Mark Pope raves about Koby Brea to Phoenix media

Mark Pope has been known to speak in hyperbole from time to time, but he sure does make a good hype man. His latest sensational praise for his players came in the form of lauding the talent of Koby Brea to Phoenix media, a group not necessarily fluent with the day-to-day majesty that is Kentucky basketball.

The Wildcats’ head coach spoke to PHNX Sports about what the Suns are getting in their 2nd round pick and, in very Pope fashion, he used advanced stats to passionately drive home how highly he thinks of Brea.

“In terms of shot quality of his shots off the bounce…this is the mean across all college basketball: 0.89 points per possession. Okay? [Brea] shot 1.23 points per shot! That’s plus-0.34! Like, I’ve never seen that in a player off the bounce! And they were big shots. I’m telling you, he’s got incredible skills.”

Of course, Pope did not stop with objective metrics. He went on to get all zen and talk about Koby’s peaceful demeanor in what are most people’s stress-filled parts of the game.

“For most of us, the most stressful point of the game is when we’re letting the ball go out of our hands. When we shoot it, right? It’s the one part where…it’s one of the less-controllable parts of the game. But for Kobe, when he is actually engaged in his stroke…I think it’s actually his most peaceful moment on the court.”

Brea signed a two-way contract with the Phoenix Suns, meaning he will be eligible to dress up to 50 games on the main roster this season, though he’ll likely start the season in the G-League. Ultimately, though, he has Pope and all of Big Blue Nation in his corner.

Also, kids, get yourself a hype man who talks you up like Mark Pope.