Toggle sidebar

BB: Serbian F/C Pavle Backo zoom with Pope

W

Wildcat_in_DC

All-Conference
Nov 25, 2025
982
1,643
93
seccats04 said:
I hate Duke more than anybody but give credit where credit's due. In Scheyer's four years, they have won the ACC twice (with only one loss each season), finished second another year, have won the ACC tournament three times, has two E8's and a F4. I know the current ACC is pretty much what the SEC used to be most years, garbage, but we would love to be in their current position as a program. We are turning into Georgia basketball unless Pope can turn things around this year.
Click to expand...
yup.

Duke is going to pre-season top 3. we will be 15-20
Duke has won 70 games in the last 2 seasons. we have won 46
Duke has lost 7 games in the last 2 seasons. we have lost 26
Duke has been a 1 seed in each of the last 2 NCAAT, we have been a 3 and a 7

Duke and their lottery picks are winning plenty....
 
  • Sad
Reactions: cornbreadnmilk
kyjeff1

kyjeff1

Heisman
Sep 8, 2012
51,337
72,186
113
seccats04 said:
I hate Duke more than anybody but give credit where credit's due. In Scheyer's four years, they have won the ACC twice (with only one loss each season), finished second another year, have won the ACC tournament three times, has two E8's and a F4. I know the current ACC is pretty much what the SEC used to be most years, garbage, but we would love to be in their current position as a program. We are turning into Georgia basketball unless Pope can turn things around this year.
Click to expand...
Oh I'm not crapping on duke at all. They have been really good, but look at the talent Scheyer has had. On paper, those teams should dominate the college game and win the title each year. Same with the Zion team, but they have zero titles with all those stacked teams.
They have been great, but they keep losing to teams that are senior laden and built to win in college.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mattrudd
T

Torpedo

Redshirt
Jun 19, 2026
7
8
3
seccats04 said:
I hate Duke more than anybody but give credit where credit's due. In Scheyer's four years, they have won the ACC twice (with only one loss each season), finished second another year, have won the ACC tournament three times, has two E8's and a F4. I know the current ACC is pretty much what the SEC used to be most years, garbage, but we would love to be in their current position as a program. We are turning into Georgia basketball unless Pope can turn things around this year.
Click to expand...

These days the SEC is generally more competitive athletically than the ACC.
 
  • Like
Reactions: paulcalhoun_rivals397471
GhostofVerderber

GhostofVerderber

Senior
May 18, 2022
413
525
93
Anon200440 said:
"Who gives a squat about the NBA, when UK plays college ball?"

You gotta have guys like that to win
Hurley had em, may had em, cal had em when he won here, scheyer has em, self had em, pitini had em, florida was an outlier

but to be an elite team you gotta have elite coaching or elite players, ideally both

Pope isnt elite, so we have to get elite players to be really good and we dont have that, which is why we are constantly 10 loss teams
Click to expand...
Moron
 
  • Like
Reactions: chattanogawildcat and paulcalhoun_rivals397471
B

bnewt5

Senior
Feb 17, 2026
498
633
93
kyjeff1 said:
Oh I'm not crapping on duke at all. They have been really good, but look at the talent Scheyer has had. On paper, those teams should dominate the college game and win the title each year. Same with the Zion team, but they have zero titles with all those stacked teams.
They have been great, but they keep losing to teams that are senior laden and built to win in college.
Click to expand...
Duke isn't finishing in the lower half of their conference or leaving the ncaa tournament the 1st weekend
 
  • Like
Reactions: Anon200440 and cornbreadnmilk
kyjeff1

kyjeff1

Heisman
Sep 8, 2012
51,337
72,186
113
bnewt5 said:
Duke isn't finishing in the lower half of their conference or leaving the ncaa tournament the 1st weekend
Click to expand...
I never said they did and that's not what we're talking about.

First of all, they play in the ACC, 2 seasons ago, the ACC was the worst power 5 conference in my lifetime, so them winning the league these last few years, shouldn't be a surprise and it’s really not much of an accomplishment.

Second of all, duke, with NBA talent coming off the bench, hasn't won a title since 2015. They keep losing to the types of teams so many of you say can't possibly win, because they don't have HS lottery pick talent. That's the point I'm making.

Also, last year was an awful season. The fit of the team was poor, there were team crushing injuries and the players simply didn't like each other, but one bad call at Auburn, took UK from a possible 3rd place finish, to 7th, in a better league than the ACC.

But I have a question for you. You solely focused on our 7th place finish last year, like it's a normal thing. Why don't you guys ever talk about the 24/25 season? You guys act like 24/25 never happened.

BTW, UK has scoreboard on that duke program you’re bragging about and UK also beat Florida's title team that year, but you won't talk about that, will you?
 
  • Like
Reactions: paulcalhoun_rivals397471
seccats04

seccats04

Heisman
Dec 6, 2004
14,537
23,460
113
kyjeff1 said:
I never said they did and that's not what we're talking about.

First of all, they play in the ACC, 2 seasons ago, the ACC was the worst power 5 conference in my lifetime, so them winning the league these last few years, shouldn't be a surprise and it’s really not much of an accomplishment.

Second of all, duke, with NBA talent coming off the bench, hasn't won a title since 2015. They keep losing to the types of teams so many of you say can't possibly win, because they don't have HS lottery pick talent. That's the point I'm making.

Also, last year was an awful season. The fit of the team was poor, there were team crushing injuries and the players simply didn't like each other, but one bad call at Auburn, took UK from a possible 3rd place finish, to 7th, in a better league than the ACC.

