UK HealthCare Mark Pope Show December 16th 2024

Hosted by the Voice of the Wildcats, Tom Leach. Coach Pope will take questions via X (@UKSportsNetwork) or Facebook.The show is broadcast in Lexington on 630 WLAP, online at UKathletics.com, on UK Sports Network affiliates, on the Kentucky men’s basketball Facebook page, and through the UK Athletics app.Fans can also download the show as a podcast through iTunes, Spotify and iHeart by searching “UK Sports Network Radio.” Additionally, you can locate the podcast at UKAthletics.com/audio.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
There is no in the world like it.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Well, let's apply, yes, man, come on, stand up and let's.

Speaker 3 (00:10):
Go pre minute look back.

Speaker 4 (00:12):
At oh partition.

Speaker 5 (00:16):
That's free football.

Speaker 4 (00:19):
Kentucky retakes the league Little Mission.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
Reball x on go count the bucket, Gove?

Speaker 6 (00:28):
What makes us different than everybody else? Is you all?

Speaker 7 (00:33):
From the UK s Sports Network. This is the UK
Healthcare Mark Pope Show. To talk to Coach Pope called
the Clark's Pumpin' Shop phone line at eight five nine
two eight zero Cats that's eight five nine two eight
zero two two eight seven or state wide at one
eight hundred six oh six game that's one eight hundred

(00:54):
and six oh six four two sixty three's good, or
you can tweet questions to at UK's Sports Network for Kentucky.
The UK Healthcare Mark Pulp Show begins now alongside the coach,
here's the voice soun the Cats, Tom Leach.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
Hello, Rodney, Welcome in two our show for this Monday,
as the Wildcats come off a big win in the
Battle of the Bluegrass and they get set to play
at the CBS Sports Classic against Ohio State on Saturday
at five thirty Eastern. That will be at Madison Square.
Garden and coverage will start at four with the countdown
to tip off show here on these UK Sports Network stations.

(01:40):
What a game for Lamont Butler thirty three points, ten
for ten shooting. Only two players in the history of
Kentucky basketball have made every shot and taken more shots.
Rodney Dent was twelve for twelve in a game in
nineteen ninety three, Kenny Walker was eleven for eleven in
a game in nineteen eighty six. And performance against the

(02:01):
Cardinals Lamont was named co SEC Player of the Week
today and Kentucky up one spot in the new Associated
Press College Basketball Poll, now number four in the country
at ten and one. When we come back, we will
visit with Coach Pope and then we'll take your questions
a little later. You can call us up on the
Clark's Pumping Shop phone line at eight hundred and six

(02:22):
oh six four two sixty three, or it's a direct
call inside Lexington at two eight zero kats. That's two
two eight seven. You can post questions on social media,
send them into at UK Sports Network on X and
you can post on the Kentucky Basketball Facebook page. It's
the UK Healthcare Mark Pope Show on the UK Sports Network.

Speaker 7 (02:46):
You are listening to the UK Healthcare Mark Pope Show
on the UK Sports Network. The Mark Pope Show is
brought to you by Coca Cola, Appalachian Regional Healthcare, Little
Caesars and by UK Healthcare.

Speaker 8 (03:01):
Tell me Who's in that house tonight?

Speaker 9 (03:03):
UK fight every single day for every single one.

Speaker 7 (03:12):
The Mark Pope Collins Show is brought to you locally
in Lexington by Baptist Health, Chick fil A, Skyline Chili
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Speaker 15 (05:07):
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Speaker 3 (05:49):
Welcome back into our show.

Speaker 2 (05:50):
We're gonna visit a coach Pope for a couple minutes
and then we'll open up the lines for your questions.
But my goodness, what a performance by Lamont Butler on Saturday.
And in this series, for whatever reason, there's been some
unexpected heroes and then sometimes.

Speaker 3 (06:08):
It's a guy, a key guy who does.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Something unexpected like Lamont did to make every shot he takes.
Score thirty three in this game. So it'll be the
Lamont Butler game now. In the lore of.

Speaker 6 (06:20):
This rivalry, yep, it's I mean, come on, if you
get to put your name solidly in the all Time
history books at the University of Kentucky, I mean, that's
hard to do. And certainly Lamont did it for sure
in a magic waste Saturday.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
Let's talk a little bit about since he had such
a big game, just you know, you identified him as
somebody you wanted and how you know, how did that
go in terms of convincing him to do this?

Speaker 16 (06:46):
Yeah, so so so it wasn't hard to scout Lamont
when he jumped in the portal, because we played against
him every single year in a home and home over
the last several years, and I got to sweat it out.

Speaker 15 (07:02):
You know, every time we played against San Diego State.

Speaker 6 (07:04):
We spent the first forty eight hours trying to figure
out how we were gonna let him not take our
ball on every single possession, and literally I lost so
much sleep on that, and then competing against him, and
then actually through the recruiting process getting to know him
more on a personal level. And he just is a
beautiful kid. I mean, you think about Lamont, so he

(07:26):
is a winner, winner, winner, let's say, to a national
championship game. He is one of the great defenders in
all of college basketball. He can do a Rubik's Cuban
under thirty seconds, which I'm so jealous about. He's an
elite level a rap fledgling rap star, and he's an

(07:48):
incredible leader, like one one by one, he's built these
incredible releases with our players, and he's kind of like
every three days you learn something new about him where
you're like, I would have never guest that he actually
did that, but he just is. He's a special person
and he he had a fun game for Big BBN,
didn't he?

