Mark Pope prides himself on high-scoring offenses, but it's unclear just how far that alone can take a team in the SEC. In an appearance on The Field of 68, Pope dove into his biggest concern with this year's Kentucky team, and it may have the Big Blue Nation feeling weary about SEC competition.
"Everybody in college basketball has gotten so big and physical... That's not us right now," Pope began. "We are long, fast, and skilled... We have some togetherness that's going to translate to toughness for us, but we’re going to be challenged in terms of brute strength and physicality.”
Not exactly what Cats fans want to hear, especially at this late stage in the offseason. Pope also made sure to note his team's shooting ability, but again, will that be enough when Florida is bigger and stronger than Kentucky in positions three through five?
Kentucky is Looking for a Toughness Antidote This Offseason
We won't know until the Gators and Wildcats butt heads in... March. Okay, we'll probably see this issue come to a head before then. But Pope and his Wildcats may be able to avoid it entirely depending on how the rest of this offseason pans out.
With Pope and his staff "aggressively looking at every opportunity" on the recruiting front right now, it's clear that Kentucky won't settle if they don't have to. Both Mark Mitchell and Jaxon Kohler have come up as possible final pickups, and either of those guys could advance the Cats' physical profile.
All the same, you can't exactly stake a roster on who they may yet add. Looking at this Kentucky squad as they already stand, it's hard not to see what Pope is getting at here. Still, with a few tweaks to the rotation, perhaps Kentucky could fill these gaps internally.
Tweaking Kentucky's Rotation to Address the Physicality Issue
These changes could be as simple as, say, Justin McBride starting over Ousmane N'Diaye, due to his bulkier build. Maybe Coach Pope finds a way to play Malachi Moreno and Franck Kepnang together down the stretch, depending on who Kentucky is faced off against.
That sounds like a spacing nightmare, but it would get the necessary size to bruise around in the paint out on the floor. The Wildcats have a handful of options to try if things get out of hand, at least.
At the end of the day, at least Pope is being honest about what he sees in this group. If Kam Williams can get healthy there's a lot to like about this roster still, even if another addition isn't made. Although, we're watching those trends closely.
Add us as a preferred source on Google