Mark Pope explains what Kentucky will have to do to be successful in SEC play

Mark Pope and his team are ready for the gauntlet of SEC play.

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope instructed his team as the Wildcats faced off against the Brown Bears at Rupp Arena on New Year's Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. / Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal & USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Kentucky's win over Brown means that the non-conference slate is over, and the Kentucky Wildcats are getting ready for SEC play.

Knowing that the AP Poll currently contains ten SEC teams, every game is going to be a tough contest. After the win over Brown, Mark Pope was asked how his team would approach SEC play, knowing how talented the league is this year.

Coach Pope had this to say about what his team has to do to be successful in SEC play after the win over Brown, "Every game, you're going to walk in, and it's going to feel like a tossup.  And I think when you have that, it's going to so much end up with what does your team's execution look like? How capable are you communicating on the floor?  Executing on the floor?  I think its going to come a lot down to resolve. Like how much frustration are you capable of enduring?  Where is your emotional reservoir at?  I know that sounds like soft skills but that's actually defining features of great games.  It's going to have a little bit of an NBA feel where you can't get too high or too low because you don't have time to emotionally rehab from letting yourself be devastated or elated.  You play the number three team in the country and two days later you goingon the road to play the number one team in the country and then you are playing the number 10 team in the country.  I think it's going to be a matter of just those two things. Where are you on the execution scale and, you know, where are you on that durability scale, right? And those are going to matter."

Coach Pope is spot on with what he had to say about not letting the lows get too low and the highs get too high. Every game is going to be a battle, but SEC play will be a war. This means this team can't let one game affect their emotions too much.

Kentucky starts SEC play with a tough test as the #6 Florida Gators will make the trip to Lexington to take on the Wildcats.