See, this would have been a much better way for Pope to try and make his point. It still would have rung hollow because of the obvious regression in Year 2, but would have spared him sounding so foolish. Whoever ran those stats for him needs to be fired. But he's the one who made the decision to use them so ...
Cal's return fire on Pope
- Thread starter AllBall
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See, this would have been a much better way for Pope to try and make his point. It still would have rung hollow because of the obvious regression in Year 2, but would have spared him sounding so foolish. Whoever ran those stats for him needs to be fired. But he's the one who made the decision to use them so ...
I keep saying this the reason Calipari cannot win is because he shoots himself in the foot before he begins. Look to Nick Saban. Did he hire friends and family? No. Did he sacrifice roster spots to take care of a former players family? No. Does he hire the best or hire guys he used to know? He hired the best.
Calipari starts with an arm tied behind his back and then expects 18 years olds to go Anthony Davis and bring him a ship. It’s not going to happen.
Arkansas was stupid Ohio state told him no because they’re a national brand and looked at the blue blood who was done with it. Now they didn’t do well hiring but they knew Calipari has no shot at titles.
Calipari has TOLD PEOPLE REPEATEDLY and his players have said he does not care about winning. Why would you give a coach this kind of money who says that? And it’s nothing more than his way of saying I have a guilt in excuse for being a loser, I’m not here to win I’m here to make friends and families rich.
Arkansas messed up badly, and what happens now is the attacks start and he dos what Calipari does. He’s going to try to bury you on the way out. But Arkansas isn’t Kentucky. He will easily be able to accomplish it.
Cal admitted UF and Zona smeared them because of toughness and size in the middle. Who recruited Cal’s team for him?
I know, i watched him walk his dog down Richmond Rd in a stroller while he was talking to Arkansas.
Also people have overrated acuff so bad. He’s a really good player, he’s not big, he’s not off the charts. He’s a really good player. But everytime he god up against bigger more physical guards he can’t do it. Also defensively he’s slow to react, bigger guards can bully him. He’s really good but he’s not great. No way I take him over Wall Rose or Fox. It’s ridiculous to even say it. He played nobody all year when he went up against great teams he was just a good player. I’ve never seen a more overrated player than Acuff. Again, he’s really good, but he’s nowhere near what people were saying about him.
Arkansas/Cal can beat their chest that they made it a game further than us. Look at where both of our programs are when we crow about Sweet 16s? That should give you an idea of how far we have fallen. UK should be in the Sweet 16 nearly every year. It should be so common that we shouldn't even remark about it. Granted, we have made it a step further than the last few Cal years as we are no longer just hoping to win a tournament game. Right now if I had to guess, both UK and Arkansas are going to be very average next year with Cal being average with great talent again.
I think "out of the frying pan and into the fire" fairly summarizes the UK side of things at this point.
We're going to find out very soon if Pope can salvage something from the flames or if there'll be nothing left but ashes at the end of Year 3.
We're going to find out very soon if Pope can salvage something from the flames or if there'll be nothing left but ashes at the end of Year 3.
Some hate Cal so much that can’t just let him go. That’s why Pope ( probably Ill-advised by Mitch) decided that was smart to compare his 2 seasons to Cal’s.
Pope should know that we want him to be Pope . Not Cal 2 or Pitino 2. if Pope would have said, okay , I did some mistakes in roster construction, we had some bad injuries in both years, i will do better next year, everyone would understand.
This strategy , probably from Mitch, to divide BBN and go after predecessors is the wrong one. I repeat, we should bring everyone that cares about UK together. That includes, Pitino guys, Cal’s guy , etc. You are not going to see UNC or Duke destroying themselves from within like we do.
Pope should know that we want him to be Pope . Not Cal 2 or Pitino 2. if Pope would have said, okay , I did some mistakes in roster construction, we had some bad injuries in both years, i will do better next year, everyone would understand.
This strategy , probably from Mitch, to divide BBN and go after predecessors is the wrong one. I repeat, we should bring everyone that cares about UK together. That includes, Pitino guys, Cal’s guy , etc. You are not going to see UNC or Duke destroying themselves from within like we do.
Also, with freshmen - even great ones, and Acuff is great - you can't put all the responsibility on their shoulders. The teams that had freshmen as huge contributors and won the title (UK 2012, Duke, can't remember they year) had good upperclassmen leaders to stabilize things. Cal didn't have that on this team.
