Sometimes a coach’s most telling comments come after a rough stretch, not after a big win. That’s exactly where Mark Pope and Kentucky basketball find themselves as they gear up for Gonzaga in Nashville.
Pope didn’t hide from what went wrong. He said Kentucky was “really, really poor” at the point of the screen and admitted that the biggest damage didn’t even come on the glass. It came at the rim, finishes, fouls, breakdowns that led to easy buckets.
That kind of honesty can be refreshing. It can also be a little unsettling when you pair it with what he said next.