Mark Pope wants to see Amari Williams and his teammates gather more offensive rebounds against Bucknell. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky’s 3-point shooting and fast pace are two facets of coach Mark Pope’s offense that fans really like.
However, the first-year head coach wants to see a more productive offensive rebounding team than what Kentucky has been so far this season going into today’s game against Bucknell.
“We like to be a 30-percent offensive rebounding percentage team,” Pope said at his weekly press conference. “We’d like to be that consistently.
“If we could be a 14 offensive rebound per game team, it would be extraordinary. We’re just not living in that space at all right now.”
Kentucky out-rebounded Wright State 41-32 Monday in the official season opener but managed just seven offensive boards. To make matters worse, Kentucky gave up 11 offensive rebounds to Wright State.
“It’s something we’re really focused on and we will make it, we’re just trying to figure out how to get there,” Pope said about the offensive rebounding. “Ideally, we would like to keep teams under 10 offensive rebounds. Those are goals that we’re working on.”
Bucknell had an 85-73 win over Delaware State where Noah Williamson had 19 points and 12 rebounds to open the season and then beat Southern Indiana 75-69 while Williamson went off for 32 points and nine rebounds.
“They run really good actions and have a good sense of what they’re doing. They have some explosive scorers, they shoot it from all five positions. A good team. It will be another good challenge for us,” Pope said.
And a challenge for the Cats to hit the offensive board the way Pope wants.
“It’s really important to how we play. It gives us staying power, it gives us confidence in all of the other things we do,” Pope said. “Our presence on the offensive glass and our consistency on the defensive glass is really important for us.”
11 Responses
30% offensive rebounding rate is too low. It should be above 35%, and to be elite, 40% or higher.
The 75% Defensive rebounding rate is good, but can be a little stronger.
Yes, definitely true on all counts.
Vs Bucknell, UK hit the glass & grabbed OR with a passion. Williams had 5 as a part of his 2nd double-double in a row. With Pope & his excellent active assistants helping Williams, he will cut out turnovers and become a nationally recognized big man as UK travels the road to the FF where #9 will be waiting for UK to take it!u
Can everyone say I was right? About Perry and Noah? Redshirt season? Much better to play 4 years than 3 years. Plus they will probably dominate as Redshirt juniors and seniors!? Was I right?
Terry you were right, but this is about the 10th post of you crowing about it. Don’t you think it’s time to move on to more positive posts about the CATS?
It’s nice to bask in the limelight a little, and since UK is on a roll starting this season, I’ll give Terry Wren a little leeway to tout his ability to evaluate.
Thanks all the push back I received over my comments is the only reason I am basking in my correct statements. I just had to make sure you were paying attention!! Its all in fun man. Different opinions is what makes the world go around. The thing about us Kentucky fans is I can be right this time but next time I will be wrong and you will be right. Little Baron I appreciate that. I love commenting and seeing the comments on here. We are all seasoned Kentucky fans that’s why Larry’s page is my go to page. I know I’m going to hear what’s going on from someone who loves Kentucky probably more than me even tho I’ve been watching Kentucky games since I was a baby with my dad. The comments and articles on here are much better than KSR. I’m not a Matt Jones fan. As much shit as he talked about ol Rick Pitino then acted like it was his lifelong dream to interview him is just a shade of how fake Matt Jones really is.
Thanks for the kind words Terry
Tough one to swallow. Of course the season isn’t over. I think Pope is still watching to see if they will break through and get comfortable in the college game or if he will get with them and discuss the advantage to redshirting. I don’t think either one would transfer because of being redshirted. They are real KY guys!
So, it does seem they might be redshirted, & if so, you were right.
UK is LOADED with so much experienced talent including some very valuable athletes such as Williams who is vital to winning #9. UK as a team is getting better and already impressive.
What happens if Perry & Noah drain 5 threes each in the last 8 minutes to come from behind and beat Duke as well as a few assists each? Well, that may be a tall order… but some may be dreaming big 🙃
I would be very happy to be proven wrong lol. Remember I love Kentucky basketball and I love even more when a kid is from Kentucky and plays his dreams out. I just knew with the experience we have it would be hard for them to really see meaningful minutes. They have great talent I just don’t think they are ready for the SEC. Next year will be there year to get experience from game competition. It will still be a work in progress next year, but I would love nothing more than Perry and Noah to score 30 points on duke and they probably will in 2026.! I can see this Baron them being the leading scorers for 2 years if they redshirt. I think they both reach 1,000 points in there careers here as well.. Im just happy we got what we wanted Coach Calorie out of here.
Just to be clear…
One (or 2) game does not define a season
Likewise…
One (or 2) game does not define a player.
Coach Pope sees the benefit of slowly & carefully putting Perry & Noah into action. These are 2 pure shooters with KY roots deeper than big shady oak trees around My Old Kentucky Home!
I still believe that at some point in December, these 2 awesome players will be getting 5 to 10 minutes and it will steadily grow into 12 to 15 by mid-January. A big screen for these guys will result in 45% 3 point shooting. Perry is the guy you want on the floor with the ball in his hands when a team trailing is fouling UK. Who else would anyone want at the line.
On the other hand, I give Pope the latitude to decide on what he and the players agree to do.
So, remember…
Jeff Sheppard redshirted and the next season he helped lead UK to the 1998 Championship as the MVP – and was a key part of the player-coaches who rallied the team after being harnessed with the PLOW during the regular season.
Yes I remember when Jeff redshirted. Whose minutes do you think they will take off this team? 12-15 minutes? Lol maybe next year. 5-10 mins for Noah maybe??? 5-10 mins for Perry no way! We have to many guards now! Maybe Noah and Chandler trade roles? That’s a possibility but not likely.