It has not been a great stretch for new head coach Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats.
The big headline was that Kentucky welcomed in Arkansas and old head coach John Calipari and lost to the Razorbacks, 89-79, but that game is but a brief fraction of the Wildcats’ problem.
They’ve lost four of their last five, and they’re currently riding a two-game losing skid, having lost to No. 25 Ole Miss after the loss to Coach Cal.
It has certainly been frustrating, and Pope admitted as much in his weekly radio call-in show. In fact, he even admitted that some of that frustration could have led to some broken furniture in the locker room.
“There may or may not have been some completely destroyed furniture in the locker room after a recent loss, and that’s just part of it. But it’s got to be for a purpose,” Pope said (h/t On3).
If the purpose of that frustration is channeling Kentucky back to playing winning basketball, perhaps it would be worth the cost of a broken chair or two. Right now, the Wildcats are 15-7 and ranked No. 14 in the country, but they haven’t played good ball as of late.
Pope admitted that the team hasn’t been playing up to Kentucky’s standards, and that has led to some intense emotions. That’s not always a bad thing, though, if you hear him tell it.
Perhaps that emotion will lead to change.