Kentucky

Kentucky gets early signature win at Champions Classic against Duke | Opinion

Published

1 week ago

November 13, 2024

Kentucky gets early signature win at Champions Classic against Duke | Opinion

ATLANTA — We’re going to have plenty of time, like maybe a decade or two, to talk about Cooper Flagg. And in the aftermath of Tuesday’s Champions Classic, the presumptive No. 1 pick is going to get his first real taste of what the world of sports takes is all about.

That’s how it works when you live up to the hype for 39 minutes but mishandle a ball in a crowd and then dribble it off your foot with the game on the line. Better get used to it.

But Flagg is 17 years old and Duke is still Final Four caliber team. It’s way too soon to start nitpicking.

It is not, however, too early to render a judgment on the other big storyline from a remarkable night of college basketball.

Mark Pope? Yeah, he’s the real deal, too. Just a couple weeks into the college basketball season, he’s already made Kentucky basketball fun again.

It’s been awhile.

“This group is special,” Pope said after Kentucky’s 77-72 victory, giving him a signature win right out of the gates and at a time when there was — and probably still is — some uncertainty about whether he’s up to this mammoth job.

Time will tell. But one thing you can already see: There’s a major vibe shift around Kentucky basketball.

Freed from the tension of John Calipari’s stubbornness, his deteriorating relationship with Kentucky’s administration and his antagonistic posture toward a fan base that cares like no other in sports, Big Blue Nation will not find this kind of basketball difficult to embrace.

It’s beautiful, it’s energetic, and most of all its drama-free.

Yeah, Kentucky needed a change. They got it. And it looks as if they’re really, really going to like it.

Nothing against Calipari, a Hall of Fame coach whose first 10 years there were phenomenal. But the whole operation got stale, it got contentious, and his last four seasons were a slow-motion train wreck that ended with some embarrassing NCAA tournament defeats.

Still, when Calipari left for Arkansas, there were no guarantees about how it would go for Big Blue Nation. After all the big names said no, the initial reaction to Pope was strongly negative.

Despite being part of Kentucky’s 1996 national title team, he was still a coach with no NCAA tournament victories in nine years at Utah Valley and BYU.

Kentucky fans, of course, quickly embraced Pope because there was really no other choice. He wasn’t just one of theirs, he reminded them what that actually meant. For 15 years, the program was about the Calipari brand. From the first moment he got the job, Pope was determined to flip that back around and make Kentucky the star of the show.

That’s a great way to start a honeymoon, but you also have to show it on the floor. And with a roster that Pope pulled together largely from the transfer portal, there was a scenario where Year 1 was basically a write-off.

“Nobody knew each other,” Pope said.

But you can already see that Pope is really good at three things that will serve him well as Kentucky’s coach.

The first is that he is incredibly dialed in to how players interact with each other and feed off each other. He talked, for instance, about the human nature for people to pull away from problems and the intentionality it takes to do the opposite. You saw that Tuesday when Kentucky got down 10 points in the first half and just kept hanging in the game until the experience and physicality of its older players took over in the final minutes

“I felt like it was really special for us,” said senior Andrew Carr, a forward who transferred from Wake Forest and scored 17 points with two huge and-1 finishes in the final minutes. “Not everything was going our way, and coach talks about turning into each other, the people that matter, and the closer we get it’s harder to beat us.”

The second big trait of a Pope team is the offense. It just flows. For years, one of the big frustrations fans had with Calipari is that the ball didn’t move enough, there wasn’t enough spacing and he didn’t emphasize 3-point shooting until his final season. With Pope, that’s not an issue. The ball zips around, guys move off the ball and everyone has the green light to shoot when open. This was the ballgame: Kentucky made 10-of-25 threes to Duke’s 4-of-23.

And the third thing is that Kentucky just plays really, really hard, which it will need to do against most teams. The Wildcats have some good pieces, but they won’t have a huge talent advantage in most of their big games — and they certainly didn’t against a Duke team with multiple future NBA draft picks. That’s arguably the biggest reason why Kentucky’s effort just wore down Duke to the point where Flagg was too exhausted to execute down the stretch after scoring 26 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in 32 minutes.

“Guys went and sat in the locker room (at halftime) and it was constructive,” Pope said. “Guys do most of the fixing before I get in the locker room. It was just sheer resolve and determination. There was a lot of ebb and flow, and the game almost swung away from us, and the guys reeled it in.”

