Praise for Pope

[bucsrule8872]

I made a post about getting healthy, saying that was the key. I got ripped when a few guys came back and we still looked like crap, but looking back we now know we were never truly healthy. Lowe was never really over the shoulder, just played through the pain. JQ came back, had one good game, and the knee started swelling and he was not the same. Then Williams breaks his foot.

This team has never been healthy and it’s hard to be consistent when guys are in and out of the lineup. Now hopefully we are done with the injuries and can focus on a 9 man rotation. Everyone knows their roles and they aren’t changing.

Credit to Coach Pope for keeping the team from collapsing.

I said it before, I will say it again, take three starters off any team in the country and see if they struggle?

Imagine UF without Fland, Haugh, and Condon.

Take Fleming, Sharp, and Cenac off the Houston squad.

Imagine Michigan without Cadeau, Lendeborg, and Mara.

I could go on, but you get the point.

No team in the top 25 has had the rash of injuries we have had. If they had, they wouldn’t be in the top 25
now.

[blueheretic]

I said it before, I will say it again, take three starters off any team in the country and see if they struggle?

Name the three injured persons who have been starters this year at Kentucky.....CONSISTENTLY.

Kam Williams wasn't a Starter the whole season and wasn't slated to be a starter in the beginning.

Lowe was injured in practice prior to the season. Did he start one game.

JQ has never been a starter. Correct me if I'm wrong as I'm not going to look it up. JQ was at Kentucky and only for half a season by design. He was never figured in to the rotation prior to SEC play.

That's part of the issue.

Aside from Otega, I don't know if there has been a consistent starting line up for this team. That's part of the problem.

Injuries are a part of the reason but not THE only part of the reason for the inconsistency.

I can't help but wonder how much further Johnson would be if there were ANY consistency with Pope.

[blueheretic]

• PG: Jaland Lowe (Junior, Transfer from Pitt)
• SG: Denzel Aberdeen (Senior, Transfer from Florida)
• SF: Otega Oweh (Senior, Returning)
• PF: Mouhamed "Mo" Dioubate (Junior, Transfer from Alabama)
• C: Brandon Garrison (Junior, Transfer from Oklahoma State)

That's the starting five as i remember it from preseason.

Four of those five are uninjured.

I've been wondering where these "three injured starters" thing originated.

[bucsrule8872]

• PG: Jaland Lowe (Junior, Transfer from Pitt)
• SG: Denzel Aberdeen (Senior, Transfer from Florida)
• SF: Otega Oweh (Senior, Returning)
• PF: Mouhamed "Mo" Dioubate (Junior, Transfer from Alabama)
• C: Brandon Garrison (Junior, Transfer from Oklahoma State)

That's the starting five as i remember it from preseason.

Four of those five are uninjured.

I've been wondering where these "three injured starters" thing originated.

Agenda much?

[bucsrule8872]

All I can do is laugh at this point.

If you didn’t expect Lowe and Quaintance to start when healthy, then you have no clue what you are talking about.

And Williams was suppose to be a key player as well. Some even projected him as a starter.

How could these guys consistently start when they were injured?

Lowe and JQ never had the chance to start, but if you didn’t clearly see that they would have been starters, if healthy, then I don’t know what to tell you.

So if Cam Boozer would have gotten hurt in October, then Duke never had him in the starting lineup, then we wouldn’t be saying Duke lost their best player and a starter? LOL!

Bottom line, we lost two consensus preseason starters.

Everyone in the country who watched college basketball last year would tell you that once healthy, Lowe and JQ were in our top five. And everyone would also tell you that Williams would also be a key player and possibly a starter (on3 had him projected as a starter).

I guess you just have an axe to grind. Enjoy.

[Pete Hogwallop]

Dioubate was also out for several games.

Whether they are labeled starters or not, we are down 3 of the main rotation players at this point and have had others in that rotation out for shorter stretches.

Yet, since mid-December, we are 10-3.

[blueheretic]

Agenda much?

That post became the post that I started as a thread because I thought it had merit for discussion.

My agenda with Kentucky is certain.

i want a great team fielded to great effect.

Solid team.

Complete team.


A team that competes.

So, yes, agenda all of the time.


The name of the coach doesn't matter to me.

Results matter.

The results from Pope right now are somewhere between Gillispie and Sutton. That ain't great.

So, yes, again, AGENDA ALL OF THE TIME.

HOOAH!

[blueheretic]

we are down 3 of the main rotation players at this point and have had others in that rotation out for shorter stretches.

Now, with that, I can agree.

[blueheretic]

All I can do is laugh at this point.

If you didn’t expect Lowe and Quaintance to start when healthy, then you have no clue what you are talking about.

.

All hinges on "when healthy".

Would he ever be healthy.

Would he ever be 100%.

In Pope's system, would JQ ever start.

Only the GODs know with Pope.

JQ has to get healthy first.

That has not happened and we're nearing the end of the season.


I didn't know what to expect from Kam. Would he be Otega Oweh or Ansley Almonoor. No one knew until he started playing the games. So far, it's been mixed results and now, he's out injured.

[blueheretic]

Lowe and JQ never had the chance to start, but if you didn’t clearly see that they would have been starters, if healthy, then I don’t know what to tell you.

Again, everything hinges on "if healthy".

That was never guaranteed.

[bucsrule8872]

Again, everything hinges on "if healthy".

That was never guaranteed.

It was a gamble. Nothing is guaranteed.

I think Pope has done an admiral job, given the injuries we have had.

But BBN does not want excuses, we want championships.

So I get your point.

But I do understand how injuries can derail a season. I am a coach, so I have lived through that. It’s not easy to replace your best players.

So I am torn. As a UK fan, I am championship or bust. No excuses. But as a coach, I understand what Pope has dealt with and admire what he has done with the hand he has been dealt.

So I praise him for his effort, but around here, you don’t get “A’s for effort” so he is not off the hook just because we lost three of our starters (or best players, if you will).

[bucsrule8872]

Dioubate was also out for several games.

Whether they are labeled starters or not, we are down 3 of the main rotation players at this point and have had others in that rotation out for shorter stretches.

Yet, since mid-December, we are 10-3.

Excellent point.

We should try to focus on the positives.

[blueheretic]

He coached them to victory against the Sooners.

Go Big Blue!

[Pete Hogwallop]

Currently .5 of a game out of first place in the SEC more than halfway through the conference schedule. I know the season hasn't been spectacular, but it hasn't been the disaster some seem to claim.

[westerncat]

If by some wonderous chance Kam and JQ return, UK could have a more favorable chance to make some noise down the stretch.

I don't think JQ will be on the floor again at UK. Would love to be wrong.