The risk far out weighed the reward imo.

Hiring the former beloved player nearly always ends badly whenever anyone tries it.

But if you are gonna try it, you better make damn sure he has the coaching credentials for the job. Add Pope simply did not. There was nothing special about his BYU stint. In fact, he actually did WORSE than his BYU predecessor did there (and also worse than his successor is doing now).

There’s not a chance in hell we would’ve looked at him if he had not been a former UK player. And if you’re hiring someone just because of playing credentials …well, history shows that’s a VERY bad idea.

Pope just didn't have the results for the job so this is what we end up with. This is every bit on Mitch for making this terrible hire.

bleedsblue5 said:

The risk of hiring one of our own just wasn’t worth it.
If he failed—which, at this point, he is—this fanbase only knows one thing: winning. Anything less, and they’ll turn on you. It doesn’t matter if you were part of a championship team, love UK, or would give years of your life to win here—if you’re not at least moderately successful, the support disappears.

The reward of him winning and being one of us would have felt great, but the risk was just too high.

I would love for him to prove me wrong next year and win it all and I would eat every negative word and enjoy doing it, but I just cannot see it. His style of basketball, and the way he coaches gets him about where he has always been - 65%. And that will NEVER be ok here.

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OP, you speak for 99% of rational BBN fans! Pope was put in a position where he would have been irresponsible to turn it down, but now, he has to know the job and current situation of college basketball, is past his Peter Principle, and now he is being irresponsible for continuing to pretend it’s not.

He has too many mouths to feed, so I understand why he won’t resign, but he’s setting himself up one of the worst experiences that he’s ever going to endure for the rest of his life, and that’s a choice he will have to live with, because that’s the choice he has decided to make.

He’s about to earn the hardest $5 million per year, and the last $5 million per year that he’s going to be offered again… Best of luck to him and his family, he’s made his bed, now he’s going to sleep in it.

bleedsblue5 said:

The risk of hiring one of our own just wasn’t worth it.
If he failed—which, at this point, he is—this fanbase only knows one thing: winning. Anything less, and they’ll turn on you. It doesn’t matter if you were part of a championship team, love UK, or would give years of your life to win here—if you’re not at least moderately successful, the support disappears.

The reward of him winning and being one of us would have felt great, but the risk was just too high.

I would love for him to prove me wrong next year and win it all and I would eat every negative word and enjoy doing it, but I just cannot see it. His style of basketball, and the way he coaches gets him about where he has always been - 65%. And that will NEVER be ok here.

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Well “supposedly “ after Scott Drew turned us down ,Barnhart was going to hire Shaka Smart if not Pope so I don’t believe it would have made much difference between the three .

Pope knew these risks when he took the job. He decided it was worth the risk. He knows if he fails he will be run out of town with a pitchfork, but he also knows it is his dream job and he probably would never get another shot at it.

bleedsblue5 said:

The risk of hiring one of our own just wasn’t worth it.
If he failed—which, at this point, he is—this fanbase only knows one thing: winning. Anything less, and they’ll turn on you. It doesn’t matter if you were part of a championship team, love UK, or would give years of your life to win here—if you’re not at least moderately successful, the support disappears.

The reward of him winning and being one of us would have felt great, but the risk was just too high.

I would love for him to prove me wrong next year and win it all and I would eat every negative word and enjoy doing it, but I just cannot see it. His style of basketball, and the way he coaches gets him about where he has always been - 65%. And that will NEVER be ok here.

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You are 100 percent right. Winning is the only thing that will make the fan base happy. But the fan base need to get prepared for the losing to continue indefinitely. There is no light at the end of the tunnel despite what Cal and now Pope keep telling you. Just look at W/L ratio, championships, NCAAT wins, SECT wins, etc. the past few years.

If he deserved the job and sucked that’s one thing, but he sucked before the job and sucks even worse now.

Tom Crean has a better resume than Pope. And no, I am not saying I would want Crean. Point is, the hire was botched. The player coaching for his school isn't the issue I even have. Pope just never had the results to deserve this job.

MB overpaid for MP. The 5 m plus in buyout to BYU , plus a 5m / yearly salary that automatically renews for S16 and gets a raise…. Crazy for a guy that never had succeed on big stage….


MB hate for Cal aligned with Kentucky media hate for Cal, made the inauguration of MP be like the second coming of Rupp….totally uncalled based on the coaching resume of MP and completely based on raw emotions and dirty games behind the curtain games.

by the way, MP is doing just fine by not taking to certain media. i would not either tell my plans to the media If I would be a coach to UK. Actually, thought MP was too chatty this past year. I am glad that he finally leaned and closed certain communication chanels.

bleedsblue5 said:

What I don't understand is people coming in here and begging the fanbase to be nice.
He knew how this fanbase was before he accepted the job. Yes we have some decently nice fans, but we also have some demanding ones that will cut you with thier words like a sharp blade.
Don't ask us to change, say we are crazy sure but we have always been this way. Maybe more so now that more people have phones/computers and whatnot but we are probably not changing.

Lastly, win and a lot of sins will be forgiven.

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Timing is everything. NOW IS THE TIME TO BE NICE. if this season doesn’t work out then call for another coach .
but now idiots on this board are making his job more difficult. They are giving fodder to sportswriters,other coaches . Recruits as to why nobody should ever want to come here . They are showing the absolute worst of BBN when in fact they only represent themselves and as I found out the other day many are from other schools and trolls .
Zip it up now . Give him all of the support we can now . Anything else is counterproductive . In March if it hasn’t worked out go for it .

catfanlou said:

Timing is everything. NOW IS THE TIME TO BE NICE. if this season doesn’t work out then call for another coach .
but now idiots on this board are making his job more difficult. They are giving fodder to sportswriters,other coaches . Recruits as to why nobody should ever want to come here . They are showing the absolute worst of BBN when in fact they only represent themselves and as I found out the other day many are from other schools and trolls .
Zip it up now . Give him all of the support we can now . Anything else is counterproductive . In March if it hasn’t worked out go for it .

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But being a UK fan gives you the right to be........

Pope knew what he signed up for

It was his dream and no one can blame him for taking the chance. Now I'm sure he feels he has to vindicate himself to the fans and wants to prove it in his 3rd year.

I remember Jeff Goodman saying on the Field of 68 that if UK beats Iowa St, then Pope is granted a reprieve and the fans are optimistic, if he keeps it close and loses then the fans are realistic but will expect better next year and if UK gets blown out, then every off season move is going to be scrutinized by the fans.

I didn't realize how on point he was in that moment. I've never been a big recruiting guy, I mean it was fun coming off a bad year and know the "twins" were coming but I've watched too many teams beat UK with inferior talent because at the end of the day a freshmen is a freshmen. Jon Scheyer is new Calipari with about the same results. He is loading up again and *this* year has to be his year...am I right? The mantra of UK fans since 2014

My point in this is that while I understand it the frustration, I don't get starting 20 threads every day dissecting every move that Pope makes that is supposedly wrong. I know I'm not changing any minds and I'm not even saying Pope shouldn't be criticized but these threads...man...so over the top.
10X worse than it ever was with Calipari, he is worse than Billy Gillespie, lets hire Jai Lucas whose Miami team beat :checking notes: two ranked teams all year. I mean if the criticism's weren't online tantrums half the time, I'd buy in alot more.