Next years team will not be any good....
- Thread starter Kyfan96
- Start date
One thing is for sure, he better already have an idea who who is transferring and have some players that he wants waiting in the wings. The portal opens April 7th the day after the NC and is only open 15 days now so guys will be flying in and out of it pretty fast.
Don't be stupid. You don't know that Pope wants them to be "the core" of next years team. Might he say that publicly or to them individually? Probably so. To make them feel wanted you have to say that, even if deep down you want them as contributing role players, not as your top 3-4 players.
If you say that and then recruit over them, they will quickly surmise you were not truthful with them.
Revisionist analytics? Kam stood around on the court not being able to understand our “dumbed down” system until the Mississippi State game. Before that he was clueless,———not skill-less. Your power conference hand waving is making people think he folded against tough teams in that stretch. In reality he didn’t do any better against cupcakes. He wasn’t getting it and was obviously rattled by not getting it.Once he started actually playing, in the Mississippi State game, he averaged 7.5 points on just under 50% shooting from the field and 40% from the outside with two boards and 1.5 assists per each of the four games—exclusively against SEC opponents—before he went down. To claim otherwise is just playing with numbers. I watched him beat several guys off the dribble, which was great because we dearly needed that extra driving to keep the defense honest and give Pope’s system a chance to work with the weird team he fielded. Kam has hops, too. Also averaged nearly a steal per game. He’s not a superstar. That was my point, not yours. But IF “he has a great summer” he’ll absolutely be startable on a team with an upgraded Moreno “if we bring in serious studs to join them.”
Last edited:
True ... and he's the head coach at UK. Someone should be fired and not rewarded with a cushy golden parachute non-job.We wanted kids to stay longer, and that’s what he’s doing. But he’s gotta be able to coach (develop) in order for his plan to work. He’s yet to show me he’s capable of doing so
That's a bad look for Rhoades Scholars everywhere. That's his way of claiming he didn't fork it up last year with this roster selection.
He doesn't really get less friendly, he just acts like a petulant child. I guess that's not very friendly, but he's more of a whiner than anything.
Just let Pope do what he wants man don’t worry about it eventually, we’ll get the right people in there eventually. There’s a lot coming up man that freaking civil suit for the rape on the swim team and the sexual assault that went on that’s this summer. That’s why Barney stepped down when he did so he wouldn’t be athletic director when the fallout comes and it’s gonna come man and that would be the big reason to never hire a Marc hill or anyone in the athletic department. I mean anything that comes on Barney could potentially implicate any of these people that worked for him so if that civil case goes the wrong way, which is probably why Eli is freaking out because it imminent now he’s freaking out because they’re probably asking for a hefty settlement and we don’t have the money because Barney gave it to stoops. I mean, that’s coming pretty fast. I think the trial is scheduled for like mid summer. Someone’s gonna have to fall on their sword maybe it’s gonna be Eli when the case starts because you’re gonna hear all about it all the details and it’s gonna be on ESPN if we thought our programs in trouble now I mean we’re gonna be kinda staring at where Michigan State was about five years six years ago so it’ll just be a further setback
Do you HONESTLY believe Kam and Lowe's injuries tanked the season? Like REALLY believe it? C'mon man. That's a big, big reach.
It is, but by and large really hasn't been the case with Pope. Chandler has really been it. And lordy, he didn't play basketball for two years before last year. Had he not improved, that would be an immediate cause for concern.
Dude. It was Santa Clara. There's a reason he spits the bit against good SEC teams.
I'd temper my expectations. History has shown that really isn't the case with Pope. Unless you literally haven't played for two years.
He's a good 7/8 man, agreed.
Lol. That's a HUGE ask from Pope and his staff. "3-4 Portal studs and a great HS recruit" would be the first time this staff would've done any of that.
I've always said if Oweh was your best player, your team wasn't going to be very good. That's a Pope issue though, and not an Oweh issue. It's Pope's job to get the better players. Or develop them. That said, replacing your two best players on a 14 loss team ain't going to be easy when you haven't recruited terribly well.
