Pope is Finally Trying to Instill Toughness in the Cats

Otega Oweh is trying to simplify what he focuses on in games. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Maybe Kentucky coach Mark Pope has realized what Kentucky fans did several weeks ago —  not all UK players have consistently played as hard as they can with maximum effort at all times this season.

Or at least that was the perception Tuesday night when Pope got irritated when junior center Brandon Garrison did not hustle back on defense after making a turnover and gave up an uncontested layup to North Carolina Central. Pope called timeout and got into Garrison verbally that had not been in his time as UK’s coach. He even broke a clipboard. He also did not put Garrison back into the game as he watched the final 32 minutes of the 35-point win from the bench.

“I feel like he’s trying to give us that seriousness — that intensity — that we all should have,” Kentucky senior Otega Oweh said after the game. “Obviously, we’re 0-4 in these high-major games. So we gotta be fed up. And I think he’s just trying to show us that.

“I feel like the message that he sent to us, after this, is good for us. We got this win, but now we gotta focus on something bigger. And we got to start building some chemistry. Stack some wins.”

That needs to start with Saturday night’s game in Rupp Arena against Indiana.

Remember Kentucky lost by 35 points to Gonzaga last week in Nashville after falling behind 19-2. The Cats were never competitive in the loss.

Pope called a timeout and came on the court shouting at Garrison after the play. He broke the clipboard over his knee when he got with the team sitting on the bench to talk.

Oweh has started every game at Kentucky since he came last year to play for Pope. He said he had never seen Pope so upset during a game but felt it was “justified” at the time.

“It gets to a point where, as players, we gotta be sick and tired of the same thing over and over again. So, I mean, it’s what was right in the moment,” Oweh said.

Oweh had his best game of the season with 21 points on 9-for-12 shooting and also had seven rebounds, four steals, one block and one assist in 27 minutes. Somewhat ironically, Oweh had been one of the players most frustrating to UK fans because he had not been playing anywhere close to the level he did last season and had not looked like a preseason SEC Player of the Year should.

Pope seemed to be desperately trying not to say something he might regret after the game when he was asked about Garrison, who had five points but no rebounds in seven minutes.

“We just have a lot of growing that we have to do right now,” the Kentucky coach said. “And we’ll grow. We have good guys. We have competitive guys. We don’t know, really, what it means to compete yet, which is terrifying. But we will learn. We’re gonna learn. And we’re gonna learn fast.”

Not knowing what it means to compete? Isn’t this the same team that Pope and others praised all summer for being so competitive that he had to make sure they didn’t go too hard in practices?

Oweh said the Wildcats were “embarrassed” by the 35-point loss to Gonzaga.

Pope said on his weekly radio show that Oweh had his best practice of the season after the Gonzaga loss. The player and coach also had a one-on-one meeting after the loss.

“We just got to be tired of the same thing,” Oweh said. “That’s just going out there and having good energy. That’s on me. I feel I got to be the leader in that department.”

Oweh said he meets with Pope often but this last meeting hit home.

“He kind of really opened my eyes. Because obviously coming in my last year, all the other stuff, the outside stuff could get to you, but  I’m just trying to simplify it. Focus on one thing when you come into the game and watch how everything else goes,” Oweh said. “So that’s really what it is. Just focusing on one thing, focusing on the best thing.”