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Why Kentucky is The Most Resilient Team in College Basketball

In spite of constant troubles and challenges, this year’s Kentucky team always manage to respond in overwhelming fashion.

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Chet White | UK Athletics

On paper, Kentucky’s resume bears three rather dire losses. A single-digit drop (albeit on the road) to Clemson, a 20-point loss to Ohio State on a neutral floor, and a 13-point loss at conference opponent Georgia; each opponent was unranked, and unfavored, going in.

And there truly is no way around it: those are bad losses, indeed. But the Wildcats’ subsequent response after each of the three has done more to define the team and their identity going forward than any loss ever could have. It’s not about the boys in blue and white falling, it’s about the manner in which they get up.

Battling Adversity

The first instance came directly after the aforementioned Clemson game. Kentucky found themselves traveling once more to a “neutral” (only technically so) floor against Gonzaga in their home state of Seattle, down 16 at halftime. Not to mention they were missing their starting floor general, Lamont Butler.

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Not long into the second half, Kerr Kriisa, Butler’s backup, went down too, with Kentucky still down double digits at the time. For a lot of teams, that’d be where you cut your losses and warm up the bus.

But the battered ‘Cats pressed on, made multiple runs, and beat the Bulldogs 90-89 in an instant overtime classic. Undoubtedly a signature win, though one that many discarded when Kentucky dropped the Ohio State game in a blowout shortly after.

That is, until they topped then sixth-ranked Florida at home, 106-100, in a shootout just two games later.

Then… well, you get the picture. Bad loss to Georgia, big win over Mississippi State. The only pattern with this team is their unpredictability, but three of Kentucky’s four ranked wins (they’re 4-0 in such games) have come off their losses, and two of them have been away from home.

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Come Together

In the press conference following the Florida win, Mark Pope was asked what it takes for the Wildcats to be able to string together multiple, lengthy unanswered scoring runs, the likes of which have kept them alive game-in and game-out with their backs against the wall.

“This is gonna sound soft, but I’m a big believer that all my guys snuck into Kerr Kriisa’s apartment, after celebrating his birthday, to go scare him and surprise him… my guy is struggling right now because he can’t play right now, and it’s killing him.”

He continued, “They all snuck into his apartment, like little kids, to go surprise him, and I actually think those runs come from a group like that.”

“I think it comes from being together.”

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“Together” is an understatement. The team currently sits at seventh in the country in assists per game (18.6,) second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9,) and third in scoring offense (89.2 ppg.) Togetherness off the floor translates to cohesion on it, which translates to level heads and steely reactions to strong efforts from the opposition.

The Cohesive Cats, if you will.

One More Round

Every time they’re knocked down, the team resurfaces with a vengeance, notching one Quad 1A win after another, erasing (most of) the negativity left behind by their falling short in previous duels.

As a result, Kentucky has built one of the most impressive resumes in the nation. Would the team like to have the missed chances back? Undoubtedly, but if those losses bore lessons that translated to wins that will simply mean more in the long run, perhaps they were worth it all along.

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You’ll be hard pressed to find a team with more grit than the Wildcats going forward, and in a conference and brutal and demanding as the SEC, there are few qualities worth more. The Big Blue Nation should take confidence in a team that trades patience for payoff time and time again.

Will they fall once more? You bet. But just as surely, they’ll ring that bell and be ready for the next round every time. As ironic as it is in the wake of their previous coaching regime, the 24-25′ Kentucky Wildcats are built for March in every conceivable way. Only now, we don’t have to wait until then for them to prove it.

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Men's Basketball

Kentucky Basketball in Mark Pope’s Inaugural Season: Expectations vs. Reality

The weight the Wildcats carry from expectations is both expected and unfair; where should fans, and analysts, draw the line?