Speaker 2 (08:07):
Oh my goodness. So he's just one of those guys
like any setting you put him into, he just kind
of takes naturally, kind of becomes the leader.

Speaker 15 (08:15):
Yep, he's he's pretty good.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
That's that's cool.

Speaker 3 (08:19):
And in this game, or prior.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
To this game, a neat feature I think you talked
about it after the game where they had former Kentucky
players write letters to your current guys. Really neat that.
I really connected with fans because of you know what
the you know, tradition is all about here. I'm sure
those former players enjoy doing that. How what did it
mean to your guys?

Speaker 15 (08:40):
Ben a lot?

Speaker 6 (08:40):
Did you guys see the video recap of these letters
our former players saying? I thought it was magic and
it just was I think it's really special and and
so I think what our guys are so excited about
is you know, just most of our well, all of
our guys are just here for a short time, right,
they all just got here. But for them to receive
those letters to and guys, these were like, these were

(09:05):
letters that were incredibly articulate. Our former players took time
to write these letters like they were beautifully written, they
were super powerful, then took the time to record them
and do the whole thing. And for our guys to
receive these and they were specifically addressed to individual players
like it was a player to player connection. For our

(09:25):
guys to understand what this game, this Kentucky Louisville rivalry means.
They've known it from afar and then they got to
see it intimately, but also to see.

Speaker 15 (09:35):
All the history of this rivalry.

Speaker 6 (09:38):
And then forty eight hours later for our guys to
be able to actually where the jersey and be in
the game with BBN going insane in rapp Arena, and
then to finish the game and recognize that a year
from now or five years now, or ten or fifteen
or twenty years from now, they're going to get to
write their really heartfelt emotional letter to the to the

(10:03):
next generation of players, all of a sudden, in one moment,
you're linked to something that is so much bigger than
just yourself, that has so much more meaning and so
much more staying power, and it meant all those things
to our players.

Speaker 2 (10:15):
Otega was interviewed after the game, and he talked a
little bit about that. He was talking about that, but
he just said, in this program, he said, there's something
about every day that I think of that is unique
to this place, or that I'm always going to remember,
or that I'm excited to be a part of because
I'm here, yep.

Speaker 15 (10:35):
And it's the same thing with it's the same thing
with our fan base. I mean, it's it's one of
the beautiful.

Speaker 6 (10:39):
Things is that we have connections between grandparents and grandchildren
and brothers and moms and daughters and dads and daughters.

Speaker 15 (10:48):
I met just randomly.

Speaker 6 (10:51):
I met two girls, two dads and daughters last night.
I was at a community event and and and both
the girls were six or seven years old, and they
had both this year gone to their first University Kentucky game.
And just forging relationship between a dad and a daughter
is so incredible. And then that's the that's the beauty
of I mean, that's the heart, the heartbeat of BBN.

Speaker 15 (11:12):
Is it just the connections that we forced this game?

Speaker 2 (11:14):
All right, take a break and then we'll get back
to the show here in just a moment. It's the
UK Healthcare Mark Pope Show on the UK Sports Network.

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Speaker 2 (14:34):
Welcome back in to the UK Healthcare Mark Pope Show.
We'll get to your calls here in just a second.
It's eight hundred and six oh six four two sixty
three on the Clark's Pump and Shop phone line or
two eight zo cats inside Lexington at UK Sports Network
on x R. On the Kentucky Basketball Facebook page. A
couple of other things this week. It's a week between

(14:55):
games before you play Ohio State on Saturday, but it's
also finals week for your guys.

Speaker 6 (15:00):
Yes, it is, So guys are double timing it right now.
And we got a bunch of guys that have been
doing great in class and working really hard at that.
So it's a big week for our guys. To you,
we have three things that we have to do. One,
we got to try and get as healthy as we
possibly can.

Speaker 15 (15:17):
That's actually number two.

Speaker 6 (15:18):
Number one is we got to actually pass our classes
and crush these finals. And then three, we get a
we get a great practice tomorrow and a half of
practice Thursday where we can really focus on us on
just just trying to grow our game and how we
understand playing, and then it's a full on prep for
Ohio State.

Speaker 2 (15:35):
Good something you mentioned in your post game I think
news conference I shot it down the quote and you
can kind of elaborate on a little.

Speaker 3 (15:43):
Bit you said.

Speaker 2 (15:43):
When we're when we're right, our ball movement has a
chance to be elite, but there's a lot of gravity
pulling you away from that. So what's it looked like
to get where you want to be?

Speaker 6 (15:53):
Well, we had some We had some unbelievable clips. You know,
we had some some great offensive possessions where uh, you
saw of you know, what happens is a lot of
times our first cutter is actually opening up a whole
world for our second and third cutters. That's a very
high level, you know, not in the Weeds description, but

(16:13):
it takes a ton of energy and a ton of
commitment and a ton of faith to play as fast
as we do and then get to the half court
and actually finish hard cuts and be committed to him,
believe in them, believe that you're actually just by cutting
or creating something better for the guys you're leaving in
your wake, so to speak. And we saw some of
that really really effective.

Speaker 15 (16:35):
You know, some.

