1 hour ago, Voice of Reason said:

I listened to the whole thing last night. Pope spent a 3-5 minute segment talking about the NBA and played up his NBA history, how NBA guys talk in the locker room about their college years, etc. 

Talking about his personal experience, not about how he is going to make everyone that plays for him an NBA player.

25 minutes ago, nikeman49 said:

Talking about his personal experience, not about how he is going to make everyone that plays for him an NBA player.

You said he didn’t mention the NBA one time, which was false and hence the replies you got. The over exaggeration you all have sometimes is what gets the replies. Yet even with that he did mention still getting some guys who will be one and done to the NBA. So he talked about that too. 

46 minutes ago, nikeman49 said:

Talking about his personal experience, not about how he is going to make everyone that plays for him an NBA player.

 

17 minutes ago, futurecoach said:

You said he didn’t mention the NBA one time, which was false and hence the replies you got. The over exaggeration you all have sometimes is what gets the replies. Yet even with that he did mention still getting some guys who will be one and done to the NBA. So he talked about that too. 

I co-sign FC's reply. Pope talked about wanting one and done guys in the mix.

I'm sorry, but if a college basketball coach at the high D1 level is not talking about the NBA in some capacity (even limited), they are stuck in 1987 and going to be looped by their competition in no time. Rallying behind school pride and "playing for the name on the front of the jersey" is great for the fans, but it means very little to a kid who was 7 years old when UK won a title.

On 4/15/2024 at 4:31 PM, nikeman49 said:

Didn’t hear Pope say NBA one single time yesterday, very refreshing to not hear that, let’s play for Ky basketball for a change, he did say the jersey was a proud thing to wear, haven’t heard that statement in a long time also.

That's great for the fanatics. Not going to work with recruits. Like it or not, they don't care. 

2 hours ago, 98NCCalum said:

That's great for the fanatics. Not going to work with recruits. Like it or not, they don't care. 

I guess I’m one of those fanatics then because I have always had very strong feelings for sustaining success and success at a very high level and that hasn’t been happening, so let’s leave it up to those recruits to make a smart decision.

On 4/14/2024 at 6:09 PM, nikeman49 said:

Shep is going to return for next season, just feel confident with that.

Yeah, I know you can have a laugh on me, was just hoping for a return but didn’t happen.

Obviously, for UK fans we remain optimistic the Mark Pope era is a tremendous one. But I ain't drinking the Kool-Aid yet. We can convince ourselves this was a great hire, but if 60 days ago I were to tell you Calipari's time at UK is coming to a close and Mark Pope is on deck, I would have been laughed out of the building.

He may knock it out of the park. He may fall flat on his face. We shall see.

4 hours ago, bugatti said:

Obviously, for UK fans we remain optimistic the Mark Pope era is a tremendous one. But I ain't drinking the Kool-Aid yet. We can convince ourselves this was a great hire, but if 60 days ago I were to tell you Calipari's time at UK is coming to a close and Mark Pope is on deck, I would have been laughed out of the building.

He may knock it out of the park. He may fall flat on his face. We shall see.

This! He is saying what people want to hear, but in terms of players he will get caring more about the name than players Cal got isn’t true either. That’s just not reality in todays world. 
 

He is a different voice, will bring a different energy, has put together a good staff. However, at the end of the day none of that will matter if it doesn’t produce great results. 

5 hours ago, bugatti said:

Obviously, for UK fans we remain optimistic the Mark Pope era is a tremendous one. But I ain't drinking the Kool-Aid yet. We can convince ourselves this was a great hire, but if 60 days ago I were to tell you Calipari's time at UK is coming to a close and Mark Pope is on deck, I would have been laughed out of the building.

He may knock it out of the park. He may fall flat on his face. We shall see.

I truly hope he is sensational at UK.  It would be a great story. 

I just have serious doubts.  Nine years as a head coach and has as many NCAA Tournament wins as Scut Farkus.

He graduated from UK.  That's the sole reason he was considered for the job.

1 hour ago, Randy Parker said:

I truly hope he is sensational at UK.  It would be a great story. 

I just have serious doubts.  Nine years as a head coach and has as many NCAA Tournament wins as Scut Farkus.

He graduated from UK.  That's the sole reason he was considered for the job.

O OK, that's all it took for him to get the job.  

RP, don't have doubts....The bus is gassing up and we are about to roll!!!!

6 hours ago, FrankNicodemus said:

O OK, that's all it took for him to get the job.  

RP, don't have doubts....The bus is gassing up and we are about to roll!!!!

I hope you are right.  I really do.

12 hours ago, Randy Parker said:

I truly hope he is sensational at UK.  It would be a great story. 

I just have serious doubts.  Nine years as a head coach and has as many NCAA Tournament wins as Scut Farkus.

He graduated WON A CHAMPIONSHIP at UK.  That's the sole reason he was considered for the job.

Fixed it for you. 

17 hours ago, Randy Parker said:

I truly hope he is sensational at UK.  It would be a great story. 

I just have serious doubts.  Nine years as a head coach and has as many NCAA Tournament wins as Scut Farkus.

He graduated from UK.  That's the sole reason he was considered for the job.

BYU was also preseason top 15, roll the dice already. 

16 hours ago, FrankNicodemus said:

O OK, that's all it took for him to get the job.  

RP, don't have doubts....The bus is gassing up and we are about to roll!!!!

He is not wrong in the fact that him graduating and playing at UK is the only reason why he even got considered for the job. If he never played at UK, he would not have even gotten a look. It doesn't mean he can't do a great job, but him having played at UK is the only reason he got a look. Without having played at UK, his coaching resume wouldn't have gotten him a look at all.