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HeelVol

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Oct 2, 2012
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Hey, Cats fans. I've been monitoring y'all's fortunes after Calipari.

I see a lot of anti-Pope rhetoric. I've been here on Rupp Rafters before also saying Pope was the right hire after Calipari wore out his welcome and he grew fatigued at the criticism of not doing enough in the NCAAT despite the flow of talent he brought to Lexington.

As of today, who would you rather have? Calipari or Pope?

Arkansas is ahead in the SEC race. But Kentucky beat Arkansas (and Calipari) at Arkansas. And Arkansas, I mean, Calipari, continues to recruit well but in reality he has a roster edge because players like Wagner haven't been OAD...good but not great and can contribute leadership to more talented Acuff (and Jordan Smith sees that).

Kentucky sits at 8-5 despite losing it's very own NBA talent in JQ and losing the projected starting PG. It seems like this is not accounted for in the criticism (angst) directed towards Pope.

(I'm a Tar Heel fan that lives in Tennessee. No ill will intended. Just wondering what the UK fanbase thinks.)
 
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OliverSimmonsTwinBrother

OliverSimmonsTwinBrother

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ScWildcat3 said:
This year i agree he’s been bad. Last year Kentucky was among the best when full strength. Can’t help had 3 freak injuries. Costing 2 the season and butler was at 60%. Also Carr playing through back pain wasn’t the same.
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Every coach at UK had dealt with injuries, how many 10 pt loses has Pope had in two seasons? I've honeslty lost count
 
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Cats4321

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It would be easier to dismiss this underachieving season as bad luck due to injuries if Pope had any success as a head coach in his career. This team has performed exactly like all of his teams over his career.

Tbe vast majority of fans would rather not have Cal or Pope. If we had a competent AD, we wouldn't be in this situation.
 
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Cats4321

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OliverSimmonsTwinBrother said:
Every coach at UK had dealt with injuries, how many 10 pt loses has Pope had in two seasons? I've honeslty lost count
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Agree with this. I get tired of the injury excuses. Yes, we've had bad luck with injuries this year, but injuries are a part of the game. It happens at every school. It seems every loss UK has had over the past 30 years is blamed on a player being hurt or not 100%. Like we haven't also benefited from key injuries on other teams.
 
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UKGrad24

UKGrad24

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lol you always know when Kentucky has a bad coach. I’ve been on this board 23 years. Back to wildcatchat. Anytime we’ve been down foreigners run over here and offer “well wishes”, “I’m just here to ask a question” “I think y’all will be fine, you’ve got a good coach”. It’s like clockwork.

Freida’s Boss for example. When it’s typical days and Kentucky is top 5, killing Vandy etc, nowhere to be found. Right now? “Hey cat fans! I come in peace”.

UNC is a filthy institution who should have had 3 titles stripped and cheated countless of young black males out of legitimate educations in return for using them to win basketball games. that’s what your focus should probably be on.

This isn’t a binary no matter how many people make it out. The answer is neither need to be here. That’s it, there is no Cal vs. Pope, the answer is neither. It’s a stupid thing to keep discussing and is irrelevant. Calipari is gone, Pope will be soon too, and the basketball side will make the next hire, which no one in the country wants.
 
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UKGrad24

UKGrad24

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Cats4321 said:
Agree with this. I get tired of the injury excuses. Yes, we've had bad luck with injuries this year, but injuries are a part of the game. It happens at every school. It seems every loss UK has had over the past 30 years is blamed on a player being hurt or not 100%. Like we haven't also benefited from key injuries on other teams.
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It’s not only part of the game, it’s void of context intentionally done to evade the issue.

JQ was recruited with the idea he wouldn’t even be ready until between January and February. It’s not like he fell off the bus arriving in Lexington and broke his leg. He’s never been a part of these rotations. If even he had been, we recruited him knowing he’d likely not even make it back to be a big impact until late February at the earliest, IF he even could do that. He was always just a prayer. It doesn’t fit in the “injury” excuse. This doesn’t even cover the fact that he was unplayable in a few games when he did play. He was awful.