1--That's an EXTREMELY small sample size.
Once he started actually playing, in the Mississippi State game, he averaged 7.5 points on just under 50% shooting from the field and 40% from the outside with two boards and 1.5 assists per each of the four games—exclusively against SEC opponents—before he went down. To claim otherwise is just playing with numbers. I watched him beat several guys off the dribble, which was great because we dearly needed that extra driving to keep the defense honest and give Pope’s system a chance to work with the weird team he fielded. Kam has hops, too. Also averaged nearly a steal per game. He’s not a superstar. That was my point, not yours. But IF “he has a great summer” he’ll absolutely be startable on a team with an upgraded Moreno “if we bring in serious studs to join them.”
2--The Mississippi State game heavily skewed the numbers. Miss St was more OVC than SEC.
3--Those four games in an extremely small sample included the two worst teams in the league.
4--This is skewing numbers.
Kam is what he is...a 7th or 8th man. He's LIMITED. Can defend a little. Doesn't rebound very well. Can't create his own look. Can knock down a wide open 3 at about 50%. If he's more than a 10-15 min piece, the team will stink.
| 16 | 49 | 16 | 2026-01-10 | Kentucky | Mississippi State | REG (Conf) | W 92-68 | 30 | 5 | 8 | .625 | 2 | 3 | .667 | 3 | 5 | .600 | .750 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 13.1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 50 | 17 | 2026-01-14 | Kentucky | @ | Louisiana State | REG (Conf) | W 75-74 | * | 28 | 2 | 6 | .333 | 1 | 3 | .333 | 1 | 3 | .333 | .417 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2.0 | |
| 18 | 51 | 18 | 2026-01-17 | Kentucky | @ | Tennessee | REG (Conf) | W 80-78 | * | 15 | 1 | 4 | .250 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 1 | 2 | .500 | .250 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -1.5 | |
| 19 | 52 | 19 | 2026-01-21 | Kentucky | Texas | REG (Conf) | W 85-80 | * | 16 | 2 | 3 | .667 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | .833 | 4 | 4 | 1.000 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 7 |
It’s not skewing numbers.
You’re opinionated. And clearly biased towards a fantasy.
What happened is what happened. I didn’t grab some special subset of numbers to make Kam look good.
I grabbed all the numbers that were available after Kam calmed down and started playing and before he played a few games out of condition and out of practice in desperation at the end the season coming off a broken foot.
The sample size is small because the sample size is small.
All your bloviating is based on making a statistically useless mishmash out of how he looked in a lot of games where he was panicked.
The only thing you can legitimately criticize him on when he was actually chilling out and playing is he only averaged two boards a game, which is not horrible at all for a guard but we’d love to see more from someone his height. Cool. “He’s not a superstar.”
Four straight games against SEC opponents isn’t THAT small a sample size. You’re just biased against the guy and love to try to bully people with your opinions which are always belligerent and usually kind of butthurt.
I already built into my argument that the small sample size has to continue to make my argument work——he has to have a great summer.
Damned right. Either that or he's crazy. And maybe a little of both.
For next year’s team to be good, they will need to land a stud in the portal or preferably stokes to replace Oweh. Get a couple of good point guards. I’m not sure what else, it really depends on who stays. Pope can’t afford to strike out on stokes IMO.
Yes. You grabbed what numbers were available. 4 games. Which is a small sample size. Not arguable. 2 games against the bottom 2 teams in the league. Not arguable. You spouted “SEC teams”, but in fact those teams net ranking is closer to OVC teams than SEC teams. Again, that’s skewing numbers.
When you say 4 games really isn’t a small sample size, you’ve proven your ignorance. There’s no world in which 10% (full season) 22% (conf season) isn’t a small sample size. Only aomeone that knows zero about data analysis would argue that.
I’m not biased against Kam at all, in fact I’ve said he’s a solid 7th or 8th guy. That’s not bias, that’s just understanding if he’s anything more than that, you’re not going to be very good.
Texas is in the Sweet Sixteen.
Tennessee is tied for third in the conference.