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Kentucky head coach Mark Pope coaching from the sidelines at Rupp Arena.
Jordan Prather | IMAGN

At 15-7 (4-5 in the SEC) Mark Pope’s inaugural Wildcats roster are in chase for a competitive seed come tournament time, despite currently suffering their first serious losing streak of the season. While some fans have voiced frustrations with the team’s sporadic output, others have defended the unit, pointing back at what the program had become in recent years and, from that, drawing hope for the future.

The Assignment

The Kentucky job comes with lofty expectations attached; Pope has admitted that understanding on multiple occasions. He “understands the assignment,” which is to ultimately hang championship banners.

Can this year’s team do just that? While not explicitly dominant, they’re far too dangerous to write off. At best, the 24-25′ ‘Cats are one of the most prolific offensive teams in the country, brandishing the ability to go on lengthy runs and flip the script of any given game in an instant.

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In more Quad 1 wins than not, they’ve overcome double-digit deficits. This is not a team that coasts at any point; the paw stays on the pedal.

Even in their most recent loss to Ole Miss, Kentucky battled back from down 27 at one point to cut the lead to 11. Now, as Mark Pope himself says, there are no “moral victories” at Kentucky; a loss is a loss. But this is a Kentucky team that swings until the bell rings with no exceptions.

Are there areas in which they struggle? Undoubtedly, seven losses say as much. The defensive metrics during their recent cold stretch specifically bear worrying numbers.

But the team has also endured great adversity already; from on-court issues, like multiple pivotal players battling injuries, to off-court dilemmas, such as (primarily) unbalanced expectations flying in from all sides and landing squarely on the guy’s shoulders.

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An Age-Old Standard

It’s easy to apply the “Kentucky Standard,” if you will, to any group that rolls through Rupp Arena. But so many have been quick to forget their mindset going into this year.

Sentiments such as “I’ll take a bad season or two if it means the team is better off in the long run,” or “I don’t care if we lose our recruits, I’d rather have somebody who knows the X’s and O’s,” were common and constant in the period between Calipari’s departure and Pope’s subsequent arrival.

Even after Pope was hired, delivered the immediately infamous press conference and pieced a team together out of the transfer portal, analysts across the board had already counted Kentucky out of higher contention.

Growing Pains

Not to mention the track record of first-year SEC coaches in the past being equivalent to Pope’s current progress, if not measurably worse.

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In Rick Barnes first season at Tennessee, he finished with a 15-19 record. Nate Oats was 16-15 in his first go-around with Alabama, and Bruce Pearl, who currently helms the top-ranked team in the nation, went 15-20 in year one at Auburn.

With 15 wins under his thumb already, not to mention the preseason complications he faced with building a roster in so little time, Mark Pope has certainly exceeded expectations set by bygone examples.

Above the Line

Further, at this point, about two-thirds of the way through their schedule, Kentucky just recently fell out of the AP Top 10 for the first time since week three after earning residence there within the season’s first few games. Working through SEC play, they’re sitting in the middle-to-bottom of the pack with a ton of opportunities still to come, including two straight home games directly ahead.

Coming into the season, Kentucky was projected by many as a bottom-feeding SEC squad, not to mention their barely slotting into the AP Top 25 to open the season.

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While this doesn’t mean that Kentucky will certainly finish above those metrics, it does mean that, to this point, they’re outperforming the general expectations of the college basketball populous.

If anyone had said, going into this season, that Pope would manage wins against Duke and Gonzaga, two programs with highly touted coaches and star-studded classes, they’d have likely been met with a chorus of scoffs and wishful eye-rolls. Not to mention in-conference triumphs over ranked teams like Florida, Mississippi State and Texas A&M.

Yet following that unexpected success, the bar suddenly rose from “win the easy games and compete in the big ones” to “win every game, period.” It’s a disconnect that has cost this team credit that they’ve earned.

Keep the Faith

Now, this conversation may look a little different if Kentucky continues to skid and, in the worst possible world, loses at home to South Carolina this weekend.

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But for now, this is a team with their best days ahead of them and more than a few season-defining wins behind them already. They deserve the chance to regroup, get healthy (that’s the kicker) and take the last stretch of this season to task.

