Mark Pope believes in the analytics of basketball: he believes that the numbers tell him what he needs to know about how to coach his team. But I have a real question about how those analytics dictate the single worst thing he has done while at Kentucky, substituting players in and out at the wrong time.
After Kentucky lost to Florida, Pope said that 'fatigue' was a major cause of the missed free throws Kentucky has been seeing lately. I dove deep into the numbers here to show that minutes per game doesn't mean less effectiveness from the free-throw line. I won't get too deep here, but if you'd like to check that out, you can do so by clicking here.
And now, after Kentucky loses a stunning home game to Georgia, just the 5th ever win for the Bulldogs in Rupp, Pope is again banging the fatigue drum:
"We gotta find a way to get our guys' minutes down. Probably can't have Otega at 38 and DA at 36. It's just 'cause our actual performance suffers as those guys get fatigued."
How is it that other players at other programs have no problem playing 35 minutes at an elite level? Cameron Boozer plays over 32 minutes per game on the season, and that is with several blowouts. He leads Duke in nearly every major category. I'm not saying that Oweh has as much talent as Boozer, but he should be just as effective from minute 1 to minute 35.
Look at how tonight's game played out. The Cats opened up really well and then began substituting. And from that point on, Georgia was the better team.
Defense isn't the reprieve either
If Kentucky were playing a high-tempo press with traps and multiple efforts, I could at least see defense being a reason. But the Cats are a team that plays trail technique on most screens and don't trap unless it is at the end of a game, and they need a turnover.
There is no excuse that a senior who was elected Player of the Year in the preseason should be struggling to play 38 minutes.
I want to say that I am not advocating for Oweh to play 38 minutes a night, but sometimes he may have to. On nights like that, as a coach, you have to work the clock to your advantage. Sub him out near each TV timeout, buy yourself a couple of free minutes that way.
Excuses aren't helping
I just think that Mark Pope is trying to make sense of a roster and season that don't make much sense. They are super talented, but the effort is inconsistent from minute to minute. This team has all you need to be really good, yet they routinely play poorly.
So, I think Pope is just reaching for something he can pinpoint the struggles on, and for him, the numbers are the easiest coping mechanism. But those numbers aren't helping; these players aren't responding with the urgency you would expect them to show.
There is still a real chance they miss the NCAA Tournament, a low chance, but still it's there. They can not afford to coast, but they are. The excuses aren't helping, but I am unsure what will help this team. Maybe this is just who they are. Talented but flawed.