never broken his foot.
JD had recovered and played by Jan.1 st

Iif BG had played hard and Moreno didn’t have to start.
Jasper played like a 5 star. Aberdeen could have not learn the PG position.

Last year was not normal.What hurt us the most? I thinkoWE and JQ..what does everyone lthink.

Now that is really fantasyland 101. If that actually happened we could go undefeated forever.

 

[paulcalhoun_rivals397471]

You continuously bring up Pope's SRS rating over other coaches like it's a great accomplishment. The SEC has been ranked higher, so that's going to happen naturally.

Jai Lucas is only 37 and has only coached one season, but has a lot going for him in regards to potential:
-His father was an NBA player and coach, so he has a lot of great connections
-Played under both Rick Barnes and Billy Donovan
-Was an assistant under Rick Barnes, Shaka Smart, John Calipari, and Jon Scheyer. That said, he knows what works and what doesn't work in top Power 5 schools.
-Given his position in previous programs, he is well known and experienced in recruiting
-He reached the second round of the tournament in his first season as a head coach.

Pope is 53 and has coached 11 seasons
-his SRS rating is higher than the coach that was fired:
-played under Pitino for two years
-he's a former player
-he got his first NCAA tournament win in his 10th year as a head coach

You seem to be confusing SRS with SOS.