Film Room: Coach Mark Pope & BYU's Offense

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Time seems to both stand still and go a million miles an hour right now for Big Blue Nation. The events of Sunday night, April 7th, when the Coach Calipari to Arkansas rumors hit a fever pitch feels like a lifetime ago. Similarly, Coach Mark Pope being officially announced as the new head coach on Friday morning, April 12th, feels like the distant past as well. However, at the same time, life is moving very fast these days. Kentucky fans clamor for any and all information as it pertains to the staff or the roster. In 2024, the transfer portal feels more like NBA free agency. There is constant movement, often bordering on chaos, as the highest bidder likely wins the battle. Eventually the dust will settle, but right now it feels like riding a rollercoaster.

There is no denying that the initial announcement of Coach Pope at Kentucky was met with skepticism at best and flat out anger at worst. However, a lot of that pertained more to a frustration with the process than it did specifically to the hire. That all started to change rapidly in the hours and days to come. Within just 12 hours or so on Friday morning a large portion of Wildcats’ fans were on board. Coach Pope is one of our own, after all, having captained the 1996 National Championship team. Fast forward to Sunday evening and Big Blue Nation filled Rupp Arena to capacity for his introductory press conference. Between that press conference and Monday night’s debut of the UK HealthCare Mark Pope Show with Tom Leach the fanbase fully united around those two events.

Time will tell just how successful Coach Mark Pope will be at Kentucky. There are a couple truths that cannot be ignored. Fans are restless for postseason success, but the ‘Cats just hired a coach without a NCAA Tournament win. Coach Calipari’s departure left a roster of essentially one, Travis Perry, but the ‘Cats hired a coach who has only recruited to Utah Valley and BYU (as a head coach). However, Kentucky landed arguably one of the brightest offensive minds in the sport. Also, Coach Pope has an unwavering energy and infectious personality that will lure in recruits just as it did so quickly with Big Blue Nation. He has been to the mountaintop as a player in Lexington and “understands the assignment” as head coach.

November is a long way away and right now the Kentucky Wildcats only have two confirmed pieces to the puzzle. So, there isn’t much to do aside from dive deep into the KSR Film Room and breakdown the BYU Cougars. Coach Pope built one of best, most fun offenses in college basketball this past season. Let’s dive into some of what Kentucky fans can expect to see from a Coach Mark Pope led offense in Lexington.

Transition

First and foremost, the BYU Cougars were looking to score quickly. They finished 14th in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency and were in the upper quartile of scoring in transition per Synergy. During Coach Mark Pope’s five-year tenure in Provo, the Cougars finished 7th, 23rd, 50th, 103rd, and 14th in offensive offensive efficiency. Offensive tempo, especially lately, has been a big part of that. You can expect an offense that will look to get the ball up the court in a hurry with traditional transition lanes and assignments. There will be a rim runner, two wings sprinting the sidelines, and a trail guy behind the ball. At BYU, Coach Pope’s guards did a great job of slicing the floor and finding open three-point shooters. It is free and fast, but there is a structure to the spacing. That is how you pair tempo with efficiency.

Notice the time and score in this clip. BYU secures the rebound and essentially gets trapped in the corner down three with 2:21 to play. In this situation most coaches would slam on the brakes, call a set, and instruct the point guard to walk the ball up the floor. However, Coach Mark Pope sat back and allowed his guys to play. The point guard pushed the ball ahead to allow the shooters to run and found an open teammate on the left wing. That is a 6’11” four-man taking a three-point shot with 27 seconds on the shot clock in a three point game with just over two minutes remaining. Freedom and pace are important tenants of this style of offense.

Those of you who read our “Watch the Tape” segments after games this past season on KSR would know we talked about Kentucky’s guards being a little too eager to throw the ball ahead. BYU did a great job of creating offense by letting the point guard slice the floor. Throwing it ahead too early, or for anything other th an a layup or open three, simply stagnates the offense. Instead, #30 Hall slices the floor and gets an open trail spot three for #50 Khalifa. Expect Coach Pope to find a four and/or a five that can make three-pointers from the trail spot this coming season.

Jaxson Robinson attempted 41 more three-point shots than Antonio Reeves this past season. BYU took over half, 50.4% to be precise, of their shots from beyond the arc. Clips like this demonstrate how you get to those numbers. #2 Robinson could have driven this in and challenged #24 Adams at the rim. However, he knows that an open three is likely more valuable than a contested two at the rim. This comes from being told to “SHOOT ‘EM ALL” in practice and in the film room. Open three-point shots in transition are analytically friendly.

Zoom Action

This is what made BYU’s offense famous this past season. The Cougars ran a ton of Zoom Action and get into it very quickly when the ball crosses half court. They didn’t just play fast in transition, but they would also get into half court action in the first handful of seconds of the shot clock. Coach Mark Pope had several different wrinkles out of Zoom Action that he would get to and we will see several of them in the following clips. First off though, let’s define what Zoom Action is. Essentially, it is a player coming off of a downscreen into a dribble handoff. You’ll see it in action in the following clips to get a better understanding.

