Mark Pope has openly joked about the group chat he shares with his 1996 national championship teammates, claiming they keep him grounded. But according to former Kentucky star Derek Anderson, that chat is a lot more intense than Pope has let on.
During a recent appearance on KSR, Anderson pulled back the curtain on the ongoing conversations between the guys who helped Kentucky cut down the nets. He revealed that the chat is still going strong, but teammates frequently type out messages only to delete them because the critiques of Pope’s coaching job may be too “brutal.”
As someone who works closely with NBA players and top-100 high school recruits, Anderson didn’t hold back his thoughts on why Pope’s third year at Kentucky is facing so many structural hurdles that have resulted in too many big losses.
Mark Pope has a “rah-rah” problem
Anderson’s primary concern isn’t Pope’s character; he knows he is an awesome guy. It is not the message he is sending to recruits on visits; he believes he can connect with anyone. For Anderson, the key to fixing Mark Pope’s issues in Lexington resides in Pope’s temperament.
Pope’s relentless optimism and “positive psychology” approach might have worked in Provo, but Anderson believes it is fundamentally mismatched with where Kentucky is as a program.
“He can relate to the guys because he’s a great guy,” Anderson explained. “When you’re at BYU, you get to kind of run and play, and it’s a different style when you’re in the SEC and Kentucky thing. We were coming for your throat, and that’s a different mentality. Is he teaching that mentality? Because he’s never been that rah-rah guy anyway.”
Anderson pointed out the stark contrast in how he and Pope differed when they were on the court together. “You saw when we played, I’m dancing when I dunk on you. He’s just like this, ‘Good play, DA. Go sit down.’ Like, that’s a great guy, but that’s not Kentucky. Like, I was taught to dominate players whenever I played, and that was a mentality.”
There has been a little bit of that killer instinct missing at times under Pope. And it could be that he values emotional balance so much that his guys never feel free to really go after it. That mentality all starts on the practice court for Anderson.
Flawed practice habits
That lack of edge apparently bleeds into how Pope constructs his practices and pregame speeches/routines. Anderson shared a specific anecdote about Pope’s free-throw drills that contrasts with where the two men stand.
Pope demands absolute silence in the gym when players are shooting free throws. Anderson strongly disagrees with the method.
“We wanted everybody loud,” Anderson said. “If I’m at the free throw line, I need to hear noise so I know it at the end of the game, when there’s crazy going on, I gotta concentrate… If you don’t teach that, and when it happens in a game, how am I prepared? I’m not.”
DA is totally right here. I love the Mark Pope moment of silence thing. I understand visualization is key. But I also believe you play the way you practice. And we need to see some more fire from these guys on gameday.
I really believe that is a huge part of why we see so many slow starts.
Anderson also sees a teaching issue.
A complete lack of basketball IQ
The most interesting critique from Anderson centered on the lack of teaching the basic fundamentals. He expressed shock at last year’s team’s inability to execute even the most basic basketball concepts. He believes that falls directly on Pope and the assistants, who have now mostly been replaced (Cody Fueger, Mark Fox, and Mikhail McLean are the holdovers, for now).
“We didn’t know how to play basketball. It was literally, we couldn’t throw a bounce pass,” Anderson said, referencing the recent struggles. He noted that players fail to use basic pump fakes against 2-3 zones, and criticized the assistant coaches for doing “nothing” and walking away while players shoot free throws instead of forcing them to hold their follow-throughs.
“It was not teaching,” Anderson stated firmly. “And I was always telling him, you’ve got to teach the IQ part and understanding of the game if you want players to be better. You can’t just let them go and say, well, they’ll figure it out.”
Again, DA is right on the money. I know Mark doesn’t want to spend a lot of practice time on teaching things guys should have learned in junior high, but the reality is the game has changed. Most of these kids play on AAU traveling teams that only care about 2 things: winning and money. No longer do they teach them drop steps; it is now the Euro step. No longer is it bounce pass drills; it’s all Steph Curry two-hand-two-ball drills.
You have to sometimes take a step back in order to take a step forward.
Can a coaching staff shakeup fix this?
Anderson’s comments shine a glaring spotlight on the current state of Kentucky’s bench. It is abundantly clear that Pope has significant work to do in terms of teaching the game, but he cannot do it alone.
So far this offseason, Kentucky has only hired Mo Williams to the staff. With Mark Fox operating on an expiring contract and an open coaching vacancy still waiting to be filled, Pope has a crucial opportunity to change the dynamic. If he is going to be the “nice guy” head coach, he desperately needs to hire assistants who are willing to teach the fundamentals, enforce the “throat-stepping” mentality, and demand accountability in practice.
I know he loves this place, and I think everyone wants him to succeed here, but if he fails to address what DA has brought up, I don’t see him staying past year 3.
Do you agree or disagree with Anderson’s take on Pope?
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