In all truthfulness, I think a lot of folks would be happy to make it out of the first weekend in March. Unless another Oakland-level disaster ensues in a few months, the pitchforks would be better off left alone.

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Men's Basketball

Lamont Butler Returns to Non-Contact Practice, Return Grows Closer

Mark Pope finally had some good news for Kentucky fans regarding Lamont Butler’s injury in his press conference on Thursday.

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Kentucky guard Lamont Butler is announced as a starter in Rupp Arena.
Elliott Hess | UK Athletics

After missing three straight games with little to no information on his condition, Lamont Butler has returned to non-contact practice on the basketball court.

Even before he started to sit, Butler dealt with what is, to the best of anyone’s knowledge, a shoulder injury. Mark Pope, who is self-admittedly “conservative” when it comes to the health of his players, confirmed Butler’s return to the practice floor in his press conference on Thursday.

“He is going to be on the court in a non-contact situation today, and we will see how that feels.”

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With the Wildcats currently on a skid, losing four of their last five games, any news on Butler’s potential comeback is good news. Having a physical, experienced starting guard like him has proven crucial to the team’s success in the SEC.

Yet to bring him back preemptively and risk aggravating his injury would defeat the purpose.

“We would like to get him back in a position where we have the best chance of not having another setback,” said Pope.

In games that he has played this season, Butler averages 13 points, three rebounds and five assists for the ‘Cats. Having already lost Kerr Kriisa, the team’s backup point guard, before Butler also went down, Kentucky’s struggles have become unfortunately understandable.

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And while they’ll likely have to find a way to beat South Carolina this Saturday at home without him, any game from next week’s home matchup with Tennessee onward seems like a possibility for “PG1’s” return.

The Big Blue Nation will continue to monitor the situation in hopes that Butler returns sooner rather than later, and that this Kentucky team can get things back on track in time for March.

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Men's Basketball

Mark Pope Channeled Some Rick Pitino After Frustrating Loss to Ole Miss, Cutting Hand, “There May Have Been Some Completely Destroyed Furniture in the Locker Room”

After losing four out of their last five, Mark Pope and Kentucky have become frustrated with falling behind.

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Jordan Prather | Imagn

On his radio show following Kentucky’s blowout road loss to Ole Miss, Mark Pope admitted to a caller that he and the team grew frustrated with the result at halftime, where Kentucky found themselves trailing 31-54.

The fan mentioned blood on Pope’s hand and sleeve as he came out of the locker room to a 23-point deficit.

“There may have been some completely destroyed furniture in the locker room,” he said candidly.

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The Wildcats’ falling short to the Rebels on the road came directly on the heels of their gut-wrenching home loss to Arkansas. With injuries mounting and pressure from fans building, it’s easy to see how Pope and the team were heated.

Yet for Pope, it’s a much simpler dilemma.

The Big Blue Standard

“We have a really high standard at the University of Kentucky,” he said. “And we’re not playing to that standard.”

Even in a dry stretch, Mark Pope understands the assignment, and it’s clearly eating at him to fail that esteemed standard. Still, he emphasized not becoming “emotionally belligerent” in his anger, elaborating, “This game begs you to lash out at your players but that has limited short-term returns.”

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Pope has become known for his mild mannerisms and a philosophy with the visible absence of anger, but the strain that the ‘Cats current losing streak has put on him and the team seems to be testing that mindset.

At 15-7 (4-5 in the SEC) Kentucky has slowly trickled down throughout both the conference and national standings. With two home matchups on deck next, Coach Pope and the team will have a good opportunity to get things back on track before March.

Injuries or not, home or away, the time to win is now, and Mark Pope simply expressing his understanding of that knowledge goes a long way. His next test comes in Rupp Arena on Saturday, Feb. 8, against the conference-worst South Carolina Gamecocks.

A must-win, if there ever was one.

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