Mo Dioubate details key differences between Kentucky and Alabama
When Mo Dioubate transferred from Alabama to Kentucky, he knew the systems would be different, even though both coaches love to play with speed and force other teams into mistakes. What surprised him was how detailed things get under Mark Pope.
“Spacing,” Dioubate said plainly when asked about the most noticeable shift. “Coach Pope, he emphasizes spacing a lot. Obviously wedging to go get rebounds. That’s something I’ve already been doing, but here, he emphasizes it. Like every time a shot goes up—wedge. Boxing out.”
If you aren't a huge basketball fan, that quote may have went right over your head. No worries, we're here to help. Wedging is a rebounding tactic, often used on the weak side, where a player uses their body to seal off space before the ball even hits the rim. It’s a small detail that’s becoming a foundational piece of Pope’s system. Remember Mark Pope wanted to be a 30% offensive rebounding team.
But that’s just the start.
“Coach Pope wants to play fast,” Dioubate told BBN Tonight’s Maggie Davis. “He wants to get a lot of 3’s up as well. He told me not to pass up any open 3’s. Any open 3’s that I have, do not pass it on.” Those are magic words to any player who likes to shoot. But Pope ensures the offense is something that will happen naturally, he wants his team focused on the small things.
“He’s been emphasizing those little things more than anything. You know, the little things, the tangibles. He’s trying to get us to worry about that more and let the offense take care of itself.”
The message is clear: Pope’s system is built on pace, spacing, and aggression. He’s drilling his players on the little things—rebounding position, off-ball spacing, transition decisions—so the big things fall into place naturally.
The big reason rebounding is so important is a lot of 3's means a lot of long rebounds. It is not necessarily about making every 3, it just is about forcing the opponent to play your style. Rebounding, spacing, and 3's are all part of the plan. We saw last year when Kentucky was able to play their style they could beat anyone in the country.
Dioubate is embracing that mindset early. His buy-in could make him one of the most important glue pieces on a rebuilt Kentucky roster that looks to resume dominance in the SEC this fall.