Speaker 6 (16:35):
Plays stick out in my mind. It'd be hard to
describe more we remember, but we ran a Trail five stagger,
which is an action where we kind of skew the
floor and it ends up being in a in a
in a like a double triple stagger. And we had
a brilliant slip by Lamont Butler to go get a
layup and a key point in the first half, and

(16:56):
we had an action at a Trail five rip where
we got Beg catching the post and moved the ball
and finally got back to back split back doors. It
was a back to back back door. The first one
wasn't there, and the second cutter back door was there,
but the trick was. And this is what rarely happens

(17:16):
in basketball. Our first back door cutter actually finished his cut,
so we cut hard all the way down the lane,
didn't receive the pass and didn't die there, which is
what always happens.

Speaker 15 (17:26):
He did what we talked about.

Speaker 6 (17:27):
He finished his cut as hard as you could, and
so immediately the second.

Speaker 15 (17:31):
Back door cutter was there.

Speaker 6 (17:32):
And and it's those little nuances of the game that
take a lot of faith and determination and understanding U
and as we learned to do this better and better,
we just get super dangerous.

Speaker 20 (17:43):
Man.

Speaker 15 (17:43):
It gets really fun, you know. But one of the highlights.

Speaker 6 (17:46):
Was was Kobe Brea, who had you know they were
They were kind of staying with their own early in
the game and we were kind of in our flow game.
We were kind of coming over and they were helping
with their five and it was a little bit of
a mess. And so Kobe finally made our brilliant read.
He just curled the first screen and ended up with
a duck right in the middle lane and with a

(18:06):
brilliant pass.

Speaker 15 (18:07):
I can't remember it was.

Speaker 6 (18:08):
BG or Amar you threw that, but anyway, our guys
are learning, like we're getting closer and closer. But when
this starts to work, great, it just feels like you're
slice of dice and where you'll really see this as
you're going to see the opponent's bench just the coaches
just throwing their hands up, and that's a beautiful site
for us guys.

Speaker 15 (18:25):
That's what that's what we worked for.

Speaker 2 (18:27):
You had eight assists out of your two to five men.

Speaker 6 (18:29):
Yeah, and from our front line we had eleven assists,
zero turnovers. Are starting three, four and five, we're eleven assists,
zero turnovers last game, and that's indicative of how we
are working towards playing right and so we're seeing some
good signs.

Speaker 15 (18:44):
The ceiling is.

Speaker 6 (18:45):
Still so far away and growth is two step forward,
one step back, but we're making progress and we saw
some really good signs in this game.

Speaker 15 (18:52):
On the offense.

Speaker 22 (18:52):
Ve.

Speaker 2 (18:52):
Yeah, Amari has last three games only one turnover, so
he has really worked on or to cut that.

Speaker 6 (18:57):
Now you think about it, this is the thing about
being seven feet seed, say seven to one two and
ninety seven pounds, which is an overstatement also and h
and being a force's zero turnover guy in a high
level rivalry game.

Speaker 15 (19:12):
That's incredible.

Speaker 6 (19:13):
Like that is there's there's nobody in the college game
his size that's pulling off that kind of performance and
then making the eyes to booties he run down the
floor and and it's been really exciting to watch him
and Big grow with each other and figure things out.
And they still have they could still be so much better,
but we're seeing good signs of growth.

Speaker 15 (19:35):
That's been really exciting.

Speaker 2 (19:36):
Guess on number today, Amari is twelfth in the country.
I think a defensive rebound percentage.

Speaker 6 (19:40):
Is it's really impressive what he what he can do,
and he's he's like I said, he's still got so
much growth in him. But you talk about having an
incredible young man. Who are guys left? If you have
a friend that's one of the funniest people that you know,
But all the funny comments he makes her kind of

(20:01):
under his breath, so you just kind.

Speaker 15 (20:03):
Of hear it and like it.

Speaker 6 (20:04):
It brings you to tears laughing, But it's really subtle.
That's amor right, man, he just is. He's one of
the favorite guys on our team.

Speaker 2 (20:11):
Quick break and come back and we'll get started on
the calls and the questions from social media all coming
up here on the UK Sports Network.

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Speaker 2 (22:30):
Black into the UK Healthcare Mark Pope Show Soon it'll
be followed by the Kenny Brooks Show. The UK women
at a big win at Purdue on Saturday. And by
the way, the volleyball team made it to the Elite eight,
lost to the n CA tournament's overall number one seed,
pit But congratulations to coach Skinner and company on a fantastic, fantastic.

Speaker 3 (22:53):
Season for UK volleyball.

Speaker 2 (22:55):
All right, let's get to some calls on the Clark's
Pump and Shop phone line for coach Pope Cody, you
will lead us off tonight.

Speaker 3 (23:02):
What do you have for the coach?

Speaker 25 (23:04):
Hey guys, Hey, coach, how are you doing? Thank you
for taking my call? Yes, sir, I do a first off,
I want to say congratulating and congratulations on the season
so far. I just got a question for you. Will
you be wearing any alternate uniforms or the black jerseys
this year?

Speaker 15 (23:20):
Okay?

Speaker 20 (23:20):
Uh?

Speaker 15 (23:21):
I just heard the end of that was the question? Was?

Speaker 3 (23:23):
Ask your question again?

Speaker 2 (23:24):
Please?

Speaker 15 (23:24):
Cody? Uh?

Speaker 25 (23:26):
Yes, sir? Would you all be wearing any alternate uniforms
or wear the black uniforms this year?

Speaker 15 (23:32):
I don't know, Cody, what are you looking for?

Speaker 20 (23:34):
Man?

Speaker 15 (23:34):
Put it in a request. I'll try and make it happen.
What do you want?

Speaker 2 (23:38):
Uh?

