Mark Pope is a 'terrible loser,' but Kentucky players 'hate losing' too -- so they get it

Mark Pope admitted his response to Kentucky’s loss in New York City just wasn’t good enough, matching the Wildcats’ performance against Michigan State. The second-year coach took forever to get to the podium, then gave uninspiring quotes before transitioning to depressed and downright pouty in appearances on postgame radio with Tom Leach and a quick chat with The Field of 68. He looked broken and lost on clear answers to get this fixed — if there were any, especially with Jaland Lowe’s long-term status in question.

His response Thursday when previewing Loyola (Md.) felt like a forced overcorrection, overly positive with no concern about this team’s ability to figure it out. Was it genuine confidence? We’d know more seeing the on-court response against the Greyhounds, a test the Wildcats aced. They fought and played with energy and purpose en route to a name-your-score finish. That’s how it should be.

Then came the most impressive moment of the night, Pope meeting himself in the middle with his recent PR appearances. He displayed vulnerability and passion in his explanation for Madison Square Garden, but also confidence that those feelings are why he’ll stop at nothing to put a product out there Big Blue Nation is proud of the rest of the season.

“Well, I stunk after Michigan State. I was terrible,” Pope said. “Listen, guys, I’m a terrible, terrible loser. I’m the worst. Maybe that disqualifies me from this position. I hate it with a passion that is unknown on the planet Earth. I hate it, and especially here.

“This jersey matters. This thing matters, and sometimes when you’re holding back all your emotion, I think that was probably more of a manifestation of me after the Michigan State game was there. I was so proud of myself for not saying the things that I wanted to say, actually.”

The question that sparked that response was one simply asking if he was doing okay — because, again, he looked miserable just days before. Interestingly enough, that’s his happy place.

Maybe not in real time, but what it means after the fact with the growing process.

“I’m actually so happy in the misery of it,” he continued. “I just love every second of it, and I love the fact that we’re a little bit in the hole and we get to pick ourselves out. I think that’s inspiring to me. I’m so good, guys. I’m really good. I’m pissy, but I’m good.”

How do his players respond in those moments, crushed the way Pope was after Louisville and Michigan State? Does he truly go through the five stages of grief, and if so, do the Wildcats push to break him out of his funk or leave him be? Do they need more from him or are they fine with his post-loss moodiness?

KSR checked in with the on-court face of the program, Otega Oweh, to get his thoughts.

“Well, with Coach Pope, I feel like he’s really only in that mood right after the game,” he said. “He does a good job of flushing it quick — although maybe he may not have flushed it, but at least once he gets around us, he’s always talking about the next thing that we could do to get better and how we need to respond. That’s the biggest thing he always says.”

It doesn’t mean a whole lot for Oweh, because he’s the same way. The SEC Preseason Player of the Year wasn’t good enough against Michigan State and he was a little moody at the podium, too — because he hates how they played on the big stage, both him personally and as a team.

It’s raw and devastating in real time, but they always bounce back. It’s certainly not problematic, coming from one leader to another.

“I mean, even us as players, we hate losing, so we feel the same emotions that he’s feeling,” Oweh continued. “He does a really good job of turning it and just uplifting us. Obviously, we wanted the game to go a certain way, and we didn’t do that. He’ll say stuff like we suck, but that means we can always improve.”

And don’t forget: Pope isn’t the only coach in that room. As destroyed as he may be immediately after, there is always an assistant or two there ready to comfort the guys or crush them into oblivion — whatever is deserved at the time.

It’s not always a pity party with a few dozen people in that locker room sulking. They plenty of voices ready to pick you up off the mat or push you back down if necessary.

“I mean, it’s the whole coaching staff, so it’s not only just him talking,” Oweh said of Pope. “He could get there (screaming), but the other coaching staff could get there, too. It’s more of a staff effort, I would say. It’s not just him.”

Collin Chandler, the guy who has known Pope for a half-decade going back to his high school days, feels the same way. He gets “pissy,” as the head coach calls it, but it comes from the right place.

“Well, he’s like all of us. He’s a competitor,” the sophomore guard said. “He loves the game, as well. I would say as bad as he is at losing, I think he’s also great at learning from those things and helping us learn and take the positive route of where he needs to go to get better because there’s nothing we can really do about any of the losses that happen. It’s all about getting a little better.”

They were, in fact, a little better after Loyola (Md.) — on and off the court. We’ll see if that trend continues next week against Tennessee Tech, then the week after against North Carolina, especially.