Pope

[Matt Dillon]

Dry humor, thy name is Matt.

Actually I wasn't kidding. Whether it be someone who's been posting on WCN for years or someone who just signed on recently everyone will adhere to the rules (see "Friendly Reminder" at the top of the page) or they'll be looking for another site. Of course this isn't aimed at you Helix. If everyone was as well-behaved as you there'd be no problems.

[Helix]

Actually I wasn't kidding. Whether it be someone who's been posting on WCN for years or someone who just signed on recently everyone will adhere to the rules (see "Friendly Reminder" at the top of the page) or they'll be looking for another site. Of course this isn't aimed at you Helix. If everyone was as well-behaved as you there'd be no problems.

Thanks Matt. This is why I love posting here, which I literally never did anywhere else. Civil, respectful behavior is expected, the rules enforced.

[Pete Hogwallop]

Thanks Matt. This is why I love posting here, which I literally never did anywhere else. Civil, respectful behavior is expected, the rules enforced.

Agree 100%

[Kennyskywalker34]

I have heard 22 million was the budget. Doesn't mean they spent anything close to the budget.
Pope didn't get enough shooting from the portal that is plain as day.
Last year the defense was lacking and he over compensated this year by trying to get good defenders in the portal.
I feel that he will get plenty of shooting in the portal for next year and a big man similar to Amir. He got some talented players this year. But they just don't fit his style of play.
I look for a more talented version of last year's team for next year.
I am not worried at all about no recruits. Nothing wrong with landing talented 5 star Freshmen. But as we have all saw from the past. They aren't always the be all end all.
The core of Pope's teams are going to come from the portal.

[UKSanders]

I think he can too. And yes, it's most certainly on him to do it. But If he can take players on very short notice from Wake, Drexel, Fairleigh Dickinson and San Diego State and roll out an exciting, top ten, and sadly, oft-injured team last year, he can do it again. Personally, I think Pope got away from what he knows and talked himself into the idea that he had to recruit and sign defense, defense, defense, despite the fact that at the end of last year our defense was much improved, even while our best defender, Butler, was hobbled. Defense can be taught. Kobe Brea's are born. If you're gonna lose, lose doing it your way. His way is pace and space. I don't think he'll ever be caught again without a some bona fide snipers. Just my opinion.

That’s pretty much the way I see it as well. He overcorrected from not having enough athletic defenders last season.

That’s why I’m ok giving Pope a third year…give him a chance to see if he find the right middle ground. I feel like for his offense to work, He must prioritize ball handling and shooting.

[Mr.Nezzer]

Dang, some of y'all could use some of Kentucky's finest bourbon. Is Pope over his head....or is it the fact he took the biggest coaching job out there and college basketball decided to open pandora's box?? Sure he put together a heck of a team last year but it wasn't perfect, they had issues too.
This year he had time to formulate a plan, had a huge budget(albeit hampered by JMI...but thats a side bar) did Pope over think his plan this year or was it the ever changing NIL wild west, pulling these kid in several directions with NIL commits for hats, signings, promotions etc(again maybe driven by JMI).
Look, my point is most UK fans (whether they admit it or not) wasn't expecting too much from Pope in his first year and he came out and wowed everyone. So everyone expected at least the same if not better. Well, just like in the good ol days of college basketball when a freshman has an awesome season, the expectations the following are that and much more...some do and some have a "sophomore slump"....this is where Pope is...having a sophomore slump. I expect him to be working his way out of it but this may not come to pass. The Miss St game and the LSU game are showing promise.
This ain't like years gone by for coaches these days, the whole world of basketball has changed. IMO, coming in to the biggest coaching job in this environment Pope deserves some grace and patience from the fanbase. I know asking this fan base for that is like pulling teeth on a hungry shark with blood soaked gloves

[Pete Hogwallop]

Dang, some of y'all could use some of Kentucky's finest bourbon. Is Pope over his head....or is it the fact he took the biggest coaching job out there and college basketball decided to open pandora's box?? Sure he put together a heck of a team last year but it wasn't perfect, they had issues too.
This year he had time to formulate a plan, had a huge budget(albeit hampered by JMI...but thats a side bar) did Pope over think his plan this year or was it the ever changing NIL wild west, pulling these kid in several directions with NIL commits for hats, signings, promotions etc(again maybe driven by JMI).
Look, my point is most UK fans (whether they admit it or not) wasn't expecting too much from Pope in his first year and he came out and wowed everyone. So everyone expected at least the same if not better. Well, just like in the good ol days of college basketball when a freshman has an awesome season, the expectations the following are that and much more...some do and some have a "sophomore slump"....this is where Pope is...having a sophomore slump. I expect him to be working his way out of it but this may not come to pass. The Miss St game and the LSU game are showing promise.
This ain't like years gone by for coaches these days, the whole world of basketball has changed. IMO, coming in to the biggest coaching job in this environment Pope deserves some grace and patience from the fanbase. I know asking this fan base for that is like pulling teeth on a hungry shark with blood soaked gloves

Great post!