But I have a question for you. You solely focused on our 7th place finish last year, like it's a normal thing. Why don't you guys ever talk about the 24/25 season? You guys act like 24/25 never happened.

BTW, UK has scoreboard on that duke program you’re bragging about and UK also beat Florida's title team that year, but you won't talk about that, will you?
Click to expand...
We finished 9th last year not 7th. We played on Wednesday in the SECT for the first time in history. That's horrible no matter how you try to spin it. 14 losses is unacceptable, no matter the excuses.

The 24/25 season certainly happened but we still had 12 losses, many of them blowouts. We had some great wins and some terrible losses. We beat Duke, Gonzaga, UL, Florida, Tennessee and Illinois. We also got blown out by Ohio St, Georgia, Vandy and Ole Miss. Par for Mark Pope's career. No consistency whatsoever.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cornbreadnmilk
Artlaibesghost

Artlaibesghost

All-Conference
Nov 30, 2022
1,156
2,317
113
kyjeff1 said:
It's a good thing UK doesn’t play in the NBA then.

So, the next question is, FOR THE COLLEGE GAME, would you, or would you not consider Wilkins, MM, Diallo and Momcilovic game changers?

Who gives a squat about the NBA, when UK plays college ball?

The teams winning titles, are not doing so with stacked NBA talent, it's the teams with veteran college dudes that are good enough to catch a cup of coffee in the NBA. The games are completely different.
Click to expand...
You are so right some of us UK fans could give a rats rectum about the NBA. 12 years of Cals indoctrination on the subject seems to still be prevalent with our fans.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kyjeff1
U

UKWildcats1987

Heisman
Sep 9, 2021
20,153
35,566
113
One thing about Dukes losses the past 2 ncaa tournaments. Those are more a negative on the coach to me than the players and younger talent not winning.

The Houston and uconn losses were incredibly choke jobs due to coaching. Both were also fluky as hell losses. If John boy can learn to finish games (hope he doesnt), then duke is gonna win a title soon.
 
P

Padsfs07

All-Conference
Jan 19, 2013
3,906
3,740
108
seccats04 said:
We finished 9th last year not 7th. We played on Wednesday in the SECT for the first time in history. That's horrible no matter how you try to spin it. 14 losses is unacceptable, no matter the excuses.

The 24/25 season certainly happened but we still had 12 losses, many of them blowouts. We had some great wins and some terrible losses. We beat Duke, Gonzaga, UL, Florida, Tennessee and Illinois. We also got blown out by Ohio St, Georgia, Vandy and Ole Miss. Par for Mark Pope's career. No consistency whatsoever.
Click to expand...

It was a 3 way tie for 7th.

just like in 15/16, we were co sec champs but the 2 seed in the tourney
 
  • Like
Reactions: kyjeff1
paulcalhoun_rivals397471

paulcalhoun_rivals397471

All-American
Aug 23, 2024
2,704
6,001
113
  • Like
Reactions: UKCowboys, chattanogawildcat and kyjeff1
kyjeff1

kyjeff1

Heisman
Sep 8, 2012
51,337
72,186
113
seccats04 said:
We finished 9th last year not 7th. We played on Wednesday in the SECT for the first time in history. That's horrible no matter how you try to spin it. 14 losses is unacceptable, no matter the excuses.

The 24/25 season certainly happened but we still had 12 losses, many of them blowouts. We had some great wins and some terrible losses. We beat Duke, Gonzaga, UL, Florida, Tennessee and Illinois. We also got blown out by Ohio St, Georgia, Vandy and Ole Miss. Par for Mark Pope's career. No consistency whatsoever.
Click to expand...
I get, but we also played top 4 SOS's with no pg, and a hobbled pg
We also had massive wins that showed what Pope can do.
I'm just trying to be positive. It’s real easy to be negative.
Also, we had a 9-16 season, that's far worse than last year and that 2021 team had 3 NBA level talents and a "HOF coach".
All those great years Cal had, were against weak competition too, but we're expecting Pope to win like our 2010 team did with 2 hobbled teams.
I just want to see this team be healthy and see if they can get the job done. If Pope can't hack it this year with a healthy roster, then he needs to go. I'm on the fence with him and I'm just hoping he succeeds.
In this era, with the money being invested, he needs to make it happen, if he doesn't, I believe he's out, but it's way too early to just give up on him given the up's he has had.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: mattrudd and paulcalhoun_rivals397471
kyjeff1

kyjeff1

Heisman
Sep 8, 2012
51,337
72,186
113
UKWildcats1987 said:
One thing about Dukes losses the past 2 ncaa tournaments. Those are more a negative on the coach to me than the players and younger talent not winning.

The Houston and uconn losses were incredibly choke jobs due to coaching. Both were also fluky as hell losses. If John boy can learn to finish games (hope he doesnt), then duke is gonna win a title soon.
Click to expand...
Correct, but UConn and Houston never gave up, they put duke in a position to choke, that's what veteran teams do.

Who would you tske in a 1 game scenario, Duke 2025, or Florida 2025?
Duke 2026, or Michigan?

I'm taking Florida and Michigan.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mattrudd
BlueBloodKyFan72

BlueBloodKyFan72

All-Conference
Apr 18, 2026
737
1,311
93
This guy would be a decent pickup behind MM especially with the health concerns for Frank and overall skills of Potter. Him or Hinduo at the 3/4
 
  • Like
Reactions: UKCowboys
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom