I’d hate for a Mitch to actually have to do his job. Poor guy would have to court and interview guys to earn his money. Poor little fella.I'm about 50/50 with your take and Matt's take.
Mitch was feeling pressure to make a quick hire since an entire roster had to be built.
Pope and Shaka were the only two that would get done in a day.
TJ and Loyd may have been in play but I think it would have taken a courtship so to speak to get them on board and both may have said no.
The problem with Matt's show is Ryan just will not agree with ANYTHING he has to say.Matt Jones is ignorant. He doesn't know basketball.
Yea it’s pretty simple really. Recruiting is lifeblood, you can’t coach at UK if you can’t recruit. You really don’t need to know anything else. That’s the end.To be honest with you I thought you were over exaggerating things in your posts till I started keeping up more with recruiting. I really believe less than a handful on here that actually take up for Pope have no idea how bad he’s doing recruiting. I was one of those guys till a friend showed me how many people he has missed on. No one can recruit that bad and make it at UK. Just not possible in my opinion.
Mitch is fully responsible for the direction and current position of UK basketball. He took the 90’s era and was handed a program that was on top and historically the greatest of all time. On his watch, with his decisions only, he has 0 final fours and 0 national titles if you accept he had nothing to do with Calipari and even tried to prevent it, which he did. Then he hired the worst coach in history at UK, Pope. He is a trainwreck AD and that’s why he wanted 2 more years but was forced out. Then forced out of that corrupt seat he wanted. Now he’s gone and that’s not how he wanted it. There’s a reason.Wait, what? According to many smart folks on Rafters, Mitch is responsible for all UK Athletics woes.
Now it's Fire the UK President. Fire Mitch. Wait, Mitch quitting anyway. Fire the next AD. Heck, fire 'em all, even before they start.
Yeah, recruiting blows. Cal spoiled BBN.
It’s worse than band. He played tennisBand boy turn basketball fan = jones
Even considering Shaka is fireable. I thought that was a joke the first time I heard it.I’d hate for a Mitch to actually have to do his job. Poor guy would have to court and interview guys to earn his money. Poor little fella.
I agree but time was an issue.I’d hate for a Mitch to actually have to do his job. Poor guy would have to court and interview guys to earn his money. Poor little fella.
We deserve to be spoiled.Wait, what? According to many smart folks on Rafters, Mitch is responsible for all UK Athletics woes.
Now it's Fire the UK President. Fire Mitch. Wait, Mitch quitting anyway. Fire the next AD. Heck, fire 'em all, even before they start.
Yeah, recruiting blows. Cal spoiled BBN.
Because you won’t let him?Tommy Lloyd will never coach atKentucky
He hired the two worst coaches in UK history.Mitch is fully responsible for the direction and current position of UK basketball. He took the 90’s era and was handed a program that was on top and historically the greatest of all time. On his watch, with his decisions only, he has 0 final fours and 0 national titles if you accept he had nothing to do with Calipari and even tried to prevent it, which he did. Then he hired the worst coach in history at UK, Pope. He is a trainwreck AD and that’s why he wanted 2 more years but was forced out. Then forced out of that corrupt seat he wanted. Now he’s gone and that’s not how he wanted it. There’s a reason.
He is a terrible AD if winning is your goal. Not debatable.
He could have waited three more days or whatever and went after Donovan, if he made that massive offer of Harley’s to Otzelburger or someone like that he would have taken it I’d say. He could have found someone had he been a real AD..
I agree but time was an issue.
It's all about how long would have been too long.
Surely no one would have wanted it to drag into May.
Only for a home run hire and there wasn't one.[
This is one of the absolute dumbest posts I’ve ever seen on this board and that says a lot. LmaoReally? Another thread bashing Pope? Seriously?
Just give up, always give up.
Our fans have turned into pussies. Maybe that’s why no one wants to come here.
We’re not entitled to a damn thing. Kentucky basketball has been irrelevant for a decade. There’s no guarantee that’s changing no matter who gets hired. Same thing with Nebraska football.
Appreciate what Rupp did here. We’re not a powerhouse in CBB. We really haven’t been since Rupp won four National Championships in an 11 year stretch.
These are just facts.
Call it what you will but I want us to be in the thick of it every other year… and with this guy coaching, it’s not the answerWait, what? According to many smart folks on Rafters, Mitch is responsible for all UK Athletics woes.
Now it's Fire the UK President. Fire Mitch. Wait, Mitch quitting anyway. Fire the next AD. Heck, fire 'em all, even before they start.
Yeah, recruiting blows. Cal spoiled BBN.
He hired the two worst coaches in UK history.
This. I believe Mitch’s hands were tied on some of the coaches but surely Pope and Smart weren’t the only 2 guys UK could have gotten.Agreed, I'd have dipped down to small school coaches who had won their conference/conference tournaments, and guys who had had more success than typical at their school. I'd have taken P6 coaches or upper tier mid majors who had made a sweet 16 or at least WON A GAME IN THE TOURNAMENT.
He couldn’t vote for the child rapist felon how’s that goingWhat do you expect from a guy dumb enough to vote for a dementia patient for President.
