LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- We didn’t so much get the answers as an acknowledgment, but that does matter.
After a week of silence, social media smoke, and more than a few whispered theories, Kentucky coach Mark Pope finally sat down and walked through his cryptic remarks about what happened in the pregame before the Louisville loss. And, for good measure, he touched on the emotional unraveling at Madison Square Garden, and the swirl of distraction that’s followed.
Was it tidy? No.
Did it help? Probably.
Pope said the now-famous Louisville pregame “switch flip” moment was nothing more than an attempt to fire up the team too early. Not drama. Not dysfunction. “I wish I had more salacious material,” he joked.
The version I heard – which is probably worth about as much as the version you heard – is that Pope got into a few guys a little more than maybe he usually does, a little earlier than he usually does, and that threw things off. Who knows?
Everybody will still have their own suspicions and theories.
Pope admitted to mishandling the postgame locker room scene at MSG. Not for staying too long with his team, but for what he allowed in that moment: “We took some shots at some things that were probably just not … constructive. It was a little bit of a mess on my part.”
And he acknowledged what everyone watching Kentucky basketball has seen: indecision, slippage, stagnation.
“That’s just not who we are,” Pope said of the Michigan State game. “And again, the interesting question is not that we did it — that’s clear — the question is why. And that’s what we’re exploring.”
If you’re a Kentucky fan still shaken by the 17-point meltdown and the coach’s cryptic act afterward, here’s what Pope offered: reflection. Not deflection.
He’s been self-aware. Transparent. And maybe most importantly, still insistent that this team is good.
“We haven't played well,” he said. “We've had a couple of really discouraging losses. It's not what we're going to be. It's not who we are.”
He completely dismissed questions about chemistry problems with the team.
“I don't think it has anything to do with chemistry,” he said. “I think it has to do with playing the game well, and understanding how to play the game and believing in how to play the game well. I think this team, actually, these guys care about each other, love each other. They've served together. I would say that we have a really special foundation of a team with great chemistry.”
So is that enough? Do anyone feel any better?
Maybe a little. If not about the team, then at least about the guy steering it.
Look, in the rivalry cauldron that Louisville is, I hear a lot of comparisons to an alumni-hire-gone-wrong, Kenny Payne. That’s ludicrous. Pope went to the Sweet 16 last season. He talked more actual basketball strategy in his last press conference than Payne talked in two years.
It is a fact of life that even good coaches have bad times. They have bad games. Even bad seasons. They are no different from the rest of us. Just higher paid.
Pope looked inward. He even second-guessed himself. He called himself out for trying to grow the team’s offensive complexity at the cost of basic function. He broke down everything from paint touches to spacing to “accelerations per minute” and the gap between practice physicality and game performance.
This wasn’t the guy who tiptoed through a postgame radio interview last week with three-word answers. This was Pope the processor, Pope the fixer, Pope the grinder, equal parts earnest and obsessed.
He doesn’t just want to coach through this rough patch. He tried to explain it, so fans, players, recruits, and even himself understand what’s happening and how to get through it. (Injury note: He had no update on point guard Jaland Lowe, and said there’s a decent chance Mo Dioubate will miss Friday night’s game against Loyola Maryland.)
“We have a good squad,” Pope said. “And an unbelievable amount of confidence that we’re going to have a great season here … We have an extraordinary amount of work to do.”
He’s right. And Kentucky fans have little choice but to give him the space to do it, as long as he keeps showing up like this.
No more fog machines. No more postgame obliquity. Just a coach who owns it, works it, and talks plainly about it.
Sometimes, the message matters more than the result. Well, occasionally. At Kentucky, the result matters.
But like on the court, you need to hit the glass and clean up your own misses. Second-chance points are still points.
Quick Sips
BAD NEWS: Louisville football delivered some difficult injury news before Saturday’s pivotal ACC road contest at SMU. Keyjuan Brown, who has been the bulk of the team’s offense the past two games, is out with an unspecified injury. That means running back Duke Watson, just back from injury himself, will carry the rushing load. And the rushing load will be important, because starting quarterback Miller Moss is listed as questionable. Now, a good many Louisville fans have viewed him as questionable all season, but fewer consider that Brohm’s reliable options behind him are limited. Bryce Allen is the most experienced backup, while Deuce Adams gives a different look as a dual-threat guy. Read more about it here.
RIVALRY RENEWED: Louisville and Cincinnati will meet for the 101st time tonight in Cincinnati. It’s not just a homecoming for coach Pat Kelsey and guard Kobe Rodgers, it’s the renewal of one of several historic rivalries for the Cards this season (a trip to Memphis is to come.) Read more about the matchup here.
The Last Drop
“We've had a couple tough games where we haven't played well, so there's been a lot of searching (with various lineups). And everything's new in that sense. But we are learning a lot about our guys. We're kind of learning who plays together well, and how they play together, and what situations they can function well in together. So it’s both (collecting data and just trying to find a winning group) happening in real time.”
Kentucky coach Mark Pope, on playing different lineups
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