Even if college basketball hadn't changed so radically, Pope has still only had a bad half of a season. It's ridiculous to talk about him being fired this soon and it does no good whatsoever.

[blueheretic]

The attitudes in this thread are what led to the current UCLA and Indiana Basketball programs.

I want Pope to succeed. What UK fan does NOT want Pope to succeed.

Fervently desire that he succeed.

I WANT a POPE NC badly.

But this season is inexcusable. PERIOD.

PERIOD.

P E R I O D ! ! !

Recruiting does not bode well for the future.

Pope should have commitments.

Stop excusing incompetence and failure.

This team will likely not make the tournament. Even if they do, they'll be cannon fodder for the 1-4 seeds.

The goal of the season is to build a resume that will get your team a high seed in the tournament.

Kentucky is not Mississippi State where the goal is to just reach the tournament.

Pope was hired to take Kentucky UP.

Pope was not hired to fizzle out and field a team that can barely beat LSU.

The NIL money matters. Saying that it doesn't is ignorance and a lack of understanding.

It's a budget that should be used to field great teams. If you spend 22 Million dollars to buy a Ferrari and you drive up in a 1970s rusted out Scooby Doo van, you have failed.

Pope has failed.

Excusing that failure? Rationalizing it?

This is lunacy.

[Sean]

The attitudes in this thread are what led to the current UCLA and Indiana Basketball programs.

I want Pope to succeed. What UK fan does NOT want Pope to succeed.

Fervently desire that he succeed.

I WANT a POPE NC badly.

But this season is inexcusable. PERIOD.

PERIOD.

P E R I O D ! ! !

Recruiting does not bode well for the future.

Pope should have commitments.

Stop excusing incompetence and failure.

This team will likely not make the tournament. Even if they do, they'll be cannon fodder for the 1-4 seeds.

The goal of the season is to build a resume that will get your team a high seed in the tournament.

Kentucky is not Mississippi State where the goal is to just reach the tournament.

Pope was hired to take Kentucky UP.

Pope was not hired to fizzle out and field a team that can barely beat LSU.

The NIL money matters. Saying that it doesn't is ignorance and a lack of understanding.

It's a budget that should be used to field great teams. If you spend 22 Million dollars to buy a Ferrari and you drive up in a 1970s rusted out Scooby Doo van, you have failed.

Pope has failed.

Excusing that failure? Rationalizing it?

This is lunacy.

I say let the man cook. He went from a smaller stage to the biggest stage and we should give him time to learn. I personally thought this is what last season would look like but got a surprise. The sky is not falling yet.

[Pete Hogwallop]

The attitudes in this thread are what led to the current UCLA and Indiana Basketball programs.

I want Pope to succeed. What UK fan does NOT want Pope to succeed.

Fervently desire that he succeed.

I WANT a POPE NC badly.

But this season is inexcusable. PERIOD.

PERIOD.

P E R I O D ! ! !

Recruiting does not bode well for the future.

Pope should have commitments.

Stop excusing incompetence and failure.

This team will likely not make the tournament. Even if they do, they'll be cannon fodder for the 1-4 seeds.

The goal of the season is to build a resume that will get your team a high seed in the tournament.

Kentucky is not Mississippi State where the goal is to just reach the tournament.

Pope was hired to take Kentucky UP.

Pope was not hired to fizzle out and field a team that can barely beat LSU.

The NIL money matters. Saying that it doesn't is ignorance and a lack of understanding.

It's a budget that should be used to field great teams. If you spend 22 Million dollars to buy a Ferrari and you drive up in a 1970s rusted out Scooby Doo van, you have failed.

Pope has failed.

Excusing that failure? Rationalizing it?

This is lunacy.

Question - if this had been his first year (pretend last year doesn't exist), would you still be making this post after 17 games with the losses coming to Mich St., Louisville, Gonzaga, North Carolina, Alabama and Missouri?

Follow up question - were you close to this angry the last 5-7 years of Calipari?

