Kentucky head coach Mark Pope addressed the media after the No. 9 Wildcats’ 108-59 win over Jackson State on Friday night at Rupp Arena.
******
MARK POPE Q&A:
MARK POPE: All right. Great night. This Jackson State team, man, these guys played really hard. They just compete, compete, compete, and Mo clearly, come on, he’s one of the best basketball guys and ambassadors to this game ever. The opportunity to have Kenny Walker, and Purvis in the gym was super special. You know, BBN showed out like they always do for a game that might not be perceived as a headline game. It was great night, proud of our guys. I thought they did a ton of good things. It was fun. We got to see everything. We got to see a ton of transitions and a ton of shots.You know, all kind of fireworks from all of our guys and we got to see shoes flying in the air. It was a magical evening. Lee is saying, I should not have said that. I thought it was fantastic.
Q Mark, your guys at the end seem to get a bigger kick out of anything with Travis and Trent both getting their first 3s, do you remember your first collegiate points and what it meant to you and what do you think it meant to those guys?
MARK POPE: That’s a great question. I can’t actually, I’m not sure. I didn’t score many, so you would think I would remember. I don’t remember for me. I think for TP and Trent, you know, those guys are- we talked about them a lot. They are really really special. They are having a massive impact on his team and their futures are incredibly bright and it’s hard to sit for 35 minutes and come play. I think they are taking it really seriously and I thought they came to play tonight, I thought they were awesome, I thought they were really good doing a really hard thing. So, I’m proud of those guys. It’s incredibly beautiful to have freshman that you can trust like we trust them and they have great futures.
Q Coach, last game you talked about Koby and how you tried to get him going outside of his three-point shooting. He went five of eight from three. But also in the first half, he used that shoulder a little bit like you were talking and finished around the rim. How is his game evolving outside of the lethal three-point shooter that we know he is?
MARK POPE: He had a couple of cuts that I loved and he had the late cut in the first half down to – on the left block and then he had the back door right in front of our bench where Amari, just like I’m going to throw it in that triple coverage and somehow Koby wanted that and earned himself free throws. It’s an unbelievable winning catch and it was really special. I thought Koby was really good tonight about choosing a simple play and executing really quickly. He was much more of a pop rule vibe tonight and I was really proud of that and I was really excited about his cuts. I thought he was excellent defensively, actually. Had a couple of strips that were a really incredible job. I was really proud of him for that. And I thought, I was really excited about his cuts and I thought he was excellent defensively, actually. Had a couple of strips that were really an incredible job with champion chess catching the moves, he was just catching multiple moves in isolation, I thought he was really good, I thought he was terrific. And then one of my many favorite moments tonight. He banged a three right in the corner in front of me and turned around and started talking trash to me. Which that was awesome. I love that. I mean, Kobe is in a tough spot. He goes five from eight from the three-point line and it’s destroying his shooting percentage, which is just crazy and I’ve never seen that in my lifetime. He’s sure is doing special things for us, like all of our guys are right now.
Q We did talk a lot about 3s this week. Obviously, the high for the season so far with makes and attempts. Did you see anything diferent out there or was there a diferent focus on that coming in?
MARK POPE: It was certainly diferent defensively and this was a team that was much more eager to the ball. They were much more heavy bottom bringing multiple bodies and it was just easier for extra passes to come by for sure. There was a lot of pressure, so the game got a little scattered.With all that said, I thought our guys did an unbelievable job making plays for each other. You know, 29 assists is a good number for us and I would take that any night. Especially, guys especially in a game like this where it is so easy to think, awe man, in this game I’m just going to get one for myself. We just have a DNA, these guys have built a DNA on this team where they are actually excited to make plays for each other and I’m telling you that bodes well and it’s rare and it is important for the way we play and how this game is made up and our guys are going to continue to believe more and more that the more they give the more they get back, it’s the way this game works when it’s right and certainly they got to feel that tonight. I was really proud of them. You got to approach it with faith. If I make this next pass, if I just trust this game or trust the way we play it’s going to work out for me, and it did. One of the special stories for us tonight is that we had 11 players score, 11 of our 12 guys scored. The only player that didn’t score led us in assists. That’s exactly how a Kentucky basketball team is supposed to function. We had one guy that didn’t score and he led us in assists with seven. And every other guy on the court scored and shared the ball, I think we had four guys with five or more assists in the game. And those are all really important markers for how we want to represent this state and how we want to play this game and what we believe wins. I was proud of that and you can tell I’m happy hyped about that.
Q Mark, Collin posted a team best plus 29 in just 13 minutes. Have you seen him get more comfortable? The last two games, he’s looked a lot more comfortable.
MARK POPE: Collin is not scared, he checked in the game and shot a 30 footer in transition and said yeah, I’ve got this. He’s an incredible talent. None of us, I can’t, there’s nobody in this room that can relate to going and putting down the basketball for two years and you know, he is an extraordinary talent and you know, we are all going to be surprised with what he turns into, but we shouldn’t be.He’s really an extraordinary talent. Beautiful, beautiful young man too.
