Mark Pope candid about Kentucky's struggles in La Familia scrimmage: 'We didn't guard anybody'

Throughout the summer, several Wildcats have said they believe Kentucky can be one of the best defensive teams in the country. After seeing his squad scrimmage La Familia, Kentucky’s alumni team in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), last week, Mark Pope thinks they’ve got a long way to go.

“Well, I think right now we want to believe that, but we’re so far from that,” Pope said on Monday when asked if his team could be elite defensively. “I mean, I thought, after the first quarter of the TBT game, I was going to crash out. I mean, it was brutal, right? We didn’t guard anybody. I think La Familia was like 1.8 points per possession after the first quarter.”

According to Jack Pilgrim on KSBoard, the current Cats trailed at halftime and came back to win 61-55 in three quarters plus an Elam Ending. Pope being Pope, he relished the opportunity to see his team go up against someone else after four weeks of practicing against one another. Think of all the data he collected!

“I’m so grateful for the opportunity that we had to have practice and the opportunity had to have a scrimmage against [La Familia], because it just puts you in an environment where, I don’t know if any of the data is real, but it just gives you the vibe of it gives you some direction for these eight weeks.”

Pope has long advocated for a 40-game college basketball regular season. The NCAA is baby-stepping toward that, allowing teams to increase their regular-season schedules to 32 games starting in the 2026-27 season. Pope said that if he had his way, teams would be able to play a few games during the eight-week summer session. For now, scrimmaging La Familia will have to do.

“So, in lieu of that opportunity that I hope is going to be real next summer, we’ll take this, TBT, and our guys have been great. There are a few great things. One is, it’s great to go out and compete in a real game with real minutes and real stats. Two, it’s great to compete against our guys.”

The bond that has formed between past and current players is an added bonus. The current Cats have been in the stands for all of La Familia’s games so far, even celebrating on the floor after game-winners.

“On Sunday, it was fun to see the relationship that’s been built over a very short time between these former players and our current players, and that is important,” Pope said. “That’s part of what makes Kentucky so special.”

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Comparing this year’s scrimmage vs. La Familia to this year’s

Back to that scrimmage. Pope gave a shoutout to Trent Noah, whom he said felt the most “veteran” of the four returning players. He also said that there were a few possessions in which point guard Jaland Lowe beat everyone down the court in transition — “He’s got unbelievable jets.” Last year’s team also scrimmaged La Familia and won by a larger margin, but that group included more veterans, even if they were learning the system from scratch. This year’s team has four returning players, but the newcomers don’t have quite as much college experience, so Pope is taking a slightly different approach, which may have resulted in that sloppy first half.

“Last year, we were, from day one, incredibly devoted to teaching from the ground up the way we play, and were really intentional about it. And so it got us to a point where I feel like when we went to that TBT game, we were a little more game-ready. We had a better feeling of what to get to A, B, C, and D, and how to make those decisions.

“We hadn’t even really gotten to a second lift when we jumped into this TBT game, so conceptually, we were behind that way, but we’re much closer on 100% [on wedges and legal contests], and that’s a trade-off. It’s a calculated decision on our part. I think it’s going to pay off in the long run.”

When it comes to the defense, Pope still thinks the group could be special; if anything, last week’s scrimmage served as a wake-up call to tamp down on the hype and put in the work.

“We’re a million miles away from being the team that we think we can be. It’s all fun and games to say what we think we can be [one of the best defensive teams in the country], but I do think that the potential is there. We just have a long way to go to get there.”

Went to work last night with @LaFamiliaTBT in the Historic Memorial Coliseum. pic.twitter.com/zQJImcXb7i

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) July 17, 2025