Uh-oh, Mark Pope’s Kentucky basketball team offer a reminder of John Calipari as losses mount

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The coach grew in height and shrank in ego, but other than that, tell me, what’s changed about Kentucky men’s basketball in the 10 months since John Calipari vamoosed?

Mark Pope’s Wildcats don’t play any more defense than Calipari’s final team that couldn’t guard a Division II transfer that played for Oakland last March.

Joy ride’s over, folks, halted by a 3-point barrage brought by Alabama, Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Mississippi. The Wildcats have dropped four of their last five games, surrendering at least 89 points in three of those defeats.

Kentucky forward Andrew Carr (7) battle for a loose ball against Mississippi during the first half at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss.

In these last two losses against Arkansas and Ole Miss, the Wildcats (15-7) defended the hoop about like Lululemon protects its merchandise.

You want it? Take it!

Just last week, the New York Times published an article on Pope under the headline: Mark Pope’s Kentucky honeymoon phase refuses to fade.

Nice timing, Gray Lady.

Forget the honeymoon, some Kentucky fans need comforting.

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Mark Pope holds to reputation for fun offense, fickle defense

Big Blue Nation convinced itself last spring after Calipari’s jailbreak for Arkansas that it would attract a coach listing at least one national championship on his résumé, and, if Billy Donovan and Scott Drew turned them down, well, call Bruce Pearl as the failsafe.

That plan sounded great on talk radio, but talk radio is not real life.

Kentucky hired a coach with no March Madness victories. In Pope’s five seasons at Brigham Young, only once did his team rank in the top 50 nationally for defensive efficiency, as measured by analytics guru Ken Pomeroy.

Big Blue Nation initially balked at the hire of Pope, but he’s a true ‘Cat who played for Rick Pitino. He stoked all the feels during his introduction at Rupp…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/uh-oh-mark-popes-kentucky-110410301.html

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2025-02-06 11:04:00

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