Mark Pope wants intensity level pushed to a 9.5 in first exhibition matchup

The real stuff begins Wednesday for Kentucky basketball — well, kinda. The somewhat real stuff starts Wednesday, the Wildcats’ first exhibition against Kentucky Wesleyan set for 7 p.m. ET inside Rupp Arena. It’s the team’s first shot against someone other than themselves to unofficially officially open the Mark Pope era in Lexington.

It started with summer workouts on major time restrictions, followed by fall practices to begin the preseason. Then came Pro Day and Media Day before the Wildcats introduced themselves to BBN at Big Blue Madness. Throw in SEC Media Days and the Blue-White Preseason Event and all of the get-ready-for-the-year stuff is finally behind us.

What are Coach Pope’s thoughts on taking on real competition this week?

“We’re so excited. I hate giving generic answers, but it’s the truth,” he said at the 2024 Wildcat Tipoff Luncheon on Monday. “I cannot wait to have all my guys on one bench. I can’t wait. What we’re going to do is see if we can play with all of the intensity and all the panache, all of the drive and the fight you get when fatigue doesn’t enter the contest.”

Figuring out the rotation and lineup combinations starts now, something they just haven’t been able to do up to this point. When 12 gets cut to five on the court at any given time, you take away the fatigue and ramp up the intensity.

He has a specific number in mind going into Wednesday.

“What I’m looking for is — I’m looking to see if our intensity level can get to a 9.5 and we can really be there and sustain for 40 minutes,” Pope said. “Every second of 40 minutes with the 12 terrific basketball players we have. That’s our goal.”

In terms of his team’s identity, what does he want to show the world when he makes his Rupp Arena coaching debut at Kentucky? He certainly doesn’t want to see any 10-second violations in the backcourt.

Pope wants speed, speed and more speed. And he hope that translates into a beautiful chaos with more highs than lows as they knock the rust off.

“I hope not. That would counter what we’re trying to do [laughs]. I feel this more and more every day, but we as BBN are going to love watching these guys compete,” he said. “We’re going to love them so much. These guys are in it for each other. There are still going to be moments, but they play with unbelievable intensity and courage and bravado and recklessness — which is a beautiful way to play this game right now.”

It’s a group of Wildcats that will put their bodies on the line and pour everything they have into this program. That’s his favorite part of coaching them.

“They’re spending almost as much time on the floor as they are standing up and running down the floor. It’s really fun, at Blue-White on Friday, probably the most engaged the crowd was — and it was so fun to point it out to my guys — was when three guys dove on the floor for a loose ball and all collided with each other,” Pope said. “That’s when they really felt BBN. That’s it. We’re going to love watching these guys play because their whole hearts and souls will be on the floor every night.

“They understand who they represent and what they represent, and they’re doing it together. It’s going to be really fun. That’s the best thing about this team right now.”

It all begins Wednesday evening inside Rupp Arena.