LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — When Mark Pope looks at last year’s Kentucky team, he sees two different units — and two different seasons — on the defensive end of the floor.
“We were really good defensively for the first half of the season,” Pope said during Kentucky basketball’s media day on Monday. “And then we had a major fall-off.”
Personnel changes played a role. Scheme may have too. But Pope isn’t looking to assign blame — he’s looking to reset the standard.
“I think we were the 51st ranked defensive team in the country,” Pope said. “We would like to be top 10. That’s a Yeoman’s task. We would like to be No. 1. But if we can slide into that top-10 space, it’s going to serve us really well. That’s going to be an every-second-of-every-day pursuit.”
To get there, Pope said Kentucky has launched a top-to-bottom overhaul of its defensive approach.
Among the changes:
• Increased pressure: “We’re going to extend the floor more,” Pope said. “It’s not every second of every minute of every game, but there are places where we will always look to exert pressure right now going into the season.”
• Mobility over size: Pope acknowledged this group might be “a little smaller” than last year’s team — but he believes it’s also more versatile and mobile across all five positions.
• Staff role adjustments: Behind the scenes, Kentucky has “redefined roles on the staff and the team” to better support defensive accountability.
• Practice intensity: “We’ve attacked it on three different sides,” Pope said. “In our practice time, it’s just kind of the urgency of it.”
There’s also a clear emphasis on defensive rebounding and contested effort metrics. Pope said Kentucky has charted “every single wedge, effort, every single live possession of every single practice all summer long.” The goal, he said, is to make defensive impact measurable and central to everything they do.
Pope believes his current roster gives him more tools to apply pressure and disrupt offenses — especially with the return of defensive impact metric leader Collin Chandler and the addition of athletic wings like Mo Dioubate and Cam Williams.
“Defensive mobility and determination — we’ve got that,” he said. “We’ve got the depth to do this.”
Last season, Kentucky’s defensive lapses became a recurring storyline, especially late in the season. In their final seven losses, the Wildcats allowed an average of 90.9 points. Pope is betting that greater depth, quicker athletes, and a full offseason of scheme retooling will make this year’s team more disruptive and less reactive.
“It’s harder in college basketball than it’s ever been,” Pope said. “Guys are so skilled. But I think we can do it.”
If Pope can fashion a top 10 team in defensive efficiency, it would be the first time Kentucky has had that since the 2018-19 team. The climb back to that standard may not happen overnight. But Pope has made one thing clear: “We’re not chasing achievement — we’re chasing growth. … And this is one area we know we’ve got to grow in.”
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