Stop reading after I, To be honest SOS mean **** in 2025-26
Yaxel, Wilkerson, Stokes, Kusturica, Spears Jr., Demary Jr., Mullins, Collins, Holt, Lanier, Dent, Wright, Lewis, Hall, Rippey...
- Thread starter Son_Of_Saul
- Start date
What you need to figure out there might be 2-3 players that are these elite high school players. Didn’t you learn anything from CAL. He always got elite talent that bombed.
Newsflash we just killed it in the portal
I don’t need you to fix nothing I said because everything I said was Valid! Take your jokes elsewhere
There is a difference between constructive criticism and incessant whining because your impatient entitled demands haven't been met. I don't know that you are truly guilty of taking it to that extent but the OP of this thread certainly is.
WTF do you care how much money UK spends? What is this, the Tightwad Gazette?
with our nil budget and being a blue blood. doubtful
not good either way..... at all especially at kentucky
We don't have the money you think we do. We certainly don't have Duke money
What is our NIL budget? Genuinely curious. Just exactly how much money does Pope have to spend? Links please also. Anybody else can help this poster out as well if they have links.
And yet you really have no clue how much we have, do you.
Ah yes another Pope sucks thread. I knew I could count on the usual suspects to show up for their " misery circle jerk" when I started reading it. Why don't you guys give it a rest for the summer at least.
Do you know this team won’t be competitive? I get being hesitant, but some fo you folks act like Pope has a roster full of guys who couldn’t walk on at Berea.
Maybe Pope should stop meeting with these players who are just trying to use UK to jack up their salaries. Then we would truly have nothing more to talk about for the summer.
You need a mix bro. Look at 2012. Seasoned vets with elite freshman. It’s a winning formula. So yes, I did learn something from Cal. And it was earned like a MF not given.
They’re still stuck trying to convince everyone their pick would’ve been better.
Idk, the talent is decent. Could we push to a F4? Maybe. But we could also see a repeat of last year.. double digit losses, not really competitive, no chance of moving into the 2nd weekend of the tournament.
This roster is decent, but still leaves a good deal to be desired.
Did Matt Jones tell him someone at KSR spread the story and we all bought into it.
The problem is, you can’t count on Pope’s superior coaching. The players will have to overcome his shortcomings, and I don’t think they’re good enough for that.
Do we not have a great squad of players for this upcoming season? Can we not be enthused about who we got? Or do we just have to whine about who we didn't get.
That's what I have been saying...People should see them play once before labeling them a scrub team
Who knows how truthful this particular story is but I have no doubt that there have been "whiffs" that have occurred that Pope and staff didn't see as fits. It doesn't help that they keep any and all recruiting info very close to the vest. Leading to speculation and inaccurate info on message boards and social media. Only for drama to unfold on those sites when a certain player doesn't commit that we may or may not have even wanted.
Of course it would help if we landed more top ranked recruits.
You mean Pope travelled to Europe for no reason, because we know Kusturica was the ONLY baller there to see. Right???
Actually there are clues. Norlander, Goodman, and Ben Roberts - who all have dozens of coaching sources - claimed we spent over $20 million last year. Goodman and Norlander estimate that we will be in that same area this year. Obviously we also had money to throw at Kusturica. Even conservatively, UK was probably willing to spend at least $22 million on this upcoming roster, and very likely even more than that. That might not be Duke or Texas level, but it's among the top 5 in the nation. We know Florida didn't spend that much last year with Golden taking shots at Kentucky, and they've done better than Kentucky in both of Pope's first two years, and will probably be better again next year.
So the economic excuse is probably not the best one if we're all trying to shield Coach Pope.
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I don't see anyone shielding Pope. I see them looking at the situation, knowing it's out of their control and letting it play out like anyone halfway sane would do.
Lmao Golden can’t ride this gravy train forever! He’s had the same core of guys for going on THREE seasons now. Let’s see what he does once that core is gone. Any decent coach could win with the rosters he’s had. Lightning in a bottle.
Didn’t Golden’s best player just turn down a chance to be selected 1st round and isn’t he projected to be the highest paid player in college. I think Golden has a much larger NIL budget than he lets on. And for all the people complaining about high school recruits, which top recruits has he gotten
Sorry for the long post here, but I hope some will read my thoughts...
Usually, when there are at least 2 sides to every story and situation, the truth lies "somewhere in between" the two most polar opposites.
We're all very passionate about Kentucky basketball. We want to succeed at the highest level. That said, when CCC left like a thief in the night, I was happy. Happy that a$$ clown was gone and took his attitude and philosophy that was dragging us down was finally gone, it had to end.
The vast majority of fans can plainly see CCC isn't what he used to be and had to go for what he was doing here at Kentucky. Fair enough. It was well overdue by the time it happened in my book, and he's gone - thankfully. So we had to move on.
But to go from CCC and having an A.D. who turns around and hires ...... Mark Pope ?!?! I mean, seriously you go from CCC and your first thought and hire is - Mark Pope ?!?!??
Disturbingly alarming, red flags waving and, just holy begeebuz, batman.....
I mean, c'mon. That decision ( and all subsequent blame / anger ) needs to be directed at Barney.
Coach Pope inherited the most difficult coaching situation imaginable here. That he has even had us competitive considering the injuries he has had to deal with over the past 2 years is a small miracle.
I'm not saying Coach Pope doesn't deserve criticism, I think he would be the first one to honestly appraise his situation here as unsustainable, and that this year is definitely a make or break season for him.
