One of the biggest things when thinking about Mark Pope’s offensive system is the shooting. The up-tempo, exciting brand of basketball brings an emphasis on shooting the ball. With Kentucky’s roster, it’s safe to say the Wildcats are not going to lack in that category.
The Wildcats have plenty of weapons to do just that. Koby Brea is one of the most efficient shooters in the country. Last season at Dayton, he saw his numbers skyrocket to an unbelievably efficient percentage. He shot 51.2% overall from the field, as well as 49.8% from three-point range. He certainly could be Kentucky’s best shooter next season. Travis Perry will also be one of Kentucky’s best shooters. As the state’s all-time leading scorer, Perry is 2nd all-time in made threes in Kentucky high school basketball with 712 made in his career at Lyon County. He’ll be bringing that to Lexington.
It’s not just the guards who will be threats from long range this season. Andrew Carr could be the perfect stretch-four and will thrive in Mark Pope’s system as the typical modern NBA big man. Last season at Wake Forest, the 6-foot-10 big shot very efficiently, with 52.6% from the field and 37.1% from deep. All of these weapons begs the question of will Kentucky lead the entire country in three-point attempts per game this season?
Back in May, Kentucky assistant coach Cody Fueger talked about how the Wildcats are looking to put up a high amount of threes each game when talking about how Mark Pope coaches in an interview with KSR.
“Offensively, 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. So that’s a huge thing for us offensively. Just playing fast, playing the transition.”
– Cody Fueger on Pope’s coaching style.
That amount of threes is a lot of attempts for any team, but the Wildcats certainly have the pieces to do it. In addition to the three players mentioned above, Kerr Kriisa and Jaxson Robinson are a couple of more guards who are definitely capable of letting it fly from deep. With that amount of attempts and just how efficient a number of Kentucky’s players are from long range, there’s a good chance the Wildcats will even be one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country, not just with attempts.
Kentucky looks to have makers from three-point land, not just shooters, and Big Blue Nation will get a taste of that in a couple of weeks at Big Blue Madness.