It’s still too early in the college basketball season to draw a whole lot of conclusions about where either Kentucky or Duke is going to end up. But for Pope, a man who arguably has the best but toughest job in college basketball, it was a validating night.

He said after the game that he’d have felt the same way about his team whether they won or lost, and that’s probably true. But beating Duke is no small thing, and the amount of belief and credibility Kentucky will get from this win will have a cascading effect on the fan base, on recruiting and on the confidence of a team that believes it might have something special.

All in all, Big Blue Nation couldn’t have asked for anything more.

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Kentucky

Kentucky vs. Jackson State viewing info, what to watch for, and predictions

Published

2 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Press Room

Kentucky vs. Jackson State viewing info, what to watch for, and predictions

The Kentucky Wildcats are back in action Friday to face the Jackson State Tigers in the second game of the BBN Invitational.

To put it simply, Jackson State is bad, very bad. Sitting at 0-5 and ranked 321st in KenPom, the Tigers will likely be the worst opponent Kentucky will play all season.

Coached by Mo Williams, one of LeBron James’ old teammates with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Tigers have only finished above .500 twice in the last decade. This season, Jackson State is predicted to finish fourth in the SWAC.

Mark Pope recently said he wanted to build a standard, regardless of opponent and, and that will be tested on Friday.

Let’s take a look at the matchup.

More 3-Point Attempts

Admittedly nitpicking, one of the things that Mark Pope was not happy with in Kentucky’s win over Lipscomb was the amount of three-point attempts. While they shot nearly 50 percent from deep, going 12-25, Pope wants to see the number of attempts closer to 35.

The Tigers have allowed their opponents to shoot 47.8 percent from deep, the second-worst mark in the country. Pope and the staff will certainly generate a game plan to take advantage of this. Expect to see 30+ attempts.

Ball Movement

Despite beating Lipscomb by 29 points, the Wildcats had a season-low in assists with just ten. For context, Kentucky had averaged more than 23 assists per game entering the matchup.

“That’s not us. That’s not who we are,” Pope said after the game.

While there wasn’t a lot of selfishness, the ball just wasn’t ‘flying’ as it has been early this season. This is a priority for the staff and this mature group, and they will aim for 25+ assists.

Keep JSU off Free-Throw Line

Jackson State ranks in the top 100 nationally in one area: Free throws made per game. So, Kentucky, defend without fouling.

Kentucky’s offense makes headlines, but the defense has played very well to start the season, holding all four opponents to under 73 points. Let’s see if they can get down in a stance and defend well for 40 minutes vs. a team that stresses contact and drawing fouls.

Opposing Players to Watch

C Shannon Grant 6-11, 290 lbs

7.5 PPG
4.8
Preseason All-SWAC First Team selection

G Jayme Mitchell Jr 6-5, 190 lbs

15.0 PPG
3.8 RPG
44.4% 3P

F Romelle Mansel 6-9, 220 lbs

10.8 PPG
5.8 RPG
31.7% FG (second most FG attempts on the team)

Time: 7 PM ET on November 22nd

Location: Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY

TV Channel: This game will not be on TV and is streaming only,

Online Stream: SEC Network+, ESPN+, and the ESPN app.

Radio: Tom Leach and Jack Givens have the radio call on the UK Sports Radio Network.

Replay: WatchESPN and SEC Network (check local listings).

Rosters: UK | JSU

Stats to Know: UK | JSU

KenPom: UK | JSU

Team Sheet: UK | JSU

Odds: FanDuel Sportsbook has yet to release the odds for the game, so check Thursday afternoon for an official spread. Multiple projections give Kentucky a 99% chance of winning: Bart Torvik (99%), EvanMiya (99.9%), and ESPN (99.0%). The exception is KenPom (92%).

Predictions: KenPom (93-63), Haslametrics (96-63), Bart Torvik (95-61), and EvanMiya (96-59) all are going with a 30+ point victory, Kentucky!

Be sure to send us your Kentucky vs. Jackson State score predictions! And Go CATS!!

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Kentucky

Kentucky vs. Texas Injury Report: Deone Walker, JJ Weaver and others set to return

Published

9 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Press Room

Kentucky vs. Texas Injury Report: Deone Walker, JJ Weaver and others set to return

The Kentucky Wildcats are now getting prepared for one of their hardest games on the schedule as they travel to Austin for a date with the Texas Longhorns.

