Cal's return fire on Pope

[Old Blue Fart]

Pope is a clown and is conveniently cherry picking stats



Mark Pope told fans and media to “go look it up and do the math yourself” on his Coach’s Show this week when comparing his first two years at Kentucky to the previous four before John Calipari bolted for Arkansas.
So, I did.
While the numbers are technically true, it felt intentionally disingenuous.
Kentucky’s winning percentage under Pope is only better than the preceding four seasons if you stop exactly at four.
It isn’t better over the three preceding years, or five, six, seven, or two. Just four.
Only that specific four-year window, which conveniently targets the dreadful 9-16 season (which didn't start on Wednesday o the SEC Tournament).

I am not goi g to go back and check every year, and I have no doubts about your stats but it sure seems these last two years UK has played many more good teams in Nov and Dec then we have in a few years.
Also, didn't UK play and win more games against top 25 teams last year then most everyone else?
Cherry picking goes both ways

 

[MarvinHagler89]

Pope started it. Cal will always do that to coaches that start crap.

 

[Anon1679859502]

That’s a big reach… living rent free in some fans heads.

 

[JHBr]

Pope is in a defensive mode, Cal 's ego took a shot and he couldn't help but respond. Remember an old Cal quote, paraphrasing: I'm italian, you kill one of mine, I burn your village.

 

[deplion]

He probably was in a bad mood and wanted to return fire after getting his behind handed to him. Neither he or Pope are putting fear into the rest of the conference much less nationally.

A "has been" and a "never was" Coach not playing nicely with each other in the sand box.

The rest of the country reacts with a big yawn if they even notice at all.

 

[DelkBowl]

Pope earned it.

 

[AllBall]

Support UK not Arkansas. You are no UK fan if you do

Who u talking to? I was simply bring up basketball news on slow day. Unfortunately, we aren't playing and there's only some much to rehash. Thankfully, the portal opens April 7th.
I'm a diehard. Have been since Pitino's first season. Rooted for them through probation and TV delayed games, so I think I can handle a few rough seasons under Pope.

 

[Cats4321]

Can't stand Cal, but I don't blame him for responding. Pope's comments were weak and pathetic. When you've coached as long as Pope has and accomplished absolutely nothing, you are better off not comparing yourself to another coach. Especially by selectively picking stats that are actually misleading.

 

[TrueBluePhil]

This is just another example of how much of a snake that Cal is. He claims to be such a charitable person, goes to church every morning and then goes all out full vengeance showing his true hypocrite snake that he is. He is a POS

 

[cornbreadnmilk]

I'm sure Tyson money is really happy to see Calipari is obsessed with taking shots at UK, in the press conference after a blowout loss, that the Hogs were never even competitive in. Nice optics.

Uhh didn't Pope do the same thing taking shots at Cal after getting his head kicked in also.

 

[AJBlue]

He’s not wrong plus Calipari has 4 fins fours 2 title games and a NT here not to mention all the SEC titles and the record setting. Pope is not worthy of an assistant job on the staffs. Can’t deny it.

But what a mess Barnhart has created. Just keep Calipari and let him finish his legacy go go Boeheim if this is your answer. You move on Calipari you need to have the right guy and he didn’t. This is a mess. Calipari 2.0 sucks and Pope sucks a tad more and this is the position we’re in thanks to Mitch Barnhart. F’n moron.

Just a reminder, we didnt get rid of Cal, he left on his own and not because Barnhart pushed him out but because he sensed the pressure from the fans and media and that his honeymoon was over. He was on his way out one way or another whether it was that year or the next.

 

[Eagles_Ball_69]

Those comments are totally fair. I have no problem with Cal fighting back on a fight he didn’t start.

Pope just continues to prove he's a whiny petulant child with stuff like that.

 

[ArcticChar]

Cal was great the first 6 years but then the product became way below average. As for pope, there is just no excuse for flaming out in the second round and that was after barely surviving the first round as a 7 seed with a circus shot. Just no excuse. He needs the heat on.

 

[TrueBluePhil]

Uhh didn't Pope do the same thing taking shots at Cal after getting his head kicked in also.

No, I dont think so. Pope was just defending himself and his record via stats to back it up. Cal not so much. The man just got beat by 20+ points with prolly the best point guard in the country while we havent had a healthy one in our two years. Cal is a snake and always will be. Look I am concerned with Pope but Cal is a Snake. He slithers around taking his stabs on everything he does. Hell he did it to us fans in his last 5 years here.

HE IS A SNAKE

 

[Eagles_Ball_69]

This is just another example of how much of a snake that Cal is. He claims to be such a charitable person, goes to church every morning and then goes all out full vengeance showing his true hypocrite snake that he is. He is a POS

Are you aware of Pope's comments that prompted this?

