It's all about the coach.

[Catman100]

High school kids and portals are not coming to UK because of 8 national championships, or because of Rupp, Pitino, or Calipari. They are not coming to UK because of Dan Issel, or Goose Givens, or Anthony Davis. They have no idea about our tradition or what it is like to play for UK.

They will come for a coach, and of course, maybe/maybe not (Yaxel) NIL money.

So with that said, just how attractive is it to come to UK to play for Mark Pope?
1. Can question his past accomplishments.
2. Can question his 2 years at UK.
3. Can question how he constructs a team.
4. Can question how he uses his players that he assembled for the team.
5. Can question whether he is in over his head and if players will have bad losses and early exits from showcasing tournaments.
6. Can question that outside of a couple of KY high schoolers, he has not brought one big time high school recruit to UK.
7. Can question whether or not he is responsible for putting anyone in the NBA.
8. Can question whether or not he is making his players better.
9. And although I am sure there are more, I will end by saying you can fairly question whether he is a good coach or not.

When you see all those things, is UK really some awesome destination for high school recruits or portals? Go look at a list of top 50 high school recruits and where they are going. The usual suspects like Duke, Arkansas, Arizona, North Carolina, Alabama. and Michigan State are getting them. Hell there are even some top 30 going to places like Ohio St, Maryland, Miami and Missouri. The University of Kentucky has ZERO.

So we going to kill it in the portal? Ok. Pope has already proven that he can swing and miss in the portal. Or at least he has proven that he can assemble a group of players that don't exactly fit his style of play. And that seems to promote blow out losses from time to time. Not something I will ever get used to at UK. And what exactly is going to be available in the portal? Wouldn't you think most big time difference makers that you need to win a national championship are probably going to the NBA? Will there be superstars even available to come to UK? Are we going to get another group of good bench players that have to produce like good starters?
Will next year be more of the same?

Personally I will always believe Mark Pope is a good guy, but he got this job before he was qualified for it. One more year will not be a massive change in what we have seen for his first 2 years. And will people be posting the same things at the end of 2027 that they are now. I definitely think we are in a bad place and not sure things will get better anytime soon.

 

[peterpiper09]

I disagree

I think it was an injury ridden deformation within our roster this year that caused us to play a way we weren’t meant to play

some of that was a gamble on JQ, some of it was just bad luck with Lowe

just need to reload with the right players and give it another whirl and I think it’ll be much better

I do think we need to get someone like Rondo or somebody to get us to be a much better defensive team

 

[bnewt5]

I disagree

I think it was an injury ridden deformation within our roster this year that caused us to play a way we weren’t meant to play

some of that was a gamble on JQ, some of it was just bad luck with Lowe

just need to reload with the right players and give it another whirl and I think it’ll be much better

I do think we need to get someone like Rondo or somebody to get us to be a much better defensive team

Can it be much worse ?

 

[Bleedin Blue in Ohio]

Only place a disagree is year one of the Mark Pope era was successful. Both seasons have had some bad luck with injuries that have hurt the evaluation and overall success of his teams. Had Jackson Robinson, Krissa, and Butler been healthy that team could have possibly been a Final Four team. Had Lowe, Williams, and Quaintance been healthy I could easily see a path that this team would have won at least 5 more games and been a 3 or 4 seed and possibly still be playing. With that said year two was not successful. Year two was derailed when Pope failed to close the deal on Caleb Wilson and had no viable backup point guard. Had Coach Pope closed the deal on Wilson I think this team would have been a legit contender. Wilson alone made UNC viable instead of without him a 1st round exit team.

 

[preacherfan]

Can it be much worse ?

Yes, it can. MUCH worse! At least we won a game in the tournament. UNC didn't even do that. IU missed the entire tournament.

 

[megablue]

Only place a disagree is year one of the Mark Pope era was successful. Both seasons have had some bad luck with injuries that have hurt the evaluation and overall success of his teams. Had Jackson Robinson, Krissa, and Butler been healthy that team could have possibly been a Final Four team. Had Lowe, Williams, and Quaintance been healthy I could easily see a path that this team would have won at least 5 more games and been a 3 or 4 seed and possibly still be playing. With that said year two was not successful. Year two was derailed when Pope failed to close the deal on Caleb Wilson and had no viable backup point guard. Had Coach Pope closed the deal on Wilson I think this team would have been a legit contender. Wilson alone made UNC viable instead of without him a 1st round exit team.

You are not going to the final four with Chandler, Moreno and Jelavic starting and getting significant minutes.
Would a healthy JA and Lowe be significantly more productive than those three ?? I have my doubts.

 

[champagnecat]

You are not going to the final four with Chandler, Moreno and Jelavic starting and getting significant minutes.
Would a healthy JA and Lowe be significantly more productive than those three ?? I have my doubts.

Facts the narrative is that team being good is hilarious