Vicky Graff Photo
Kentucky basketball coaches, players and fans are used to late night starts for key games. However, this time coach Mark Pope and his team have a unique challenge — an 11 a.m. tipoff against Florida in Rupp Arena Saturday.
That early start can create unique problems just like a 10 p.m. EST against Gonzaga in Seattle did when Pope had late practice times to get players acclimated to playing late at night. Now he’s doing the opposite to get ready for the unbeaten Gators.
“We’ve pushed all of our stuff early, so we’re kind of simulating a little bit of a game day vibe timewise,” Pope said Thursday. “We pushed it early Monday because we had a 2 o’clock start (vs. Brown), which was early for us. And then today and tomorrow, we’re pushing it early also, so the guys should be pretty used to it.
“Hopefully by starting early enough this morning, the guys will get to bed a little bit earlier tonight and kind of get on us the right schedule.”
The sixth-ranked Gators — UK’s third top 10 foe this season — are 13-0 going into SEC play. They have four players led by guard Walter Clayton (17.2 points per game) averaging in double figures, are shooting 47 percent overall from the field and 36.6 percent from 3, and scoring 87.3 points per game.
Kentucky will have six more games against top 10 teams in SEC plays and 11 matchups with ranked teams waiting during SEC play.
“I think our guys believe that we can grow into a great team,” Pope said. “It’s not just a whimsical belief — the nice thing is there’s a little bit of teeth to it. We know it’s hard, we know how demanding this game is.
“We don’t spend a lot of time worrying about outcomes, we’re just trying to get better. We’re hungry to get better.”
Florida is off to its best start since the 2005-06 season when the eventual national champions started 17-0. Florida is ranked No. 1 nationally in rebounding average (12.8 per game) and No. 2 in scoring margin (24 points per game).
“In the half-court defense, they’re in the top-one percentile. They’re one of the top teams defensively in the half-court in the country. They’re the No. 2 ranked team on the glass in the country,” Pope said.
“They’ve got three veteran guards that just score in bunches and a phenomenal talent coming off the bench that can really hurt you. Their bigs are just relentless and veracious and physical and skilled and can shoot it.”
Pope knows this is just the start of an unrelenting schedule for his team but he’s making no excuses about what lies ahead.
“It’s another top-10 battle. You would get super excited about that, but then the next game is a top-10 battle, then the next game after that and the next game after that,” Pope said. “That’s just this league.
“It’s gonna be a great test for us and to see where we are right now, the lessons we’ve learned and how we implement them.”
4 Responses
I think UF has the edge tomorrow because of collective experience playing together, rebounding success, and UK getting off to slow starts too often and having a few guys that only produce offensively a half at a time. Hope the Cats are able to keep it close though and home court advantage might end up the difference.
I haven’t seen Florida play , but base on there schedule they haven’t play anyone except North Carolina and the tar heels have been struggling so far. It be interesting to see how good Florida is.
We need to come out with more fight, bully those punks who dare play against us, and develop a killer instinct…beat them by 80 points if they don’t quit! A finesse team has no business being in the SEC. Pass the ball instead of dribbling. Make 3 passes and get a shot up in the first 10 seconds, and take a minimum of 35 three point shots. The more we take, the more we make! Everybody hit the boards and play more zone.
The ball gets stuck in our offense way too often. The only reason the ball "sticks" is because the other 4 guys stand around waiting for a pass instead of setting screens and breaking out for an open shot. That kind of constant motion gets open shots, but it tires you out quickly and the guys don’t want to come out of the game. When you stand still waiting for a pass, you also get a rest before going back on defense. It’s apparent with the games now going into SEC play, the seniors want to play more minutes even if we lose.