I admire you stick by MP since you say you like him. I liked him too as a player. I had my reservations when he got hired because of his resume.
Honestly, I was hoping Cal will not leave , I believe was a mistake that he was forced to leave.
After Cal left I was hoping we will wait and hire Billy D because of his unique qualifications and business knowledge from college basketball , NBA, roster construction, budget management etc………
the other alternative was to ask one of the best in business, Pat Riley, for advice on GM / coaching hiring and business model that UK basketball should follow.
After MP hiring and presentation, I rallied behind him And wanted him to succeed. From the first year, I saw issues with game preparation and defense. I thought he could remedy that in second year but he was forced in a role of roster construction / recruiting/ transfer portal and budget management NIL that he was completely unprepared for. He throw good money after bad injured or mediocre players while failing to attract real talent. His saving grace was OO return and FL NIL negotiations issues with DA. Without any of those two we would not make the NCAA tournament or have a winning season.
second year, also revealed MP inability to adapt, develop players or get close to player and manage locker room dynamics. his overthinking and reliance on some made up analytics determined in some very weird rotation of player and very poor players conditioning.
MP also failed at protecting his players, especially his freshmen from media or social media negativity. Thats his job to protect, mentor and teach these young men.
MP is in his 5Os and this his biggest job of his career. It’s up to him if he can switch course and turn the boat around . I will cheer for him in his 3rd year to succeed but I have big doubts because the second year brought more questions than answers.
