Kentucky basketball is in a new era, welcoming in Mark Pope as its head coach. Pope is bring an exciting style of offense to Lexington. One thing about his system is the shooting, and this year, the Wildcats will have plenty of opportunities to let it fly from deep.
With the players Kentucky has on the roster, they fit Pope’s system well, and that will lead to plenty of open shots with the way his system works spreading the floor. Not only does having shooters really help with that, but so does having big men who can distribute the ball. Amari Williams is a big part of that in the front-court, and Pope talked about that when Williams signed with the Wildcats.
“He’s one of the special passers in college basketball. Amari can make all of the reads, all of the passes, all of the plays.”
– Mark Pope on Amari Williams
Kentucky will have shooters and playmakers all over the court, and that’s yet another reason to believe the Wildcats will be able to get plenty of space on offense to get those open shots. Shooters like Koby Brea, Travis Perry, Andrew Carr, and Kerr Kriisa as well, all have the ability to be playmakers with their impressive instincts on the offensive end. Plus, with the amount of threes assistant coach Cody Fueger says the team wants to shoot, it makes sense to have the majority of those being open shots, and Pope will do whatever he can to spread it out and have great ball-movement on offense. He talked about that in an interview with KSR in May.
“He wants them to play fast, free, and fearless, you know, offensively, where we’re trying to get up 35 threes a game, and if you turn down an open shot, you’re coming to sit on the bench. That’s how he coaches. He wants to give these guys tons of freedom, and wants them to play off their instincts.”
– Fueger on Pope’s offensive system
Shooting a lot of threes will be a big part of Kentucky’s identity this season, and the Wildcats have the right pieces to fit and excel in Mark Pope’s fast, exciting offense.
