Good morning, HOB. We are assembled down at Memorial Coliseum today for the Cats’ annual basketball media day. UK head coach Mark Pope will be giving his first preseason address as the new boss and doing a Q&A with us at Noon ET today. Afterward, we’ll have interviews with the players. I’ll post all the major talking points here in this thread as the festivities move along.
MARK POPE Q&A:
* Asked about the team he has constructed for his first season…. Pope says he’s excited about the talent level, their experience, and their commitment level. Likes how they’re growing together as a team. Thinks fans will love how they compete. Won’t always play perfect, but thinks they will compete that way.
* Pope has made a couple of references today about kids needing to get away from social media and learn to be “still” with other aspects of their life. Cites a Japanese proverb he heard on Sunday at church. Seems like that will be his theme today.
* On his philosophy re: lineups… A little bit of everything. Synergy is such a big part of team sports. It’s a “pretty dynamic space,” he says. We don’t emphasize starting, we emphasize finishing.
* Asked if he still hears from his former teammates as he prepares to enter the season… Jokes that he’s toying with the idea of publishing the group chat thread they’re in.
* Pope says he’s still learning the job on the fly. It’s the greatest job in all of college basketball, but it is different and challenging. This job is just begging you to never stop, to be completely consumed by it, and if you don’t find opportunities to stop and listen and commune, you won’t be a great coach.
* Pope notes the odd combination of having the most experienced team in the history of UK basketball and also having no players who have ever played a game in the uniform before. You hope that those kind of veteran players can come together quicker than young guys might.
* Pope says Rick Pitino reached out and said he’d be in Lexington for Keeneland and the UK football game on Saturday. Pope calls him “my guy” and says he’s really excited about that.
* Asked about the two in-state freshmen, Travis Perry and Trent Noah, Pope says he’s really impressed by them. Says he doesn’t think Perry has ever be fazed by anything. On Noah, says he hasn’t known a lot of people from eastern Kentucky in his past, but thinks Trent might be the perfect representative of that area. Likes how he’s getting better in practice after coming in initially and not being able to get a shot to fall. Executes what he’s coached to do. Special to have those two guys on the team.
* On analytics… Wants his players to be curious and take in all the information they can. Sometimes you have to “read it in real time,” and it can come at you fast in a game. “But we’ll use it heavily.”
* Asked about what he thinks the role of media is covering this program and how he’s stated before that he doesn’t mind getting called out… (Laughs). Pope jokes that it may have been a mistake to offer that. Says he likes storytelling, but accurate storytelling is important. Can’t just always be glossy. “That’s boring.”
* On Almonor’s progress… Really interesting kid. Self-made player in a lot of ways. Growth direction has been incredible. Where he is now to where he was when he stepped on campus is incredible. Processes things really quickly. Great passing big man. Perfect fit for us.
* Asked if thinks UK will be ready to hit the ground running for an early matchup against Duke, Pope says he’s approaching things as if the B-W Game and the exhibitions are “huge games for us.” … All of our focus is on today. If we stack the days together, we’ll be ready.”
* Pope thinks the bigs are going to surprise some people with the things they’re able to do.
* The things we value in the way we play are not always going to show up on the highlights, Pope says.
* Pope says he still loves that, when he gets to sign autographs, he gets to sign it “96 Champs!” There’s a whole lot of blood and sweat and tears and leaning on your teammates that went into those letters and numbers.
MARK POPE Q&A:
* Asked about the team he has constructed for his first season…. Pope says he’s excited about the talent level, their experience, and their commitment level. Likes how they’re growing together as a team. Thinks fans will love how they compete. Won’t always play perfect, but thinks they will compete that way.
* Pope has made a couple of references today about kids needing to get away from social media and learn to be “still” with other aspects of their life. Cites a Japanese proverb he heard on Sunday at church. Seems like that will be his theme today.
* On his philosophy re: lineups… A little bit of everything. Synergy is such a big part of team sports. It’s a “pretty dynamic space,” he says. We don’t emphasize starting, we emphasize finishing.
* Asked if he still hears from his former teammates as he prepares to enter the season… Jokes that he’s toying with the idea of publishing the group chat thread they’re in.
* Pope says he’s still learning the job on the fly. It’s the greatest job in all of college basketball, but it is different and challenging. This job is just begging you to never stop, to be completely consumed by it, and if you don’t find opportunities to stop and listen and commune, you won’t be a great coach.
* Pope notes the odd combination of having the most experienced team in the history of UK basketball and also having no players who have ever played a game in the uniform before. You hope that those kind of veteran players can come together quicker than young guys might.
* Pope says Rick Pitino reached out and said he’d be in Lexington for Keeneland and the UK football game on Saturday. Pope calls him “my guy” and says he’s really excited about that.
* Asked about the two in-state freshmen, Travis Perry and Trent Noah, Pope says he’s really impressed by them. Says he doesn’t think Perry has ever be fazed by anything. On Noah, says he hasn’t known a lot of people from eastern Kentucky in his past, but thinks Trent might be the perfect representative of that area. Likes how he’s getting better in practice after coming in initially and not being able to get a shot to fall. Executes what he’s coached to do. Special to have those two guys on the team.
* On analytics… Wants his players to be curious and take in all the information they can. Sometimes you have to “read it in real time,” and it can come at you fast in a game. “But we’ll use it heavily.”
* Asked about what he thinks the role of media is covering this program and how he’s stated before that he doesn’t mind getting called out… (Laughs). Pope jokes that it may have been a mistake to offer that. Says he likes storytelling, but accurate storytelling is important. Can’t just always be glossy. “That’s boring.”
* On Almonor’s progress… Really interesting kid. Self-made player in a lot of ways. Growth direction has been incredible. Where he is now to where he was when he stepped on campus is incredible. Processes things really quickly. Great passing big man. Perfect fit for us.
* Asked if thinks UK will be ready to hit the ground running for an early matchup against Duke, Pope says he’s approaching things as if the B-W Game and the exhibitions are “huge games for us.” … All of our focus is on today. If we stack the days together, we’ll be ready.”
* Pope thinks the bigs are going to surprise some people with the things they’re able to do.
* The things we value in the way we play are not always going to show up on the highlights, Pope says.
* Pope says he still loves that, when he gets to sign autographs, he gets to sign it “96 Champs!” There’s a whole lot of blood and sweat and tears and leaning on your teammates that went into those letters and numbers.