 

[Eagles_Ball_69]

No, I dont think so. Pope was just defending himself and his record via stats to back it up. Cal not so much. The man just got beat by 20+ points with prolly the best point guard in the country while we havent had a healthy one in our two years. Cal is a snake and always will be. Look I am concerned with Pope but Cal is a Snake. He slithers around taking his stabs on everything he does. Hell he did it to us fans in his last 5 years here.

HE IS A SNAKE

Pope wouldn't have to defend himself and compare himself (sort of, in a very finite timeframe that only benefited himself) if he were doing a good job.

 

[BigBluefoot]

Those comments are totally fair. I have no problem with Cal fighting back on a fight he didn’t start.

What fight? He left on his own. What are we even talking about? Did I miss something?
I don't think Cal's run-on rambling is directed at anyone. This is like a Rorshach test where you see what you want to see.

 

[Blue Jesus]

Tough to “return fire” when you just got crushed by the worst margin of your career in the tourney, with maybe the second most talented roster in the country after Duke. It’s always “next year” with Calipari.

 

[Dr.LutherSan]

Pope is currently going up $#!+ creek and the only thing he saw that could potentially save him was a root on the bank. Once he grabbed it, he realized that it was attached to a huge tree, and that tree ended up falling down on his head.

That's a metaphor I thought of while on bathroom break at work.

 

[TotheMoon88]

No, I dont think so. Pope was just defending himself and his record via stats to back it up. Cal not so much. The man just got beat by 20+ points with prolly the best point guard in the country while we havent had a healthy one in our two years. Cal is a snake and always will be. Look I am concerned with Pope but Cal is a Snake. He slithers around taking his stabs on everything he does. Hell he did it to us fans in his last 5 years here.

HE IS A SNAKE

Of course you don’t think pope doing the same thing, and first at that, is wrong

 

[MichaelGray]

Meh.

Arkansas fans know so little about basketball they are actually happy to have Calipari, because they don't understand his philosophy. And that he's an extinct species.

Here it is, rendered so simple even a hog can understand it:

1. Get McDonald's All America talent by telling kids to forget college: They are on a four-month audition for the NBA.
2. Let them continue to play the same defense they were playing in AAU ball: "Occasional Man-to-Man." Nobody's drafting you on your ability to function in diverse and complex defenses.
3. On offense: Throw it around the perimeter until you get one of your superior talents isolated on an actual college player, who will be inferior in physical ability.

That's it. From Derrick Rose to Darius Acuff. It actually worked in the early days of One-and-Done because you had guys like John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins and Karl Towns playing against college kids. But other teams - beginning with Duke - adapted and added real basketball dynamics to the mix.

Now, with NIL, Cal's system will never work again. Too many pro-level players sticking in college because it makes financial sense. What matters now is a coach with a system that is better than your system. That may not be Mark Pope. It's certainly not Calipari. He's a brontosaurus and the meteor has hit the Gulf of Mexico. He probably senses he's in big trouble. But it is not like he can stop being a brontosaurus.

Pope is on the clock - one year to show he can actually perform in this era. Arkansas is probably stuck with Calipari until he "changes an other 20 or 25 lives" -- by which he means allowing kids to park their God given talent in his godforsaken system for four months until they can go where their talent was taking them with or without Calipari.

The meteor hit the "Gulf Of America"
Your post is spot on, well said brother.

 

[MichaelGray]

I look at Calipari the same way I look at my ex-wife. He can say whatever he wants. It does not affect my current marriage in any way. She is her current boyfriend’s problem now. Have fun with her, current boyfriend. She’s overweight, underemployed and her best days are behind her.

If she's overweight, would that make her "tons of fun" for her new BF?

 

[Dreklie]

Completely fair and accurate response from Cal.

 

[ComebackCats98]

Pope shouldn’t have said what he said. It was dumb and cherry picked stats to make him look good. It was unnecessary. I don’t blame Cal one bit for firing back.

 

[JohnRambo82]

Pope whoppin’ Cal, Brad, and Kenny Payne

 

[Coach777]

I mean Cal is not wrong. He's right.

Yep

 

[kywildcat1021979]

He’s not wrong plus Calipari has 4 fins fours 2 title games and a NT here not to mention all the SEC titles and the record setting. Pope is not worthy of an assistant job on the staffs. Can’t deny it.

But what a mess Barnhart has created. Just keep Calipari and let him finish his legacy go go Boeheim if this is your answer. You move on Calipari you need to have the right guy and he didn’t. This is a mess. Calipari 2.0 sucks and Pope sucks a tad more and this is the position we’re in thanks to Mitch Barnhart. F’n moron.

This right here this is all the mess of 1 man and he getd to walk into his basically 1 million dollar job in a few months unscathed..... What a joke this man has turned UK into!

