Lucas Lashbrook

@TerrellTres Age has nothing to do with it. One has established pedigree and reputation. The other is a weird dork

I still don’t buy the narrative that “Mark Pope doesn’t relate to the players” he’s recruiting. You think 73-year old Rick Pitino does? I don’t think so. It’s got to be something else.

@BigBlueBud I’m 100% positive if I was as bad at my job as Mark Pope is at his, I would be fired

“Had him at the one yard line” is an understatement. Kentucky thought they HAD this on like Thursday. They were borderline cocky about it. We let sure-thing Rancik go for him. He entered the portal with the intention of coming to Kentucky. This is the ULTIMATE Mark Pope whiff…

@Big_BlueNation_ Why would any young athlete want to listen to this goober wax poetic about nonsense while also losing and then crying and looking weak after?

Mark Pope is way too soft to be the Kentucky basketball coach These guys want to be coached hard, not preached to

@WildcatsTongue lol brother that just ain’t happening

Tyran Stokes or Milan Momcilovic Have to

@KySportsRadio And does anyone with a pulse have faith that this incompetent “genius” can do it? I certainly don’t. But he’s so smart!!! Intelligence doesn’t equal productivity and I’m not even sure he has the former

I am a big believer that you don’t judge the Portal process until it’s over. But Pope has to upgrade the roster significantly in the next couple of weeks

@CBeasmoreSports Bottom line, Pope inspires…. Nothing. Not fear or hope or anything. He’s a lame duck. Kids aren’t afraid or inspired by him. He’s a dork that they don’t respect and it keeps showing up over and over again but since he’s a “nice guy” people don’t wanna state the obvious

There’s definitely a narrative out there that Mark Pope can be “soft,” and it’s something some players probably buy into, but it’s not the full picture. He’s shown he can be hard on guys when needed. Just look at the Ole Miss game in year one where he was breaking furniture, or this past season when he benched Brandon Garrison and started freshman Malachi Moreno instead. That’s not a coach afraid to make tough calls. At the same time, the perception exists, and in recruiting, perception can matter just as much as reality, especially when you’re going up against someone like Rick Pitino. It’s also worth noting Pope’s development track record already by helping guys like Amari Williams and Koby Brea get to the league in his first year at Kentucky.

@KentuckyNet It’s an enormous red flag that kids are being steered away from a premiere blue blood program with plenty of money. Why is that the case? Tell me what would keep a kid from Kentucky under a better coach? All the pieces are there except the one that is in charge of the team

This is what rock bottom looks like.

@KySportsRadio But wait… I thought Pope was a genius? He’s playing chess not checkers right? He’s so smart. That’s all I’ve ever heard so it must be true. Claiming you’re smart doesn’t equal intelligence and intelligence doesn’t equal productivity. Bottom line. This dude sucks at his job

Kentucky essentially passed on Rancik because they were sure they were getting Freeman. They got neither Mismanagement by a staff that insisted they didn’t need a GM. Fairly impossible to defend

@LockerRoomGOAT @ChrisFisherKY @Couch_29 10 years ago I would agree with that. In this portal and NIL era, most teams are utilizing a high turnover rate with their roster every year. The difference is our coach and program aren’t good at it and agents and other schools know it

@LashbrookLuke @ChrisFisherKY @Couch_29 Remember.....he was left to start from scratch by a coach that didn't do anything good for the 5 previous years except collecting a lifetime paycheck given by a not so great athletic director. It's hard to start from scratch and turn everything around in just 2 or 3 seasons.

Now, if you're Kentucky, you're almost in a no-win situation. Overpay for Donnie Freeman and further the narrative that you'll allow agents to take you to the cleaners, or let him walk, which would be a tough look for a guy you clearly targeted. This is where a GM comes in handy.

@LockerRoomGOAT @ChrisFisherKY @Couch_29 Don’t think they hate pope. He’s been given a much longer leash than he deserves or earned simply bc everyone likes him. He’s simply just not done a good enough job on any level of his responsibilities

@LashbrookLuke @ChrisFisherKY @Couch_29 They're all whiffing. They're all overpaying. The media, especially local media, just exaggerates the situation at UK because they hate Pope.

@LockerRoomGOAT @ChrisFisherKY @Couch_29 Why is it not happening like this at other schools with GMs? Have you ever heard a story about Duke having to overpay? Has UCONN been whiffing on guys they want?

@ChrisFisherKY @Couch_29 Dude a GM can't change this at all. The market and the greedy agents, plus the NCAA not stopping this rolling snowball of a train wreck that NIL is .... That's just where every team is right now.

@SteinsStuds Ideally we look for a new coach

Assuming we miss on Donnie & he lands at St. John’s.. Where do you look at next for the 4?

@LockedOnUK No, it’s absolutely on Pope. He hesitated hiring a GM, and still sort of doesn’t have one. He wanted freeman Other coaches are getting guys they want. He can’t do his job as well as other coaches. It’s simple As bad as he is on the court as a coach, he’s somehow worse off of it

@WhozMEECH What does Jordan do better, individually, on a basketball court? Seriously

I hate the “Jordan is better because of Aura or mentality”. Michael Jordan is just better than LeBron at basketball bro and that other stuff is just extra credit

@BrandonCGurney Pope is a huge nerd and the furthest thing from relatable to a young 18-20 year old kid. He’s awkward and weird and it’s no wonder these dudes don’t wanna play for him

Regarding Rob Wright's reported bad in-campus visit to Kentucky. The only thing that makes sense is that it was entirely financial. At least from my perspective. Mark Pope is a very magnetic personality who is better than most in those type of settings. So I'm assuming RW3 was low-balled with his NIL offer relatively to what he was anticipating, and it went south from there. I just can't believe that Pope would blow an on-campus visit all factors considered. but maybe he did? I'm certain more news will be coming out regarding all of it.

@AllMikedUp Thank you. I don’t understand the over valuing of this dude. He’s simply not good enough to be a top 5 player on a final four team. He doesn’t do one thing on an elite level on a basketball court. He is easily replaceable

@ky__update Tired of people mistaking athleticism for vertical. He can jump high. That’s it. He doesn’t do anything else at an elite level athletically

It’s always going to sting losing an uber athletic 6’5 elite shooter that plays good on ball defense. But we can easily upgrade

@BarryOnHere Nailed it

LeBron James has 13,378 more points, 6,881 more rebounds & 7,427 more assists than Michael Jordan in 660 more games. "Longevity" you say. Not impressive. To match LeBron's current career totals, MJ would have to come out of retirement (again) and average the following over 660 games: 20.3 PPG - 10.4 RPG - 11.3 APG - 65.8% TS MJ would have to produce like a more efficient version of Magic Johnson for over 8 STRAIGHT SEASONS, on top of what he already did, to match LeBron's career. LeBron will never be as loved as Jordan, but he is the superior player.

@Betlifesports Kobe has never been locked in top 10 all time. Love Kobe but he’s around 9-11. No one even argued this before he died

When the fucc did the narrative start that Kobe isn’t top 10 of all time? Are you smoking meth? Kobe is top 3 ever and possibly top 2.

@DrewFranklinKSR There are maybe 100 dudes in the portal who can exactly replicate his production There are 30 who can do that AND provide more.

You can't overpay for Chandler but his 41% three-point shooting will need to be replaced and he made several winning plays late in games for Kentucky. Pope needs to load up the backcourt with talent with several open spots to fill. Give us some booms.