When Kam and Lowe were playing, Pope was having press conferences talking about suicidal ideations. The team improved when they went out. There is a strong, strong argument to be made that without them going out this team is worse. We literally played better without either in the lineup. OO and Chandler did MUCH better without them. Do you see Pope’s crazy lineups and substitutions? Imagine giving him 3 more players and 1 of them being a high volume shooting PG who’s a bad shot. Imagine it.

Injuries don’t matter because coaches are paid to figure it out. And in this case the injury excuse is extremely weak for where WE ARE. It didn’t impact things to this extreme even if it was an issue which many people believe, including guys that cover this for a living, that it is not.
 
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Monday Nitro

Monday Nitro

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Bugs092056 said:
Not one word about the product on the floor, ya lame arse
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I just saw his quote and remembered his trash post during halftime of the UT game......he thought we were going to lose and said Pope could bring back the Denim's when he was head coach at Berea University. He, and apparently you, bring nothing besides snark and garbage posts.
 
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L.O.D.

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Motivated Cal was one of best college coaches last 30 years IMO Top 5 with K , Donovan, Wright, and R. Williams . Theres no comparison. Cal of right now it might be a little better at UK but atill not great either.
 
coalBucket

coalBucket

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Vomit Puke GIF by The Late Late Show with James Corden
 
OliverSimmonsTwinBrother

OliverSimmonsTwinBrother

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Monday Nitro said:
I just saw his quote and remembered his trash post during halftime of the UT game......he thought we were going to lose and said Pope could bring back the Denim's when he was head coach at Berea University. He, and apparently you, bring nothing besides snark and garbage posts.
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Berea College. And yes Coach Pope has a better chance coaching there for the 40th anniversary of 96 team then at UK.
 
S

ScWildcat3

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Sep 27, 2005
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Cats4321 said:
It would be easier to dismiss this underachieving season as bad luck due to injuries if Pope had any success as a head coach in his career. This team has performed exactly like all of his teams over his career.

Tbe vast majority of fans would rather not have Cal or Pope. If we had a competent AD, we wouldn't be in this situation.
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How many coaches have had huge success immediately when starting from scratch at a place like Kentucky? And when he was at byu they were a mid major some of it and didn’t step up nil wise until nba guys took over with nba owner money. I’m giving pope 1 more year to turn it around then I’ll agree it’s time to move on if it’s still this bad.
 
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B

Bill_the_cat

Junior
Nov 17, 2025
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HeelVol said:
Hey, Cats fans. I've been monitoring y'all's fortunes after Calipari.

I see a lot of anti-Pope rhetoric. I've been here on Rupp Rafters before also saying Pope was the right hire after Calipari wore out his welcome and he grew fatigued at the criticism of not doing enough in the NCAAT despite the flow of talent he brought to Lexington.

As of today, who would you rather have? Calipari or Pope?

Arkansas is ahead in the SEC race. But Kentucky beat Arkansas (and Calipari) at Arkansas. And Arkansas, I mean, Calipari, continues to recruit well but in reality he has a roster edge because players like Wagner haven't been OAD...good but not great and can contribute leadership to more talented Acuff (and Jordan Smith sees that).

Kentucky sits at 8-5 despite losing it's very own NBA talent in JQ and losing the projected starting PG. It seems like this is not accounted for in the criticism (angst) directed towards Pope.

(I'm a Tar Heel fan that lives in Tennessee. No ill will intended. Just wondering what the UK fanbase thinks.)
Click to expand...
In a vacuum, you take Cal. But he was sleep walking here.
Pope has the ability he just needs to stop second guessing himself and coach like he has confidence in his decisions.
 
