Brown: Mark Pope’s Kentucky basketball system works. Why that’s great news for UK players

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Remember when being labeled a “system” player was a bad thing? Kentucky basketball’s Mark Pope has turned that old-school knock into something else entirely.

Pope’s system has made his players better by helping to enhance skills that, prior to their time at UK this season, laid dormant.

The ball keeps moving as the players do. The options are limitless. It’s why the Wildcats lead the nation in scoring offense, averaging 91.3 points per game, and are eighth nationally with 19.5 assists per game.

Sometimes they play five out, sometimes they plant Amari Williams in the lane, either way the spacing and fluidity of the offense keeps the lane from being cluttered and allows them to run it efficiently.

This is the kind of innovation that former UK coach John Calipari bristled at making during his tenure, and he hasn’t really changed now that he’s at Arkansas. His offense and desire to play more traditionally with two bigs had become stale in today’s landscape.

The college basketball analytics site EvanMiya.com has the Cats ranked as the seventh most efficient offense nationally. That those offensive numbers come from a group of individuals who by and large weren’t special at their previous stops speaks to just how great Pope has made them.

Pope should probably be thankful that all the players with eligibility remaining under Calipari last season either turned pro or transferred. Pope didn’t have to try to squeeze any square pegs into his rotation.

Reserve guard Koby Brea was already a dangerous 3-point shooter at Dayton; in four years, his shooting percentage behind the arc was 43.4 — including 49.8 last season. He couldn’t possibly get any better, right?

The shots Brea is getting in Pope’s system have elevated his 3-point shooting percentage to 53.1 through their first 11 games. And he’s doing it averaging 5.8 3-point attempts per game.

Take anybody in the Cats’ starting five and there’s an area that playing for Pope has helped them improve.

For guards Otega Oweh…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/brown-mark-popes-kentucky-basketball-101634447.html

Author : The Courier Journal

Publish date : 2024-12-17 10:16:00

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