Zoom was having his best game

KYAnywhereEverywhere · 2026-11-06T20:20:29-0600

And then Pope took him out and didn't put him back in the last 12 minutes or so of the game. Was his defense not tenable? Or was this just Pope and his inane substitution patterns? Or something else?

I don't get it, kid was having the kind of game to really build his confidence and then just gets benched and left to linger there.

K_TIME · 2026-11-06T20:22:50-0600

I noticed that as well....made no sense. I dont' think Zoom defense was any worse than rest of squad.

Walker34 · 2026-11-06T20:27:29-0600

I asked in game thread. Has to be some sort of injury. Pope never sits a starter for 12 plus minutes

bnewt · 2026-11-06T20:29:58-0600

Probably "forgot" him like ccc did

At least he was still cheering the guys playing

UKWildcats1987 · 2026-11-06T20:31:25-0600

bnewt said:
Probably "forgot" him like ccc did

At least he was still cheering the guys playing

Ccp forgot him?

Bluegrass79 · 2026-11-06T20:47:16-0600

He likes Mason Williams with 5 minutes to go.

Every game so far he's gave it to Williams and left Diallo on the bench seems like.

I don't blame him really. I feel good with Mason out there with the ball.

Tprinceuk · 2026-11-06T20:49:35-0600

Bluegrass79 said:
He likes Mason Williams with 5 minutes to go.

Every game so far he's gave it to Williams and left Diallo on the bench seems like.

I don't blame him really. I feel good with Mason out there with the ball.

I love williams but a couple different times I think we should have ran all 3 guards together instead of Hawthorne.

PooPooPeePeePoo · 2026-11-06T20:52:04-0600

Pope has horrible substitution patterns. I complained a lot about it his 1st year. Last year he really didn’t have the guys to make crazy subs but when he played Garrison with Mo and Moreno it drove me nuts.

Bluegrass79 · 2026-11-06T21:01:13-0600

PooPooPeePeePoo said:
Pope has horrible substitution patterns. I complained a lot about it his 1st year. Last year he really didn’t have the guys to make crazy subs but when he played Garrison with Mo and Moreno it drove me nuts.

This is a common occurrence for Mark Pope actually. Of all the things he has been subject to do.. it is lineup problems.

And now he has too many players.
I think Kam Williams coming back was part of the problem tonight. It happens sometimes when somebody comes back and you know that's supposed to be a starter and they've already settled after 4 games....

It didn't help Kam couldn't hit shots

And you have this problem going forward really... Who in the hell do you really play?

Big Frank got forgot about tonight because they couldn't stop 3's.

This team pretty much has everything that you need on a team it's just a matter of can you make shots and stop shots?

bnewt · 2026-11-06T21:24:06-0600

Kam hasn't hit shots since he left tulane

Omega_X · 2026-11-06T21:32:12-0600

bnewt said:
Kam hasn't hit shots since he left tulane

Which is why I don’t believe he’s some kind of difference maker like many here seem to think. Yeah he will have an occasional good shooting game but he’s basically Darnell Dodson. Which btw Dodson is only a couple of years from being 40. Damn time flies.

KYAnywhereEverywhere · 2026-11-06T21:37:35-0600

Bluegrass79 said:
This is a common occurrence for Mark Pope actually. Of all the things he has been subject to do.. it is lineup problems.

And now he has too many players.
I think Kam Williams coming back was part of the problem tonight. It happens sometimes when somebody comes back and you know that's supposed to be a starter and they've already settled after 4 games....

It didn't help Kam couldn't hit shots

And you have this problem going forward really... Who in the hell do you really play?

Big Frank got forgot about tonight because they couldn't stop 3's.

This team pretty much has everything that you need on a team it's just a matter of can you make shots and stop shots?

I'm not in the can't stand Mark Pope crowd. I'm a lot more likely to give him the benefit of the doubt than not. That said, his team on the court and substitution decisions are a GLARING issue, a perpetual issue. He picks weird times to pull guys, weird times to put guys in, weird times to leave guys on the bench, and strange combinations of players, and it's all stuff the average fan can discern. I don't know how he can't see those things when the average fan can.

He's not the first coach we've had to have this issue. Cal was really bad about it too, but for different reasons.