NociHTTP

NociHTTP

Heisman
Mar 8, 2023
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ScWildcat3 said:
This year i agree he’s been bad. Last year Kentucky was among the best when full strength. Can’t help had 3 freak injuries. Costing 2 the season and butler was at 60%. Also Carr playing through back pain wasn’t the same.
Click to expand...
FOH with that "been bad". He has a winning record. He's not like your idol Cal with a 16-19 record or whatever it was.
 
Vek96

Vek96

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HeelVol said:
Hey, Cats fans. I've been monitoring y'all's fortunes after Calipari.

I see a lot of anti-Pope rhetoric. I've been here on Rupp Rafters before also saying Pope was the right hire after Calipari wore out his welcome and he grew fatigued at the criticism of not doing enough in the NCAAT despite the flow of talent he brought to Lexington.

As of today, who would you rather have? Calipari or Pope?

Arkansas is ahead in the SEC race. But Kentucky beat Arkansas (and Calipari) at Arkansas. And Arkansas, I mean, Calipari, continues to recruit well but in reality he has a roster edge because players like Wagner haven't been OAD...good but not great and can contribute leadership to more talented Acuff (and Jordan Smith sees that).

Kentucky sits at 8-5 despite losing it's very own NBA talent in JQ and losing the projected starting PG. It seems like this is not accounted for in the criticism (angst) directed towards Pope.

(I'm a Tar Heel fan that lives in Tennessee. No ill will intended. Just wondering what the UK fanbase thinks.)
Click to expand...
Fans have short memories and leave a lot of facts out. They had been playing well going into the Georgia game. Somehow, Georgia made 14 threes, despite coming into the game as one of the worst 3 point shooting teams in CBB. Bad luck I suppose.

Pope has had terrible luck with injuries his two seasons here. Last year it was Robinson, Butler, Krissa, and Carr to some degree

This year, it’s been Quantance, Lowe, and Williams.

We‘ll see how the rest of this season plays out. Tough to overcome injuries to numerous key players.

Pope will get one more year. Honestly, I’m not sure if he can be successful here or not. I would like to see him have a season with a healthy roster.
 
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kyjeff1

kyjeff1

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Sep 8, 2012
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2009-2017 Cal was a boss, hell yeah, give me that guy.

2018-2023 Cal was a joke that was mailing it in. No thanks.

And just because Arkansas is ahead of UK right now, means squat. Last year, UK was a 3 seed, Arkansas was an 11, but the schedules aren't/weren’t the same.

This "Cal or Pope" question always seems to come up on here after a UK loss. Why didn't the OP ask this after UK whipped Cal's *** in January?

Give me Pope over 2018-23 Call 1000 times out of 1000. At least Pope is TRYING to win.
 
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UKBB4Ever

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ScWildcat3 said:
This year i agree he’s been bad. Last year Kentucky was among the best when full strength. Can’t help had 3 freak injuries. Costing 2 the season and butler was at 60%. Also Carr playing through back pain wasn’t the same.
Click to expand...
Last year was just like this year. Same dumbass subbing. Same high school offense. Same awful defense. Quit in just as many games as this season. But last season it was all new and exciting and we had players that had been coached before getting here. And we had some luck. Most of that early before teams caught on.

And just not competing has nothing to do with injuries. Pope had no qualifications to be hired by UK and he's proven that he has no business continuing in the job he was handed.
 
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tinfoil

Redshirt
Jan 6, 2019
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Who ever the team Captain is, needs to get in the other player's like Ulis used to do. A player who doesn't move or talk should be benched. Play only 8 players unless there foul problems. Any player not running up the court should also be benched. Pope needs to focus on next year and recruit players who are hungry and prima donna, like Chandler.
 
H

HeelVol

Sophomore
Oct 2, 2012
171
176
43
kyjeff1 said:
2009-2017 Cal was a boss, hell yeah, give me that guy.

2018-2023 Cal was a joke that was mailing it in. No thanks.

And just because Arkansas is ahead of UK right now, means squat. Last year, UK was a 3 seed, Arkansas was an 11, but the schedules are/weren’t the same.

