Losing John Calipari was considered to be a big blow to the Kentucky Wildcats. However, even if they’re not the team to beat anymore, they’re still doing better than Arkansas.
More than that, Mark Pope deserves a lot of credit for what he’s done. He built a team entirely off of the transfer portal, and while they might not be as talented as other teams, they’ve still fared well.
When asked about that, Coach Pope raved about his players and how much they’re eager to get better, ask questions, and constantly pursue improvement and growth.
Mark Pope lauds Kentucky’s players’ determination to learn
“You know you’re really blessed as a coach when you have great students. What I mean by that is our guys want to learn. When we point our guys in a direction, our guys go. Like, it’s unbelievable. That sounds so simple, but it actually doesn’t happen in basketball with very many teams,” Pope.
The coach raved about his players’ focus. He believes that has been the key behind their development and continuous improvement throughout the course of the season:
“When our guys dig in and focus, it might not be an immediate payoff in a day, but over the course of a week or two weeks or a month, these guys — every single time, they’ve kind of answered the bell, and actually got better,” he continued.
All in all, the Wildcats could’ve still done a little better. They went 1-1 vs. Georgia and Mississippi State last week, which is why they fell in the AP rankings from No. 6 to No. 8.