bugatti

44 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

The majority of the excitement is from the older generations who really remember the 96 team. Hiring Pope takes them back to that time. They can pretend that his resume excites them, but it's not true. They will disregard his resume because of who he is and what he did while he played at UK. 

Can you rephrase this? I remember that '96 team well (I would have been 13) and I can't accept the fact I may have gone through the "older generation" turnstile.

😊

16 minutes ago, FrankNicodemus said:

OK, I will concede that being a UK alum and the Captain of the 1996 team definitely got his foot in the door, but based on what his peers in the College coaching industry have stated since the hire, he was probably real close to getting plucked to a more of an "elite" basketball program (no disrespect to BYU) but Coach Pope putting them on the map in the Top 20 was his doing, not BYU's (in my humble opinion). 

I mean we didn't go hire Travis Ford, John Pelphrey or Sean Woods who played at UK for some really good teams and are college coaches.  We hired Mark Pope who did an extremely great job at Utah Valley before running the BYU program into a Top 20 program for the last handful of years.  I agree that he hasn't won an NCAA Tournament game but I am willing to "buy" into Pope like a stock that is about to go thru the roof with the right Administration behind him, the right facilities behind him, the BEST staff supporting him.  I have great confidence that this was a BEAUTIFUL hire.....but as we fans know, its all about "Hanging Banners", can he do it? I mean he beat Iowa St, Baylor, Kansas & NC State.  I don't understand the "narrative" that Mark Pope isn't a great coach that will do great things with the backing of Kentucky intangibles.....

Like other people have said "I have Hope with Pope"!!!

I don't believe anyone thinks Pope is a bum and peers are always gassing up other peers. I and many others aren't drinking the Kool-Aid (yet) given the lack of a proven track record beyond some solid improvements with the two Utah teams he's coached. I'm optimistic, but traditionally coaches that have had his level of success move on to a lower-tier Power 5 school. Not the elite of the elite. I think much of that is the college basketball environment we live in today where coaching college basketball is not as prestigious as it once was.

The refs took it to the Lakers again last night, causing them to lose a first-half double-digit lead.

Despite Jokic picking up two fouls five minutes into the game, you could feel by mid-second quarter the inevitable was going to happen. It was cracking me up before the series started people were giving LAL a legitimate shot to win this series. Did people not watch these teams throughout the year? The cohesiveness of that starting five is on a whole different level than anything else in the league. I could see the Lakers stealing game 4 with a hot shooting effort with no pressure on the line. But if they exchange haymakers early on, the Lakers will fold like a cheap tent and it'll be 1-2-3-Cancun and LeBron will arrive at the press conference in a cast and float his retirement.

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.

3 hours ago, Oldercoach said:

Sorry, just think it’s the money (unfathonable financial rewards for most of us) and not the NBA vs college game.  99+% of college players never play one minute in the NBA and know that is the probable outcome when they tie their laces.  The college game and that jersey means a lot to them.

As evident by the entire UK roster and virtually every other roster flipping because kids want to be in a better situation for playing time and/or profit? That is the "college game." A jersey is just something players put on while on this multiple-year and multi-school journey.

On 4/17/2024 at 9:30 AM, bugatti said:

This morning I bought tickets for game 2 of the Suns/Wolves series.

Update. It was awesome.

24 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

Woke up to LeSwept missing a game winning shot AND crying about the officials in the press conference... LOL

LeBron was frigging balling in the fourth quarter. He then missed as wide-open of a shot as he had all game and that was all she wrote. You get an A game from LeBron, AD, and D-Lo, and it is still not enough. That has to be psychologically demoralizing with it now being 10 in a row the Lakers have dropped to the Nuggets. Hamm and LeBron both complaining about the refs. Rich, coming from the team that gets to the line as much as they do. It wreaks of desperation because as the Denver faithful like to remind the Lakers, they are their daddies.

Jokic is a blast to watch. AD had as much success as you can against the Joker, but in each game he breaks the code and finds a way to win. I hope people are appreciating the greatness we are witnessing with his game. 27, 22, and 10 last night. Ho hum.

Not sure I’ve ever seen as dramatic of back-to-back games as I just witnessed. To start, the Knicks overcame a Jordan flu type game type performance from Tyrese Maxey by reeling off eight points in about 20 seconds to steal the game. In the nightcap, the Nuggets rallied from a 20 point second half deficit with a buzzer beating jumper by Jamal Murray over the outstretched arms of Anthony Davis (Kentucky on Kentucky crime). Insane.

If you believe college basketball is better than this I don’t know what to tell you.

As for 2024-2025 UK. Who knows? I'm crossing my fingers.

27 minutes ago, okie1 said:

Cal's message got stale and his last couple of teams underachieved in March...however, the guy is a top tier Coach and recruiter.  I don't know how anyone can seriously argue that.  Cal also did a great job of getting stars to play team ball for the most part.

