There has been a lot of talk about Kentucky basketball players not giving effort. Some of it brought on by their own players suggesting it. Mark Pope pushed back hard against the common narrative that his team is losing due to a lack of heart or effort, directly challenging the assumption every fan and opponent makes after a blowout.
"I didn't feel like Michigan State... our guys didn't play hard. I actually didn't feel that... I felt like we didn't play us."
That seems to be a common response for Pope. When players break away from the principles they have been taught, it is not an effort issue, but an attention issue.
The numbers reveal the analytics of effort
Pope dismissed the standard "play harder" post-loss mantra as an emotional crutch. He doesn't think playing harder will fix anything, it has to be playing with more focus. He revealed the deep analytical insight his staff uses to weigh out how to fix issues:
"We're doing breakdown now of everything. We have sprints per minute and we have accelerations per minute and accelerations over the whole game."
The data showed them what was missing was mental, not physical, "I do think that we've been... frustrated with our... focus defensively. Not our effort, but our focus."
Pope claimed the true issue is focus and distractability, which leads them to "lose the simple principles" and causes "offensive slippage massively after the first eight or nine minutes." This contrasts sharply with the season average of being ranked #34 in FGM/Game (31.4) and #49 in Shooting Efficiency (1.201). These stats that show high offensive potential when focused. The issue isn't low effort; it's losing the plan.
That lack of focus is something that can't happen as much as it does. So, maybe switch the message up?
Drew Holbrook is an avid Kentucky fan who has been covering the Cats for over 10 years. In his free time he enjoys downtime with his family and Premier League soccer. You can find him on X here. Micah 7:7. #UptheAlbion