This "Cal or Pope" question always seems to come up on here after a UK loss. Why didn't the OP ask this after UK whipped Cal's *** in January?

Give me Pope over 2018-23 Call 1000 times out of 1000. At least Pope is TRYING to win.
Click to expand...
When UK beat AR at AR, I was convinced UK fans would fully jump on the Pope bandwagon. Additionally, Yes, it was the most recent loss that also spurred my question.

My question was also spurred on due to Calipari getting another NBA quality guard in Jordan Smith and realizing Pope is not bringing in any 5 star high schoolers yet for the upcoming class.

NBA success versus hanging banners is what forced Calipari and UK to divorce.

And I wonder why coaches who have success without a top recruiting class have to start recruiting top ranked but ill fitting players who will gone in 1 season? Pope started going after 5 stars for UK but why not go after players ranked in 75-300 range like at BYU (pre -NIL) but armed with UK NIL $$...keep them for 3-4 years and build cohesion and a sustainable program to win conference and national titles.
 
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S

SkyPrince

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Jul 7, 2025
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UKGrad24 said:
It’s not only part of the game, it’s void of context intentionally done to evade the issue.

JQ was recruited with the idea he wouldn’t even be ready until between January and February. It’s not like he fell off the bus arriving in Lexington and broke his leg. He’s never been a part of these rotations. If even he had been, we recruited him knowing he’d likely not even make it back to be a big impact until late February at the earliest, IF he even could do that. He was always just a prayer. It doesn’t fit in the “injury” excuse. This doesn’t even cover the fact that he was unplayable in a few games when he did play. He was awful.

When Kam and Lowe were playing, Pope was having press conferences talking about suicidal ideations. The team improved when they went out. There is a strong, strong argument to be made that without them going out this team is worse. We literally played better without either in the lineup. OO and Chandler did MUCH better without them. Do you see Pope’s crazy lineups and substitutions? Imagine giving him 3 more players and 1 of them being a high volume shooting PG who’s a bad shot. Imagine it.

Injuries don’t matter because coaches are paid to figure it out. And in this case the injury excuse is extremely weak for where WE ARE. It didn’t impact things to this extreme even if it was an issue which many people believe, including guys that cover this for a living, that it is not.
Click to expand...
Have to disagree about JQ.
Show me a quote where Pope was using a Jan to Feb timeline for JQ's return.
He actually was trying to sell the fanbase on the opposite like JQ was some freakish healer and that he could have played well before they put him out there.
Which just goes to show you that Pope is just as FOS as Cal ever was and attempts to play the fanbase.
 
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A

Anon1739778738

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Feb 17, 2025
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I’m The Village Idiot said:
Pope.

I’d also rather have Pope than Shaka Smart — that’s who would have gotten the job if it weren’t for Pope.
Click to expand...

I’m The Village Idiot said:
Pope.

I’d also rather have Pope than Shaka Smart — that’s who would have gotten the job if it weren’t for Pope.
Click to expand...

ScWildcat3 said:
How many coaches have had huge success immediately when starting from scratch at a place like Kentucky? And when he was at byu they were a mid major some of it and didn’t step up nil wise until nba guys took over with nba owner money. I’m giving pope 1 more year to turn it around then I’ll agree it’s time to move on if it’s still this bad.
HeelVol said:
When UK beat AR at AR, I was convinced UK fans would fully jump on the Pope bandwagon. Additionally, Yes, it was the most recent loss that also spurred my question.

My question was also spurred on due to Calipari getting another NBA quality guard in Jordan Smith and realizing Pope is not bringing in any 5 star high schoolers yet for the upcoming class.

NBA success versus hanging banners is what forced Calipari and UK to divorce.

