Why not more 3-pointers? One of many 'poor coaching' examples Mark Pope plans to fix in year two

If you think Mark Pope did a ‘poor coaching’ job in his debut season at Kentucky, you’re crazy. So, yes, Mark Pope, you’re crazy.

Entering year two in Lexington, Pope sat down with KSR to talk through what went well for the Wildcats and what needs to change as he pushes the program closer toward championship contention — the only goal that matters every season for the blue and white.

 “We failed at our job last year,” he said — despite tying an all-time college basketball record for most top-15 wins while leading Kentucky to its first Sweet 16 since 2019.

Agree to disagree, Coach, but I get it. You understand the assignment of hanging banners every season and the Wildcats did not hang a banner his first season. It’s a black and white conversation you’re not willing to budge on. Fair enough.

Let’s talk through some of the things that didn’t work, then, reasons Kentucky did not win a championship. Why did the Wildcats only shoot 25 3-pointers per game after entering the season wanting to take 30, if not 35? They were top-30 in efficiency from deep, but barely top-70 in terms of volume despite boasting a top-five scoring offense?

“It was poor coaching,” Pope said.

The tone was lighthearted in a self-deprecating way, joking that for all of the team success they found together, being five 3-point attempts short of their preseason goal each game kept them from taking things to another level. It wasn’t the only thing and he was pleased with the team’s identity overall in year one, but it helped show how far away they are from being where he wants to be.

It’s five attempts on the surface, but so much more when you dig deeper.

“I’m still really disappointed with that this year, it still eats at me a little bit, like, ‘Ah!’ We couldn’t quite get there,” Pope said. “I was really proud of the product our guys put on the floor last year, and I thought — with all things considered, I was really proud of it.

“We have so much room to grow, we have so much more to do, we left so much on the table. We weren’t quite the team that I envisioned us being when we’re great.”

Plenty led to that nit-picky shortcoming beyond coaching and he wishes those circumstances were different, but that’s what the offseason is for. You build upon what worked in year one — again, plenty did work — while fixing what didn’t.

“Part of it was injuries, part of it was coaching, part of it all the things, part of it newness, part of it roster construction. It was all little pieces of it,” Pope said. “I’m super proud of what the guys did, I think it’s incredible. It was a really amazing journey, but you go through that and you’re like, ‘Man, we weren’t even close to what we’re supposed to be and what we’re aiming to be.’ I think that gives you great hope for what we can actually be.”

It’s part of a greater point he was trying to make, obsessing over ways to put a winning product on the floor capable of hanging banners. They were close in year one, but not close enough with those tiny details separating Kentucky from championship status.

Pope feels he’s found some of those answers to last year’s problems.

“It’s all built into it. We think we have some answers for when some things go wrong this coming season. You learn and you grow and you get better, right? That’s what we’re going to do,” he said. “With all that said, we talked about all the continuity issues and everything else, but I do think we learned a lot last year.

“I think we grew a lot last year as a staff, I think we grew as a team.”

While there were things that didn’t work in year one — at least at the level Pope demands — there were others that did, allowing the team to make history and push past the opening weekend for the first time in a half-decade. Putting together a tight-knit group that prioritized team goals over individual success is something he strived to do in his second offseason as head coach.

That worked then, now and always, Pope believes.

“Dealing with the changes, what we also learned was just how massively important it is for our guys to get to know each other and love each other,” he said. “As a basketball player, the only reason you’re here is because you’re completely obsessed with your own personal development and growth. You can’t get to Kentucky without being crazy, selfishly obsessed with yourself and how you grow — because that’s what it demands. It’s this personal sacrifice here that is so huge.”

Not saying individual success isn’t important — you don’t come to Kentucky if you’re not focused on developing individually and using the platform in the right way to skyrocket into superstardom — but team goals are the difference in getting there.

Take Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, for example. Would he become Kentucky’s first-ever NBA MVP if he didn’t lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a No. 1 seed, now just six wins away from a world championship? Losers can produce and make a lot of money, but winners can reach legendary status.

There’s a healthy way of doing both.

“We’re not living in la-la-land where guys are going to completely divorce themselves from their own ambitions, but what we’re trying to do is build a place where you’re going to go achieve your own ambitions by becoming the greatest teammate ever and loving your guys more than you could possibly imagine,” Pope said. “This actually is, by definition — here and in the NBA — a team sport. It’s about a team.

“Our guys being so good at doing that last year was what helped us survive all the stuff that that kind of went into the season.”

Pretty good insight for a bad coach.