Mark Pope has high expectations for his players’ knowledge of the scouting report
Pope is going as far as to quiz his players regarding the report
If you play for Mark Pope, you’re going to know your opponent inside and out, and that’s something that continues to cement itself as a staple of the Pope era in Lexington.
It doesn’t seem like the wrong approach either, especially after Pope’s Kentucky Wildcats forced Cooper Flagg into a late-game turnover to help them seal the win over the Blue Devils in the Champions Classic.
But how far does he actually go to ensure that his players are reading and comprehending the report?
Well, per Cameron Mills on the official UK pregame show on Tuesday.
Pope quizzes his players and expects them to return at least three words on any specific player they will be facing.
“When you get to Pope’s scouts, we would have to memorize our scouting reports.
I don’t know what he physically gives them, but he expects it up here [points to head] because, in the walkthrough, he has this thing where he asks questions to random players at random times, and they have to answer him in three words. ‘Give me three words about number 41 tonight,’ and they have to answer three words.
“And after watching him do that, they’ve already got the scouting report down.”
Having beaten all three non-Power Four opponents by at least 28, they clearly know their opponents well. In their lone Power Four battle, the Wildcats beat Duke 77-72 and used a +14 second half to pull away in the primetime battle over the sixth-ranked Blue Devils.
With Gonzaga on December 7, Pope will see his next big challenge on the horizon. He will also need to have a good understanding of how Mark Few’s team players will be pivotal in handling what could be their first loss of the season.
