Pope photo

[Catastic5]

The dude is emotionally immature to not be able to look Stokes in the eye and say good game and good luck the rest of the way. That’s pretty Petty. You know it’s happened time and time again players pulling one over on him so shame on Pope.

I honestly wonder if he’s not autistic. Or is it his Mormon upbringing rearing its ugly head?

 

[paulcalhoun_rivals397471]

He needs to resign, at a home game at Rupp, against a cupcake. Announce it to the crowd. Get one last win. And let Mo Williams take over. He’d be loved by the fanbase.

Good grief! You always have to go overboard with the stupid takes. Mo has won 39.2% of his games in six seasons as a head coach.

 

[Bugs092056]

Mark Pope is doo doo baby

 

[Ash Williams]

Fire Mark Pope. But I still cant help but feel sorry for him as many times as I say I shouldn't. I mean look at his face. Hes defeated. I dont wish that on anyone.

Don't feel sorry for a man who will never need to work again. He can easily pay for med school and be a successful doctor.

 

[Ash Williams]

That is even more embarrassing than being fired. No one likes quitters. It's difficult to even think of a quitter viewed positively. If you have any examples of one, Id love to hear it. Could you imagine the state of the program if a former player that won a championship here resigned after beating a cupcake as a coach on home court? Announcing it to the crowd??? Talk about new lows... Best case scenario if it does not work out again this year and they work it out on the back end out of the public. People get fired all the time, the fans warm back up to them after a period of grace.

IDK man, what's embarrassing about saying "I'm not going to take any more of UK's money when I know I can't get the job done?"

 

[HolySmokes]

Don't feel sorry for a man who will never need to work again. He can easily pay for med school and be a successful doctor.

Idk if I want to get rich. People are making me think I won't be allowed to be human if I have money.

Im not going to tell you to feel sorry for him. I've been harder on him than anybody on this forum. But at some point its like enough. I feel the same way about him coaching UK that you do im sure. Im just bored bashing the man. Ive had more passion about the basketball situation than most but it doesn't change anything that will happen. He will be gone when J Batt says so. Ill just be here being a fan until. Maybe I touched grass. Idk im not even a feelings type of person. Just bored with it.

Why care so much when the fanbase doesn't care. Bitchinng about it doesn't m3an you care. If you try to discuss real ways to make change the fans say yea right that will never happen. So I'll roll with them and join the we cant make a difference crowd. But while I join the crowd that says we cant make a difference I think ill hold my tongue on complaining.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

I think that needs to happen as well We don't want to fire him. Because the headlines will look AWFUL.

"UK fires one of its own in Pope"
"Cats turn on beloved former player, firing Mark Pope"
"Pope dismissed from his own alma mater"

None of that looks good for anyone

If Pope can't turn it around (and I have huge doubts) Batt just needs to sit him down and say, "Mark....do the right thing"

Was any of that said about Mich firing Howard? Or UNC firing Doh?

I remember it all being in complete agreement.

 

[CGBlue1.0]

Was any of that said about Mich firing Howard? Or UNC firing Doh?

I remember it all being in complete agreement.

You really think Kentucky is covered the same way those schools are?

 

[bbnkat02]

Was any of that said about Mich firing Howard? Or UNC firing Doh?

I remember it all being in complete agreement.

Those places are not Kentucky. We all know this by now. Also, like it or not, those places aren't 3 years removed from losing a high profile HOF coach (like it or not Cal technically was even though we all agree it was time).

Point being. Him resigning would be the best for both parties and the program overall.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

He needs to resign, at a home game at Rupp, against a cupcake. Announce it to the crowd. Get one last win. And let Mo Williams take over. He’d be loved by the fanbase.

I agree actually. He couldn’t save his reputation if he would step down. Admit he’s in over his head.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

You really think Kentucky is covered the same way those schools are?

We’re not. But people aren’t blind either. Only reason anyone would make a big of it is because opponents love Pope being UK’s coach. Just as they loved Tubby being here.

 

[TheGreatGooglyMoogly]

There's a difference between quitting out of laziness and quitting out of respect for something you love. This would be the latter. It takes a big man to admit when he's wrong or not the right fit. And it would be world's better image wise for the program instead of having to fire him.

The "quitting out of respect" happens at the end of the season in every scenario in coaching. If the season goes like last year the new AD will not retain him. It goes back to exactly my point, working it out on the back end out of the public. The firing will be done by a new AD that didnt hire him after a substandard tenure, so the image aspect doesnt hold much water. If you read the post to which I was replying the image is a whole of a lot worse.

 

[Feral Manatee]

But a lot of this is on Pope being arrogant. He refused to hire a GM like other top programs and acted like he was above it. He needed a very strong staff but went with proven loser Mark Fox and said he turned the D over to him.

That's the thing that has most surprised me. I thought we were getting an innovative, intellectual coach that utilized analytics in service of a modern offense. Instead we got a stubborn, inflexible (and I hate to say this) dork who can't relate to any young basketball players and is so bad at reading the room he doesn't know that the kid he's doing an in home recruiting visit with has taped a "Kick Me" sign to his back and will nearly die from laughter the minute he leaves the house. That's where we are.

 

[Feral Manatee]

I think that needs to happen as well We don't want to fire him. Because the headlines will look AWFUL.

"UK fires one of its own in Pope"
"Cats turn on beloved former player, firing Mark Pope"
"Pope dismissed from his own alma mater"

None of that looks good for anyone

If Pope can't turn it around (and I have huge doubts) Batt just needs to sit him down and say, "Mark....do the right thing"

People (aka: the gereral public) have the working memory of a goldfish. I don't even think there would be much, or even any criticism given how underwhelming Pope has been. Certain pundits might use the opportunity for some light trolling, but that will happen regardless of the context. People move on to the next shiny object, whatever it might be, in nanoseconds.

 

[deplion]

View attachment 1527760

Feeling kind of bad that I laughed at this.

 

[AllBall]

Pope is the definition of the Peter Principle.