Another take on Pope after consideration

[UKBB4Ever]

The Pope era at UK is already over.

The official end date just hasn’t been set in stone yet.

Just on life support now.

 

[Blue Jesus]

I don't want to be a sunshine pumper. Let's face it, the notable deficiencies of Kentucky Basketball are obvious: substitution patterns, weak recruitment, injury -riddled roster, etc

However, I am willing to play it out for another year for the following reasons:

1. Injuries: Kentucky probably wins a few of these losses with a full roster.
2. SEC Schedule: Either the SEC is awful or really, really good. Outside of Florida, whom I actually think Kentucky can beat, there isn't much separation.
3. NIL and Transfer Portal: Let's be honest, the NIL is a dangerous slope. Kids can opt out, demand things we don't see, etc.
4. Sample Size: Two years isn't enough to put coach on the hot seat. Year three I think he should be.

What I think will need to happen for me to believe that Pope will be ok

1. He has to upgrade his roster. He needs two legit players. Not projects or niches
2. Subbing players has to make sense
3. I want to see complete domination of some games from start to finish against a legit opponent.

My opinon, thoughts?

Not only is it inevitable he gets a third year, it's also the right move. I'm as concerned as the next guy that the issues we're seeing with Pope are problems that will keep him from major success here. But it's also clear the roster was poorly constructed and subsequently decimated by injuries. Pope has to have learned from this year and I want to see how he approaches the roster this offseason.

 

[Cats_2010]

What scares me is NEXT season. If MB keeps Pope, and I believe he will, next year could be a complete disaster.

Current players will likely leave. We have no recruits. And given Pope's lack of on-court success, the recruits we might get out of the transfer portal will likely not be the level we need.

I hate to say the sky is falling, but I definitely see the cracks.

I don’t think next year could be a disaster I think it will be a disaster. We have the best players now that will ever play for pope.

 

[FatCatMan]

Not only is it inevitable he gets a third year, it's also the right move. I'm as concerned as the next guy that the issues we're seeing with Pope are problems that will keep him from major success here. But it's also clear the roster was poorly constructed and subsequently decimated by injuries. Pope has to have learned from this year and I want to see how he approaches the roster this offseason.

There’s nothing stopping Mitch or his successor from giving Pope a 4th or 5th year either! If Pope has a similar year as this season and last: having multiple piss-poor blowouts and a few unexpected wins where Kentucky wriggles their way into tournament, I could see the AD attempt (and fail) to kick the football into a 4th season. He made the tournament, that’s good enough for Kentucky, right?

 

[UKCowboys]

1. Completely false… Lowe is a ball hog, and JQuit is a pretender. Williams has some potential, hope he returns.
2. Non factor. Equal playing field.
3. Deal with it! Every team has the same circumstances, it’s up to the head coach to play them to their team’s benefit.
4. It’s not 2 years, it’s 11, and Pope had ZERO qualifying resume results to hire him as UK’s HC.

5. He’s the worst recruiter in the history of P5/ P6 men’s CBB… He was at this previous jobs, and he is at UK, both pre-NIL, and during the NIL era.

Pope can get 15 years as far as I’m concerned, because the current administration has basically given up on competing in the new era of CBB, and there’s nothing us fans can do about it.

1 Bullcrap
2 Bullcrap
3 LMAO
4 Straight Lies
5 Making it up as you go

 

[Anon412784ffff.]

Ok, let’s give Pope another year. Let’s say he loses 9-11 games (likely) and let’s say he makes the weekend of the SEC tournament. He probably won’t win the conference with the players we have, he would have to kill recruiting, which he hasn’t, he hasn’t even closed his top portal targets. Also let’s say he makes the sweet 16. Does he get an extension? I feel like this is gonna be our ceiling no matter what. That is Indiana basketball or even UCLA. Settling for mid results.

You know as well as I do that he’s cooked

you can’t miss on as many players as he has
And the fan base not start getting Agitated.

complete BS all the way around .

the Duke win last year was a Fluke, it was a fluke year period…

I don’t believe players respect pope and I don’t think Recruits respect him either..

I think he’s soft and I think he is a Candy A**

he can revamp his assistants, still won’t mean anything… it’s effed all the way around

 

[Crazy4Blue]

Some of the issues with Kentucky may very well be injuries but at this point that doesn't matter. Players only see the results and now Pope is viewed as someone that is not getting the job done, right or wrong. Because of that, we can no longer attract the top players, especially high school players.

 

[Anon412784ffff.]

I think "serious Fans" is an important line. Rupp Arena has often been accused of being quiet, dead, uninterested unless there's a big dunk, three, etc. I believe it's been quoted that Rupp Arena is quiet because it's fans aren't wowed by simple plays because they are more knowledgeable of the game than that. Instead of cheering a quick basket, serious fans that attend games are busy making sure players are getting back, finding their man in transition, seeing what the coach is saying, watching officials, etc. It's something that I'm rather proud of about our fan base.


Apply that same knowledge/mentality to the length of the leash that coaches get, and performances like what Pope is turning in (though it's been up and down) create little confidence for Cats fans looking to the future. Kentucky fans know trends when they see them. Pope's trend is big wins followed with inexplicable losses. Fans don't like that, they don't think its a championship-type of recipe.


Add in the fact that a stone-cold killer like Pearl is out there floating in the ether just ripe for the taking with enough skill and bravado to more than handle the job, and it makes for little patience for the current regime, regardless of him being "one of us".