Bungalow Bill · 2026-11-06T21:41:02-0600

Zoom took a couple of shots to the head on back to back possessions and didn't come back after that. Not sure if he got poked in the eye or what kept him out but had to do with the head contact IMO

Catastic5 · 2026-11-06T21:45:30-0600

KYAnywhereEverywhere said:
I'm not in the can't stand Mark Pope crowd. I'm a lot more likely to give him the benefit of the doubt than not. That said, his team on the court and substitution decisions are a GLARING issue, a perpetual issue. He picks weird times to pull guys, weird times to put guys in, weird times to leave guys on the bench, and strange combinations of players, and it's all stuff the average fan can discern. I don't know how he can't see those things when the average fan can.

He's not the first coach we've had to have this issue. Cal was really bad about it too, but for different reasons.

I think Pope is in over his head. I think most of us who don’t have our blue blinders on can see that. Don’t hate the guy for it. It probably isn’t going to work out and that’s fine. He’ll get a big buyout and we’ll find someone else to coach us. No hard feelings.

Lameguy · 2026-11-06T21:56:23-0600

Tprinceuk said:
I love williams but a couple different times I think we should have ran all 3 guards together instead of Hawthorne.

He went small late so that was definitely an option.

Beatle Bum · 2026-11-06T21:56:35-0600

Getting Mason a lot of minutes is a good thing. Kid could be special. If he was a top rated guard coming out of HS and played like he has, fans would be gushing about his future.

Lameguy · 2026-11-06T21:58:07-0600

Bungalow Bill said:
Zoom took a couple of shots to the head on back to back possessions and didn't come back after that. Not sure if he got poked in the eye or what kept him out but had to do with the head contact IMO

And no foul.

theKybluedude · 2026-11-06T21:59:53-0600

Bungalow Bill said:
Zoom took a couple of shots to the head on back to back possessions and didn't come back after that. Not sure if he got poked in the eye or what kept him out but had to do with the head contact IMO

Yep he was bleeding.

*Fox2Monk* · 2026-11-06T22:04:25-0600

KYAnywhereEverywhere said:
And then Pope took him out and didn't put him back in the last 12 minutes or so of the game. Was his defense not tenable? Or was this just Pope and his inane substitution patterns? Or something else?

I don't get it, kid was having the kind of game to really build his confidence and then just gets benched and left to linger there.

I think the ball moved better with Mason and Alex on the floor. That group was just playing better. Zoom deserves his flowers as he played smart ball when everyone else was chucking shots and he kept us in the game.

*Fox2Monk* · 2026-11-06T22:05:40-0600

Tprinceuk said:
I love williams but a couple different times I think we should have ran all 3 guards together instead of Hawthorne.

I would like to see that at some point. We seem to play better when we go smaller. I’d like to see the 3 guards/MOM/Mcbride or Morneo or even Kam Williams some nights.

*Fox2Monk* · 2026-11-06T22:06:29-0600

bnewt said:
Kam hasn't hit shots since he left tulane

He’s definitely rusty though, he started playing well before his injury. Can’t blame him after that.

theBlues · 2026-11-06T22:07:15-0600

I think Zoom, Mason, and Alex would have all been on the floor late if Zoom hadn't had a badly busted lip. I'm sure it was just because they didn't need him to pull out a win and possibly concussion protocol.

*Fox2Monk* · 2026-11-06T22:07:38-0600

Beatle Bum said:
Getting Mason a lot of minutes is a good thing. Kid could be special. If he was a top rated guard coming out of HS and played like he has, fans would be gushing about his future.

He plays like a five star that’s for sure.

theBlues · 2026-11-06T22:09:37-0600

*Fox2Monk* said:
I would like to see that at some point. We seem to play better when we go smaller. I’d like to see the 3 guards/MOM/Mcbride or Morneo or even Kam Williams some nights.

I think they should all 3 start with McBride and Hawthorne being the top 2 reserves. They've both shown me more already than Kam Williams has so far at UK.

tls · 2026-11-06T23:08:42-0600

He was also -4 on the plus/minus

UKCowboys · 2026-11-07T01:22:29-0600

Bungalow Bill said:
Zoom took a couple of shots to the head on back to back possessions and didn't come back after that. Not sure if he got poked in the eye or what kept him out but had to do with the head contact IMO

Yeah, he took a hard shot to the head and then another a couple of minutes later

Zoom was having his best game

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