Vicky Graff Photo
By LARRY VAUGHT
The day Mark Pope was introduced as Kentucky’s new basketball coach, he promised never to make excuses.
He kept that promise Saturday after Auburn smacked his team 94-78 in a game that was not that close and led for all but 39 seconds of the game.
Kentucky was coming off an emotional last-second win at Oklahoma late Wednesday night and had also found out that injured starter Jaxson Robinson needed surgery on his wrist and would miss the rest of the season.
Pope could have used either as a reason for Auburn seeming to have more energy than his team, but he didn’t even think about doing that.
“I would love to make excuses on that. That ultimately falls on my shoulders. Credit goes to Auburn also,” Pope said after the game. “They’ve done this. They’re a good team. They made really hard shots tonight, and their switching was a de-energizer for us, and we did not respond to it as well at all.
“We kind of let frustration mount a little bit and, you know, it was probably a whole slew of excuses. Late travel, late game, all the things with a quick turnaround. At the end of the day, that’s just what you deal with as a basketball player. I failed to lead our team today to have the energy that is required for us to come out and be great.
“It’s not a lack of desire. It was a whole cocktail of some energy miscues, some being sped-up miscues. Some terrific shot-making from Auburn. All put together resulted in a terrible day for us.”
How terrible? Well, Kentucky had six turnovers on its first six possessions of the second half. How could that happen to a team that has wins over top-10 teams and was playing at home with a loud, friendly crowd supporting them?
“It was really unfortunate. It was more of a manifestation of, I think, the stress that we were feeling, and feeling sped up because none of them were forced. We were just dribbling the ball out of bounds,” Pope said. “You can give credit to Auburn for that.
“They got us in a hole, and you can blame me for that on me. I wasn’t able to get the guys to a place where they could just kinda be present in the execution of the moment. That’s what happens when you get under duress and you are carrying around baggage. You have an inexplicable series of plays like that. It was a pretty devastating run for us, for sure.”
36 Responses
Coach Pope, it’s not your fault. You can only coach, the team has to go out and play. You have done more than could have been hoped for with the injuries. Finish the season, give the players who are likely to return as much PT as possible, and start working on next season. Go CATS!!!
"Coach Pope, it’s not your fault. You can only coach, the team has to go out and play." I find that statement highly hypocritical. I always said Calipari never missed a shot, never missed a free-throw, never committed a turnover, never committed a foul, and never played defense. However, the Big Blue Haters said that it was all Cal’s fault. It’s just as much Pope’s fault as Calipari’s. Ky had key injuries each of the last 5 yrs. It was no excuse then and it’s not an excuse now. In my lifetime I never saw Ky commit 7 turnovers in a row until yesterday. The Cats were so pathetic ABC cut the cord.
During that same 5 yr period why does UK seem to lead the league with injuries in both FB and BB? Is it lack of proper conditioning, lack of quality therapy or ?
Mike, I was thinking the same thing.
How did you Daddy and Arkansas do yesterday?
Just like the Orange Man all the weak minded people can’t stand the truth. You want to use a double standard. Calipari has already proven who your and Ky’s daddy is. If given a chance he will show all you Whiners again!
Your dumdas# Hall of Fame Pig Daddy didn’t even get a full roster.
Now he’s down to 7 players. They are getting wore out and can only manage 14 points in the first half.
Why in the world did you feel the need to bring up politics. Move on. Live your life!
Jimmy, why don’t you just go ahead and move to Fayetteville so you so you can cheer on Calipari, but you better hurry. Word has it that he might not be there much longer. All you do is cry about how he is no longer here. Give me your address and I will mail you a Caliari fooler to suck on. BBN has moved on from The FRAUD! It’s way past time that you do the same.
I have never cried because he’s not here. You and Whiner of the West have always been crybabies. Now that the same things are happening under Pope you want to be hypocrites and use a double standard. You don’t like the truth because you’re WHINERS!
Yeah but we got his ass GONE
I think 7 turnovers in a row for frosh is far fetched.. upperclassmen is a joke
BP…agree with you almost 100% of the time but not here with that statement. The coach and staff are responsible for BB fundamentals and execution. We were not strong on any aspect of our game yesterday with exception of rebounding. They had the shot makers and we were left with shot takers.
They had a game plan for us and execution to perfection. We apparently had no game plan. They collectively had the heart and will to win that game, and we didn’t show much of either. It seems like we have too many guys wanting to end the season, and we still haven’t developed much leadership. Look at the teams we have beaten this year, (Duke, N.C, Gonzaga, UL, UT). They have all improved since then and we haven’t. Many SEC football teams in SEC have strengthened their HC positions last couple of years, and the same thing has been done in SEC basketball. I am not sure we have the best coach in the State…time will tell. Pope is a very nice guy and wants to be everyone’s friend it seems but where is the fire, high energy, and passion? Pearl and Pope operate on 2 different levels and man, did it show yesterday.