And I wonder why coaches who have success without a top recruiting class have to start recruiting top ranked but ill fitting players who will gone in 1 season? Pope started going after 5 stars for UK but why not go after players ranked in 75-300 range like at BYU (pre -NIL) but armed with UK NIL $$...keep them for 3-4 years and build cohesion and a sustainable program to win conference and national titles.Because that level of talent won't work you have to get a couple of top ten players to mix with Portal players that is the recipe for success.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
kyjeff1

kyjeff1

Heisman
Sep 8, 2012
50,470
70,655
113
HeelVol said:
When UK beat AR at AR, I was convinced UK fans would fully jump on the Pope bandwagon. Additionally, Yes, it was the most recent loss that also spurred my question.

My question was also spurred on due to Calipari getting another NBA quality guard in Jordan Smith and realizing Pope is not bringing in any 5 star high schoolers yet for the upcoming class.

NBA success versus hanging banners is what forced Calipari and UK to divorce.

And I wonder why coaches who have success without a top recruiting class have to start recruiting top ranked but ill fitting players who will gone in 1 season? Pope started going after 5 stars for UK but why not go after players ranked in 75-300 range like at BYU (pre -NIL) but armed with UK NIL $$...keep them for 3-4 years and build cohesion and a sustainable program to win conference and national titles.
Click to expand...
Looks to me like Pope was trying to get 1 or 2 star freshment to mix in with guys like Moreno, Kam Williams and Chandler, maybe more, then go after the big fish in the portal.

The thing with Mark Pope is, he shows you he can take good players and beat top end teams, the problem is, he then loses games to bad teams and doesn't have the personality to motivate his team. So, our guys consistently show up not ready to play.
So we will always have 10 losses and there's no winning 6 games in a row in March, not the way he manages a program. His ideas seem good on a sheet of paper, but they don't work in real life.
 
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KYFOSSIL

Heisman
Jan 13, 2005
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kyjeff1 said:
Looks to me like Pope was trying to get 1 or 2 star freshment to mix in with guys like Moreno, Kam Williams and Chandler, maybe more, then go after the big fish in the portal.

The thing with Mark Pope is, he shows you he can take good players and beat top end teams, the problem is, he then loses games to bad teams and doesn't have the personality to motivate his team. So, our guys consistently show up not ready to play.
So we will always have 10 losses and there's no winning 6 games in a row in March, not the way he manages a program. His ideas seem good on a sheet of paper, but they don't work in real life.
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This is eerily familiar because after Missouri beat us people were saying we would be slaughtered by Tennessee twice and Arkansas and then we go on that five or 6 game win streak then get devastated by Vanderbilt. Even as tough as our schedule coming up is it would not shock me that this team wins the rest of the regular season drops an egg early in the OCC tournament. .
 
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kyjeff1

kyjeff1

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KYFOSSIL said:
This is eerily familiar because after Missouri beat us people were saying we would be slaughtered by Tennessee twice and Arkansas and then we go on that five or 6 game win streak then get devastated by Vanderbilt. Even as tough as our schedule coming up is it would not shock me that this team wins the rest of the regular season drops an egg early in the OCC tournament. .
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The only way this is going to be any better, is if Pope brings an MKG type guy in. A guy that doesn't accept losing and does something about it.
I like Oweh, but he’s not a leader. Mo D has a strong personality, but he doesn't appear to have leadership skills. Lowe doesn’t have it either and you really want your pg to he a leader. I think DA tried to he a leader, but I believe thst caused some issues.
 
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UKBB4Ever

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kyjeff1 said:
The only way this is going to be any better, is if Pope brings an MKG type guy in. A guy that doesn't accept losing and does something about it.
I like Oweh, but he’s not a leader. Mo D has a strong personality, but he doesn't appear to have leadership skills. Lowe doesn’t have it either and you really want your pg to he a leader. I think DA tried to he a leader, but I believe thst caused some issues.
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That’s true. If the coach is not a leader, and Pope is not, then you better have an alpha, or two, on the court. None of these guys are that.

And it doesn’t seem that Pope wants that type and they don’t want him.
 
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