Speaker 25 (23:38):
Yeah, I would love to wear the black uniforms a
couple of times.

Speaker 15 (23:41):
You're all about the black? Hi? You want to roll
with the black? All right?

Speaker 6 (23:46):
If we try and go with the black, I can't
promise you I can deliver on a specific game. But
what game would you be looking forward to wear the black?

Speaker 25 (23:55):
Hmm? Maybe the Florida game.

Speaker 6 (23:58):
Coming up Florida the.

Speaker 26 (24:03):
Yeah it maybe one road game?

Speaker 25 (24:05):
Yeah, I'm not sure. Just any game will be good.

Speaker 15 (24:10):
Cody, I love it, man, let me work on it. Okay, brother,
thank you Cody.

Speaker 3 (24:14):
Next up, David, you're on with coach.

Speaker 27 (24:18):
Hey David, Hello, man, I've got the two quick questions.
But first a little comment. When I graduated, we took
you eight up. Rupp was basketball coach and John Ray
was football coach.

Speaker 15 (24:31):
Wow.

Speaker 27 (24:32):
Now for my questions, Coach Pope, when did you do
away with your flat top like you used to wear
when you played here?

Speaker 6 (24:40):
You took Yeah, that's a that's a great question. So,
you know, as we get older and life gets a
little more stressful. Who I was trying to cut down
on decisions. So it might seem like manicuring that beautiful
flat top was easy, but man, that took a lot.
That took some time. And so the beautiful thing now
is I just put it on zero and I could
say I could cut my hair in about about ninety seconds.

(25:02):
And the second bonus of doing my hair this way
is I never have to look in the mirror, which
for a guy that's as handsome as me as a
real win when you don't actually have to face the
truth every morning.

Speaker 15 (25:13):
So I'm rolling. I'm rolling with this now. It's much simpler. David.

Speaker 27 (25:17):
Thanks, Okay, Oh wait, I got one more second, sir,
go ahead uh Otaga. He reminds me by his body
built of the late great Charles Hurt who played who
who was a Kentucky basketball player and also from the
state of Kentucky County built. Yes, she'll be County.

Speaker 6 (25:47):
Hey, that's a big time column because because because those
are two great players right there. So I appreciate that
uh Otaga has been doing an unbelievable job for us. Man,
I'm really really proud of him, and talk about coming
up a huge plays down the stretch. I'm just curious
to know how many people here in the in the
in this gathering were nervous when Otega pulled that last

(26:10):
three with about fifty seconds left in the game.

Speaker 15 (26:15):
I wasn't furious at all. I'm like, shoot it, there was.

Speaker 2 (26:21):
A I was doing some reading about your old high
school coach when we were out in seatle Can I.

Speaker 6 (26:26):
Just say so, Miss Leanne just walked in the room.
She walked right across in the whole room went dead silent.
That's what happens to me too, guys. Every time she
walks in a room, I like catching my breath. It's
so incredible. Sorry, David, I know that's embarrassing, but it's
just the truth.

Speaker 15 (26:40):
It's the truth.

Speaker 2 (26:41):
I was reading about your old high school coach because
he came to the game there in Seattle, and there
was a quote from him in a story that they
had done on you at some point in one of
the Seattle papers, and he said, I've never seen Mark
doubt a shooter. And where does that come from? How
did you come to that point? Uh?

Speaker 6 (26:59):
Well, was coach P's rule. Actually, So that was that
pre coach p I was much different. When we got
here to to the University Kentucky.

Speaker 15 (27:06):
Coach had I.

Speaker 6 (27:08):
Was gonna say, only had one rule, but that's crazy.
He had a ninety billion rules. But but one of
the rules was that if you turned down an open shot,
you're done. Like, if you turned down an open shot,
you weren't gonna play anymore. He was gonna sit you
down and was over and and that that that that
went for me, and it went for Andre Ridick. And
Andre would be the first person in the world to
tell you that.

Speaker 15 (27:26):
Well, I don't know if.

Speaker 6 (27:27):
He would actually say this, but he probably wasn't the
world's most talented three point shooter, probably, But but that
was Coach's rule. If you turned down to open one
then you could come sit down. And I actually saw
how that transformed the confidence level of our players and
how it simplified the game, and and and it did
two things. One for the for the guys that were capable,

(27:50):
it gave them the freedom to be shooters and play
aggressive and and and attack the game all the time.
And then for the guys that maybe weren't really really
gifted shooters, that made him work hard because they didn't
want to be embarrassed. And then it made him spend
a lot of time crashing the glass and probably playing
on a part of the court where they were more comfortable.

(28:10):
And and so that that actually was a that was
a new philosophy that I had never heard in my
young career until I got here to the University of Kentucky.
And it's never left me, and I love it so
much as our guys like it.

Speaker 2 (28:22):
You grew up around New York City, right.

Speaker 6 (28:24):
Yes, I did so. I grew up in Westchester County
just north of the city. Dad worked in the city,
and and so I've loved that city ever since I
was a youngster. I lived I was born in Omaha, Nebraska,
lived there for six months, and then after our third tornado.
Dad was like, Okay, enough of this, We're gone. We're
going to New York and so I got to grow

(28:45):
up there. It was really special.

Speaker 2 (28:46):
You played as a senior at the Garden. I was
looking up today against Ryder and your ninety sixteen. Did
you go to games at the Garden growing up?

Speaker 6 (28:54):
I maybe went to one or two, did not, did
not get to many games.