This disappointing season has also been riddled with injuries across the board for the Cats. Whether it has been offense or defense, Mark Stoops’ squad has not been close to full strength, really, one time this season.

That will be the case again in Austin, as the first injury report of the week has been released.

With D’Eryk Jackson and Gerald Mincey out alongside DJ Waller, it’s Courtland Ford and Kahlil Saunders who carry questionable designations as of Wednesday.

For some good news, however, JJ Weaver seems likely to play, as he is listed as probable.

In addition, Deone Walker, Barion Brown, and Jamon Dumas-Johnson are no longer on the injury report, so they’re set to return this week.

Going to be an interesting afternoon in Austin. Let’s see if any more names pop up on this report as the week continues.

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Cassidy Rowe is 'Kentucky's favorite child', and Kenny Brooks is starting to see why

Published

17 hours ago

November 20, 2024

Press Room

Cassidy Rowe is 'Kentucky's favorite child', and Kenny Brooks is starting to see why

In Kentucky’s win over Purdue Fort Wayne, Cassidy Rowe played a huge part in giving the Cats the edge. For over 28 minutes, Kentucky played from behind, but Rowe made key shots and got momentum-swinging stops on defense to sway the game in Kentucky’s favor.

Kenny Brooks was quick to acknowledge the guard in his postgame press conference, pointing out just how proud he is of her.

“I’m really proud of Cassidy —not just for tonight,” Brooks said following the win over Purdue Fort Wayne. “Cassidy is Kentucky’s favorite child, and we got here, and we understand that, and her popularity is well-deserved. She’s a great kid.”

Brooks continued, “The way she’s handled everything, it has been tremendous because I think she played like, what, two minutes the other night [against Louisville], and she came back the next day, and we had practice, the starters didn’t play at all in practice, and she led her team. She is really trying to learn me. She’s really trying to learn me, and she’s trying to do it on the fly, and she’s doing it the right way.”

Part of what is contributing to Rowe’s overall growth is that she’s able to watch and learn from Georgia Amoore, one of the best guards in the country.

“She’s watching Georgia, she’s asking questions, and she’s catching on very quickly,” Brooks explained. She doesn’t hang her head whether she gets two minutes or 30 or 29 minutes — she’s got the same reaction. I think she likes what’s going on here. She’s enjoying playing basketball, and it’s just really fun. This is what you do it for. So, I coach college basketball because of opportunities. Like both of these young ladies right here, they just want to work hard. They just want to win, and you have one play 40 minutes, one and play two minutes, and they both came to practice with the same energy the next day.”

“Cassidy is waiting for her time, and Cassidy is building trust with me,” Brooks added. “She’s building a lot of trust with me. I could probably play her two minutes the next game, and she’s still going to come to practice and work her butt off to do what she can for the team, and that’s why we really relied on her tonight. So, both of them, I trust them, and their energy was fantastic.”

Rowe spoke to that — having her number called and being ready to contribute and bring the energy that the team needs to get over the hump.

“I know personally when you hear your number called, you have got to be ready,” Rowe said. “I felt like before the game, I was ready and locked in. Building off of your teammates too, if we are not all bringing the energy, then we are not in a good spot. So, just doing a better job encouraging the teammates to bring it, if somebody looks down, I say, ‘Lets bring it back up’.”

From last season to this season, Rowe is a completely different player. Now, as a junior, she’s one of the leaders of this team.

“I feel like I’ve grown a lot, even the confidence side of things,” Rowe mentioned. “Last year was the first time I was getting playing time, I felt like I was still timid. I was playing not to make a mistake, rather than playing to help my team win. This year, the coaching staff has helped me build that confidence and play more physically. I feel like my teammates have helped a lot in that too. It’s just my teammates having trust in me, and I have trust in them. It built my confidence a lot.”

And as for her relationship with Georgia Amoore, it was interesting to see how that would unfold before the season. Rowe elected to not transfer out, even when she knew Amoore would come in and be the starting point guard, but why?

Well, for one, she’s a Wildcat through and through, but she’s also very appreciative of the opportunity to learn from one of the best guards there is.

“It means everything that I am still at Kentucky, it has always been a dream to play here,” Rowe noted. “Even when I heard that Georgia was coming in, that thought [of transferring] never crossed my mind. Georgia is one of the best point guards in the country, and the fact that I get to learn from her and pick her brain it’s truly been a blessing for me even building my own game.”