Dan Hurley and his terrible first 2 UCONN years

kyjeff1 said:

And he literally called that team "great".

If you swapped coaches, he would say 2020 was awful and 2025 was great.

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Bichoto said:

Pope hasn’t seen an elite 8 as a coach in his life. Tennessee has 3 in a row. Put that in your pipe and toke it.

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Resignmarkpope said:

I’ll be here this time next year when pope is fired after losing another 14 games

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paulcalhoun_rivals397471 said:

I've never wanted to discredit the 2020 team. 25-6 is a very good record and I think they could have made a run in the tourney provided Hagans had his head on straight enough to perform. Yet when you look at SOS and the SRS (actual performance against that schedule) each of the last two seasons actually rate better. I think a Final Four was a real possibility last season if not for injuries. Having Quaintance and Lowe for this years tourney was a reasonable expectation going into the year and could have potentially made a big difference.

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I’m The Village Idiot said:

Yeah….I know. Honestly tired of saying it. Win/loss record means much less than the full body of work. So far, Pope had a good first year at Kentucky and a bad second year. The level of bad in year two was more intense than the level of good in year one. Hence, he is on the hot seat. This is grade school level stuff and frankly obvious. Yet here we are still debating the same talking points, beating the same dead horses.

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Son_Of_Saul said:

Is it grade level stuff to see that over the course of 11 full seasons, Mark Pope is a 63% winning percentage coach?

There's no vacuum about that. So sometimes horses need to be resurrected and beat to death again; and this is one of them until people finally figure it out. There is no hidden objective truth to wait for. There's an 11-year sample size that people need to pay attention to.

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paulcalhoun_rivals397471 said:

I've never wanted to discredit the 2020 team. 25-6 is a very good record and I think they could have made a run in the tourney provided Hagans had his head on straight enough to perform. Yet when you look at SOS and the SRS (actual performance against that schedule) each of the last two seasons actually rate better. I think a Final Four was a real possibility last season if not for injuries. Having Quaintance and Lowe for this years tourney was a reasonable expectation going into the year and could have potentially made a big difference.

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kyjeff1 said:

I wish these last 2 teams didn't have those injury issues. More last year than this year.

Problem is, Pope's sub patterns definitely were an issue. I think he subbed better last year, but this year was a head scratcher for sure.

Next year, I hope there are no injuries. I want no excuses. I want Pope to get the guys he wants and I want everyone to stay healthy. Show me what you can do, Pope.

Lose 10+ games, get blown out a few times and flame out before the E8, it needs to be over.

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I’m The Village Idiot said:

Tommy Lloyd had an incredible year one at Arizona and regressed in year two. Last year had a disappointing year and this year is in the Final Four. Not every coach improves from year one to year two. And no, I’m not comparing Pope to Lloyd or anyone else — I don’t know how it will turn out with Pope either way unlike these amazing prognosticators who already know the future.

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kyjeff1 said:

Triggered. You know I'm right, so this is your response. Predictable.

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kyjeff1 said:

Against a really weak schedule.

You’re saying that team was great, you literally said that. But it's very possible they get a 4 seed, 3 at best.

But you're ready to fire Pope, because he's not keeping up with expectations, even though UK was a 3 seed last year after winning more quad 1 games than anyone ever has.

You’re all over the map.

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kyjeff1 said:

It’s funny, because you get frustrated when your flawed thoughts get easily disproven and blow up in your face, then you just flail away and claim Pope isn’t the guy.

I just wish you would slow down and understand what we're telling you. We don't think Pope is the guy either, but we're hoping he proves us wrong and we think he can.

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kyjeff1 said:

Why are you talking about the elite 8? Is that the new made up standard now?
that's new, I thought it was Final 4, or bust.
Ohhh wait, I get it, you're cherry picking odd facts to make it seem like UK has fallen behind Tennessee.
Except, Pope wasn’t the coach 2 years ago. Cal didn’t make the Elite 8 that year either. Heck, he didn't even get past the first round. But, but, but "he's in the HOF"

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kyjeff1 said:

It’s funny, because you get frustrated when your flawed thoughts get easily disproven and blow up in your face, then you just flail away and claim Pope isn’t the guy.

I just wish you would slow down and understand what we're telling you. We don't think Pope is the guy either, but we're hoping he proves us wrong and we think he can.

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paulcalhoun_rivals397471 said:

No it does not. You are just being incorrigible at this point. He has been head coach here for 2 years. That is indisputable fact. You looking at his entire career which has nothing to do with my post. When have you ever heard of a head coach being removed because he did not win enough at his previous job?

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Resignmarkpope said:

I remember quickly playing lights out and maxey was a beast!

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BigRedMachineBigBlueNation said:

It does .matter. Just as Sutton, Pitino, Cal's record before UK mattered

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Resignmarkpope said:

Quickly was great that year! He was sec player of the year and uk was ranked in the top 10 when the season stopped. That’s facts!

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Son_Of_Saul said:

Is it grade level stuff to see that over the course of 11 full seasons, Mark Pope is a 63% winning percentage coach?

