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Kentucky Basketball: Where Are We Right Now?

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It’s December 17th and we’re nine games into the 2019-20 campaign for Kentucky basketball. If not for a ridiculous loss to Evansville, the Cats would be undefeated and No. 1. but, this isn’t a hypothetical post, so let’s not even think about that.

So far, this season is a bit of a reversal in terms of the flow of the offense and level of defense we see from this team.

The offense has been good, but the teams identity offensively still hasn’t been discovered yet, as well as the go to scorer. We all thought it was Tyrese Maxey after his performance at The Garden, but he has been extremely inconsistent since.

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On the other hand, the defense has been quite good. Only one team has scored over 70 points and Kentucky’s opponents have shot only 36% on average from the field, which ranks 13th among division one teams.

Who has been the best? I think it’s safe to say Ashton Hagans has been the best player on the roster.

Hagans is averaging 13.7 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 7 APG, and 1.8 SPG. Hagans scored 21 points this past Saturday against Georgia Tech and has combined for 30 assists in his last three games.

Who has been the worst? In terms of expectations, EJ Montgomery has been the worst.

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Montgomery was the one guy that everyone thought would make a huge jump and he hasn’t done that. He was injured at the beginning of the season, but hasn’t shown much improvement. He maybe even has regressed a little bit since Calipari claimed that “you can’t be good when you aren’t in shape” when talking about Montgomery’s lack of production.

If EJ steps up, and I think he will, this team will ascend to another level.

Montgomery is only averaging 9.8 PPG and 5.3 RPG. Against the competition UK has faced so far, that’s not good.

We could be getting Nate Sestina back soon. When asked about Sestina, Kenny Payne said, “I’m not sure exactly when he’ll be able to play, but he’s getting in better shape. My guess is we’ll see him in the next week or two.”

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Sestina did practice last night and is looking pretty nimble.

Dontaie Allen is practicing. After seemingly endless injuries that have kept Allen out of basketball for awhile, he is now back practicing.

“Dontaie is practicing, and typically when he practices and goes hard he’s on a modified practice. If he goes hard, he has to take the next day off.” Payne said on this weeks call-in show. “He’s getting more comfortable, but we need to take it slow with him, let him get back and healthy. We don’t want to put him out there at 75-80%.” Payne said.

What’s ahead? The Cats face Utah tonight in Vegas at 11 p.m. ET which sucks, but we’ll all in this together, right?

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After that, Kentucky will face fifth ranked Ohio State, also in Vegas, in the CBS Sports Classic on Saturday. Then Louisville comes to town for a potential top-five matchup.

Back-to-back tough games where we will really see what this team is made of. Maybe the toughest teams the Cats will face all year. Then they hit SEC play.

If Kentucky goes 3-0 in this stretch, they will be ranked second, if not No. 1 again, and have a ton of momentum going into SEC play. But, I think they will drop one if not two of these games.

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Men's Basketball

Mark Pope’s Honesty Is a Rarity in College Basketball, “He’s Not Going to Sell You BS”

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Players say Kentucky coach Mark Pope's honesty and authenticity is what separates him from other college basketball coaches.
Chet White | UK Athletics

College basketball has changed with the advent of NIL and the transfer portal. In some ways for the better, and in others for the worse. That said, when money is introduced, it can complicate things, and even give opportunities for people to deceive young athletes.

It has already been seen in college football, as multiple athletes have opted to sit out the remainder of their seasons after not receiving NIL money they were originally promised. According to Kentucky transfer guard Kerr Kriisa, it is happening in college basketball too.

“In the college industry, kids are getting lied to,” Kriisa told Kentucky Insider. “They’re getting sold something that’s not true, that’s not there.”

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As of now, there are few bylaws and guidelines that the NCAA can enforce, leading to the current landscape. However, Mark Pope is separating himself.

“With Coach Pope, that’s not the case,” he added. “He’s honest. He doesn’t tell you something that’s not there. He’s not going to sell you some BS. He’s going to tell you how things are. That’s the thing I appreciate most, especially in this college industry. That is a very big thing about Coach Pope.”

Pope presents himself as honest and authentic, and that is apparent very quickly upon meeting him. Kriisa suggests that is why he has had early recruiting success.

Kentucky’s most recent commitment Acaden Lewis said as much following his accountment this past weekend.

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“[Mark] Pope, he was in the hood with me,” Lewis said. “He came to my barber shop and everything. It felt like a home. Felt like somewhere I should be.”

Talking to the father of another Kentucky prospect, “Everything is super personal with him [Pope]. It’s super cool.”

That authenticity is why Big Blue Nation and recruits have fallen in love with Pope. Now, will it lead to success? Time will tell.

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Mark Pope Named Most Impressive Coach of Opening Day of College Basketball

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Jordan Prather | Imagn

What a Kentucky coaching debut for Mark Pope, as the Wildcats routed Wright State 103-62 to tip off the season.

The 41-point margin of victory was not only the second-largest margin of victory in a Kentucky coach’s debut, only behind Adolph Rupp, but also a number of divine intervention. Of course, the margin matched Pope’s jersey number from his playing days at Kentucky.

“41, really special to me,” Pope said after the game. “That is really sweet. Kentucky magic, ain’t nothing like it.”

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Kentucky fans weren’t the only group impressed, as ESPN’s Myron Medcalf named Mark Pope the most impressive coach of day one of this college basketball season.

Medcalf writes:

Mark Pope kicked off his first year at Kentucky impressively. In the first half of his team’s matchup against Wright State, the Wildcats made 58% of their shots, 44% of their 3s. Five players had at least eight points before the break. Kentucky finished with 103 points. Jaxson Robinson is a potential future pro, but the program doesn’t have a clear star yet. Which is OK, as long as UK continues to play selflessly in the former BYU coach’s offensive scheme that spreads the floor — 50% of BYU’s shots last season were 3s — and encourages players to push the pace and attack the rim. It’s a fun style.

Of course, this is a long season, but the vibes are high and the excitement is building ahead of Kentucky’s first real test of the season as they take on Duke in the Champion’s Classic next week.

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Mark Pope Provides Promising Injury Update on Amari Williams

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Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope provides an injury update on Amari Williams ahead of the Wildcats season opener against Wright State.
Jordan Prather | Imagn

Kentucky tips off the season on Monday against Wright State, however, they could be down an important player.

Amari Williams, who is expected to be the starting big man for the Wildcats this season, suffered a hip injury just minutes into Kentucky’s exhibition against Minnesota State last week. While the injury did not look too severe at the moment, his limp to the locker room was worrisome.

“I think he’s fine,” Mark Pope said after the game. “X-rays came back solid but we’ll get some more imaging tomorrow. We’re hopeful he’ll be back soon.”

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On Friday, Pope provided another update.

“Imaging was really good, really positive. He’s day-to-day right now,” Pope said. “He won’t do anything – you know, just do free throws today. We’re hopeful that he’ll be back soon but we’ll kind of proceed with all the caution and urgency that we possibly can.”

Long term, this is a positive update. However, in the short term, Williams could be out for Kentucky’s first couple of regular season games, depending on how cautious he and team are being. We saw Kerr Kriisa sit out for the Blue-White event and Kentucky’s first exhibition following a “tweak” in practice.

The sooner the better for a return. Kentucky will certainly hope to be at 100% as they take on seventh-ranked Duke next week in the Champion’s Classic.

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