One of the first things to notice in this clip is how quickly BYU gets into their offense. It only takes four seconds for them to get into their offensive action. This is obviously a called, set action with the down screen into a handoff, but the players will read and react based off of how they are guarded. Here you see #0 Waterman, a 6’11” four-man, coming off of the Zoom action and settle behind the handoff for a three. When the Texas defenders decided to switch and stay underneath the screening action it left Waterman a lot of space to shoot it from beyond the arc.

Here is another clip of BYU initiating their offense just four seconds into the shot clock. This time, the defense over plays #2 Robinson coming off of the down screen which allows him to backcut for a layup. Having skill and passing ability at the five is very important for this portion of Coach Mark Pope’s offense. #50 Khalifa unlocked a lot of the Cougars success in Zoom Action.

#2 Robinson is such a shooting threat that opposing defenses generally will chase him over the top of all screening action. However, that opens up his ability to curl to the rim. That was especially potent due to the constant spacing that BYU had with nobody “in the way” around the basket. #50 Khalifa was able to hit the cutting Robinson on the curl for a layup. Again, it is all about taking what the defense gives you.

This is the added wrinkle to Zoom Action that caught the attention of basketball nerds across the country. The Cougars had a lot of success running past the handoff and curling to the basket for a layup. Again, defenses generally chase over the top due to BYU’s shooting ability and there is always space inside to curl into. This cut really showcases #50 Khalifa’s passing ability as well. He will be redshirting at Louisville next season, but finding a five-man with passing ability will be a top priority for Coach Mark Pope in Lexington.

No matter how the defense guards the Zoom Action they will be giving something up. Here, Baylor prepares to switch the downscreen as #20 Johnson comes off. However, he recognizes the switch and just stops in his tracks near the corner. Coach Pope’s players have great basketball IQ and defensive recognition. This is a result of purposeful practice and film study.

5-Out Motion

Above all else, Coach Mark Pope runs offense within a 5-Out concept. This will obviously be based on personnel, and there are ways to scheme around having a more interior-oriented five-man, but at his core Coach Pope wants to spread you out offensively. #50 Khalifa was the perfect trigger man for that style, but he will adapt at Kentucky if needed. The 5-Out framework though allowed a team known for shooting a ton of threes to also shoot a ton layups. Having a completely free and clear painted area works wonders for an offense. There is a lot of pressure put on the defense when you are forced to guard sideline to sideline and out well beyond the arc.

When every player is spaced beyond the three-point line it gives you a lot of space to drive into. Also, notice how the UCF defense didn’t help even as #2 Robinson drove in for a dunk. They were still concerned about taking away an open three even at the expense of giving up a dunk. This is the result of great movement, cutting, and spacing.

We’ve been showing some of what Coach Mark Pope’s offense can create around the basket. However, over half of their shots came from three-point range so clearly it worked on the perimeter too. This is a simple staggered double that got #2 Robinson a shot at the top of the key. With the defense chasing over top it makes it hard to keep up on the perimeter. Utah’s five-man would have to step up and help on the catch, but that is a lot to ask of a center. Being able to squeeze off shots like this are how you get up 229 attempts individually on the season.

Once the defense guards a staggered double you can just throw a staggered triple at them. Here, the first cutter curled the second screen to then allow #21 Knell come off of his own staggered double screen. This is an incredibly difficult action to guard. The defender has to immediately go from guarding a screener to guarding a cutter and often simply isn’t ready to chase.

Check out the constant ball and player movement in this clip. It begins with curling a staggered double, coming off a single downscreen, and then a quick pitch back. That pre-movement opens up a catch for #50 Khalifa around the elbow. Away from the ball there is so much screening and cutting. These are the types of cuts that become available when you put so much pressure on opposing defenses from beyond the arc.

What Does All This Mean?

Coach Mark Pope is a brilliant offensive mind. We saw the very best of that this past season as the BYU Cougars produced one of the best, most fun offenses in college basketball. However, just because they shot 50.4% of their shots from deep last season doesn’t mean he is going to try and fit a square peg in a round hole. Before last season, Coach Pope’s BYU teams finished 118th, 188th, 150th, and 89th in three-point rate. He is going to scheme to whatever is best for the personnel that he has. That will likely be especially true in year one where he is having to build an entire roster from scratch. Then, going forward, he can try and recruit more directly to a preferred system.

Regardless of the exact style of offense you can expect to see spacing, screening, and off-ball movement as cornerstones. The pace will likely be fast and a premium will be placed on shooting ability. However, it is important to remember that spacing can come in many forms. Having an excellent post presence that can score creates space as well. It isn’t solely about three-point shooting.

There is a lot of roster building left to do before Coach Mark Pope can even dream about what his first Kentucky team will look like. However, we should be confident that he will get the most out of whatever group he has. From a schematic standpoint, we are going to see some really beautiful basketball. For those that enjoy the KSR Film Room breakdowns you can expect 2024-2025 to be a lot of fun.