Kentucky's Cinematic BTS Video Proves Mark Pope Is A Wizard

Kentucky won its first big college basketball game of the Mark Pope era against Duke during the Champions Classic in Atlanta last week. The Wildcats’ new leader knew exactly how to stop Cooper Flagg during the last 30 seconds and his plan worked to perfection.

A cinematic recap of the electric victory proves that he is a wizard… or just a really good head coach.

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Duke went into the game ranked No. 6 in the country. Kentucky was ranked No. 19.

Flagg, the nation’s top-ranked freshman and future top-two NBA Draft pick, led the way for the Blue Devils with 26 points, 11 rebounds and two assists. He hit a layup with 1:14 left in the second half to tie the game at 72. Wildcats guard Kerr Kriisa could not answer to take back the lead.

Here is where Pope’s brilliance comes into the picture.

Duke called a timeout with 26 seconds remaining so Jon Scheyer could draw up a play for his five-star phenom. Flagg took the ball from the top of the key and drove to his left in an isolation situation. He immediately got stuffed. With nowhere else to go, the 6-foot-9 guard tried to spin back toward the hoop, but Otega Oweh was there to pick his pocket. Kentucky went on to win 77-72.

Cooper Flagg gets ripped and Oweh converts the free throws at the other end, Flagg then gets pinned in the corner and turns it over again pic.twitter.com/VAyJjAc3gD
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) November 13, 2024

Although the ending was chaotic, it was organized chaos. Mark Pope prepared his defense, especially Oweh, during the timeout. He predicted exactly what Flagg was going to do. He was exactly right.

The Wildcats posted their cinematic recap of the Champions Classic victory. At the 11:05-mark, it cuts to Pope in the huddle right before the Blue Devils’ final possession. He put a player right at the free throw line because he already knew Flagg was going to turn back to his right on the iso. Oweh was in perfect position for the steal because his head coach correctly predicted the play— from start to finish.