He isn’t just ignorant but an arrogant jerk. He always interrupts and asks stupid gotcha questions. I get he can disagree, his show etc., but he absolutely will not even listen to a caller he with whom he disagrees. Just accuses the caller of refusing to listen and only wanting to talk when that is exactly what he does. I listened last night and the caller blaming Mitch was right.Matt Jones is ignorant. He doesn't know basketball.
While I agree it’s not like Dusty doesn’t renege on his commitments.That was a brutal segment.
That caller was a dipsh!t as well.
When anyone says “Shoulda hired Dusty May” when the timeline (May hired at Michigan 2 weeks before Cal resigned from Kentucky) couldn’t have worked is dismissed by me instantly as being a reactionary whiner who doesn’t deal in facts.
But he had to get out in front of the fact he hired a sex offender story. Couldn’t wait since the story was going to break. Had to try to protect his reputation. So now here the fans sit with a very mediocre coach.He could have waited three more days or whatever and went after Donovan, if he made that massive offer of Harley’s to Otzelburger or someone like that he would have taken it I’d say. He could have found someone had he been a real AD.
You going to sit down with Pope in an interview, look at his history, talk to the BYU folks and think ”that’s the guy to lead us?”.He isn't wrong tho, Golden etc had never won anything
Also, google is your friend, I dont know why ppl stay stuck in denial about this...oats openly said he has no interest in a place like UK and he specifically said why
First off, I like Matt and listen to KSR often obviously. BUT ....
Matt Jones making some stupid points right now after a caller said mitch made a bad hire. MJ saying there was nobody else that had won anything we could hire because golden, pearl, Oats, Sean Miller and beard were all off limits by the president and uppers, so mitch isn't to blame basically.
Then Matt said tommy loyd hadnt won anything yet and neither had TJ otz and others which is total BS. Because there were plenty of people to hire that had won something compared to Pope,
Pope is the one who never won anything... never won more than 25 games, never won his conference or conference tournament..never won a tournament game. Plenty of coaches who could beat that resume...hell Louisvilles coach hire had won 30 games his conference and conference tournament prior to UL
So he will call out mitch but still say mitch is the best AD in the next sentence. For instance, while he said all this, right before he said mitch hired Pope on a Thursday and they were in a bind because swim scandle was released the following day that Friday, basically we needed a clean hire.
Maybe the dumbest part was after this Matt and Ryan said some may have been upset had we hired somebody other than Pope under the circumstances.
Sorry had to vent... our program is in a bad place. For the love of god hire a good AD to make things right and get Eli Crapitulo out of the president spot as well.
why do you keep putting down UK in order to prop up Pope??Really? Another thread bashing Pope? Seriously?
Just give up, always give up.
Our fans have turned into pussies. Maybe that’s why no one wants to come here.
We’re not entitled to a damn thing. Kentucky basketball has been irrelevant for a decade. There’s no guarantee that’s changing no matter who gets hired. Same thing with Nebraska football.
Appreciate what Rupp did here. We’re not a powerhouse in CBB. We really haven’t been since Rupp won four National Championships in an 11 year stretch.
These are just facts.
It is the entire Administration!! Incompetent to help in the modern age. They are stuck in tbe 1990's & everyone is leaving us behind. Cal's comments about Administrations were for a reason. It takes more than a coach & Duke is proof of that. Duke is a well oiled machine & Scheyer has little to do with it being so.
Yeah I agree a lot on the criticisms. Pope's recruiting is turning abysmal and he needs a GM or some help with navigating this NIL situation. As far as his coaching is concerned, if you notice any time that Alvin Brooks did the scout for the game we would have terrible first halves of basketball and then we would have to fix things during halftime. I think his trust in some of his assistants was way too elevated. The administration has really been lackluster in helping him fix his weaknesses. I think if Pope could accumulate talent he could win and win big. He just needs significant help with that.He isn’t just ignorant but an arrogant jerk. He always interrupts and asks stupid gotcha questions. I get he can disagree, his show etc., but he absolutely will not even listen to a caller he with whom he disagrees. Just accuses the caller of refusing to listen and only wanting to talk when that is exactly what he does. I listened last night and the caller blaming Mitch was right.
Of course Jones fires back with, ”who would you have hired?”. Impossible to answer because the callers don’t have access to the info available that a search firm, AD network would have access to that helps the AD make the decision. That doesn’t preclude the average Joe from realizing Barnhart made an absolute terrible hire on the day hire was announced. And the moron Ryan, well I’m stunned that idiot has a job.
Using the swim scandal as some excuse is complete horse dung. That scandal rests 100% at the feet of Mitch and Eli. Again ignoring warnings received and hiring that POS. Mitch and Eli made a lazy, panic hire to try and get in front of more bad news coming out. The UK administration is a complete failure.
Pretty good, I'm getting almost everything I voted for, and knowing it pisses you off is even better.He couldn’t vote for the child rapist felon how’s that going
Eli should never have veto power on a coaching hire.
He should only get a vote along with the BOT.