Personally, he has held up pretty well, considering everything. Criticism is deserved, but not going overboard with it. The main things to concern oneself here is :
1. Everything begins with recruiting and obtaining talent thru the portal that is a good fit and provides good chemistry. Pope has had a disturbing problem getting top tier 5 star talent from the high school ranks which should never be the case here at Kentucky. He's done pretty well working the portal. But is struggling closing 5 star players.
So from this perspective, he needs to really do a much better job in order to stay coach here. Period.
2. Results. His first two teams surely would have had much better results if injuries hadn't derailed everything. The problem is, two seasons in a row is an unsustainable trajectory, along with the results in his recruiting.
Both of these things need to change and NOW - this season. Otherwise, we're not going anywhere in the immediate future - just maintaining the status quo.
So here we are waiting on seeing what his third year will produce.
I know everyone is hoping we will have a good year, can we finish with LESS than 10+ losses and finish with a better ending than a sweet sixteen appearance?
This team should - at the very least - make the sweet sixteen this year. Ten+ losses ? Maybe, maybe not. If it's 8 - 9 and a deep run in March to an elite eight ?
Is that enough to keep him?
It's a tall ask but it is doable.
If it doesn't happen, we need to move on, but for God's sakes, I hope J Batt can clearly see we need a better option than to immediately turn to a Mark Pope level coaching change.
I say rally the wagons and support the team, quit the incessant bickering and hateful arguing. Make a positive contribution if you are going to criticize, then let it be in a constructive manner instead of merely venting. And I'm not directing anything to anyone at all here.....
If the results of the ensuing season aren't satisfactory, then we need to move on once again. It's not time to cut and bail now, but at some point, we need to cinch up our belt and pick ourselves up by the bootstraps and get it done here. Now is that time.
This is Kentucky. Basketball is what we do.
Have faith, try to stay positive, keep a good perspective and hold the AD and Coach to the highest standards that will bring us back to the success we have always had here.
We will see soon enough.
Usually, when there are at least 2 sides to every story and situation, the truth lies "somewhere in between" the two most polar opposites.
We're all very passionate about Kentucky basketball. We want to succeed at the highest level. That said, when CCC left like a thief in the night, I was happy. Happy that a$$ clown was gone and took his attitude and philosophy that was dragging us down was finally gone, it had to end.
The vast majority of fans can plainly see CCC isn't what he used to be and had to go for what he was doing here at Kentucky. Fair enough. It was well overdue by the time it happened in my book, and he's gone - thankfully. So we had to move on.
But to go from CCC and having an A.D. who turns around and hires ...... Mark Pope ?!?! I mean, seriously you go from CCC and your first thought and hire is - Mark Pope ?!?!??
Disturbingly alarming, red flags waving and, just holy begeebuz, batman.....
I mean, c'mon. That decision ( and all subsequent blame / anger ) needs to be directed at Barney.
Coach Pope inherited the most difficult coaching situation imaginable here. That he has even had us competitive considering the injuries he has had to deal with over the past 2 years is a small miracle.
I'm not saying Coach Pope doesn't deserve criticism, I think he would be the first one to honestly appraise his situation here as unsustainable, and that this year is definitely a make or break season for him.
Personally, he has held up pretty well, considering everything. Criticism is deserved, but not going overboard with it. The main things to concern oneself here is :
1. Everything begins with recruiting and obtaining talent thru the portal that is a good fit and provides good chemistry. Pope has had a disturbing problem getting top tier 5 star talent from the high school ranks which should never be the case here at Kentucky. He's done pretty well working the portal. But is struggling closing 5 star players.
So from this perspective, he needs to really do a much better job in order to stay coach here. Period.
2. Results. His first two teams surely would have had much better results if injuries hadn't derailed everything. The problem is, two seasons in a row is an unsustainable trajectory, along with the results in his recruiting.
Both of these things need to change and NOW - this season. Otherwise, we're not going anywhere in the immediate future - just maintaining the status quo.
So here we are waiting on seeing what his third year will produce.
I know everyone is hoping we will have a good year, can we finish with LESS than 10+ losses and finish with a better ending than a sweet sixteen appearance?
This team should - at the very least - make the sweet sixteen this year. Ten+ losses ? Maybe, maybe not. If it's 8 - 9 and a deep run in March to an elite eight ?
Is that enough to keep him?
It's a tall ask but it is doable.
If it doesn't happen, we need to move on, but for God's sakes, I hope J Batt can clearly see we need a better option than to immediately turn to a Mark Pope level coaching change.
I say rally the wagons and support the team, quit the incessant bickering and hateful arguing. Make a positive contribution if you are going to criticize, then let it be in a constructive manner instead of merely venting. And I'm not directing anything to anyone at all here.....
If the results of the ensuing season aren't satisfactory, then we need to move on once again. It's not time to cut and bail now, but at some point, we need to cinch up our belt and pick ourselves up by the bootstraps and get it done here. Now is that time.
This is Kentucky. Basketball is what we do.
Have faith, try to stay positive, keep a good perspective and hold the AD and Coach to the highest standards that will bring us back to the success we have always had here.
We will see soon enough.
After it got us all of that the college game changed to a more modern style of offense & Calipari didn't change with it, he kept his 2 plays offense. Pope will adapt & he runs a modern offense, he lacks the recruiting skills of Calipari & that's where he needs help, hopefully Mo Williams will start paying dividends. I love the potential this team has on offense & Pope will run lots of different stuff, we're gonna score points, not even worried about that, I wanna see good defense also, they definitely have the length to play it.
Pope's problem is he doesn't teach defense.