By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Kentucky coach Mark Pope has enjoyed watching his team come together during exhibition wins over Kentucky Wesleyan and Minnesota State.
“It’s been fun to watch pieces work together,” Pope said Thursday. “Even in the two exhibitions where we just need to grow right now, that’s super important to us (and it) gives us some data points.”
Some of the early data has shown that the Wildcats have the ability to shoot the ball — 34 3-pointers in two games — and produce massive scoring runs. In the win over Minnesota State earlier this week, Kentucky scored 17 straight that led to the decisive blowout over the Mavericks.
“We hope that’s a defining feature of our team,” Pope said. “And two things about it. One is the first part of that our guys are super resilient and we have a team that can go fix things. We’re a veteran team, we see the game, we understand the game, we can go fix things. Then the second part is we know it’s always coming.”
Pope often falls back on long-time NBA coach George Karl’s philosophy when it comes to overcoming shooting obstacles during any given time.
“I thought he was brilliant at not being a scoreboard watcher, but being an energy reader,” Pope said. “… This idea of like knowing the energy is right in this building. We’re going to fix some things and then this is going to be a big-time run. Come in and let’s go. Let’s go.”
Going into the team’s season-opener against Wright State set for Monday, Pope said his players are in the right frame of mind and eager to get the season underway.
“We have guys that are humble and curious, want to be good, and want to get better,” the Kentucky coach said. “We’re going to absorb a bunch of frustration for sure, and we take some shots, too, from time to time. But I think it’s a good group, and I think it’s a group that has some resilience.”
Fun with fans
Pope encourages his team to interact with the fans and wants the team’s contingent to feel a connection to “Kentucky’s team.”
“We’re blessed,” Pope said. “We had more fans show up to games than any team in the country last year, so we’re in this together. It’s one of the things that makes BBN special. Every touchpoint we can have to to keep us together and bring us together is really important.”
Williams update
Pope provided an update on Amari Williams, who suffered an undisclosed leg injury in the team’s final exhibition game earlier this week. he said preliminary “imaging was really good and positive.”
“He won’t do anything, you know, just do free throws today,” Pope said. “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.”
Williams is currently listed as day-to-day.
“We’ll kind of proceed with all the caution and urgency that we possibly can,” Pope said.
Gametracker: Wright State at Kentucky, 7 p.m., Monday. TV/Radio: ESPNU, UK Radio Network.