Kentucky’s 84-70 exhibition loss to Georgetown was a jarring reality check, but the most concerning part wasn’t just the final score. It was the admission from head coach Mark Pope afterward that his team
was completely unprepared for a defensive scheme he knew was coming.
‘I just did a poor job’
After the game, Pope was blunt about the offensive collapse, which saw the Wildcats shoot 33% from the field with 15 turnovers. He explained that Georgetown’s “Aggie switch” defense, a strategy where defenders switch on handoffs near the wing and slide a guy from the opposite corner to prevent penetration and clog cutting lanes, baffled his team.
When asked why the team looked so lost against a look they will undoubtedly see all season, Pope didn’t deflect. “Ideally, you can do it in practice,” he said, before taking full responsibility. “I just did a poor job.”
A deeper issue: Why not practice it?
Pope’s admission raises a critical question: If you know every opponent will use this blueprint, why wouldn’t you practice against it? The answer may lie in the NCAA’s restrictive time limitations. Coaches are bound by a 20-hour per week rule in-season (and only 4 hours per day), with one mandatory day off. Or it could be that Mark Pope does not teach defense that way, and using what little time he does have on a strategy he will not use could cost him precious time.
With so much to install for a new-look roster, from offensive sets to baseline defensive principles, there simply isn’t enough time to drill against every specific defensive counter-scheme. Pope may know what the opponent will do, but he lacks the practice hours to simulate it effectively.
This suggests that, much like last season, Kentucky will have to learn and adjust on the fly during the most difficult stretches of the season. While Pope took the blame, this loss may have exposed a structural problem, not just a coaching one.
Unfortunately, the blueprint is now out, and as Pope himself noted, you better believe every team left on the schedule saw it.
Drew Holbrook is an avid Kentucky fan who has been covering the Cats for over 10 years. In his free time he enjoys downtime with his family and Premier League soccer. You can find him on X here. Micah 7:7. #UptheAlbion