Q Mark, you talk about the unselfishness, but this is 12 guys on the roster you had to put together really quickly. Were you able to determine that in kind of the interview process before you were ever extended?
MARK POPE: Yes, the answer is yes. It’s – yeah. Especially with these guys from the transfer portal, right? You have so much data on them and footage of them. Also, I don’t know, guys, I think Kentucky attracts really good people. I think really good people. Because if you come to Kentucky, then you, by definition, it is the one place in all of college basketball where you are representing just a fan base in a diferent unique way. And to want that, it’s almost like it’s own filter, right? To really want that. I think it’s built into the DNA of our guys and I think our job have done a really good job being intentional about and trying to learn each other and love each other and we talked about that a lot. I think that’s what Kentucky draws, right? You know, everybody knows that we talk about the name on the front of the jersey. Our guys know that and they know that when we recruit them. In general, you know, I think every guy that we recruit is desperately dreaming of hanging a banner and going to play in the NBA. But they believe the pathway to do that is not actually making this exclusively about themselves. And that sounds like a strong statement, but it’s actually hard not to be that way. I think the filter is pretty good and certainly our guys are proving that right now. It doesn’t come easy, it’s not a one conversation thing. It’s things our guys are talking to each other every single day. Trying to believe that and trust in that path, I’m proud of our guys functioning.
Q Mark, you have been talking about stretching Brandon out a little bit. Played a lot of minutes tonight, this line is just full of numbers. What did you like about his energy?
MARK POPE: I thought BG was great tonight and the six assists was a great number for that game. BG was a six two, which is really good for him, actually. Six assists is great with three steals and three blocks, right? in a really physical game on the interior with some big bodies, like some really big bodies. I thought as the game went on he got better and better and better. I thought he made some really great challenged catches. I thought he was really disciplined with how he distributed the ball and he is a decision-maker on our team and I thought he was terrific tonight. I thought he was super forceful inside trying to, you know, sometimes when he finishes moves a little bit weak soft going away and tonight, I thought he was super forceful against big bodies and there is a lot of growth in him tonight.
Q You mentioned Travis, Trent, Collin all being under diferent circumstances this season. Kerr, obviously, the guy who had zero points and seven assists. How big of an adjustment for him starting 93 games over his career and then coming into this roll and embracing it so far?
MARK POPE: He was that way from the beginning too, I think he knew exactly what he was walking into and I think he loves it. I’m telling you, Kerr Kriisa, I don’t know if we get him walking in our doors every year. I’m enjoying and savoring every second I get to coach him because he’s really unique, he’s bringing so much to our team, you know, it’s interesting. I don’t know if you guys notice this but we were in the second half we kind of made a run, this was back in the Duke game. We were somewhere in the second half and we made a run early and Duke kind of came back and pushed us up to seven, eight, or nine and we were a little stymied for a moment and we came to a media timeout and we were walking at the huddle and Kerr was pushing everybody, just shoving them, right? He just refuses to accept whatever the common vibe is. He’s going to be contrary to it.Right? It’s really important and our guys receive it really well. And it just keeps everybody really sharp. He’s really special, he’s got a really unique skill set and personality and he brings defiance and a swag and an insistence for a team. He’s also got this incredible commitment. I mean, I think it was probably the first blue-and-white scrimmage we all sat down and I mentioned that Kerr promised he was going to be the best pace guy in college basketball and he has lived up to that every second he’s been on the floor every single game, right? And that’s an incredible consistent determination is beautiful too and he’s got both of those vibes going on in a really special package. He’s special, and he was special tonight, if you think about it. Seven assists, zero points, let’s go, he’s cool with that. Dude is going to put up 20 one night when we need him to too.
Q Coach, I think you said in a previous press conference you have not been surprised by any of your players and you knew exactly what you were getting when you brought them here to Kentucky. But I think the play of Otega Oweh certainly surprised Big Blue Nation. Just talk about double O tonight with another 20 point game.
MARK POPE: It’s interesting with Otega, right? What is really great about Otega. He’s 8 for 12. He’s 4 for 4 from the free-throw line. He’s got 21 points, two assists, zero turnovers, three steals and ends up with 20 points on the night and we don’t get to him until the very end of the press conference.When he kind of does that every single night. He gets us of to unbelievable starts every single night. He’s got physicality and a joy about him. I think he’s been incredible. I’m really proud of him, you know, one of the things that all of us are working on growing and one of the things that he has been focusing on growing is being a every day, every play guy. Man, he’s probably been our most consistent guy in games. And that is a massive tribute to him. And Coach Fox works with him a lot. I’m just really proud of him and he’s just bringing joy to every single game. The only time I got mad at
Otega today was when he was celebrating with his guys too much after a play and not running transition defense. He’s really special. I have to stop talking about him because he started to get a big head back here, you know what I’m saying? Awesome. Thanks guys, have a great night.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25739950/247386_Elon_Musk_Open_AI_CVirginia.jpg "Inside Elon Musk’s messy breakup with OpenAI")