There's no vacuum about that. So sometimes horses need to be resurrected and beat to death again; and this is one of them until people finally figure it out. There is no hidden objective truth waiting to unveil itself with Mark Pope. There's an 11-year sample size that people need to pay attention to.

He's always been a mediocre coach.

11 years of coaching tells the full story.

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Resignmarkpope said:

What’s the new standard under pope? Losing 10 games?

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Resignmarkpope said:

Least I don’t think your a complete dufus! I have no faith in pope! I thought you was pope’s stalker or something

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paulcalhoun_rivals397471 said:

No it does not. It matters in getting the job but has no relation to actually keeping the job. You insist on making really dumb arguments.

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kyjeff1 said:

You and about 50 other dudes just refuse to pay attention. Several of us keep getting accused of being Pope fans and it’s just false. We are simply supporting him and hoping he makes the changes that need to he made and he wins big next year.
If not, he’s out and none of us would have a problem with that.

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kyjeff1 said:

You and about 50 other dudes just refuse to pay attention. Several of us keep getting accused of being Pope fans and it’s just false. We are simply supporting him and hoping he makes the changes that need to he made and he wins big next year.
If not, he’s out and none of us would have a problem with that.

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kyjeff1 said:

What is your standard against a top 10 sos?

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kyjeff1 said:

And yet they weren't going to be seeded any higher than Pope's first team here.

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Resignmarkpope said:

Staying in the top 20, and losing less than 10 games a year!

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BigRedMachineBigBlueNation said:

H9mestky not to be an, "akshully" kind of guy., that's the minimum of success

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BigRedMachineBigBlueNation said:

You support him to the detriment of the program, just my opinion. You believe we have a year/years to waste on Pope learning how to coach, we don't. Looks like we have to agree to disagree.

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Resignmarkpope said:

Staying in the top 20, and losing less than 10 games a year!

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Resignmarkpope said:

I honestly believe if they won the sec tournament they would’ve been a 2. They was ranked 8th at the time it stopped

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kyjeff1 said:

Oh stfu, I don't have a say in whether Pope gets fired or not. The fact is, he's not getting fired and rightfully so. He hasn't done anything to deserve getting fired.
How do fans harm the program by hoping their coach succeeds? Do you guys even think before you post?

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kyjeff1 said:

And that was very possible year 1, but once Butler's shoulder was trashed and Robinson was lost, the team was severely hobbled.
That was a

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kyjeff1 said:

I don't. Baylor and Gonzaga were head and shoulders better than everyone else and the SEC was garbage.
I did like having that potent 3 guard lineup, but I don't trust that Cal would have done anything with that team. He was too easy to prepare for at that time and still is.

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kyjeff1 said:

You need proof? If Butler and Robinson never get hurt, last years team at least finishes so much better. That team beat 2 of the teams that made the FF.

It comes down to the players he gets. He should know what he needs now, but if he doesn't get the guys he needs and he fails, he’s out and that doesn't bother me one bit. Not sure why you guys think it would bother me if Pope is fired after next year.

What does bother me, are the nasty insults and barbs hurled at Pope, because I don’t feel like he deserves what’s being said.

I've said from the beginning he shouldn't have been hired, but here we are.

Do I think he can right the ship next year? Yes, I do, but I wouldn't bet my house on it.

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JimboBBN said:

Sorry man. Thats hardly proof. You are basing your opinion he can turn it around on two tournament wins in 7 years coaching at a major school. Pope has never won more than 24 games in a season. Think about that for a second. There is infinite more proof next year will be a dud than there is he’s going to turn things around. But hey, weirder things have happened I guess

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BigRedMachineBigBlueNation said:

You support him to the detriment of the program, just my opinion. You hidve im being too harsh and am putting the program in a bad situation with a coachinv search. You believe we have a year/years to waste on Pope learning how to coach, we don't. Looks like we have to agree to disagree.

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kyjeff1 said:

He never won a single game in the tournament… . until he did it last year, then followed it up with another win.

Do you know how hard it is to win at a mid major? How often does Utah Valley State even get to the tournament? BYU was a mid major until Pope's last year and they didn't give him the money resources that this new coach has.

You are acting like he had Nike in his back pocket like Cal and K had.

Just because he hasn't done something, doesn't mean he can't. I don't care what your hate level is for the guy, you have to admit he showed he can do big things last year. That's why I have a little confidence he can do this. He has to make a lot of changes, if he doesn't and he loses too many games next year, it's going to he his fault when he gets fired.

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JimboBBN said:

You keep saying I’ve called names or hate Pope but I’ve never said any of that. Kind of goes back to the whole “arguing on emotion” the pro Pope crowd runs with.

You’ll have to forgive me if I need more proof a guy can win on the biggest stage when his best year is 24 wins. I’m strictly basing my pessimism off of what Pope has done his entire coaching career. Not what he might or might not do next season. Hes had some good wins but he’s had more bad losses. I will remain skeptical until I see more. Pigs haven’t flown yet but that doesn’t mean they can’t some day. I’m not good running with that at UK.

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