Where's the Beautiful, Mark?

(LEXINGTON, Ky.) — Something was missing from Mark Pope's appearance at SEC Basketball Media Day. I couldn't quite put my finger on it at first. The smile seemed a little less expansive. The enthusiasm was dialed down a notch. Even the body language suggested a man with more on his mind than the usual preseason pleasantries.

And then it hit me.

He never said beautiful.

Not once. Not a single beautiful possession, beautiful opportunity, beautiful fan base, or beautiful journey. For a man who has made that adjective practically synonymous with Kentucky basketball, its absence was downright alarming.

I briefly considered filing a missing person's report.

Now, before anybody accuses me of psychoanalyzing a basketball coach from a few minutes behind a microphone, let me acknowledge that Pope still said plenty of positive things. He loves coaching this team, his players are fast learners, and they're a joy to work with. Everybody’s excited about the season.

But the Mark Pope we've grown accustomed to seeing is a walking, talking pep rally. Give him a microphone and a room full of media people, and he'll have you believing that a routine Tuesday practice is the greatest event in the history of organized athletics.

This time, he seemed more measured. More businesslike. Almost subdued.

Maybe that's what happens when your team is picked seventh in the Southeastern Conference and your fan base considers anything short of a Final Four grounds for a congressional investigation.

Or maybe Pope has reached that inevitable point in the preseason when all the talking, teaching, practicing, and backslapping have run their course.

It's time to play somebody else.

"We're desperate now to start playing some other teams so we can know where we are," Pope admitted.

Bingo.

That may have been the most revealing thing he said all afternoon.

Kentucky has spent 17 weeks together, and Pope seems genuinely pleased with the progress. But there's only so much you can learn when your players spend every day competing against teammates who know their favorite moves, their tendencies, and possibly what they had for breakfast.

Fortunately, Kentucky has three exhibitions coming up, and unlike some of the glorified scrimmages we've endured in years past, these should provide some useful information.

First comes Little Rock on Friday, with former Wildcat Travis Ford returning to Rupp Arena. That should be a pleasant reunion, although I suspect Ford would prefer to leave Lexington with something more substantial than a warm ovation and a thirty-five-point beatdown.

Then comes Texas Tech on October 23, followed by UCF five days later. Both played in last season's NCAA Tournament, which means Kentucky won't have the luxury of spending its entire exhibition schedule beating up on opponents whose primary objective is collecting a paycheck and getting home before midnight.

By the time those three games are finished, I'd like to have some answers.

For starters, can this team really shoot?

Pope made a rather bold declaration, suggesting this could be the best shooting team he's ever coached. That's saying something for a coach whose offensive philosophy has always depended on spacing, ball movement, and making opponents pay from beyond the arc.

Milan Momcilovic certainly gives him a legitimate reason for optimism. Pope praised his shooting gravity while pointing out improvements in his cutting, passing, and post play.

But I want to see whether all that shooting translates into good shots against unfamiliar defenses. Can Kentucky create open looks when the first option disappears? Can the Wildcats score when the threes aren't falling? And will the ball move as freely when somebody on the other team decides to get in the way?

Of course, with injuries to Kam Williams, Trent Noah, and Jerone Morton already complicating the preseason, we may have to wait a little longer to see the full offensive package.

Second, can this team defend?

Pope believes Kentucky has the potential to become a great defensive team, relying on length, intelligence, communication, and what he repeatedly called "connectedness."

That's a lovely concept. It also happens to be considerably more difficult than it sounds.

Connectedness is easy when everybody knows exactly where he's supposed to be. It's another matter when an opponent throws something unexpected at you, a teammate misses an assignment, and somebody has to decide whether to help or stay home.

I don't particularly care if Kentucky wins an exhibition by 40 points. I'd rather see five players defending as one instead of five talented individuals occasionally occupying the same half of the floor.

Third, what do we make of Alex Wilkins?

Pope offered one of the more refreshingly candid preseason evaluations I've heard from a Kentucky coach.

He essentially predicted that Wilkins will have games when he looks like the best player in college basketball and others when fans will be scratching their heads.

That's quite a scouting report.

Pope talked about the delicate balance between imposing discipline and preserving a gifted player's creativity. Too much freedom can lead to chaos. Too many restrictions can turn a brilliant talent into just another guy following instructions.

I'll be watching how Pope handles those inevitable mistakes. Does he let Wilkins play through them? Does he yank him at the first ill-advised decision? How much patience will he have when the spectacular and the ridiculous show up on consecutive possessions?

And finally, who's going to hold this whole thing together?

Pope's comments about Zoom Diallo addressed that specifically. Rather than immediately discussing his scoring or physical gifts, he described how Diallo kept bringing teammates back into the group during a summer retreat whenever someone began drifting away.

That may sound like a small thing, but with today's revolving-door rosters, keeping everybody connected might be as important as drawing up the perfect out-of-bounds play.

Kentucky needs somebody who can settle things down when the shots stop falling, the crowd gets restless, and the opponent refuses to cooperate with the preseason script.

Three exhibitions won't tell us everything. They won't determine whether Kentucky can contend for an SEC championship or make a deep NCAA Tournament run. And I certainly won't be calling for anybody's job if the Wildcats surrender a few uncontested layups against Little Rock.

Well, probably not.

What I really want to see is improvement from one exhibition to the next. Little Rock should tell us what Kentucky looks like. Texas Tech should begin revealing how Kentucky handles resistance. And UCF should give us a better indication of whether the Wildcats are ready for games that actually count.

By then, we'll have something more tangible to evaluate than practice reports, preseason predictions, and glowing testimonials.

As for Pope's unusually reserved demeanor, I'm not suggesting he's worried. Maybe he's simply more comfortable with what he knows and more cautious about what he doesn't. There's a difference between believing your team can be special and having seen enough evidence to prove it.

He knows the expectations. He lived them as a player, and now he carries them as the head coach. At Kentucky, the honeymoon doesn't last forever, no matter how beautiful the wedding.

Mark Pope has spent the offseason telling us how much he loves coaching this team.

Now we'll finally get to see how much he loves watching it play.

And if everything goes according to plan, perhaps we'll even hear him say that missing word again.

Beautiful.

Dr. John Huang is a retired orthodontist, military veteran, and award-winning author. He currently serves as a columnist for Nolan Group Media and invites readers to follow him on social media @KYHuangs. His latest book is Whining for Posterity, available on Amazon.