Vicky Graff Photo
Something just is not right with the Kentucky men’s basketball program.
Before Saturday’s game at Alabama, I listened on the UK Radio Network when Tom Leach did his pregame interview with Kentucky coach Mark Pope. The UK coach was far from enthusiastic, with very guarded answers that made you wonder about his confidence level going into the game.
Once the game started, Pope and his players had no answers for Alabama and lost 89-74 in a game that was basically Alabama’s after the midway point of the first half. Even when UK cut into a big lead in the second half, it never seemed like UK was poised to win after again falling behind by 20-plus points.
After the game, Pope was even worse with Leach in his final segment that certainly did not provide UK fans with any answers — or maybe hope for the future. Here are the final three questions Leach asked:
Leach: “What did you tell the locker room after the game?”
Pope: “A lot of things.”
Leach: “What needs to be better in the future?”
Pope: “That’s a long list.”
Leach: “What are the specific things to take away from this game?”
Pope: “Not a lot from this game. We need to play harder.”
Doubtful if those words provided a lot of inspiration for Kentucky fans who have been bitterly disappointed with the play of Pope’s team this season.
I took a quick look at social media when the Cats fell behind by 21 points in the first half, and here were the first four posts I saw on my timeline:
@KyleSRobertson — “After two weeks to get more cohesive. Just a collection of individuals available for the highest NIL offer.”
@jsword71 — “I figured this would happen. This team stinks. Can’t shoot, can’t defend, can’t rebound. And can’t coach.”
@kpetit54 — “Kentucky shooting like they do against ranked teams. Teams ranked 300 or so a different story.”
@jaredlyon1985 — “They have better guards. Not even close. We’ve got centers playing like wimps. Just a joke of a performance.”
Former Kentucky All-American Jack Givens noted that “slow starts” repeatedly were making it hard for Kentucky to win.
“They came out with high energy, and I was thinking this is going to be great, and then they just lost it,” the UK Radio Network analyst said. “I don’t know for sure what to do about the slow starts. You look at maybe the most obvious thing and figure out how to get Jaland Lowe and Jayden Quaintance into the starting lineup.”
No disrespect to Givens, but figuring out how to start the team’s best point guard and best center is not hard. Pope just has to do it.
Givens also didn’t sugarcoat that Alabama played harder than UK most of the game, a problem the Cats have had in other games.
There is room to improve, but it has got to come sooner than later,” Givens said
“For us to walk out of here shooting a really poor percentage and being out-rebounded by four and out-rebounded on the offensive glass by two, with Alabama shooting 50-plus percent, that is a problem,” Pope said. “It’s not okay for us.
“Our identity has got to be something more than that, so that physicality was missing. We knew it was something we had to have, and we didn’t get it tonight.”
13 Responses
I've been lately going back and watching old games on YouTube. Its better than this incarnation.
Pope's detractors are increasing every day. There is nothing about him that shows confidence, leadership, "I got this", or coaching ability. More emphasis was placed on UK connections than prior coaching success while being vetted. He continues to shows weekly that he is more the problem than the answer. My two biggest disappointments, and there are numerous, are Chandler and Garrison. Chandler should not be in the starting rotation. He should be one of the best shooters and ball handlers on the team and isn't. He seems to be less confident than a year ago, and it is easy to speculate if marriage has been a major distraction for him. Garrison shows a lot of talent but doesn't have a commitment to winning or wanting to help the team. He is satisfied, as many others apparently, just cashing the check. Jelavic should be starting and further along than Pope has him. Some of you have been asking for more patience because European ball much slower. He has had enough time to adjust but can't showcase any ability sitting on the pine. I am one of the many feeling and saying that Pope is in over his head and may not be here next year.
Miss. State beat Texas at Texas and LSU almost beat A&M at A&M. They are the next 2 games for us at Rupp. I am not confident in winning either one.
Here is a comment from Nate Oats:
A Harsh Reality
Of all the postgame comments that popped off the page, the most eye-opening actually came from Nate Oats. The Alabama head coach pointed out a big flaw in the Kentucky Wildcats: They aren’t a very good passing team. When the ball goes into the paint, it rarely leaves it.
“When I watched them play, I didn’t feel like they move the ball great… When they play high-major teams that were really good, they’re assist rate is very low. They throw it into the bigs, they’re not really passing. They had seven assists out of the post in 13 games coming in, (Malachi) Moreno had four of them,” said Oats.
We have a bunch of wannabe heroes that play for themselves and not Kentucky.
I don't know what is going on with the team, but they seem to not be a team!!! I thought Pope was great last season but he is not the same coach that we had last year. I'm not giving in but something's gotta happen pdq or it's gonna be a disaster thats gonna last all season. I feel bad for Pope but I'm thinking he is in over head. He seems to be coddling the rotations and just wishing it will somehow work it's self out and just ain't the way to coach a basketball team… Take the best 7 players and let the rest be highly paid cheerleaders and see what happens, no more wonky in/out subbing…. Just the opinion of a
64 old that's watched almost every KY basketball that has been televised and some on the radio sitting on my daddy's lap.
I agree with you Kevin
Team in total disarray
March madness on the way,we need to turn this game around,TEAM work makes the dream work BBN Forever!!!
Another 64 year old here. There's too much RAH RAH and not enough common sense from Pope, especially with the starting lineup.
He needs to quit thinking about championship number 9 and try to figure out how to beat Missouri.
Personally Wild West I think Pope has lost his rah-rah
I think he needs to crack the whip and start by sending some packing. Carousing the night before a road game & squabbling about some girl are too distracting, so just remove them!
Exactly Wild West….
The Big question is…has Pope ever had this team? I am not so sure he has and he is losing BBN daily. BG2.0
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