 

[Catphright23]

The cal supporters are still taking up for him I can see dr kiss cals ***. The only reason cal was a hall of famer and won a championship because he was at Kentucky. Pope didn't do a good job last year.

I would like to see how he does without major injuries. You aren't going to get stud freshmen when you have a lot of players back. His first year pope had to get a whole brand new team. Cal had acuff a one year out of 13 year player and could only go to sweet 16 and beat Hawaii and high point. Pope has only made it to sweet 16 mainly because it is Kentucky. The program makes you able to preform better.

I see the ones who act like they didn't want cal back are the same ones who were scared Arkansas was gonna win it all. I knew he wasn't the guy can't coach and is up there with duke doing less with more.

 

[kywildcat1021979]

lol, Cals best team he’ll have at Arkansas was gifted a sweet 16 and still flamed out.

How many years was he gifted a wide open bracket here and he flamed out with all that talent...

 

[anot]

The cal supporters are still taking up for him I can see dr kiss cals ***. The only reason cal was a hall of famer and won a championship because he was at Kentucky. Pope didn't do a good job last year.

I would like to see how he does without major injuries. You aren't going to get stud freshmen when you have a lot of players back. His first year pope had to get a whole brand new team. Cal had acuff a one year out of 13 year player and could only go to sweet 16 and beat Hawaii and high point. Pope has only made it to sweet 16 mainly because it is Kentucky. The program makes you able to preform better.

I see the ones who act like they didn't want cal back are the same ones who were scared Arkansas was gonna win it all. I knew he wasn't the guy can't coach and is up there with duke doing less with more.

I agree without UK he doesn't sniff the HOF.

 

[gracetoyou]

Thats not a negative jab at Pope...good grief people!! Its a negative jab at the current state of college basketball.

 

[chroix]

He’s not wrong but it also doesn’t explain why he **** the bed in the tournament so many times at the end there pre NIL.

 

[BMR1987]

This moron just cost me my bracket and he's up there bragging about all the money Chicken George and them backwoods Fayetteville Fools gave him to work with for next year . LOL. WHAT ABOUT THIS YEAR! Always making an excuse for underperforming. Sounds like someone else we know! We'll get 'em next year? Really? Too late for my bracket, pal! I believed in you! Another board member (who attended a highly educated University) bet money on the HAWGS! Taking food off our plate in order to feed the mouths of decadence!

Looking back maybe it really was just a Charmin Soft SEC schedule, with their big wins against Louisville (at home), Vandy (SEC Final), and Cinderella HIGH POINT (ruining the best moment of March for a poor low major school, where academics are still important I might add, that had much less talent but 10 times the heart! Those guys were some dogs, man!). I should've known! Lost in the tournament before the Final Four with TWO Kemba's in his backcourt and talented experience to boot! Lost to POPE () on his home court with an NBA All-Star roster! PATHETIC! It certainly looks as though he will never come close to being as good as Muss was there! Billy Joe Razorback ran off an Elite 8 coach with less talent for a Sweet 16 coach with more talent! But we all know what that was about (ask Hubert! ask JJ's uncle!).

The money Arkansas is handing Cal for these top recruits, top portal studs, and Sweet 16 finishes could've really went to buying them a better football coach. I can't imagine the football people are too happy seeing the financial lifeblood sport settle for crumbs while "Iron" John Tyson and his boozer (non-Dukie variety) son fund Cal's late career vanity project and all the excuse making when things don't go their way!

And you know, as mad as Cal and his deadenders are about Pope's very milquetoast and passive aggressive comments made to cover his own behind, you'd think Pope spread some crazy, horrible rumor about Lou Carnesecca!

 

[MidseasonTweak]

I am no fan of Cal anymore but he is correct. I also believe this is pretty direct as opposed to indirect lol.

 

[kywildcat1021979]

Cal just received his worse loss in the NCAA tournament ever. Pope as UK's coach received their worst defeat in tournament in over 50 years..... I can't stand Cal and glad he's gone. Can we just say they both suck and that Pope doesn't deserve the job as UK's coach either!!!!!

 

[rick64]

 

[BBUK]

P_SS on Cal!!!

 

[Beatle Bum]

When Musselman was early in his career at Arky, I thought he had Cal’s recruiting chops but a better coach. Was kind of surprised when that experiment failed.

 

[Beatle Bum]

He probably was in a bad mood and wanted to return fire after getting his behind handed to him. Neither he or Pope are putting fear into the rest of the conference much less nationally.

Seems more like Pope got in his head when he should have been focused on Zona. Damn, minutes after your team got pasted your thoughts go to Mark Pope’s comments??? Not a good look. Cal has been distracted for years now and his teams have suffered.

 

[Beatle Bum]

We had to let go Cal, had to be done. Is Pope the right hire? He's got next year to prove it. If not, we move on.

But Cal was done here and id never change the switch we made.

Cal had a lifetime contract. He ran away.