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Kathy Beckham is an 83-year-old Kentucky fan living in Louisville who loves her Wildcats. However, she has about reached her breaking point after Tuesday’s loss to Georgia.
“Just disgusting. I’ll watch all the games, but unfortunately, not with the anticipation we are going to win. Just playing not to lose. What a sad commentary. Kentucky has surely fallen on hard times,” Beckham said. “Don’t know the answer.
“One thing is it appears we do not have one, not one, coach on the sidelines that can teach defense. I could go on and on and I know you have heard it all before, so I shall just shut up for no. am so sad and disappointed.”
That’s the message I got from Beckham Wednesday morning about 12 hours after UK’s disappointing loss to Georgia. Based on other messages and conversation, it seemed to sum up the current state of UK basketball that is making BBN look forward to spring football practice.
Country music singer JD Shelburne lives in Nashville but is as passionate about UK basketball as anyone I know. His emotions flow with UK’s play and he is as upset as Beckham.
“Dusty May has Michigan rockin, (Kelvin) Sampson seems to have elite teams every year (at Houston). Duke killin’ it like Coach K never left. Arizona and Iowa State have elite teams. Bill Self (of Kansas) going to take our all time wins record. Cal (John Caliipari) has an elite team that might make a Final Four and here we are. Damn,” Shelburne posted after UK’s loss.
He was not any happier Wednesday morning.
“I don’t really know how to fix Kentucky Basketball to get us back to where we once were. John Calipari had us right there in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015 etc. We recruited elite players. Passion fuels purpose. I want to get those days and teams back before it’s all said and done,” Shelburne posted on X.
My social media timeline and text messages along with conversation with UK fans Wednesday convinced me BBN is past panic and has lost hope again. Kentucky’s recent 8-1 run had got the bandwagon back rolling, but the Georgia lost ended the hope for a big postseason run for many UK fans.
“Went from being optimistic we could get a decent seed to thinking we’re lucky to get in. We beat South Carolina and maybe Auburn. But I’d say we’re toast,” UK fan Jared Lyon posted.
“Mental, plus Pope over substituted in 1st half. 20 points off TOs they could not overcome. Left 8 points on FT line. Gave it away again,” fan Steve Morgan posted.
Kentucky fan Paul Mullins called the Georgia loss a “clunker” citing the odd lineups, careless turnovers and terrible free throw shooting. “Pope should be sick over this loss … I know BBN is!” Mullins posted.
He’s not wrong. Fan Tim Hall said Pope “makes some of the oddest decisions of any coach I have ever seen” and it is hard to argue with him.
FoxSports Radio host Aaron Torres is a huge college basketball fan. His post on X probably summed up how many UK fans felt.
“Disappointing, complete no-show for the Wildcats against a struggling Georgia team. But hey, on a positive note, at least Kentucky has zero players committed in the 2026 class,” Torres posted.
He followed up on his national podcast Wednesday talking “Kentucky’s complete no-show last night and a simple question: ‘Is this just who Kentucky basketball will be in the Mark Pope era going forward?’”
It’s the same question many Kentucky fans are asking now and praying the answer they currently think is true does not turn out to be true.
9 Responses
I know we have had a lot of injuries, but Pope for some reason doesn’t know how to prepare his team for a battle every night. the players look and act uninterested. we are Kentucky go kick butts.
I keep seeing these comments about what Pope does or doesn’t do to win these games. To start with. He has three of his best players out injured. And you are correct in saying that the players are not like the teams we’ve had in the past. But when you hear the best player on the team say that he’s going to have to start playing harder and put 100 percent effort into his game. That’s not a Pope problem. That’s players who don’t seem to want to be here. And that’s what Oweh said earlier in the season. But the coach can draw up all the plays he knows. But if the players don’t put effort in and run the plays correctly? Then they aren’t doing THEIR jobs. And it is a job. Because they are all getting paid a lot of money to play college sports these days. And the only reason Kentucky has not gotten a recruit yet is not Popes fault. He has had a lot of the top prospects in for visits. And they had Kentucky in their final schools. But the company who is in charge of the players NIL program is the reason kids aren’t coming to Kentucky. They get to that point and then the company can’t or won’t tell them what they will get IF they come to Kentucky. And most of these kids are in it for the money. Not the pride and privilege of playing for a certain school. Not anymore. So when people say that it’s all Popes fault that they aren’t winning everything. Just step back and realize what he’s having to put up with. Just an example, then I’ll quit preaching. But I went back and rewatched the 1996 championship game the other night. And if anyone wants to see how a REAL team plays DEFENSE and offense. They should look at that game. That is some of the best defense I’ve ever seen. When a player on the other side got the ball. There was a SWARM of at least three players surrounding them. But these players these days doesn’t even understand how to play like that. Plus they don’t. Or probably won’t put that much effort into anything. Especially not a ballgame. Pitino can’t even get players to play like this anymore. And he’s the best coach to ever coach a game.