Speaker 15 (28:59):
But but and I love that. I love that arena.

Speaker 2 (29:01):
Well that leads me into a question here on social
media from Logan at UK Sports Network. Do you plan
on taking the team around New York City to sight
see any before the game?

Speaker 15 (29:09):
Yep.

Speaker 6 (29:10):
So we love the educational part of this experience, and
we also we're always working hard to give our guys
opportunities to put more capital in the bank in terms
of loving each other and knowing each other, and you
get to do that through new experiences. So we have
We're gonna our guys finished finals Thursday morning, and then
we're gonna go out there and we we have you know,

(29:30):
it's gonna be basketball, of course is the priority of
the trip, but we're gonna take opportunity to go see
a couple of things in New York, especially uh the
eve two evenings before and and and.

Speaker 15 (29:44):
Expose these guys to the city.

Speaker 6 (29:45):
If I could, I would send them all this city
with Leanne for three days and she would show them
everything New York. But we can't quite make the trip
that way. But uh, you know, we've had a really
brilliant opportunity. In fact, uh, when we were in in
Atlanta to play Duke. The morning of that game, it
was a late night game, and so the worst thing

(30:06):
you can do is sit in the hotel all day long.
And so we actually we did two things. We went
to the to the Martin Luther King Memorial, which was
so impactful for our guys. We got to do that
in the morning, and to do that all together, and
to be in that city and then have a chance
to go compete in the way we get to compete

(30:28):
now is really special. We were in Seattle, you know,
we just took the guys on a very short excursion,
you know, to the Space Needle and Pike's Place, And
it's just these opportunities for our guys to be more
invested each other. And so every time we take a trip,
we just we carve out a good ninety minutes or
two hours where we can go put ourselves in a
different environment, we can know each other better and get

(30:50):
to see the world a little bit.

Speaker 15 (30:51):
And it's been really special for us. So there's no
better place in the world to do that. In New
York City.

Speaker 2 (30:55):
We are halfway home on this edition to the UK
Healthcare Mark Pope Show, and we'll continue taking your questions
for Coach Pope when we come right back here on
the UK.

Speaker 8 (31:02):
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Speaker 2 (34:15):
Kentucky plays and the CBS Sports Classic this Saturday against
Ohio State at Madison Square Garden. It's the second half
of the doubleheader. UCLA North Carolina play the first game.
Kentucky slated to tip off at five thirty Eastern times,
so then or thereabouts our coverage, we know we'll start
at four eastern with Countdown to tip Off show with
Dave Baker and Cameron Mills. That'll get go in at

(34:37):
four eastern times. Let's get back to a question off
social media from Brandon at UK Sports Network. What are
the areas that you know you need to improve on
before the grind of sec play begins.

Speaker 6 (34:51):
Yeah, so right now we have a real focus on
our ball skating defense. We'd like to be able to
we'd like to be able to be more sore, uh
and more consistent. We had some breakdowns against Louisville. We
were a little bit uncharacteristic for us, so we'd like
to be more consistent. We'd like to be able to
throw some more variation out there. I was really proud,

(35:13):
it was really important. Our transition defense effort against Louisville
I thought was elite. They only had four points of transition.
That's a place where they live, where they really try
and thrive. So that was actually excellent, and we did
manage to make them play in isolation for the vast
majority of the game, which is another win for us.
They made some really tough shots, but I actually show

(35:33):
up our ballscreen defense is really important, and as we
talked about earlier, all season long, we're to keep working
on the variety and the the and this strategy behind
are away from ball cutting. That is that's where the
game has gone. It's where the game gets really fun
and fascinating and beautiful right now, and that'll be an
everyday education all the way up until hopefully the final four.

Speaker 2 (35:56):
Brandon, thank you for the question. That's our Alumni Hall
Fan Question of the Week, and if you submit a
question and it's chosen for our Alumni Hall Question of
the Week, you could win a twenty five dollars gift
card from Alumni Hall, So congratulations. Brandon Otega talked about
that in that interview after the game. He said when
he got here, he didn't really understand that and didn't

(36:16):
fully appreciate it, and he has come to understand what
you're talking about and It's an example, you know, of
how guys have to kind of be open to expanding
their mind a little bit.

Speaker 15 (36:28):
Yep.

Speaker 6 (36:28):
And like I said, we talked about it takes a
lot of faith, and it takes a lot of endurance
and and a lot of commitment.

Speaker 2 (36:34):
All right, let's get back to the calls on the
Clark's Pumping Shop phone line.

Speaker 3 (36:38):
Voice, what do you have for coach Pope.

Speaker 29 (36:41):
Mark, I'm mis wondering how much we need.

Speaker 26 (36:45):
Approve on our blocking shots?

Speaker 8 (36:48):
How much we need approved there?

Speaker 15 (36:51):
Yeah, great question.

Speaker 6 (36:52):
So rem protection is so key in this game, and
if you think about it, there's multiple parts of protection,
but the two that we focus on all the time
are of course block shots. Block shots are really effective,
but even more a part of this game is verticality
at the rim. So just last year there was a
new rule interpretation on the block charge rule that I'm

(37:15):
sure most of BBN is very familiar with. But they
change the rule so now you actually have to be
set before the offensive player if you're a secondary defender,
before the offensive player last foot touches.

Speaker 15 (37:29):
The ground to take off.