[bthaunert]

Dang, some of y'all could use some of Kentucky's finest bourbon. Is Pope over his head....or is it the fact he took the biggest coaching job out there and college basketball decided to open pandora's box?? Sure he put together a heck of a team last year but it wasn't perfect, they had issues too.
This year he had time to formulate a plan, had a huge budget(albeit hampered by JMI...but thats a side bar) did Pope over think his plan this year or was it the ever changing NIL wild west, pulling these kid in several directions with NIL commits for hats, signings, promotions etc(again maybe driven by JMI).
Look, my point is most UK fans (whether they admit it or not) wasn't expecting too much from Pope in his first year and he came out and wowed everyone. So everyone expected at least the same if not better. Well, just like in the good ol days of college basketball when a freshman has an awesome season, the expectations the following are that and much more...some do and some have a "sophomore slump"....this is where Pope is...having a sophomore slump. I expect him to be working his way out of it but this may not come to pass. The Miss St game and the LSU game are showing promise.
This ain't like years gone by for coaches these days, the whole world of basketball has changed. IMO, coming in to the biggest coaching job in this environment Pope deserves some grace and patience from the fanbase. I know asking this fan base for that is like pulling teeth on a hungry shark with blood soaked gloves

I think for some, like myself, we thought it was a major reach to bring him on board in the first place and what we are seeing this year worries us that it could be the norm. The guy was 66-37/26-23 in his last 3 years at BYU with 3 5th place finishes. Outside of him being a UK grad, there was nothing that pointed to him being good enough to being the coach at UK. I don't want him fired after this year if this continues, but the more important question is...what would need to happen next year for anyone to have any confidence that he's the guy?

[blueheretic]

I see patterns.

Patterns of behavior
Patterns in recruting
Patterns in coaching


They're there.

I called Cal's downward trajectory in 2016. If one paid attention, one could see what was evolving there.

I knew Tubby would never make it back to a Final Four. Could see it in the '99 season what was evolving there.

People hated my take on Tubby and people hated my take on Cal after Bo Ryan ate his soul at the Final Four.

Of course, stating that "out loud" makes a lot of people angry because they view coaches through an emotional lens. That is doubly so for Pope.

If you paid attention to behaviors during the past few coaches, you could see where they were heading and where the program was heading.


What I see does not bring me to a conclusion that Kentucky Basketball is on a path towards Championships.

What I see is that Pope is moving towards the middle of the pack.

I could be wrong. Obviously.

I firmly believe that the Pope experiment will end after year three.

I don't see him getting fired after year two because people are emotional and WANT to "give him a chance".

[blueheretic]

Question - if this had been his first year (pretend last year doesn't exist), would you still be making this post after 17 games with the losses coming to Mich St., Louisville, Gonzaga, North Carolina, Alabama and Missouri?

Follow up question - were you close to this angry the last 5-7 years of Calipari?

First, I'm not "angry". That's a projection by you.

Stop assuming people's emotions based on flat writing on an internet forum. It is not possible to discern tone from these forums. Take the emotion out of it. You'll likely live longer.

I am concerned. I am disappointed.

I couldn't stand that Mitch Barnhart paid millions for the privilege of watching Cal fall apart and fail after 2016. I thought they should have let him go to UCLA.

You make a good deal of assumptions. No, I wasn't a Cal fan. I was of the "EFF CAL" variety going way, way back and was calling for him to be gone LONG before most.

No, I'm not going to pretend last year doesn't exist because it did. That's silly. It's as silly as "the season starts over now!" kyuk kyuk nonsense that is purveyed by others on here. Loser mentality. That's my opinion. You can pretend all you want that last season didn't exist.

Opinions on a coach aren't formed in a vacuum. He has a history as a coach that wasn't great. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't great. He had a decent year last year. He's having a total scheit year in 25/26 thus far. History and patterns speak. Sometimes loudly. One can pay attention to them or one can put one's head firmly in the sand.

[Pete Hogwallop]

First, I'm not "angry". That's a projection by you.

Stop assuming people's emotions based on flat writing on an internet forum. It is not possible to discern tone from these forums. Take the emotion out of it. You'll likely live longer.

I am concerned. I am disappointed.

I couldn't stand that Mitch Barnhart paid millions for the privilege of watching Cal fall apart and fail after 2016. I thought they should have let him go to UCLA.

You make a good deal of assumptions. No, I wasn't a Cal fan. I was of the "EFF CAL" variety going way, way back and was calling for him to be gone LONG before most.

No, I'm not going to pretend last year doesn't exist because it did. That's silly. It's as silly as "the season starts over now!" kyuk kyuk nonsense that is purveyed by others on here. Loser mentality. That's my opinion. You can pretend all you want that last season didn't exist.

Opinions on a coach aren't formed in a vacuum. He has a history as a coach that wasn't great. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't great. He had a decent year last year. He's having a total scheit year in 25/26 thus far. History and patterns speak. Sometimes loudly. One can pay attention to them or one can put one's head firmly in the sand.

Your post here is full of the assumptions that you seem to call out in others.

I'll say this, if you aren't pretending last season didn't exist, then last season should buy Pope even more grace than if it didn't exist. And you don't seem to be giving him any.

I think about the only thing we agree about is that Cal should have been allowed to leave for UCLA.

[Pobilly]

What I want to see, is a team that has confidence, has IQ to play the game, has the heart to play 40 minutes. Rick would throw these guys to the wolves to start games this way day in day out. We need a team that wants to be a Cat!!

https://youtu.be/4rrXR6n0RTY