Some strong words from Pope.
The Kentucky Wildcats are getting prepared for the start of their postseason as they kick off the SEC Tournament on Thursday night in Nashville.
It has been a successful year for Mark Pope and his staff in their first season in Lexington, and the BBN is hopeful some more wins are on the way. With plenty of questions surrounding the season and upcoming postseason on his radio show on Monday night, one question that caught the attention of a lot of fans was in regard to the referees in college basketball.
“We have a lot of conversations about this. I’ll be really honest: Early on in our SEC run, I started to feel distinctly…and I talked to several referees about it, that it was unfortunate that it really did appear like if you had a tantrum every two seconds, you kind of earned the attention of the referees and they would actually respond. That’s how I felt, because my MO coming in, which had been really good for us, was just…‘I’m going to pay zero attention to the referees. We’re just not going to pay attention. It’s going to be what it is,’” said Pope.
He continued:
“Like everything in life, things evolve a little bit. I do think that it helps to make the referees aware of what’s happened on the floor. I also think it could be really productive to do it in a constructive way. Sometimes, a whisper is way more effective and way more moving than a tantrum. It’s just kind of picking and choosing.”
Pope, with a very transparent answer from the UK head coach, also pointed out how hard the job is to be a referee in the college game.
“I will say this as a foundation: Refereeing is one of the hardest jobs in the world to get right. It’s really hard to do it right. I think our referees are probably as good as any referees there are. I think they’re good people. As much as we think they’ve got an axe to grind with Kentucky or somebody else, I don’t think that’s generally true. I think it’s just a hard job. But I do think that we’re all human beings, and certainly, they’re going to be reactive to all kinds of different things,” he said.
The BBN has had some gripes in regard to referees this season. Whether it be in replay reviews or what seems to be a difference in fouls in teams the Cats face off with. But it’s clear Mark Pope and his staff are not going to let that bother them heading into the postseason. You gotta love to hear that.
Should be a fun few weeks for the BBN.