Kentucky has flown through the exhibition games and blew out Wright State in their opening contest, but Mark Pope says he hasn't seen enough improvement, a stat that he calls "really important to how we play." The stat he will be watching closely against Bucknell on Saturday is offensive rebounding.
He hasn't liked how they have looked on the offensive glass in any of their contests, and he wants to see a noticeable improvement against Bucknell. In his weekly press conference, he said that against Wright State, "We didn't make much progress there." It was one of the few stats in which Wright State beat Kentucky. The Raiders had 11, while the Wildcats only recorded 7.
There's an argument to be made that Kentucky missed way fewer shots than Wright State did. Kentucky ended the game with a 60% field goal percentage, while Wright State only had 35.3%. Therefore, there were way more opportunities for the Raiders to record an offensive rebound. Yet, Pope knows they can be better there.
Mark Pope wants the Wildcats to be much better on the offensive glass.
What's the target for the Cats according to Pope?
Mark Pope says he would like the team to be a 30% offensive rebound team.
— Wyatt Huff (@Wildcat_wave) November 7, 2024
Wants to target 14 offensive rebounds a game.
Pope wants to see 14 offensive rebounds a game, which would be double what they put up against Wright State. He also has that 30% offensive rebound goal in mind. If you aren't sure what he means by 30% offensive rebound, it's a stat that measures a team's ability to get offensive rebounds based on how many opportunities they had to get them.
The best teams in the country last year ended around 30% in this category, and Texas A&M led the way with a 41% rate. Kentucky, in game one against Wright Stat, was at 25.9%, which is not where Pope wants the team to be. If you are curious, BYU last year under Pope was at 31% exactly. That's his target, and this team is even more talented than any of his squads at BYU, so he knows they can achieve it.
While watching the game on Saturday against Bucknell, pay attention along with Mark Pope to the offensive rebounding.