Mark Pope explains why he makes early substitutions

Mark Pope loves to use his bench, and we’re seeing why he loves it so much as Kentucky continues to win games despite dealing with a shorthanded roster.

To start the season, Pope ran a nine-man rotation (with a sprinkle of playing time for the three freshmen) before Kerr Kriisa went down with a foot injury on Dec. 7 against Gonzaga. More injuries to the likes of Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson, and Andrew Carr began to force Pope’s hand. Minutes were spread out to the freshmen, who have all showed up in huge moments at various points. Depending on the matchup, Pope will still trot out nine, 10, or even 11-man rotations as the Wildcats are now deep into SEC play.

Tightening the rotation has never really been Pope’s style. His willingness to feed everyone minutes is paying off as the schedule toils along. Those early-season minutes for the likes of Travis Perry and Trent Noah have them playing like experienced sophomores 24 games into the season. And that philosophy bleeds into his reasoning for making substitutions so early into games.

On average this season, Pope makes his first sub of the game at the 15:56 mark of the first half, right around the first media timeout. 14 times has he made a lineup change before the under 16-minute media timeout hits, 11 of them happening against SEC opponents. Sometimes it’s a one-player change, sometimes it’s multiple. This isn’t a perfect formula. Substitutions depend on a whistle or dead ball, which can vary if a game is being called tight or if the officials are letting them play.

But look over at the scorer’s table around the 16:00 mark of the first half and you’ll see a least one Wildcat waiting to check in. It’s happening even more often against conference foes. There’s a reason for Pope’s quick trigger with the bench.

“A lot of times when you’re thinking about rotations, especially when your roster is rediscovering itself — that’s probably not the right way to say it, but you’re thinking about getting guys out so you can get them back in, in time to get somebody else out, to kind of have some stability on the floor,” Pope said Thursday.

The main explanation has to deal with Pope wanting to establish in-game chemistry and keep everyone fresh. But some of it relates to the feel of the game (and who is healthy to play).

“Sometimes, what’s really nerve-wracking, is when you play everybody kind of a normal six or seven-minute rotation, and then it’s got to be a little bit of a wholesale change due to fatigue, and then you have just a boatload of inexperience on the floor all together at the same time,” Pope continued. “Not only inexperience, but also guys on the floor that are inexperienced and haven’t felt that particular game yet, right?

“So a lot of times you cut one or two rotations short just to get new bodies in so you can stagger it a little bit, and so you can get those original guys back in sooner. Maybe somebody’s rotation is extra long, and they can go in with fresh legs. So kind of monitoring all that is part of it. And there’s always the unforeseen. You know how guys are playing, matchups, vibe, fouls, all this.”

Pope’s substation patterns might not be a huge deal on the surface, but his philosophy is working quite well for the ‘Cats thus far.

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