You have really enlightened my previous post and I would like to say thank you for your absolute banger of a reply.. it was marvelous and extremely informative

 

[Tri-Countycat]

I think he needs one year of full roster.

You know as well as I do that he’s cooked

you can’t miss on as many players as he has
And the fan base not start getting Agitated.

complete BS all the way around .

the Duke win last year was a Fluke, it was a fluke year period…

I don’t believe players respect pope and I don’t think Recruits respect him either..

I think he’s soft and I think he is a Candy A**

he can revamp his assistants, still won’t mean anything… it’s effed all the way around

I think the Duke win last year was a lot like the Calipari teams. Duke was full of talented Freshman learning how to play and UK had the oldest team in college basketball. If UK would have played Duke later in the season they would have destroyed us. I think it’s funny when people say “I believe Pope can still get it done here” my question is why? He has never done anything, anywhere. When the say “believe” you can substitute that word with “hope” because people are loyal to UK basketball and always hope for the best. Mitch made an embarrassing hire, we all knew it and even Pitino had to put out a video to get BBN on board. The fanbase has turned and unless Pope lands a top 5 team in the portal he is done. That’s not gonna happen.

 

[RunninRichie]

Lol, another portal heavy team in year 3? UK is rolling! You thought it was bad, Pope couldn't get his top recruits, after a sweet 16 run? Wait till this portal season.

 

[Blue Jesus]

There’s nothing stopping Mitch or his successor from giving Pope a 4th or 5th year either! If Pope has a similar year as this season and last: having multiple piss-poor blowouts and a few unexpected wins where Kentucky wriggles their way into tournament, I could see the AD attempt (and fail) to kick the football into a 4th season. He made the tournament, that’s good enough for Kentucky, right?

I do worry that year three and beyond will fall in the category of too good to move on from, but not good enough to truly contend. Tubby, basically. But you just can't fire him after two seasons. Someone like Oats has all the job security in the world, and it might be a tough sell to give that up for a place that will fire you in two years for decent results.

 

[CorbinComet]

I think carrying this failed experiment on for another year is just wasting another year. What do we hope to accomplish by running this back again?

 

[PastorofMuppets82]

I think carrying this failed experiment on for another year is just wasting another year. What do we hope to accomplish by running this back again?

Avoiding Mitch hiring Pope 2 Electric Boogaloo... We all are not happy with the state of UK basketball, but there's not anyone in BBN who seriously thinks we would get a "homerun" hire if we fire Pope after this season with Mitch running the show right? Who worth their salt and still in their prime is going to come here after we run Pope out of town after 2 years, the first of which was an empty roster late in the portal cycle complete rebuild that made the Sweet 16 held together by duct tape and icy hot. Pope will get year three whether we like it or not and it will probably be a train wreck to. But HOPEFULLY the BOT spends the year courting his replacement through back channels. That way we already have the right hire ready to take over when they fire Pope and keep Mitch as far away from the hiring process as possible.

 

[FatCatMan]

Avoiding Mitch hiring Pope 2 Electric Boogaloo... We all are not happy with the state of UK basketball, but there's not anyone in BBN who seriously thinks we would get a "homerun" hire if we fire Pope after this season with Mitch running the show right? Who worth their salt and still in their prime is going to come here after we run Pope out of town after 2 years, the first of which was an empty roster late in the portal cycle complete rebuild that made the Sweet 16 held together by duct tape and icy hot. Pope will get year three whether we like it or not and it will probably be a train wreck to. But HOPEFULLY the BOT spends the year courting his replacement through back channels. That way we already have the right hire ready to take over when they fire Pope and keep Mitch as far away from the hiring process as possible.

If Pope, by miracle, leaves at the end of the season a new coach will probably be selected by committee like the football hire and not by Mitch Barnhart.

 

[BigRedMachineBigBlueNation]

I will not be watching if Pope and/or Barnhart is in the program next year . I suggest you protest too.

 

[wildcat111]

I don't want to be a sunshine pumper. Let's face it, the notable deficiencies of Kentucky Basketball are obvious: substitution patterns, weak recruitment, injury -riddled roster, etc

However, I am willing to play it out for another year for the following reasons:

1. Injuries: Kentucky probably wins a few of these losses with a full roster.
2. SEC Schedule: Either the SEC is awful or really, really good. Outside of Florida, whom I actually think Kentucky can beat, there isn't much separation.
3. NIL and Transfer Portal: Let's be honest, the NIL is a dangerous slope. Kids can opt out, demand things we don't see, etc.
4. Sample Size: Two years isn't enough to put coach on the hot seat. Year three I think he should be.

What I think will need to happen for me to believe that Pope will be ok

1. He has to upgrade his roster. He needs two legit players. Not projects or niches
2. Subbing players has to make sense
3. I want to see complete domination of some games from start to finish against a legit opponent.

My opinon, thoughts?

Delusional....not going to happen...take an early peak @ next year's roster if you really want to see where the program is headed.

 

[#1 cat fan]

How in the world can you miss on 5 or 6 top 5 players in less than 10 months? Most of which were considered uk leans. If you are telling a kid you will get him 3 million and he wants more to come, give him another million. You have to have a star level player. I would rather load up on 2 players and give 4 more avg money than give 6 players more than what they are worth
Wilson
Ament
Collison
Stokes
All 4 play same position and went other places for the same reason

 

[Hush4872]

Injuries really aren't a good excuse. He chose JQ. He chose to only get one PG.