For years, John Calipari made sure to get the finest recruits for the Kentucky Wildcats. More than that, he put the players in a position to showcase their skills and make their way to the pros.
Mark Pope, on the other hand, hasn’t had the same caliber of recruits on his team so far, which is perhaps why he’s taken more of a collective approach to his offensive system.
At least, that’s how former Wildcats star and NBA player Darius Miller feels. When asked about Coach Pope and how he stacked up with Coach Cal, he shared his honest assessment of both.
Darius Miller explains the difference between Mark Pope and Coach Cal
“There was a lot of freedom inside of Cal’s system, and that allowed you to see some of the greatness of John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, Jamal Murray, the different guys that could express themselves on the court. Coach Pope, everything is down to the minor detail, but it puts you in a good position to showcase your game inside of a structured environment, you know what I mean? Two different approaches, but I would enjoy playing for them both,” Miller told Kentucky Sports Radio.
Mark Pope, head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats
At the end of the day, every coach has their own philosophy and style. You can have the same roster and assistant coaches and take an entirely different approach.
Pope knew that he was getting into a tricky road when he took the reins of the Wildcats, but so far, it seems like the early returns have been fairly encouraging in Lexington.
