Head coach Mark Pope still believes in this team, and he isn't ready to see them fold up, even if everyone else already believes it has.
Mark Pope refuses to let the outside noise break this team
"We refuse to give control to people that are outside of our program. Regardless of how personal it might get, or how bad it might get. We refuse to give control to fans, to give control to anybody else, regardless of how blatantly people are trying to make this not happen. We refuse to give them our power... We don't make excuses; we don't do that. Regardless of what is happening, regardless of how disgraceful things are, we don't give away our power. Regardless [of] how embarrassing, personal, awful, unacceptable things are, we refuse to give away our power."
Whoa. That is a lot to unpack. I don't know of any beef Pope has with the officials during Saturday night's game, but apparently, he thinks it goes beyond just making good or bad calls. To throw around words like "disgraceful," "embarrassing," and "awful" is certainly a choice, and it is one that proves Pope is absolutely circling the wagons.
When a coach uses the "us against the world" mentality, it usually means the walls are starting to close in. And right now, the walls are definitely closing in on the Wildcats. Fans are tiring of the losses, the excuses of fatigue, and Mark Pope discussing the roster's injuries. Part of that is his own fault for prioritizing Jayden Quaintance, who is an athletic freak recovering from a devastating knee injury. Surely, someone on that medical staff knew it was a real possibility that this would play out.
The Lowe and Williams injuries are less his fault, but not having a backup PG that can run this team absolutely is. That's where I think the "fans" comment comes in; he sees you out there crushing him for mistakes and losses.
But he is also right; this team still has everything to play for right in its own hands. They have four games left. Win all four, and you set yourself up for a decent seed in the NCAA Tournament, a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament, and some actual momentum heading into March.
Lose on Tuesday to South Carolina, however, and those last three games become pure desperation mode. You would need to upset Vandy or Florida and handle Texas A&M on the road.
Mark Pope is getting feisty, and it's boiling over in the press conferences. He senses all that pressure that has broken countless people before him. And I think it's because fans are really starting to warm to the idea of firing Pope after this year. The honeymoon phase is long gone; just getting to the tournament is not going to satisfy the fanbase after the crazy offseason spending. The pressure of sitting on the NCAA Tournament bubble is mounting, and at the very least, he has to feel it. But he is still trying to do the right things.
He is protecting his locker room and challenging his players to block out the noise. But will that defiance actually translate into wins on the court? We will find out on Tuesday in Columbia.