Mark Pope explains changing his approach to guard play this season

In the past, Mark Pope has only had one primary ball-handler on the floor, with the backup point guard getting the other minutes at the lead guard spot. This season, he is taking a different approach. After bringing in both Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins, who were both point guards last season at their respective schools, Pope is planning to use both at point guard interchagably.

"We're really playing the two lead guard system right now, which is very NBA. It's very pro style," Pope said a few weeks ago at UK Media Day. After hearing that, Mark Pope was asked to explain how he plans to utilize that philosophy in-game and he discussed it in an interview with CBS Sports' Matt Norlander this week at SEC Media Days.

"It's interesting, I've never done this: We're actually treating transition differently than we're treating the halfcourt," Pope said. "In transition, we're actually playing two lead guards. We spend so much time in transition. And in halfcourt sets, we'll play a more traditional one, two, three, for, five (position wise). You know, we're the only team in the country that brought in two new players that are both over 30 percent assist rate. When we built this roster -- we've had so much misfortune in the health side of this the last two years and it's specifically been the healthiness of our creators on our team. And so we went deep into creators. We brought in two of the top creators in the country."

Pope has sensed a learning curve, as expected, with both Diallo and Wilkins learning how to play together and how to play in Pope's system and how he wants the offense to run.

"There's also a learning curve with them learning how to play the game together and learning how to play our way," Pope added. "Alex was more of a pop-roll guy, which is a quick decision ball-movement guy, although the ball was in his hands a lot. Zoom, the way he played last year was much more of like a pound the ball until I work my way to an assist player. And so both those guys are not just adjusting to playing with each other, but they're adjusting to play our style of play. What's been fun is, it's opening up a new vision for the game for both these guys that they're really enjoying. We take two steps forward and one step back, but our direction is really encouraging and our ceiling is really high with those two guys."

Oct 2, 2026; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Alex Wilkins (10) competes in drills during Big Blue Madness at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

What went into Pope's decision to go with the two lead guard type of play with his guards this season, a new approach to how he uses his guards? "We have such an emphasis on transition, it's a space we play in. It gives us a little more freedom. It actually changes the position. We're actually two lead guards, two wings, and a big, is the way we're actually approaching our terminology in transition and then how we flow into our halfcourt (offense). It's actually functioning right now, but it's been a work in progress."

Can Mark Pope get Diallo and Wilkins to thrive in this strategy? NBA teams are doing it, and Pope seems to really like what he can do there with the new guys he has in the backcourt.

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