I agree with just about everything said. The substitutions are terrible. If you really think about it, they were the same way last year. Almonor would hit 3-4 3s and basically win us the game. He would hit about all of his shots and play good defense. The next game he wouldn't even play but 1-2 mins maybe not even play at all. Honestly the last two games Aberdeen has played out of control too. He was playing great during our winning streak but has reverted back to his old ways. Oweh had one of his better games in a Kentucky jersey but during the last 2 minutes of the game when the leader of the team is supposed to come through in the clutch he completely fell apart. Committing 2 turnovers and another rebound came off the rim and he dropped it out of bounds. So really 3 turnovers in the final minute or so. That can't happen. What if this was a NCAA tournament game. Our season would be over. We will probably play a team like Georgia in the first round of the NCAA tournament. We will probably be a 7 seed so we will play a 10 seed in the first round. Our first round opponent will be a quality team. That's why I say we will be lucky to make it to the final 32. It will be a miracle if we make it to the sweet 16. A week ago I thought it was possible. Now I think we will be very lucky to make it there. Moreno needs to work on his hands all summer. If he has good hands he would average a double double. Like 11/10/1.5 could be his stat line as a freshman if his hands were better. He loses at least 3-4 rebounds every game by just not squeezing the ball. He also could score at least another basket or two for the same reason on offensive boards. BG is never in the right place. I've never seen a player more out of position in all my life. Why does he even attempt to shoot 3s? He hasn't made a 3 pointer since December 5th.. that's over 2.5 months since he's made a 3. Mo-D has actually improved as the season has went on and BG has gotten worse. I would even argue that BG is worse this year compared to last year. I hold my breath every time he touches the basketball. He's a junior and so is Mo-D. They are upperclassmen who play like freshman. Mo-D was better last year for a much better Alabama team. Make that make sense. How are you better on a better team? I can see BG and Mo-D both transfer out for there senior year. It wouldn't hurt my feelings at all. If we can get Moreno and Jelly back. We also have Potter. So we have 3 bigs I would love to get back next year and 2 that would probably make more sense if they transferred. Then we could go after 2 bigs in the portal. I don't think Pope likes recruiting freshman unless they are elite because you really don't know what your getting. You can get a sophomore or junior in the portal who you know what they can do against college competition. I also think Chandler, Kam Williams, and Lowe come back.. I think we end up having 6-7 guys that come back. I would love for it to be 7 guys coming back. Then you just need 1-2 bigs and 2-3 PGs that you need to get in the portal. Hawthorne will be a freshman All SEC kind of guy. On this year's team I can see him having a impact similar to Jasper Johnson this year but a little better. Probably 6-7 PPG and 2-3RPG. Both Johnson and Hawthorne need to hit the weight room this summer and bulk up 15-20 pounds of muscle.
Thank John Calapari because the wheels fell off after 2015 , pope came into a program who had nothing to build on other then a name , Jon scheyer when he took over Duke coach K had him a sqaud recruited so he could be successful, John Calapari left Kentucky with nothing so pope has to build this program and his name up and as far as falling to unfortunate injury’s he has had a bad run so far his second year but a lot was self inflicted talking about the Ferrari and 22 million dollar roster but it is also a different era in today’s era it is not like it was 15 years ago when Kentucky dominated the sec now every school is capable of beating you with NIL but with all that said pope has the funds and support to be successful will he only time will tell
I couldn’t agree more with every point made here. One thing that I think has gone without much if any is the subject of assistant coaches. There’s nothing there. Look at the past results of each of these guys. And I honestly think Pope is over his head. He looks lost so often on the sidelines. I use to plan my schedule around UK basketball, now I don’t even concern myself with it.
Defense, has always been about effort and pride. It’s the perfect barometer of a team’s identity. I think we can all honestly say that couldn’t be any more obvious than what this team has demonstrated. No effort as a team and no Ky pride. Just give me my NIL.
Breaks my heart to see the team I’ve loved
for half a century become what we’ve become. Hard to watch.
Just a mess that is obviously going to need some fixing if Ky is to remain a relevant blue blood program. No one gets any enjoyment out of seeing another man fail, if he has a heart at all, but Mark Pope just isn't getting the job done. What's concerning is that he is failing to close the deal on any elite recruits that he is putting time and money on. I sincerely wish, as ALL KY FANS would, that he get it right. He is a great guy and we are all rooting for him., PERIOD. Why would we not want him to suceed?? That's insane. Give him one more year and if it doesn't work out I'm sure he will accept it's not the Ky standard. He is a gentleman in that respect I do believe.
Pope lost control of this team after the Purdue win. Barnhart will not fire him until at least another year. Let's see if Pope learned anything from this mess, but this team is done. Stick a fork in them!
I agree. Hoping that this team will come together and gel is pretty much over. In another week it will turning over to March and we still don't have it. How could JQ play in December but he can't play at the end of February. A year after tearing his ACL. Usually after the first year players hit there stride. If I'm a NBA GM I'm not taking a chance on JQ and the reason why is he can't shoot the ball. The NBA even your 5 has to be able to shoot the ball because they spread everything out. He also won't be able to take his man one on one because in the NBA the centers are also fast. I just think if I'm a GM I want to see what he's doing in February and March. Since he still isn't playing I'm thinking something is seriously wrong with him. I would use a second round pick on him and take a chance but no way am I using my first round choice on a unknown. He played in one good game at Kentucky vs St John and that wasn't even a great performance. It was good but wasn't great. If Everytime he plays he's still getting swelling something is seriously wrong.
Way to soon to write Pope off like some here are doing. Just a week or so ago all were praising Pope on his string of consecutive wins. Injuries are slowing this UK team big time. I say take the good with the bad and support this team right now, that would help IMHO. UK basketball fans need more patience. One on this thread alluded that NIL has made everybody a dangerous team, and that is a fact. It is an entirely different era. Give Pope a chance, besides he is one of UK's own.