Pope Cut by Chicago

[reno tony]

Huh? What'd I miss?

She was upset because her basketball career may have come to an end when she was cut so she was letting off a little steam. Unfortunately she did it in writing for the whole world to see and not with some of her friends elsewhere. I am not of the opinion someone should be judged by what they do when they are very upset. And I know I have been a lot more pi$$ed off over something more trivial..... say a flat tire when I am in a hurry to get somewhere. That was just my opinion about her reaction.

 

[hoophuskee]

Note the word 'help'. Obviously one dumb thread on a message board doesn't have an impact.
However it's part of a culture that drives players and coaches to not say anything remotely honest or interesting.
Gotta love the over-dramatic posts from some of you. The word “help” makes a difference? LOL.
Posters on a site that basically means little and some of you go off the deep-end.

Posters offer an opinion from a player that has been cut. So the teams were wrong for only one team drafted her late, no other team has picked her up, and the coach was wrong, but let’s not criticize the player, instead let’s criticize the system and the culture? LOL
While some of you might find it comical that some of us are criticizing Pope, I for one find it comical that some of you are more critical of the posters than the player that was top ten that never lived up her to expectations. “The culture” of that seems by some of you to not take responsibility for your own shortcomings. Instead Pope chose to criticize other players by calling all of them “pampered” and basically saying everyone from the coach and the WNBA is wrong. It’s okay for her to criticize all of that but a poster can’t criticize her?

 

[meyers7]

The ole saying there is no "I" in T.E.A.M. (Together Everyone Achieves More)

There is a "ME" though.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

 

[msf22b]

pleassssssssssssssssssssse dont talk him up

Sorry the discussion is becoming too personal for you.

 

[RadyLady]

Her Facebook page might be public, or it could be her "official" page for her fans. Regardless, posting something like that on social media makes it more public then, say, a private email.

The best advice when encountering strong feelings is this write your words down on a separate format and then put them away for a day or two... then after you cool off go in and look at what you wrote Revise/Edit/Delete if necessary and then post. Raw emotion usually ellicits negative responses... Tis usually best to wait

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2

 

[DobbsRover2]

I did not watch Pope enough to feel entitled to an opinion on her play, so generally in that case I just look at the stats. And in this case you can see some evidence for a) a player who could work hard in the paint, especially grabbing offensive rebounds and putting them back in the basket at a high efficiency rate (54.6%), b) a player who appears to have very poor ball-handling/control skills (team leading 79 TOs as a forward at a dismal rate of 1 TO 9 per min.), c) a player who never learned how to shoot FTs in a way that would help the team (58%) when she collected her frequent fouls on the put backs, d) a player who collected a lot of foul calls on her in the limited minutes she played in games (18 mpg), though this could mean she was either a defensive stalwart or had poor coordination. All in all, a player who lived in BG's shadow but also benefited quite a bit by it for her points and clean-up opportunities on the rebounds. Any sniping at BG is kind of biting the hand that feeds you (and with pun intended, Griner had a great A\TO rate while Pope's was the worst on the team and was horrible).

Every player is free to talk and be "refreshing," but they have to know that the other players are likely going to snigger when a player tries to talk big and plays kind of small. Too often, big dreams vaporize into delusions.

 

[HGN]

Pope is more than a little disappointed , but I think it had more to do with numbers at her position than lack of talent........ Her attitude obviously didn't help her in Chicago. Nor will it with any other team.

All of a sudden she has to fight for a position on a team and fight for minutes. Something she has to get use to. Position and minutes are now based on grit , hustle , and productivity. And not on a guaranteed scholarship. That's why UConn grads do so well in the WNBA , they learn early at UConn that you have to produce ; have a positive attitude ; practice hard ; and be supportive of your teammates to get on the floor. From her article , Pope didn't do that at BU. And it shows.

 

[easttexastrash]

Pope didn't start until her senior year and she replaced a darn good player in Destiny Williams. To say that she never had to fight for minutes is inaccurate. She did fight for minutes and won a starting position at Baylor only after making major improvements in her play.

 

[JoePgh]

What no one has mentioned in this entire thread is that the Sun have a significant need for a player just like Brooklyn Pope -- a backup 4 who can rebound and score.

Nor did anyone mention that she really was the difference in the UConn - Baylor game this past season. Griner was good, but KML was great in that game (even led BG in blocked shots!!). They basically matched each other's stats. Sims was not a major factor, so almost all the secondary scoring for Baylor came from Pope. As I recall, she had 18 points. At that point in the season, Breanna was not in a position to guard her or match her scoring, and that is the one-sentence explanation for Baylor's victory.

If I were Anne Donovan (or maybe a Sun assistant after having a discussion with her), I would be placing a call right now to Brooklyn Pope. My intention would be to offer her a training-camp contract, depending on how the conversation went. My message would be something like this: "We're interested in your skills, but you need to understand that if you make this team, you will be a backup 4 -- a role player. You need to be prepared to accept (even embrace) that role, or you're going to be gone before you get over the jet lag from the flight to get here. We saw your Facebook posting and we didn't like it one bit. You need to keep that attitude completely zipped up if you're going to succeed here or even stay here."

And if she expresses contriteness, and a willingness to play on those terms, I would follow through and offer her a training camp contract, but she would be on a short leash.

 

[Sakibomb25]

I stumbled upon this by accident. It's pretty hilarious watching the internet psychologists.

God forbid someone is honest... And good job by the posters helping to ensure players aren't honest in the future by condemning someone for pretty innocuous comments.

The comments are far from innocuous. The reason why people are "ganging" up on her is because rather than talk about what she can do to improve her game, she throws people under the bus and blames them for her troubles. She talks about not wanting to be under the shadow of a superstar... first at Baylor and now at Chicago.

Rather than show some humility and reflection, she decides that it is other people to blame rather than being hungry and understanding what she could do better. That's the problem that most people have with her. Humility goes a long way in life and I sure hope Pope gets some soon.

 

[HuskyMJ]

Pope only dwelled on the negative of playing alongside BG but she benefited so much. All the double teams BG commanded, all the focus the other teams give BG makes sure that players like Pope got open looks and less attention from defenders when going for rebounds. Pope could have gone to another school and maybe been the main player but it doesn't necessarily mean her production would go up, because she would not have the benefit of a Griner to command so much attention of the defense.

 

[HuskyNan]

Yes there are a handful that are outspoken. For every Calhoun there are 150 Randy Edsalls and Derek Jeters whose interesting comments arrive as often as Halley's comet.

True but Edsall isn't closed-mouthed because of any "culture"; it's because he's a tightass.

 

[hoophuskee]

JoePgh- I don't believe she can be a rebounding pf in WNBA. So I don't believe she can be a good fit for Ct Sun. Plus she even said she wants to be irreplaceable. Backup pf won't cut it.

 

[Zorro]

She was upset because her basketball career may have come to an end when she was cut so she was letting off a little steam. Unfortunately she did it in writing for the whole world to see and not with some of her friends elsewhere. I am not of the opinion someone should be judged by what they do when they are very upset. And I know I have been a lot more pi$$ed off over something more trivial..... say a flat tire when I am in a hurry to get somewhere. That was just my opinion about her reaction.

Unfortunately, Tweets and Facebook postings are like tatoos. Spur of the moment silliness that you are stuck with permanently.