I think I’ll go with what the coach said..he failed
Going up against the #1 team in the nation, a great home crowd on national television and the coach can’t get the guys ready? Robinson Is out for the rest of the season so several of the players just decided to not play? Maybe should start charging the bench to start paying to watch the games since they aren’t contributing anything. Really it’s the Coach and his entire staff that’s at fault plain and simple. My old coach would have had practice right after the game for 4 hour passing drills and when the last guy was puking it would stop!
Agreed
Coach Pope & his assistants took a group of average/mediocre transfers from average/mediocre teams and developed those individuals into a highly efficient TEAM FIRST set of players – as proven by the opening 5 games, the 11-1 start, the quality wins over Top 5, Top 10 & Top 25 teams with an amazing team chemistry. They were the product of listening to the coach.
THEN some of those players decided to go back to their life-long individual selfish play instead of sticking with a winning system. It only takes a few selfish players to erode, fracture & break down the team chemistry.
The A:TO ratio reveals who went solo and led to SELF-destruction. Some players may have scored a lot fo points BUT LACKED ASSISTS and increased turnovers as the wheels fell off week after week.
Not all of the players wear the UK uniform with a heart full of love for UK. One season wearing the UK jersey after many seasons of wearing jerseys of average/mediocre teams does not capture the hearts of very many players. They only think of themselves.
Coach Pope is so far above & beyond the fraud who ran to the hog pen. There is no comparison and anyone who lauds the fraud is out of touch with reality.
PS… Barry Pritchett is right. Nice post!
Please? You say average/mediocre transfers from average/mediocre teams. One player was on a final four team, one was Defensive Player of the Year in another league. And players with experience shouldn’t be having more turnovers then assists! I just don’t see where Pope has elevated any of those so called Average Mediocre players from the first of the season when they played Great TEAM ball..Even Average Players could be Coached into not throwing the ball away or missing layups as much as these players do. It’s just no excuses for the way this team has Regressed…
You are correct Rick. These players were better than average/mediocre players and teams as well. They wouldn’t be wearing the uniforms if some folks evaluating talent didn’t think they deserved to be here. One problem, of many, is that we have a soft coach who doesn’t seem to want to hold anyone accountable at least in public and many play exactly like that.
We got 2 regular season games left and SEC tournament then. Regardless what happens I think this team has achieved more than we thought. Had put a team together in short amout of time with only one returning player in my opinion no one could have done it besides Pope. But know what strange things happens when March madness is on we’ve seen it happen before. who knows these cats may surprise us. Go cats!!
Exactly! This team has exceeded my expectations. I had already chalked this season up to a total rebuild and I was fine with that. We got so much more! Love our new coach and this team.
Bla bla bla bla – hey, the Pope arrived @ UK with two 3* freshmen and NOTHING else. We have wins over top 20 teams and our biggest rivals and will end up with 20+ wins. If anyone can tell me they expected that I’ll kiss your ###. Please get a life and be thankful.
Nothing? So You are now calling these Players Nothing? This is the University of Kentucky and we don’t get “Nothing Players”! Theses Nobody’s Started the season 10-1 and beat more top 10 teams than any other team ever! You’re the One Delusional! Hahaha! Pucker Up Paul! Get Your Lips Ready!
He had Travis Perry and that was it! Trent Noah came later.
After the love fest press conference. Everyone was so happy to get rid of the life sucking Sooey Pig!
Hall of Fame Sooey Pig
Coach Pope has surpassed any and all reasonable expectations this season.
Yes, he arrived with an empty cupboard other than the amazing shooter Perry.
Butler & Carr have been the 2 most consistent players all season, except when injured.
Williams has played like an All-American part of the time & played as if he is unaware he is in a BB game at other times. That is not the fault of the coaching staff.
SOME players are selfish far too often & it cost UK some wins!
Most of the transfers are average/mediocre players – with Carr & Butler being the exception.
Those initial 5 games when UK stormed oiu of the starting gate weee vintage UK, thanks to the staff molding everyone into a TEAM 1st mentality.
Sadly, SOME have not stayed the course, and the resulting breakdown of TEAM 1st play has been painful for the diligent, focused players and the BBN.
The referees are biased, crooked, incompetent, worthless and borderline criminal for the most part. UK has been riddled with a crooked SEC admin ever since UK dominated the conference.
Injuries are a DIRECT result of the thug BB endorsed and promoted by the SEC. How many fouls can you count by just looking at one photo of the hands grabbing, pulling, holding, shoving slams clobbering UK players.
Maybe UK will hire an AD someday who will stand up to the SEC admin & have a few lawyers present, calling them out.