He specifically said we're all in the same boat. This is only a social media generated outrage moment mining for clicks.
Not that cal is above taking a shot at uk but this is a shot at the current state of college sports.
Disagree. He talked about his team. And then about the hypothetical team. He said the hypothetical team has no recruits. He just got done raving about his three five star recruits. He was not including himself.
Honesty Pope and Cal both are being childish and should be worried about their own team's issues instead of calling out each other. No wonder both got blown out.
How did having all that money work out this year? You can have money, but you need someone to spend it properly. The Dope ain't that person.
I support Kentucky, I wanted Pope to do well. However, it is like having an Alcoholic and and the Alcoholic continues to sneak off to drink. Supporting the Alcoholic is not ignoring his sneaking off to drink. Supporting him is calling him out and getting him some help.
Pope has miss managed lots of money and refused to hire a GM to help him. Pope has not shown he can coach defense even though he has had several conference defensive players of the year on the roster. Pope has repeatedly put teams on the floor that has looked completely lost.
And I can be a Kentucky fan and still support former players and coaches that have given a lot to this program.
To me, supporting an incompetent coach that is wasting the programs money and not putting this kids in a position to be successful is not only not being a Kentucky fan, but also is not doing these young men justice.
He was appropriately ranked out of HS -- close to the 10s. His huge scoring games inflated his standing a bit, I think. He's not more impactful than the "Big 3", for sure.
He does have elite vision, though. You can't have routine double digit assist games (while leading the team in scoring) without it. He'll have a good career in the NBA if he's not tasked with being the lead scoring option.
No doubt there have been yellow/red flags popping up all over the place, especially since the end of Year 1.
It's not just the end results that have folks worried. The patient (the program) does not look well.
The more Pope talks into a microphone or camera, the more I shake my head…
Yea and I’m not knocking him. Acuff is a damn good player. I mean there’s no doubting it. My issue comes from the idea he’s better than Wall Rose Fox. There’s just not a chance in hell. I wouldn’t dare taken him over those 3. He just doesn’t impact the game the same way. There were people saying he’s Calipari’s BEST FRESHMAN EVER it’s absolutely nonsense. Saying he’s better than Rose and Wall, crazy talk. Wall’s speed and Rose’s speed alone you can’t take him over them. And like I said defensively he’s got slow reaction and can be bullied by quicker bigger guards. I’m not impressed with his defense at all. Rose and Wall wouldn’t have been pounded like that in a sweet 16 game either, by anyone. Acuff had no answers for large stretches. He’s a really good player for his age, you could say great (I won’t), but he’s not what people were billing him as. And I don’t believe he’ll be a great pro at all.
He prefaced that entire portion by saying "we're all in same boat". Its true. He's in the same spot as us and many others. Its a mess and I hope he keeps speaking out on it.
lol @ anyone not understanding Calipari enough to know he took a direct shot at Pope. It’s a damn guarantee that’s what he does he takes passive shots. He was absolutely describing Popes situation to a T. And again this is what he does he did it with pearl when he was at Memphis he did it with Louisville several times here at Kentucky. It’s laughable to even suggest he wasn’t speaking back at Pope. Of course he was. He just doesn’t telegraph it by qualifying it, that’s how he speaks.
I dont miss Calipari one iota and last nights results weren't very suprisong. His comments were the truth and the truth hurts. Pope should have just said he made some mistakes on roster construction and said it wouldn't happen again.
Instead he made a silly comment on us making progress and taking a shot at Calipari. There is no comparison record wise because one guy has a natty and tons of wins at multiple schools and one has not won anything in a dozen years of coaching.
Pope needs to focus on his weaknesses and building a better roster.
This. **** aint as complicated as some yall are making it out to be.
Mark Poope couldn’t hold Coach Cal’s jock. Mark will never be a hall of fame coach! He’s about to get fired this time next year! I can’t wait.
This! The cherry-picking makes me wonder about the analytics and stats used to make substitutions and in-game decisions….
Numbers are useful, for sure, but the pairings must make sense together.
It was a really bad look for Pope. I don’t think anyone was buying it.
Pope went slumming with those comments about Calipari's last four years. Totally classless move, and really showed who Pope actually is when the chips are down. He's a man who deflects responsibility (injuries) and finger points (taking shots at Cal in order to make himself look better).
The last thing I respected about Pope was his integrity. Now I question even that.