Mark Pope wants players on and off the court engaged with each other at all times. (Vicky Graff Photo)
He didn’t even play in Kentucky’s exhibition win over preseason No. 1 Purdue Friday night in Rupp Arena but point guard Jaland Lowe certainly made a big first-game impression on coach Mark Pope.
Pope emphasizes team camaraderie on and off the court. He needs his point guard to be the team leader and Lowe played his supporting role well even from the bench.
The UK coach thought Collin Chandler, who scored only two points but added five rebounds, three assists and one steal, was his team’s most valuable player. Next on the coach’s MVP list was Lowe, the Pittsburgh transfer.
“I thought Jaland Lowe was unbelievable on the bench. I thought Jaland Lowe, I thought he would probably be my second player of the game,” Pope said after the win in Rupp Arena. “He was unbelievable on the bench. Keeping guys engaged and talking.”
Pope also praised his coaching staff.
“I thought our staff was really good on the bench communicating. We are going to need that. This is going to be like every season is going to be up and down,” Pope said after the game. “We are going to have to overcome adversity.
“We are trying to create habits. The more you do it the more it becomes a habit. There was some intangible stuff I thought we did pretty well tonight that we are working so hard to make it a habit.”
Pope said assistant coach Alvin Brooks is “probably the leader in all of basketball in terms of body language and team communication” which is high praise from a man who prides himself on those same exact qualities.
“He grades our team every single day on every single touch on every single beast mode on every single interaction. It’s painstaking work, but it’s really important,” Pope said. “We are going to have to continue to have that juice and get better and better at it. It shows in postgame and we are going to be really successful if we can love each other.”
Pope said his players are trying to develop habits to enhance the team’s camaraderie.
“They are working hard to love each other and that’s going to be an every day, all season long challenge for us that we are going to keep fighting. I love it. I think if we can do it, not only are we going to be a great team but we are going to be a great example to the world about having something more important than just yourself,” the Kentucky coach said.
“These guys have a chance to be great. I mean we haven’t even started the season yet. But those are our goals. That’s what we’d like to do.”
3 Responses
Pope may be pushing his luck with this idea. You play as a team in a game to get the win, but you fight like hell in practice to get more playing time…that's the nature of the game.
Agree.. if it happens organically it happens. Can't force it. Just play for each other. Appreciate the time and effort that goes into what everyone involved with the program sacrifices to make it all work. Selfishness is a killer.
They need to be a little selfish on the floor. They are passing up too many 3 point shots in the name of trying to be a team player. Louisville made 23 or 46 threes against Bucknell last night. If we go 9 for 29, we lose the game against a team that looks to take 3s. There is nothing selfish about taking an open 3 even if it is early in the shot clock and only 1 pass has been made. The days of everyone getting a touch and running down the shot clock are long gone…at least for the teams that will contend for a national title.