When speaking to the media on Thursday ahead of the matchup at Vanderbilt on Saturday, Mark Pope talked about a lot of the things the Wildcats have been working on. Ball-screen defense and fouls for the most part are things that were most-notable in the Alabama loss in particular, as the Crimson Tide got to the line a lot, attempting 34 free-throws in the game, and the Wildcats had no answer.
“There are some numbers that are concerning to us. Clearly the free throw rate is a real problem for us right now. Two-point field goal percentage is a real problem for us. Rim-shot percentage is a real problem for us. Rim-shot selection is actually pretty good for us, but it’s offset because we’re fouling. You don’t wave a magic wand and all of a sudden fix some of this, but we’re gonna make progress. We’ll make progress throughout the season. I feel like we have some pretty clear spaces to attack right now, some really clear, specific words that we’re using and themes that we’re chasing, and I think we’ll get better. Our guys are pretty good at getting better.”
– Pope on areas to improve.
When Pope has challenged his guys to get better at something, so far they have done it this season, and an example is rebounding and physicality. Kentucky got pushed around in their loss at Georgia, but they have been up for the physical challenges ever since. Now, they’ve got some more things to dig deep on as SEC play continues to roll on.