The Collapse of Kentucky basketball

#3
#3
I think their issues are pretty simple. The program had been stale for years under Cal. He coasted after getting that "lifetime contract," which is 100% on Mitch Barnhart.

I don't think Pope is all that great of a coach, but his hire was more of a product of previous bad decisions as opposed to him being to blame himself.
 
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#4
#4
VolsSportsFan said:
And we're 4-8 against them in this time frame, including 4 straight regular season losses and 3 straight losses at TBA.

We did get the S16 win last year, and 2 of those wins were at Rupp Arena, so in that time frame we have 1 win over UK at TBA.
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Pretty hard to believe. We have pretty much played the Kats pretty tough even when we weren't great. And now we have a losing record against them in one of our best 5 year stretches ever and one of their's most mediocre.
 
#6
#6
Pope is a dead man walking there. No way he survives there, he’s in over his head. I still can’t believe they hired this guy with his resume. The AD should be run out of Lexington starting tomorrow.
 
#7
#7
VolsSportsFan said:
And we're 4-8 against them in this time frame, including 4 straight regular season losses and 3 straight losses at TBA.

We did get the S16 win last year, and 2 of those wins were at Rupp Arena, so in that time frame we have 1 win over UK at TBA.
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We're 5-8 against KY starting with the 2020-21 season (1-5 at TBA, 2-3 at Rupp, and 2-0 in the postseason); 6-9 if we throw in 2019-20. 6-9 since Grant/Admiral left and 5-8 since the pandemic.
 
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#8
#8
Savannahbayvol said:
Pretty hard to believe. We have pretty much played the Kats pretty tough even when we weren't great. And now we have a losing record against them in one of our best 5 year stretches ever and one of their's most mediocre.
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Barnes has been great vs KY when both teams are highly ranked, but he's been horrible when we're significantly favored.
 
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#10
#10
Orangeslide said:
Pope is a dead man walking there. No way he survives there, he’s in over his head. I still can’t believe they hired this guy with his resume. The AD should be run out of Lexington starting tomorrow.
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No one was ever going to be the right hire for them. Short of winning 30+ games and the national title, no one's ever good enough for Kentucky fans. Probably why they had to hire Pope. Yeah, they treat UK basketball like royalty, but they don't ever think anyone is good enough to really be the "king" of Big Blue Country.

Add in the fact that all their older boosters want UK to be 1990s Rick Pitino UK, and you're up a creek. They all long for that time. How could they not? Wikipedia tells me they won 81% of their games during his tenure. Good luck with that. How many coaches win 80% of their games? And who'll do that in the cut-throat big money SEC of today? Up. A. Creek.
 
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#11
#11
05_never_again said:
I think he was just about the best they could get.
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Again, a cautionary tale about looking for a “proven name” in your coaching search. Even mighty Kentucky had to settle for a Mark Pope. Unless you get really lucky on timing as we did with Rick, most now have to roll the dice on an up and comer. Different world than it was 20 years ago.
 
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#12
#12
Voltopia said:
No one was ever going to be the right hire for them. Short of winning 30+ games and the national title, no one's ever good enough for Kentucky fans. Probably why they had to hire Pope. Yeah, they treat UK basketball like royalty, but they don't ever think anyone is good enough to really be the "king" of Big Blue Country.

Add in the fact that all their older boosters want UK to be 1990s Rick Pitino UK, and you're up a creek. They all long for that time. How could they not? Wikipedia tells me they won 81% of their games during his tenure. Good luck with that. How many coaches win 80% of their games? And who'll do that in the cut-throat big money SEC of today? Up. A. Creek.
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I don't know if UK bball fans, as crazy as they are, expect Pope (or any coach) to win 80% of their conference games in the current era. Not even Dan Hurley has done that at UConn and the Big East is nowhere near as deep as the SEC.

Pope's problem though is that he's winning just under 60% of them.
 
#13
#13
Pope has caused a great schism in the UK fanbase. And I think both sides believe in basketball purgatory now. It's not all Pope's fault though. It's a new era, and their program needs Reformation. So it's wrong to treat him as the antichrist. But no one can claim Pope has infallibility with a straight face anymore.
 
#14
#14
They’ll be OK. The SEC became a lot more competitive and Kentucky isn’t used to having to fight and claw to stay on top.
 
#15
#15
ukvols said:
We're 5-8 against KY starting with the 2020-21 season (1-5 at TBA, 2-3 at Rupp, and 2-0 in the postseason); 6-9 if we throw in 2019-20. 6-9 since Grant/Admiral left and 5-8 since the pandemic.
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You’re right, I forgot we beat them in the SECT the year won it.

I guess the 4 straight regular season losses makes it feel worse because take those out we’re 5-4. Those losses are the head scratchers, we clearly have been better than them and this last loss we were kicking their azzes and blew it.
 
#17
#17
Let Kentucky keep their AD. Let ‘em have the blues for awhile. It’s their turn to cry in their bourbon.
 
#22
#22
05_never_again said:
I think their issues are pretty simple. The program had been stale for years under Cal. He coasted after getting that "lifetime contract," which is 100% on Mitch Barnhart.

I don't think Pope is all that great of a coach, but his hire was more of a product of previous bad decisions as opposed to him being to blame himself.
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Pope appeared from the start to be the classic 'high floor - low ceiling' type of hire, which will only keep that insane fan base at bay for a short while. A couple more early exits without getting to even play for the Final Four will likely seal his doom, Kentucky legacy or not.

The surprising thing is how far the perception of that program fell under Calipari, to the point where they didn't have any high-level coaches pining away at the chance to coach there and had to settle for a very mid-level guy in Pope.

I guarantee they are fearing the same kind of thing in Chapel Hill right now.
 
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