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WATCH: Mark Pope ran BYU's offense "like a video game"

Zack Geogheganby:Zack Geoghegan04/12/24

ZGeogheganKSR

Mark Pope is about to bring a fun style of basketball to Lexington.

The 1996 national champion at Kentucky has returned to the Wildcats as the program’s new head coach, leaving his old post at BYU, which he held for the last five seasons. Concerns over his resume are understandable, but what we know for sure is his offense will get the fan base excited. Remember how fun it was to watch the 2023-24 Wildcats chuck up tons of three-pointers and play with space? Expect something similar from Pope in Lexington.

Jordan Sperber, also known as hoopvision68, is a well-respected basketball mind, having served as an analytics and video specialist at the Division I level. His YouTube (114K subscribers) breakdown videos generate hundreds of thousands of views. Back in February, Sperber turned his focus toward Mark Pope and the BYU Cougars. Why? Because he was enthralled by the offense Pope was running (he even suggested last month that Michigan hire Pope).

To summarize Sperber’s thoughts, Pope is heavy on shooting threes and utilizing a playmaking big man to open up cutters inside the arc. BYU shot more triples (1,087) than two-pointers (1,068) this past season, just the fourth-ever high-major team to do so. Sperber dives even deeper into Pope’s offense in the below breakdown — it’s a must-watch for Kentucky fans.

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2024-07-26