In the Mississippi state game Kam had inflated output compared to the other games.....
....because Pope played him twice the minutes.
Go back and do the math. That "skewing" is more Pope's weird subsitution patterns than Mississipi State's weakness.
What you're arguing against in this reply is a strawman.
It's really a small sample size!
It's really a small sample size!!!!!!!!
I never said it wasn't a small sample size. You said the sample size was skewed and tampered with and insignificant because it was small and that's hogwash.
Everything you've said about Kam not defending and Kam being a 7th or 8th spot player is based on a disigenuous sample. When he was panicked and performing worse against true Directional State cupcakes than he was performing against a mix of the SEC top and bottom once things clicked for him.
It may well be unconscious bias. But you're absolutely biased against the guy.
You have a big imagination I’ll give you thatThese same people will be crying when I decide to bump this thread in 9 months when we are in talks for national championship.
You’re proving my point for me. Thanks.
I never said Kam couldn’t defend. I said the opposite actually. He defends and shoots spot up wide open 3s. Perfect for a bit role player.
A “mix of the SEC top and bottom” is 5/10/13/16? In a 16 team league. That’s a mix of top and bottom? My man, you need to stop talking data.
I don't believe Pope thinks that at all. I think he's projecting as much confidence as he can muster in the face of ever mounting evidence that the job is way over his head. I feel awful for him. He's a really good guy who had no business being put in this position given his resume. Barnhart has been excellent with his non-revenue sports hires. He's lifted the profile of UK athletics so that we're competitive nationally in the Sears trophy rankings, showing success in all sports (baseball, tennis, track & field, etc...) and building UK's sports infrastructure to make it competitive with other powerhouse universities. However, in the two sports that pay the bills - the only sports that 99.999% of fans care about, he's made some absolutely baffling hires. He was basically forced to take Calipari, so he doesn't get much credit for that hire. I'll give him credit for Rich Brooks & Mark Stoops, but beyond those two it's a rough track record, Gillespie, Joker, and now Pope. Hiring Gillespie without doing even the bare minimum of due diligence which would have revealed all of the red flags that made him completely unsuitable for this job. And the Pope hire was just lazy. He should have had a rolodex of names at his fingertips at all times of coaches he would be interested in the event of a change - and he should have been keeping contacts through back channels with coaches to keep those lines of communication open and to feel out potential interest in advance of Calipari's departure. It felt like the way it went down that he hadn't done any legwork at all in preparation for the next hire. It's frustrating.
Needs: 1 x Ulis, 2 x Brea, 1 x Oweh, and 1 x Rodman/shot blocker. One can wish.....
Like I have been saying for a long time....Things are going to get worse....Much worse. Just wait and see!!
Pope's player retention strategy is all you need to know about next year's success. The downward spiral continues....you heard it here first.
All we heard under Cal was we wanted players to stay 4 years. Now, you want to run them off. Smfh
Let’s get one thing straight here. We don’t have a single high quality player on the entire roster, not one.
I'm fine if they return as bench players but we have to have more talent on this roster or we will face a similar or even worse mess next season.
Absolutely. Need to get Stokes and 2-3 STUDS from the portal. But there are people in this thread that seem to want everyone gone. We need them for depth.
I’d say it’s more likely than not that we’ll be good. Having a hard time believing we’ll be great.
Pope can coach. Even if his budget gets limited, I could see him putting together his kind of team and still being a scrappy upstart.
Can he have a big budget and build an elite team that competes for one seeds and championships? Haven’t seen that yet. I’m getting too old to believe without some evidence.
Pope can coach. Even if his budget gets limited, I could see him putting together his kind of team and still being a scrappy upstart.
Can he have a big budget and build an elite team that competes for one seeds and championships? Haven’t seen that yet. I’m getting too old to believe without some evidence.
The fans are psychotic( when we are losing) and losing is what we are doing. Dont expect any sanity from the fan base until we start winning big.
It does raise eyebrows at a minimum. I can see him not wanting to throw players under the bus but that doesn’t mean he needs to be acting like everybody from a 22-14 team….except our two best players….is the solution.