Speaker 6 (37:31):
Okay, so now basically they've taken charges out of the game.
As a secondary defender as an on ball defender. For
great on ball defenders, there's still an opportunity to get charge.
So what it's done is it's made the game so
much better because it's become a little bit less referee,
a little bit more player. With all due respect to
the referees, the referees want the players to decide the

(37:52):
game also, and so now the skill of verticality at
the rim is so important. So you actually have rim
protection guys that are not huge shot blockers, but their
elite level rim protectors with this style of verticality at
the rim where they just force incredibly difficult twos. That's

(38:12):
kind of fool's gold. And so both of those things
are really important. We're growing in both of those areas,
and we have guys that are a little bit surprising
that are really capable, like Andrew Carr I had a
massively huge block in this game against Louisville, but traditionally
his rim protection through verticality is even better and even

(38:34):
more consequential in our defense.

Speaker 15 (38:36):
So both those things are super important. Great question.

Speaker 2 (38:38):
We talked in recent weeks about trying to explain some
different terminology that you will use that that can enlighten
fans about what you're talking about. There's one that kind
of comes to mind when you're talking about that championship
championship chess. What does that mean?

Speaker 6 (38:53):
Yeah, So again like with the ten to one four
rule that's been pervasive in college basketball for the last
ten years, which is so important, which is all based
on freedom of movement. Catching bodies with your chest is
really important. So the idea of like, we have two
components of it. One is a positive step. So you'll

(39:15):
hear say positive step all the time. That's when you're
in a defensive stance. See if I can Usually we
show this, so let's see if I can describe this
over the radio when you're in a defensive stance, great defenders.
If I'm in a stance, so you can imagine this
and the man I'm guarding takes a dribble to his
right hand, then my first movement. Actually, instinctively, almost every

(39:39):
human being's first movement is to lean their body in
the direction where they're trying to slide, and their first
movement is take their right leg and pick it up
and bring it forward. Well, that doesn't actually cover any ground.
So we teach all of our guys through sheer repetition
every single day in our banner behavior s minut of

(40:00):
practice that the first instinctive movement as this player is
is attacking to his right, my first move's got to
be left foot off the ground, not left foot pushing
out and extending, because then with my first movement, even
if it's a little bit slower, I'm actually covering ground
with my body with my chest and so positive step.

(40:21):
I don't know if you can visit in their mind,
but it's it's not instinctive. If you go do this
at home, you're gonna be like, wow, that's really weird.
I always do. I actually end up my first foot
off the ground is not covering any ground to actually
get in front of the defender. So it's something we
really really train. And then after that positive step, it's
all about not receiving an offensive player with your hands,

(40:43):
but receiving an offensive player with your chest. Otega Oway
Lamont Butler are two of the best in America at
championship chest. I'll tell you who else is really good.
Trentonoah is terrific with his championship chess. We have some
guys that are getting better every day, but It's a
really important compon of guarding without filing, which through the
first eleven games of the season we've been one of

(41:04):
the best teams in the country at guarding without filing.
A lot of credit to our staff, to Alvin Brooks
and Mark Fox and the rest of the staff. About
about really digging into these concepts that allow you to
guard physically without failing.

Speaker 2 (41:17):
Interesting, get to a break, Come back for more calls
and questions when we return. It's the UK Healthcare Mark
Pope Show on the UK Sports Network.

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Speaker 2 (43:35):
Welcome back into the show. A couple of segments left
for your questions for Coach Pope. It's one eight hundred
and six oh six four, two six three or two
to eight zero cats on the Clark's Pumping Shop phone line.
Clark's Pumping Shop bb and Radio coming up after our
show at the top of the hour with Darren Hendrick.
Cameron Mills will join him tonight to talk Kentucky basketball.

(43:57):
Coach Pope is alongside as we are talking about Kentucky,
the big win over Louisville, looking ahead to the matchup
with Ohio State, and lots of other things.

Speaker 3 (44:05):
Terry, you're next up. What's your question for coach.

Speaker 29 (44:08):
Pope, Coach Popes, thank you for you and your staff
and your players for understanding the assignment on Saturday meant.

Speaker 25 (44:16):
A lot to us.

Speaker 29 (44:17):
My questions on the defensive end, Louisville came into the
game turning the ball over a lot and not shooting
the three very well. We only turned them over once
and they shot the three very good. Do you attribute
that more to your team not playing as well or
Louisville being razor focused because of the rivalry. And then

(44:39):
my last comment and I'll hang up and listen is
Amari sometimes seems to his body language seems to think
sometimes he's not really into it. Have you talked to
him about that? Is that a problem or is that
just a perception thing on my part? Thanks?

Speaker 15 (44:55):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (44:55):
Hey, great, great question. Tell me name again, Terry, Terry, Hey, good,
good questions.

Speaker 15 (44:59):
Man.

Speaker 6 (45:00):
Clearly you're paying attention, so I'll be honest with you.
We've argued over that for the last thirty six hours.
As a staff. It's interesting when you kind of prepare
a scout and report right, you're always trying to take
away what a team does so well. And Louisville had
guys that were shooting ridiculous. You know, they're starting center
shooting ninety one percent from the field from two. For example,

(45:23):
right they had three four players that were sixty three,
sixty four, sixty five percent from two, which are just
incredible numbers, and they were three hundred and forty fourth
in the country from the three point line so far. Now,
we knew they were better shooters than that, and a
lot of times shooting evens itself out. It kind of
finds a happy medium. But that's your question is exactly
the same question we wrestle with, so and we were

(45:45):
actually wrestling with it during the game. We ended up
switching a lot of ballstreens, and we ended up saying, hey,
we're gonna switch and we're gonna try and protect this
lane as much as we can. And you kind of
rely on the numbers, and you're kind of saying, hey,
when are we gonna go away from the numbers?