Cal tried the portal with Grady, Sestina, Big O, Frederick, Reeves, Mitchell ( I may be leaving some out)...I don't think that was lost on him...

But it is apparrent now that BBN was ready for a change and behind the scenes, Cal had worn thin on a lot of folks.

Spot on. With the portal, I think you could argue Calipari was incredibly successful with it, and if anything didn't utilize it enough. A lot of productivity (All SEC, All American) came from the portal.

1 hour ago, MaddenCurse44 said:

Calipari has had terrible shooting teams.

For fun, I went back to 2018 to see where UK stacked up against others in FG%. The two outlier years for shooting % were this season (6th in the country) and the goofy COVID season (284th in the country). Averaging out the other years, UK is at 53 out of 363 teams. That would put them around the 85 percentile mark for this duration. Other variables could be considered such as 3 pt %, FT%, level of competition, skill level of own players, etc., but saying UK is traditionally terrible when it comes to shooting the ball is not supported by the data. And these measurements have supposedly been the dark years of UK basketball under Calipari. But perception often becomes reality with these things.

My guess is if I did all of Cal's years at UK, they would be much higher than 53rd.

10 hours ago, MaddenCurse44 said:

Who cares at least we got some recruits that can actually shoot the 3.

Like last year's class...

As I've said, I have no clue what to make of recruiting classes any longer. Unless you strike gold with a Freshman, teams with the most impactful transfers will rise to the top.

This morning I bought tickets for game 2 of the Suns/Wolves series.

If Boston does not make it out of the East, that would be an all-time epic fail. Seldom do you go into the playoffs with a team at minus odds, but here we are.

The West is as wide-open of race as I can remember. Going into last night, I would have said the only teams you could cross off would be Sacramento and Golden State (since eliminated). New Orleans may be without Zion (shocker!) so they are on the scratch-off list. So seven teams with a legit shot. That's insane.

Do players still use smokeless tobacco? I assume some do, but figured that was a bygone practice given how in tune pro athletes are with their health today. But yeah, spitting just to spit has always been one of life's great mysteries.

I caught myself watching half an hour of the WNBA draft last night. I am willing to say casual fans are as likely to name as many of the young ladies drafted last night than the young men that will be drafted in June.

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.

Interesting. You can sign up for presale tickets for the two games (MSU/KU, UK/Duke) through State Farm's Champions Classic website, so that would be a shock to the several thousand that have probably already gone that route. But this guy did say it on Twitter, so it must be true.

The game is also in Atlanta, but I am sure it autocorrected to Chicago. It happens.

I've mentioned this before, but coaching college basketball is a diminishing proposition and not attractive; hence why you see all programs dice rolling these days. It is 2024, not 1994, and college basketball may not exist in 5-10 years.

3 hours ago, FrankNicodemus said:

I think another dose of reality with the Pope hire we have to deal with some grace this first year or maybe even 2.  Let him get his feet wet utilizing the UK Brand on his chest, he didn't get a chance to go recruit this upcoming Freshmen class with the UK emblem on his shirts.  This upcoming season will be a bunch of kids that will have fire but maybe not have the "skill" on paper or the amount of "Stars" on their resume that will come in the next few years.  I just hope people can temper their expectations out of the gate.  Let the process happen, not going to have a Top 10 or possibly Top 20 team out of the gate.....  I am young, Pope is young, let's see where this goes, I can have patients.

I do not doubt if Pope goes 42-29 over the next two seasons BBN will be nothing but incredibly supportive and upbeat about things.

One month ago UK was coming off its best game of the year, taking out one of the best teams in the country (UT) in their house. Calipari had his glow, Reed Sheppard was the toast of the town, and people were starting to convince themselves of a potential deep tournament run. If God himself came down from heaven and told me in one month the people that own Tyson Food would be sending a troll package to BBN since Calipari’s is their new coach and two days later Mark Pope will be named the new head coach of UK, I’d called him a damn liar. Or just plain twisted.

Life comes at you fast.

All about the hire before the hire… that’s what I keep telling myself at least.

Much of this stuff is semantical. Does offer mean discussing terms or does it mean a contract was written up with pending board approval? These things are discussed and talked about through third parties.

I have no doubt he "interviewed," or whatever that means in the context of a coaching search. From there it would be open to interpretation.

And frankly, who cares? On to the next candidate.

1 minute ago, TheDeuce said:

A tattoo reminding Cats fans that Louisville has a title more recently than they do would be a bold strategy for ole Ricky. 

He would love it. Then if he were ever to win another title he could cover it with the UK emblem.

3 minutes ago, okie1 said:

I will give him a pass...when you have been somewhere 20 years and that's home to you and your wife and kids, you have to have their support to make this type of move.

Drew is an enigma in the coaching profession.  He has made very few moves.

I was merely making a joke. By all accounts, he seems like a grounded individual. Most do not realize he has been at Baylor for over two decades. That's admirable.