Hello HOB. Shifting gears quickly as we transition from the CMS to the debut of the CMP show. I'll share all the major talking points here in this thread for those of you who may not be able to listen along but want to read what he had to say later on. Show starts at 7 ET. Stay tuned...
* This are going pretty well, Tom Leach says to Mark Pope. His reply, "How could they not be?" Ha. Mr. Positivity. Notes that they're sitting at Malone's tonight. Loves it.
* Sharing the ball like we do is something we talk about every day, Pope says. It takes a lot of faith and trust and love for each other to do it. It's really beautiful when you play that way.
* There's actually a lot on our "to-do list," Pope says. Rebounding, transition D, communication on D, among them. Every day is a day to get better. Each guy opened practice today with one specific area they wanted to get better in.
* LOL... Pope now citing restaurant analytics. Says if a husband and wife come for a meal, have a nice experience, there's a 64% chance they go back sometime. If they go and something significant goes wrong or something is upsetting, BUT the staff does something to really nice compensate or goes out of their way to fix the issue, there's an 80% chance they come back. It shows you how your personal touch is so important. Trying to think of that in terms of recruiting.
* Former UK star Ron Mercer calls into the Mark Pope Show, talks about how exciting it is to watch this team play. Asked if anyone shows a little hint of himself, he says maybe a bit of Jaxson Robinson and a bit of Koby Brea and his attitude to come of the bench like RM did in '96. Taught him some valuable life lessons doing that as a freshman. Mercer says he sees some other similarities as a team to the 1996 squad in that there are so many guys who can step up and have a big game at any time.
* Asked who he'd prefer to have as a player on this team, Ron Mercer or Antoine Walker, Pope says that's too hard. Caller says who can they least afford to be without on this team. Again, too hard, Pope says. We need all of these pieces to fit together. A guy like Trent Noah is invaluable in practice. He was a key scout player in prep for the Duke game and an absolutely perfect simulator. (I'm thinking that was Knueppel.)
* Asked if they'll ever run some of the full-court pressure that Coach Pitino used, Pope says they've got a couple of "dumbed-down" versions of those presses, but it won't ever be as wholesale as it used to be in this model of play. It can be an occasional disruptor to get someone out of what they're doing, but never a constant thing.
* Caller wants to know if Gonzaga will be the toughest test to date... They're really good, Pope says. He says he's had the pleasure of coaching against Mark Few a lot, and he's one of the very best. They know exactly who they are and play to that style. It's going to be an electric atmosphere and a big challenge.
* Team has a philosophy about gratitude that they practice and preach, a "Gratitude Circle," after each workout. You can never be more happy than you are grateful, Pope says. If you reach that grateful point, you'll be happy. A lot of people who aren't grateful find themselves unhappy, even if they're successful or have a lot of stuff.
* This are going pretty well, Tom Leach says to Mark Pope. His reply, "How could they not be?" Ha. Mr. Positivity. Notes that they're sitting at Malone's tonight. Loves it.
* Sharing the ball like we do is something we talk about every day, Pope says. It takes a lot of faith and trust and love for each other to do it. It's really beautiful when you play that way.
* There's actually a lot on our "to-do list," Pope says. Rebounding, transition D, communication on D, among them. Every day is a day to get better. Each guy opened practice today with one specific area they wanted to get better in.
* LOL... Pope now citing restaurant analytics. Says if a husband and wife come for a meal, have a nice experience, there's a 64% chance they go back sometime. If they go and something significant goes wrong or something is upsetting, BUT the staff does something to really nice compensate or goes out of their way to fix the issue, there's an 80% chance they come back. It shows you how your personal touch is so important. Trying to think of that in terms of recruiting.
* Former UK star Ron Mercer calls into the Mark Pope Show, talks about how exciting it is to watch this team play. Asked if anyone shows a little hint of himself, he says maybe a bit of Jaxson Robinson and a bit of Koby Brea and his attitude to come of the bench like RM did in '96. Taught him some valuable life lessons doing that as a freshman. Mercer says he sees some other similarities as a team to the 1996 squad in that there are so many guys who can step up and have a big game at any time.
* Asked who he'd prefer to have as a player on this team, Ron Mercer or Antoine Walker, Pope says that's too hard. Caller says who can they least afford to be without on this team. Again, too hard, Pope says. We need all of these pieces to fit together. A guy like Trent Noah is invaluable in practice. He was a key scout player in prep for the Duke game and an absolutely perfect simulator. (I'm thinking that was Knueppel.)
* Asked if they'll ever run some of the full-court pressure that Coach Pitino used, Pope says they've got a couple of "dumbed-down" versions of those presses, but it won't ever be as wholesale as it used to be in this model of play. It can be an occasional disruptor to get someone out of what they're doing, but never a constant thing.
* Caller wants to know if Gonzaga will be the toughest test to date... They're really good, Pope says. He says he's had the pleasure of coaching against Mark Few a lot, and he's one of the very best. They know exactly who they are and play to that style. It's going to be an electric atmosphere and a big challenge.
* Team has a philosophy about gratitude that they practice and preach, a "Gratitude Circle," after each workout. You can never be more happy than you are grateful, Pope says. If you reach that grateful point, you'll be happy. A lot of people who aren't grateful find themselves unhappy, even if they're successful or have a lot of stuff.