Speaker 15 (46:00):
At one point?

Speaker 6 (46:01):
Are we going to go away from what the story
that the numbers have told us in our preparation? And
you know, one of the things that we did much
better in the second half was we challenged shots much better,
but still Louisville walked out of gym making fourteen threes right,
which is which is the most threes they've made all season.
They shot the ball better than they have all season.

(46:21):
All but two of those shots were contested shots in
the second half, and most of them were actually shots
off the bounce off a live dribble, which is the
lowest efficiency three point shot you could shoot and had
been very low efficiency for Louisville. And it was on
a night I can't tell exactly why they went in
the Probably the answer is both. It was probably that
we weren't quite as sharp defensively and they had a

(46:44):
great night where they made shots. It was one of
the concerns coming in was like, man, when this team,
when they finally have a night where they make shots,
they're gonna be really hard to beat. The good news
is they came and made shots and we beat them anyway, baby.
But it's a it's a great question, and just so
you know that you're on the right track, We're we're
actually fighting about the same things. With all the metrics
and everything we know about our guys and the team,

(47:06):
we're trying to figure out the same things. If I
could run it back, what I was really argued about
was did we want to take one of two things.
Did we want it just to take a much more
aggressive posture for a few possessions, which means that we're
gonna really come blitz a couple of ball screens really
really hard. Or did we want to get to a

(47:26):
more passive, conservative posture And both would be changed to
tempos where we're going to jump into any number of
zones that we play, And I don't know how those
would have played out. You know, you're kind of thinking
about going a zone, but then you got you know,
you have guys that are already making shots, and you
got number six racing around banging shots, and then and then,
and then you also get in the sense of, like,

(47:46):
if we go blitz right now, it's kind of an
all in defense. And depending on how the ball comes
out of that blitz, you know, you ended up with
a four on three And do we really like that
or do we just trust continuing to make them make toughs.
These are the hard coach decisions that coaches are faced with,
and and that's why the game is so fun and challenging.

Speaker 15 (48:08):
The body line, Oh my gosh, see, man, coaches could talk,
can't we We just talked talking talk.

Speaker 31 (48:13):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (48:13):
Yeah, so you know what I'm telling you something about
Mario Williams. He might care about this more than anybody
that I know. Like he cares so much, and uh,
he wants to perform well so badly, and he brings
so much out of the games, and and uh and
and one of the things that he's working on is
is is regardless of you know, is moving on to

(48:35):
the next.

Speaker 15 (48:36):
Play with a whole heart.

Speaker 6 (48:38):
And and that's a challenge when you care as much
as as our guys do. And he made some unbelievable
defensive plays early in the game against Louisville, a couple
of spectacular plays, and and then had some plays that
he wishes he could take back a little bit later.
But all of the you know, our guy's body language. Uh,
you know, I fat Coach Brooks does an edit that's

(49:03):
only on body language after every game, so we actually
show our guys the day following game when we do
our autopsy, one of the edits will show our guys
his only body language. It's only winning body language and
body language where it's like, oh, we can be better.
And so that's something we pay a lot of attention to.
And our guys are really working on and you know

(49:23):
Amari is going to continue to be great at.

Speaker 2 (49:25):
We'll hit this next break just a tad early, and
it'll give us time to get to zeb and maybe
one or two more when we come right back for
our final segment here on the UK Sports Network.

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ad up to save a buck.

Speaker 17 (50:53):
How does that sound for a little.

Speaker 23 (50:54):
Luck that is way better than pennies.

Speaker 12 (50:56):
Get five cents off for gallon of fuel every day
at your local Thorton's said on fuel purchases up to
thirty five gallons requires download off the Refreshing Rewards app
and successful registration.

Speaker 13 (51:04):
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Is better than ever with our biggest and best selection,
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(51:25):
through TFS tax Title on license extra Call one eight
eight eight thirty six Toyota for details or go to
Toyota dot com Toyota.

Speaker 4 (51:33):
Let's go places.

Speaker 1 (51:35):
Whoa whoa whoa dave before you use that post hole digger,
where's your gas line?

Speaker 15 (51:41):
And where's your wallet?

Speaker 1 (51:43):
Cause you hit a gas line and it's going to
cost you not to mention that it's also very dangerous. Okay, Now,
where's your phone? Good call eight one one before you dig.
One call and you'll know where to dig every time.
It's a call eight one one. No problems, no actident,
no fines. Oh and it's the law.

Speaker 21 (52:04):
This is Coke zero Sugar. Could I be the best
coke ever? Try and taste with your ears. Here those bubbles,
imagine them tangling on your tongue. Busy deliciousness. Listen to
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(52:25):
Chris refreshing and ice gold. Is Coke zero sugar the
best coke ever? Try and decide.

Speaker 2 (52:46):
It is the UK Healthcare Mark Pope Show and we
are taking your questions for the Coach. Don't forget bb
in Tonight weeknights seven point thirty on WLAX eighteen Here
in Lexington. Go to bbintnight dot com if you miss
the show to see the features they do there.

Speaker 3 (53:02):
Back to the.

Speaker 2 (53:02):
Clark's Pumping Shop phone line, zeb what do you have
for Coach Pope?

