Mark Pope had his players share their favorite NCAA Tournament memories Sunday. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky coach Mark Pope wanted his team to take in the NCAA bracket reveal in private on Sunday night.
Instead of being surrounded by boosters, fans and media, Pope chose for the Wildcats and no one else present. Kentucky is the No. 7 seed in the Midwest Region and will take on Santa Clara in the first round at 12:15 p.m. Friday in St. Louis.
“You’re always trying to read your team and kind of see where they are,” Pope said on his radio show Monday night. “… Everything that our guys have done all season long, from the very beginning, we’ve opened up to everybody, and there’s, there’s really been no filters with our whole program, and just this one moment, I just felt like it was really important that it was just our team, just the people in our locker room.”
Pope said the moment gave his team an opportunity to spend time together and “to kind of have some very personal, private conversations and to take in the moment of what these guys have, what these guys have accomplished so far this year, what they’ve endured so far this year, and what their hopes and aspirations and goals are for this coming NCAA tournament.”
“I thought it was really important that we just did this with just us; we don’t do anything that way, but just this one time,” he said. “I thought it was a big deal. We actually had a great night. It was a very meaningful night for our guys. I think it set the tone for us to give ourselves the best possible chance to make a magical run here. That’s what our goal is, and we’re going to see if we can do it.”
During the gathering, Pope had his players send him their favorite memory of watching the NCAA Tournament as a kid, which revealed some interesting responses, even though it wasn’t “largely choreographed.”
“It was really awesome to see the wide variety of responses that I got back,” he said. “All of us can tie moments of our life to some, some great play, some incredible moments, some last-second shot, some huge upset, some incredible run to the NCAA tournament and remember how those memories tie us so it’s pretty cool.”
As for Pope, his best memory was the 1992 Kentucky-Duke encounter that is considered one of the greatest games ever played in the Big Dance.
“I was sitting in my family room in Seattle with no real connection, at the time, to Kentucky,” Pope said. “When Christian Laettner hit that shot, I can remember it clearly. I can remember Sean Woods shot right before. I can remember my reaction literally as he went to take this 15-foot runner. I was like, ‘No’ and then I was like, ‘Yes, is it winning off the glass?’
“I remember that, and I remember the epic play by Bryce Drew in the Valpo game was pretty, pretty amazing. There are so many, there are so many great moments, and of course, the things that we got to experience in that championship game (in 1996) were really special.”
Pope and the Wildcats will begin what they hope is a magical run against Santa Clara. The Broncos are led by Herb Sendek, who served on Rick Pitino’s staff at Kentucky from 1989-93 before taking over the program at Miami of Ohio. Sendek has also coached at North Carolina State and Arizona State.
“He was the first assistant to reach out to me here when Kentucky started recruiting me,” Pope recalled. “He had an interesting path to coaching, as people know, he was a prestigious, I think, a summa cum laude graduate at Carnegie Mellon, and somehow lost his mind and decided to coach, and man, he’s had an incredible career. He’s one of the best people you’ll ever meet in your life.”
One Response
I saw an article online entitled: "10 things Kentucky needs to do to win on Friday." Only 10??? That shows just how bad this team is playing and how bad Pope is coaching…hero ball on offense and I am too tired to play defense. There is a real chance that Santa Clara will win on Friday and I really couldn't care less…I just want this embarrassing season to be over.
Let's talk about what Pope needs to do next year…yes, there will be a year 3 for Pope as Barnhart will not fire him…that would admit he made a mistake in the hire. He will simply dump that into the new AD's lap next season.
Pope MUST be the coach and not be afraid to bench anyone who dares to challenge that. He has no high school recruits, so he must keep some, urge others to move on, and then get it right in the portal. Keepers: Moreno, Jelavic, Chandler, Noah, Potter, and Hawthorne. Graduating: Oweh, Aberdeen, Horn, and Tow. Possibly Keep: Williams, Johnson, and maybe Lowe. Urge to Leave: Dioubate and Garrison…they just don't want to play team ball and cause dissension when made to play limited minutes..
Must Gets from the Portal: A pass first point guard who can defend, a backup point guard who can defend. A backup center who can defend and rebound. A backup power forward who can defend and rebound. A starting caliber small forward…Williams can play backup; Noah will hit the portal (can you say Tennessee?) A backup shooting guard.
Pope must run his offense through Moreno and Jelavic down low and have shooters on the arc when double teams come. Identify the starting 5 and play them at least 30 minutes each game. Platooning doesn't work, so the backups must be ok with limited minutes. Demand defensive and rebounding effort and bench those who don't toe the line. Moreno and Jelavic combined should be good for 35 points and 20 rebounds per game. (They would hit that if they transferred to Kansas). Johnson needs to go to a team where he can be the starting shooting guard and that won't be the case with Chandler here, but he will have to improve his toughness and defense. Again, Pope must be the coach…he CAN'T be everyone's buddy; he must demand that all play his way or the highway.
Final word…he gets ONE more year to get it right! Make the most of it! Win the SEC regular season or tourney and make a regional final in the Dance…anything less will cost him his job!