Haha, you’re funny! Last year’s debacle of a team would cook this current one by 15+!
Its going to be a LONG season for the pumpers, and anyone who has a gram of CBB acumen knows it!
Little Rock post game thoughts
- Thread starter Ash Williams
- Start date
Its going to be a LONG season for the pumpers, and anyone who has a gram of CBB acumen knows it!
It’s going to be a LONG season, and I’m not going to argue and go back in forth with people I’m not even sure are UK fans, much less know anything of relevance about the sport, so I’ll leave it with this…
Before Milan, I had UK/ Pope at 15 losses, and now with Milan and watching the rest of the product on the floor last night, exhibition game be damned, I’m locking in at a minimum of 13, with 15 just outside of the shadows, looking in.
Let’s revisit this at the appropriate time, and see you knows their stuff
Before Milan, I had UK/ Pope at 15 losses, and now with Milan and watching the rest of the product on the floor last night, exhibition game be damned, I’m locking in at a minimum of 13, with 15 just outside of the shadows, looking in.
Let’s revisit this at the appropriate time, and see you knows their stuff
There's not much going on there other than the game thread.
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Best post so far in this thread as I read through. The OP makes sure to get snarky about patience and actually watching the season before making harsh conclusions or judgments. It’s just like our culture to attempt to shame people away from objective patience and assessment.
How bout his whole career up to now vs Hurleys whole career through two years at UConn.
I have see UK lose by 34 and still make the Elite Eight. Did those kids quit? Sometimes you get your *** kicked. It happens
Why do you think Pope is destined to follow in the footsteps of Hurley? How does it even make sense to compare any coach to what Hurley did when that basically never happens.
He posted that he was ok with retaining Pope if he made a S16. He has low expectations.
If we had a great regular season, recruited well, had forward momentum, sure. I could see wanting him to stay if we had a lot of good things going for us and just happened to lose in the tournament, that happens sometimes but that isn’t the direction of this program.
I don’t even get it. Mark Pope doesn’t have the mentality of Hurley. You can see how soft his teams are. It’s absurd to even try to compare two completely different coaches with entirely different mindsets.
Yeah. I am paraphrasing but he said if Pope retained most of his players (he didn’t), signed some elite players in the portal (he didn’t), and made the S16- he would want to keep him. He is still here pumping up Pope none the less.
If he was consistently winning the SEC and struggled in the tournament. I would keep him around. Eventually coaches like that figure it out tournament time and break through.
But Mark Pope is a kind of guy who wants to be praised for just making the tournament. That’s “good enough.” He’s a “good enough” kind of man if you hear how he talks not a “it’s never good enough” like other coaches who refuse to settle for the simpler things. Pope would do well somewhere that would be fine with the occasional tournament appearance. But he doesn’t have the mentality for Kentucky or its fans where nothing short of final fours and championships matter.
this was a big take away from in last nights game. sure it doesnt mean anything. but they guys just went out there and played so casual. first real action in months and no one seemed to care that much. no "hair on fire" type effort. a few guys got after it at times but really the two teams looked pretty equal in terms of eye test other than us being just taller.
He’s more Kentucky basketball and fan of kentucky basketball than anyone on here. He lived it. Did u see him last year? He was not ok with losing.
I heard his excuses going into the offseason trying to compare his last two years favorably with Calipari’s last few years here. That doesn’t scream to me as someone with urgency.
He simply doesn’t have that kind of attitude. That’s fine. But you can’t really fake it either. He’s tried that as well and many of us aren’t buying it. Telling the media “this isn’t our real offense guys” is just such a massive cop-out. I’ve heard from BYU fans that when he was over there that he was known as an excessive excuse-maker and I can see where they’re coming from now. He’s a man with a thousand excuses. It gets old after awhile.
Dan Hurley was in his 13th season as Head Coach and 5th as Head Coach at UConn before he made a S16 EVER. Pope was in his 10th season as HC and 1st season at UK when he made the S16.
The reason for the comparison is simple. I am not saying Pope will start winning titles. I am saying that you and the rest of the goal post movers around here would have fired Hurley if he had the exact same results here that he had in his first four years at UConn. 4 years at UK as HC without a S16? You're being hypocritical if you say otherwise
No portal or NIL, UCONN was coming off/on probation, Hurley was a elite HS coach and got Rhode Island into the NCAAT twice. And won A10 titles, before UCONN. But keep spewing that narrative dude.
Spewing Narrative? You cast aside the fact that Pope had zero players starting in April his first year and made the S16. Had a subpar season last year and got knocked out in round two, more major injuries. Playing in the toughest conference in the country while playing the toughest schedule. But you make excuses for Hurley like he is a newborn puppy. I think you have more Huskey in you than Wildcat fella
You don’t have to make things up. He never talks like that. He constantly harps on winning and being held accountable to BBN standards.
You're a homer, period. You have no objectivity. Do you think Hurley couldn't go to the S16 in year one at UK? In the NIL era? Really?
Exactly. He knows what is expected and repeats it all the time. Some people just make up their own narratives because they don’t like pope and hes not who they want him to be.
We have not had a roster in three years capable of winning a national title. Sub par coach too.
I think if we take it game by game and only focus on the game in front of us only focus on what we have to do to win that game well I believe we have players to do very well. If we’re looking ahead if we take anything for granted, it’s gonna be a really difficult season. It’s the kind of working man’s team that can make runs and win lots of games. At the same token if they’re not focused, it could get really ugly against some of the top-tier teams. I mean that’s not the type of team we want it Kentucky. We want consistent dominant team, but I don’t think Pope is capable of coaching those types of guys. So this was the best he could do in terms of the best talent that he could bring in of players who will like him might like him. I mean it’s so important to these college coaches now that their players loved them and if one or two doesn’t they get hung up over that one or two and let that dominate the majority that might support the coach. So let’s see what happens. We have no superstars. MM has a lot of skills. He has a lot of deficiencies too. He’s not gonna rebound. He’s not gonna defend so we just we have good players. I don’t know. It feels to me like a team. That’s a Ceiling of a sweet 16.. also seems to me like the kind of team that probably has the depth to meet that Ceiling. Which would be very awful because it would mean more pope This formula he has isn’t gonna win titles. It might get to Suite 16 here and there it’s gonna get to the tournament but it really is the least talented of pope teams. Let me say this I don’t know if it’s the least talented but it does seem like you know six or seven best team in the SEC. I mean that crap just not gonna cut it finish seventh and the SEC hypothetical end up winning a couple games in the tournament New A.D. would eat that up man after working with izzo.
Idk about that. When healthy we beat 2 of the final four teams. One of those being the winner.
Who says I’m making it up? That’s the mentality I see. I’ve heard from previous fanbases and seen enough from when he was at BYU that he was (and still is) an excuse maker.
He can fake the whole “we’re here to win banners” BS all he wants, but he told on himself at the end of last season when he decided to stupidly convince fans that he was doing better than Cal. It’s utter nonsense.
He is completely unsure of his ability as a coach. And that’s not what a school like Kentucky needs.
Interesting take considering when UK was healthy in 2025, we beat two of the teams in the Final Four. LOL
Indiana still brings up their win against Kentucky back in 2012. The fact that we’re still bringing up Florida and Duke wins from two years ago is a frightening realization that we’re closer to being the next Indiana than I thought.
We have been playing basketball 123 years and have 8 Championships. We must have had a lot of subpar coaches by your standards considering you judge of 2 year stretches
Nope. People on here say you can’t improve. Goalposts get moved a lot it seems.
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