I worry that physicality/toughness is just going to be a weakness on Pope's teams. Hopefully a combination of length and skill can overcome it. We played dumb last year after playing smart the first year. If we can play more like the first year but avoid major injury problems, we can be a pretty good team. Add a star level 4 late and we could be a really good team. But we have to play smart and we have to avoid injuries.
How did we play smart the first year?
It was exactly the same as year two.
No defense, no rebounding. Team just quit both seasons.
Pope got a little lucky having players that had been coached elsewhere.
No player development. Players out of shape.
First year got man handled by Clemson. Just quit in MSG against Ohio State. Didn’t even show up against Alabama in the SEC tournament.
Same for UT in the S16 game.
Go back and watch any Pope coached team anywhere. They play the same way.
Run a junior high offense and hope they go in. Play a hope they miss defense and just shrug it off when they don’t.
Players not in condition. It’s who he is as a coach.