Speaker 26 (53:08):
Hey, coach, no question, just just a statement. I remember
watching you play back in the day. I'm a little
logan of you, not a ton So you know, it's
between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I'm thinking of things I'm
thankful for. I'm so thankful you can become a doctor.

Speaker 15 (53:24):
Hey.

Speaker 6 (53:25):
There's a lot of paces all around America that are
saying the exact same thing.

Speaker 26 (53:29):
My friend. And no, don't get me wrong. You may
be a doctor of love. I don't know business, but
you are definitely a doctor of basketball, my friend, and
I love what you're doing. Yeah, you get it, so
keep it up.

Speaker 3 (53:44):
Thanks Coch.

Speaker 15 (53:45):
I love you.

Speaker 6 (53:45):
I appreciate you. Thank you so much. I appreciate you. Hey,
I hope you have a merry Christmas. Okay, thank you
seb Mike here next up with the coach.

Speaker 31 (53:55):
Yeah, my coach. I just wanted to tell you something else.
I was kind of funny. Remember in ninety six when
you all went to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Speaker 15 (54:07):
Uh you know what? So yeah, keep going, keep talking.

Speaker 31 (54:12):
Well, and you went up on the ski slope. Okay, yes,
Me and a buddy of mine was going up there
to watch you and you recently was going to go
up there because you were going to ski down the
slope with your shirt off.

Speaker 15 (54:24):
Yep.

Speaker 31 (54:24):
Well yep, Me and my buddy was sitting on the
ski slope and we didn't get to see it because
I fell out of the ski slope.

Speaker 26 (54:31):
And they made us go to the bunny slope.

Speaker 15 (54:33):
Ah. Well, so listen, I'm gonna tell you.

Speaker 6 (54:36):
So this was this was actually ninety seven and I
had come back from overseas and I was working for
I think Channel eighteen es as like, you know, a
special story going on the road. Really it wasn't a
special story. It was ridiculous story. Child with the team,
And so we went to Utah and we went up

(54:57):
to Park City and they put me in some skis
which I had been on before, and we're like ah,
this is great. We'll do a little I don't know
what it's called the intro when you know inch or
or yeah, teas up the store. And so they put
me on a little bunny hill and they got me
on these skis and I've never been really coordinated, and
so I'm going down the hill at like like I

(55:17):
am flying at one mile an hour, and so I
do my little tea's you know, this is wi whatever
and and then it's like cut and then it's fine,
but I have no idea how to stop. So then
I am there. I am with the mic in hand,
going down the hill, fell over.

Speaker 15 (55:35):
In a ditch.

Speaker 6 (55:36):
And that was the end of my skiing career right there.
That was it beginning and end. Please somebody have the
footage of that somewhere. Someone's got to have that, because.

Speaker 2 (55:44):
No way Rick Petina's gonna let his starting you imagine.

Speaker 6 (55:48):
Well, well, yeah, I mean that's a story too, that's
been told too many times.

Speaker 2 (55:51):
But yeah, that was They went from there. I don't
know if you guys, David, they went from there to
San Jose and then onto the final four team. Uh yeah,
with the air pair Ron and da. All right, we
got a couple minute and a half or so left,
So let's just talk a little bit about what the

(56:12):
week's gonna be like for you guys with finals, traveling
and then uh, you know, getting ready for a game
in New York City.

Speaker 3 (56:18):
Yep.

Speaker 6 (56:18):
So today was just individual work, light and study study,
study study. Tomorrow we'll have a really really heavy practice
where we really blow it out. Wednesday will be only finals,
no basketball, whatsever and then and then we'll hit it
hard Thursday morning, Uh, where we really really start to
put in scout, get a ton of work done in

(56:41):
the morning fly out, we'll do a little bit of
New York, have a late night follow up meeting Scout,
and then uh we get a full practice in Madison
Square Garden on Friday and then play Saturday. It's gonna
be a it's gonna be a great trip and hopefully
it's a great way to to kick off our Christmas season.
And and uh, Lee is you know, can I tell

(57:01):
you so? Like so, Leanne is the greatest ever. Okay,
if you ever come to anything live we do, whether
it's a postgame press conference or it's the radio show,
don't get mad.

Speaker 15 (57:12):
This is so fun.

Speaker 6 (57:13):
So so uh, you know, You'll see me look in
her direction all the time because I'm like, Okay, I
just said something I shouldn't have said. Or Leanne is
actually she's like getting my attention and sinking, Hey, you
gotta say this, do whatever. So this is my thing.
Like we have got to have her on the show, yes,
like we have to absolutely, like it would be it

(57:35):
would that the ratings would go through the roof. Leanne
also has a friend. I'm just gonna I'm pitching all
the Leanne stuff. She just she's just mounted out stop.
But I'm not gonna, Babe, I gotta go with this.
I'm trying to get Lanne to start a podcast, a
tell all podcast with.

Speaker 3 (57:55):
Get to Another the UK Sports Network.

Speaker 7 (58:00):
It has been the UK Healthcare Mark Pope Show on
the UK Sports Network.

Speaker 4 (58:05):
The Mark Pope Show was brought.

Speaker 7 (58:07):
To you by Coca Cola, Appalachian Regional Healthcare.

Speaker 23 (58:11):
Little Caesars and by UK Healthcare.

Speaker 3 (58:14):
We are Here to Win Benners.

Speaker 7 (58:17):
Kentucky Basketball is a presentation of the UK Sports Network.
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