In the initial 5 games, UK had a FF team.
In the initial 12 games, UK had a S16 team.
Since then, individualism has left UK in a very difficult position to try to get to the S16 because most of the team chemistry has washed away.
This year got started before Pope was even hired. Then he had to hire a staff. Then with only one player on his roster, he had to dive into the transfer portal with a late start and field a team. He has only had 7 games with a full roster and has been forced to play freshmen who were not ready to play. The season will most likely end up as 22 – 13. Not the season we had hoped for but it is better than what the folks at Kansas, UConn, and North Carolina got this year. You can’t coach through 3 key injuries with a patchwork team. It will take a couple of more years for Pope to get players that will be here long enough to buy into his system. The same was true at North Carolina and Duke when Dean Smith and Coach K got started. We will be better next year and the year after. The 2027/28 season will be the year that Pope has a legitimate shot at winning it all. Go CATS!!!
Excellent! I agree 100%
Rick – he didn’t have those players WHEN HE ARRIVED – go back and read once more.
Selfishness is what has ruined this year! We’ve beaten more top 15 teams in the history of Kentucky basketball. Why do our best players never play? Before NIL you had to play to prove your worth to go to the next level. Now guys say did you see what I did 5 games ago I was amazing we will just leave it at that and I will look incredible in my highlight reels. Its a joke. I remember when players would tape it up and go back out and play. Now they are done after mysterious injuries. Half the time we don’t even know what the player injured they are just out. I think Vegas has ruined sports. Its bigger than what everyone knows. All it takes is for one referee or one player to have someone bet for them and the whole game has been changed. Say I’m Butler and it says on the betting site will Butler score 10+ points. And the under pays triple of the over. He can get his buddy to bet 10k that he won’t score 10 points and them get a 40k payout because money is more important than anything to these kids nowadays. I think this is happening all over college basketball now from the refs to the players. You cant tell me how enticing that would be. Or a ref that keeps calling fouls to get his point spread right on the game. There has already been some guys in the NBA caught doing this. Gambling is bigger than its ever been and very addictive. You can’t tell me this isn’t effecting the game at some level. Why else are refs calling fouls when nobody was touched then other plays a guy gets tackled and there is no call.?????
I guarantee you this right now! We will be much better next year. When Pope get a full cycle to actually recruit who he wants and not just guys to fill up a roster. He had 6 commitments in 5 days. Come one now that’s insane in basketball recruiting. You only get 13 scholarships. If Oweh and Garrison come back next year we have a shot at being great. Perry will be waaaay better and Noah will also be much better. Chandler will finally be back in mix as well. He was out of basketball for 2 years while Perry and Noah played everyday. It takes a long time to get back to the level you were playing on when you do something everyday. I think Chandler might transfer back out west somewhere maybe even BYU. He is a Mormon and all. Or Maybe Utah. He’s going to be a great player but he won’t be ready until next year. I hope he comes back but I don’t think he will. We need Nate Ament to commit. If he goes to Louisville watch out little brother will be even better next year too. Kelsey is pulling in whoever he wants now because he’s fun to play for. We need a great point guard. Kerr will be back next year and he we will start at the point. With Oweh even better next year he has drastically improved every year by at least 5-6 ppg every year. Johnson will play the 3 with Noah backing him up. We will need to go to the portal and grab a couple of Monsters big guys. Because all we have is Garrison potentially coming back. I think he’s 100% coming back. I just hope Owehs agent doesn’t get in his ear and chase money. Like I said with Pope and his staff who are great at evaluating talent but didn’t have anytime to waste when they got hired. We will take a step up next year. I do think Pope wins a banner but it will be in year 3-4. We could possibly make a final 4 run next year depending on how good the freshman are. Moreno should be better than Williams. He’s the #1 center in high school. This year whatever happens happens.
Trent played against Lee County and Travis played against Dawson Springs.
You said they weren’t ready and should redshirt or play for Murray State.
I think Pope had done a great job especially for his first year. Starting from scratch. Injuries have hurt. I expect they have a good chance to win every game they play. I had hoped the Auburn game would go down to the wire, but it got away. I hope great players will come to Kentucky in the future.
HAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!!!
******FIRE MARK POPE******* This is what you deserved after telling all those former CATS from last season to hit the road. Then you destroy the Locker-room banners of all the CATS that have won NBA Championships, All Stars, 3 Point Champs, Sixth Man of the Year, FIBA Gold Medals and Olympic Gold Medals. Now that they have no mentors to reference during their time of great struggle now all they have to relate to is your tired basketball career on both sides of the ball. Auburn has not beaten us since 1988. SUTTON, PITINO, TUBBY, CALIPARI all held it down BUT YOU LET IS DOWN. kicks rocks BYU is hiring.