Mark Pope And Wife Talks UofL/Uk Rivalry
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These people will fit right in with the blue necks. Total cornballs.
Think their time would be better spent focusing on Bama, UT and that Stray Cat Cal.
I'll admit, I was intrigued when UK hired Pope only because I thought it would bring some much, much needed light hearted banter and allow for both fan bases to see each program being led by coaches that were kinda hard to dislike. Pope is just a big, goofy, cheese ball that it was hard to take seriously.
However - after seeing the complete bullsh*t, revisionist history crap that's taken place over the last 6 months - Pope's an ass.
We've gone from scoffs and anger at the mere idea that UK would ever even consider hiring someone as lowly as Mark Pope. Near riots and complete meltdown with rage fueled radio callers, message board posters, local media members and bloggers. Mocking articles from the national media talking about how nobody could have predicted UK would have had to resort to hiring someone like Mark Pope and hiring grades of C's and B minuses, and confusion as to why UK seemingly went from Hurley and Donovan to such a lower tier coach in Mark Pope so quickly.....to (and this was something I heard directly from a national media member) "If I was "some 5 star recruit" and I was deciding between John Calipari and Mark Pope, I'm picking Mark Pope" and picks of them to be Final Four dark horses, and glowing articles on how great of a coach Mark Pope is and what a great hire it was.
I have absolutely had all I care to see, hear or read from the UK fan base and national media fawning over Mark Pope as if he's a guaranteed success and speaking in terms of certainty about how great they'll be at this or that because of Pope. He's assembled a decent roster and gotten two local recruits with direct Lexington ties but nobody has forgotten how angry the UK fans were or how crappy of a hire the media thought he was or how respected he was as a coach 6 months ago. It's just maddening that everyone is acting like they hired Coach K and it was a homerun hire that everyone loved from day 1.
However - after seeing the complete bullsh*t, revisionist history crap that's taken place over the last 6 months - Pope's an ass.
We've gone from scoffs and anger at the mere idea that UK would ever even consider hiring someone as lowly as Mark Pope. Near riots and complete meltdown with rage fueled radio callers, message board posters, local media members and bloggers. Mocking articles from the national media talking about how nobody could have predicted UK would have had to resort to hiring someone like Mark Pope and hiring grades of C's and B minuses, and confusion as to why UK seemingly went from Hurley and Donovan to such a lower tier coach in Mark Pope so quickly.....to (and this was something I heard directly from a national media member) "If I was "some 5 star recruit" and I was deciding between John Calipari and Mark Pope, I'm picking Mark Pope" and picks of them to be Final Four dark horses, and glowing articles on how great of a coach Mark Pope is and what a great hire it was.
I have absolutely had all I care to see, hear or read from the UK fan base and national media fawning over Mark Pope as if he's a guaranteed success and speaking in terms of certainty about how great they'll be at this or that because of Pope. He's assembled a decent roster and gotten two local recruits with direct Lexington ties but nobody has forgotten how angry the UK fans were or how crappy of a hire the media thought he was or how respected he was as a coach 6 months ago. It's just maddening that everyone is acting like they hired Coach K and it was a homerun hire that everyone loved from day 1.
The media did put the spin on immediately after it was a done deal. EC incorrectly called the hire a risk. Hilarious.
They chose him because they didn't want to deal with a circus of getting turned down publicly repeatedly. They didn't have many alternatives. They got humbled by their first few choices. These jobs are just not as coveted as they once were.
This was a safe hire for them because he was going to say yes immediately.
As for how he'll do who knows? They do have a good roster, but the SEC has improved over the years. Teams actually go into RUPP and win despite the 8 on 5.
He may end up fine, but nobody else was coming after him.
They chose him because they didn't want to deal with a circus of getting turned down publicly repeatedly. They didn't have many alternatives. They got humbled by their first few choices. These jobs are just not as coveted as they once were.
This was a safe hire for them because he was going to say yes immediately.
As for how he'll do who knows? They do have a good roster, but the SEC has improved over the years. Teams actually go into RUPP and win despite the 8 on 5.
He may end up fine, but nobody else was coming after him.
I hope Pope loses every important game they play, and takes his woman back to TEMU for an upgrade.
Your TEMU comment reminded me of the old Neil Young song "Sample and Hold". I went looking for the original video to post but it is no longer available.
It's easy to say what fans want to hear. But it's another thing to do it. And while we are no doubt a very big deal to them, their fans are going to require deep March runs to be happy with him, no matter how much he likes trolling UofL.
The part where Pope said the mole was driving them crazy is a perfect analogy for their fanbase, we drive them crazy and we are always on their mind 24/7. They think about us more than their own team.
Former player from a title team returning home, what could go wrong??? (oh wait yeah!)
I don't know how well he will do there, but he's a much better in-game coach than John Calipari. He hasn't been exceptional at his other stops, but his teams have looked pretty good. What it comes down to is the recruiting there, and it seems like they've put in money for NIL and for him to have a good coaching staff.
Now I wasn't one that ever downplayed Calipari and just assumed he rolled a ball out and it was easy. He was a HOF coach and has won big at multiple stops. I do think he was hitting that decline and they're lucky they got rid of him before that happened. Kentucky will never have that level of talent again, but I'd also say that freshman aren't as ready to play at the D1 level as they were 15-20 years ago in terms of building teams around them. Cal could do a great job of getting egos to play together for 9-10 months that they were together. If the portal was opened up when he arrived at Kentucky, he would've been much better at bringing in some seniors too. Game passed him by. But we'll never see anything like that recruiting ever again and luckily they only got 1 title out of it.
Replacing a HOF coach isn't easy. I think Pope will be a good coach and if he can bring in top talent, then they'll be really good. But until then, he's never won a tournament game and hasn't even won a regular season conference title. All in all, he seems like a good guy but I get a Chris Mack vibe that he's probably more of a pr*ck behind the scenes that will get on your nerves, but not an arrogant egomaniac like Calipari.
I don't know how well he will do there, but he's a much better in-game coach than John Calipari. He hasn't been exceptional at his other stops, but his teams have looked pretty good. What it comes down to is the recruiting there, and it seems like they've put in money for NIL and for him to have a good coaching staff.
Now I wasn't one that ever downplayed Calipari and just assumed he rolled a ball out and it was easy. He was a HOF coach and has won big at multiple stops. I do think he was hitting that decline and they're lucky they got rid of him before that happened. Kentucky will never have that level of talent again, but I'd also say that freshman aren't as ready to play at the D1 level as they were 15-20 years ago in terms of building teams around them. Cal could do a great job of getting egos to play together for 9-10 months that they were together. If the portal was opened up when he arrived at Kentucky, he would've been much better at bringing in some seniors too. Game passed him by. But we'll never see anything like that recruiting ever again and luckily they only got 1 title out of it.
Replacing a HOF coach isn't easy. I think Pope will be a good coach and if he can bring in top talent, then they'll be really good. But until then, he's never won a tournament game and hasn't even won a regular season conference title. All in all, he seems like a good guy but I get a Chris Mack vibe that he's probably more of a pr*ck behind the scenes that will get on your nerves, but not an arrogant egomaniac like Calipari.
