LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Most coaches spend July dreaming up ways to score. Mark Pope spent his Tuesday press conference talking about wedges.
Not the kind that come with bacon and eggs or an order of wings. No, a wedge is a defensive staple — a positioning principle of ball-screen defense, one of many non-negotiable acts of basketball blue-collarism that he wants served every possession.
Pope is tracking wedges like he's waiting for an incoming package.
"We’re dancing around 85-88 percent, which is up about 17 percent on average from what we were last year,” Pope said. "And that's impressive. And we need to get to 100 percent."
The wedge isn’t a side dish. But Pope wants his players to be as at home with it as grits, or biscuits and butter. And it’s not the only one. Say the words "legal contest" (second-syllable emphasis) to Pope and see what happens.
Pack a lunch.
"Our legal contest has been a little bit slower to develop, but that's massively important," he said. "One of the things we have to do is our defensive field goal percentage has got to be better next year. So, we're dedicated to having a legal contest on every single field goal attempt, every single one. There's a lot of things that go into that, but that's a major point of emphasis for us."
It's what Pope calls a non-negotiable. Basketball translation: if a shot goes up and isn’t contested, practice stops. Do it over, do it right. That’s a change from last season, when so much of the focus was just on how to play, what the system looked like. If last year was Mark Pope 101, this year it's Pope 201.
"When you throw down some 100 percents, it means that you’re willing to mortgage some other things," Pope said. "Last year we were incredibly devoted to teaching from the ground up the way we play, and we were really intentional about it. … We were a little more game-ready. … (This year) we’re conceptually a little behind that way, but we’re much closer on 100 percents, and that's a trade-off. It's a calculated decision on our part. I think it's going to pay off in the long run."
In Pope’s kitchen, there’s already a short-order specialist. His name is Kam Williams, a sophomore transfer from Tulane and the unlikely standard-bearer for Kentucky’s summer practice culture.
Pope said Williams has been 100 percent on wedges and 100 percent on legal contests across multiple practices and the TBT scrimmage. That’s a stat you won’t find on a box score — but one that might matter more than anything this team does in July.
"It’s unbelievable when you get to coach a guy that you tell, 'We need to do this every single time,’ and he comes on the floor and does it every single time," Pope said. "That is actually a chance for us to be differentiated."
It’s not flashy. It’s not clickable. But it tells you everything about what Pope is building in Year Two.
He's not chasing polish. He's chasing trust.
They may not be as scrimmage-ready. They haven’t installed full systems. In his words, they haven’t even reached the "second left" on offense.
Why? Because they’ve intentionally slowed down to build up — not sets, but standards.
"Right now all you see is the foundation," Pope said. "It's not very inspiring."
He knows the optics. "Poor coaching so far," he joked, assessing the team's early defensive showings. But that wasn’t a deflection. It was a reminder: he’s digging deep so the house won’t crack later.
That’s not to say this team lacks talent. Pope dropped enough praise to keep fans daydreaming into October. He said:
- Braden Hawthorne reminds him of Tayshaun Prince — same length, same glide, even elite ankle mobility (a first in Kentucky press conference lore).
- Jasper Johnson passed his conditioning test on the first try and carries “major aura.” A Pope term that is hard to statistically quantify but must be a good thing, right?
- Malachi Moreno will have NBA moments and “what-is-he-doing?” moments, and that’s exactly how growth looks.
- Jaland Lowe has “unbelievable jets.”
- Collin Chandler could be elite in pace.
- Otega Oweh can handle, attack, and share the playmaking load.
The backcourt is deeper. The bigs are more versatile. And Pope says they’ve already built a level of chemistry — through shared living, service hours, and voluntary gym time — that last year’s team never had in July.
But for all the upside, Pope keeps steering the conversation back to effort.
To defense. To wedges. To "legal contests on every shot."
Because last year’s Kentucky team could score. It just couldn’t string together stops. And Pope knows no team — not at Kentucky — will meet expectations without both.
"I love that the only acceptable outcome here is a national championship," he said. "I’m grateful to be in this environment."
If Year One was about navigating the spotlight, Year Two is about building something that can hold up under it.
And while most people aren’t watching what happens in a closed gym in mid-July, Pope is betting that what happens there — between the lines, between teammates, and between possessions — will matter come March.
Nobody hangs a banner for wedge percentages. Kam Williams may never make a highlight reel for his contests.
But if Pope’s blueprint holds up, this won’t be a Kentucky team anyone calls soft.
And if it all starts with a wedge?
Well, for a program hungry for its ninth NCAA title, that might just hit the spot.
Copyright 2025 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
