(UK Athletics Photo)
No disrespect to what Kentucky coach Mark Pope has done this season but don’t overlook what Kentucky women’s coach Kenny Brooks has done.
His team is off to a remarkable 14-1 start after winning 71-55 at Florida thanks to a fast start that made for a relatively stress-free Southeastern Conference road win.
Think about these numbers:
— Kentucky’s 14-1 record ties the best 15-game start in program history, something the Cats have done only five previous times.
— Kentucky has won each of its first three SEC games by at least 16 points for the first time in program history and had at least a 21-point lead in all three games. Kentucky had not won three straight SEC games at any point in the season in 12 years before this streak.
— Kentucky has scored at least 71 points in its first three SEC games for the first time since 2019-20.
Yet after the game Brooks and All-American point guard Georgia Amoore, who had 14 of her 18 points in the first half, sounded almost disappointed in the way Kentucky played even though the Cats had a 41-19 halftime lead when Amoore almost outscored the Gators by herself.
“We are talented and did some good things but we didn’t have the pop we needed,” Brooks said after the game. “We were up (at halftime) but could have been up more. If we want to be one of the best teams, we have to play every possession and I felt we got a little bit lackadaisical.
“We got off to a really good start with a good lead but we have to be better for the full game.”
He thought Teonni Key and Amelia Hassett both picking up their second fouls in the second quarter stymied UK’s momentum and the Cats never had the same zest in the second half when they were outscored 36-30 by the Gators, who had 20 turnovers that led to 25 UK points.
Amoore said UK wants its identity to be a team that “comes out hot from the jump” and did that but the team needs to pay more attention on defense once it gets a big lead.
“When we get a hot start and build a cushion it does help, but we have to keep it going,” she said.
She said Florida ran basically the same play to the same player in the second half and Kentucky didn’t stop it.
“It was one play and they ran it all night. We have to play with more intensity,” Amoore said.
Amoore was 8-for-17 from the field but just 1-for-6 from 3 and 1-for-4 from 3. She also had a season-high six turnovers along with five rebounds and four assists. Her scoring, assists and shooting were all down from recent games but she also recently lost her grandmother.
“Georgia missed three (free throws) in a row and I have never seen that,” Brooks said. “She had a heavy heart tonight. We took her out at the end so she could just sit. She also made some plays late that were a little uncharacteristic for her.”
Guard Dazia Lawerence went 4-for-8 from 3 and had 14 points while center Clara Strack had 12 points on only 5-for-13 from the field but did have eight rebounds and four assists. Key had nine points and five rebounds while Hassett, who was just 1-for-5 from the field, had five points, five rebounds and two assists.
“I told them not to get bored with being great. If you are a great team you are going to execute every possession and that is something this team has to learn,” Brooks said.
“My teams at Virginia Tech had to learn to win and also learn to win in a way that gives you swag. You can’t buy it in a jar or get it in the portal. You have to build it yourself.”
He emphasized making the “main thing the main thing” going forward and players focusing on what they had to do to get better.
“It is a physical league. Everyone is trying to play the same way against us. We have gotten used to it,” he said.
However, Brooks is happy with where UK is but knows there is a lot more to be done.
“We are enjoying it (being 14-1, 3-0 SEC). I am not trying to be smug. We have had a lot of success in the past. We do not look ahead. We do not look behind. We look at where we are,” Brooks said. “We are very pleased with where we are and are positioning ourselves to be contenders but you can only do it one game at a time.”
He is glad for the fan support UK had at Vanderbilt Sunday and again at Florida Thursday.
“We went to Vandy and came here and there was a contingent of BBN here helping us,” the Kentucky coach said.
2 Responses
They are a fun team to watch.
No disrespect to what Coach Mark Pope has done this season, and people aren’t going to like it, but the UK women’s team has the best bball team in Lexington, KY this year. U have to give it to ’em–and why wouldnt we be happy for them? They are heading towards being exactly what we have been wanting them to be for years: competitive and talented enough to WIN IN THE SEC–and now we also have the coaching and the recruiting ability that will be on that level as well. Brooks clearly knows this game intricately, and at this point, the case could be made that Brooks is a better bball coach than Pope just when comparing where each of them are at in their careers at this point at this level. Brooks and the girls are showing so far that they are equipped and up to the task of their SEC gauntlet, while the men still have many questions and issues. In time, Pope will build his program–in a coach’s first year, u have to keep your expectations in check. But honestly, I think the biggest problem with Pope’s team is just lack of talent–its no so much the coaching being questioned as it is just how good is this team, really? It seems to be more a collection of just solid college role players who were at secondary programs, most of them, and probably are not what we are used to being good enough to start for KY. Butler and Oweh I think would be the only two u might could say would meet that normal expectation we have–and I thought Robinson would be the leader of that group–but so far, it isn’t showing. It would be interesting to know If u took all of them and figured out where they would rank as one recruiting class together based on where they were coming out of high school, I think that would be very revealing. And it would probably surprise a lot of people. Its just one of those situations. I don’t doubt Pope is doing his best, but he needs time to build his program with the kind of players he needs and wants–he had to put a team together on the fly, and considering that, we were probably lucky to get what we got! But there is no doubt there is a big difference this year between the talent level of the two teams. And the biggest factor in what makes this women’s team so good is the fact that they have a coach out on the floor in Georgia Amoore. If she were able to play here 3 or 4 years, I think she would easily go down as the greatest player in our women’s program of all-time, next to Valerie Still. Georgia is on another level–shes one of those that u can say "there is only ever going to be ONE Georgia Amoore in a lifetime". As I said, it’s too bad we only get her for one year because I think she would blow away a lot of our fans if she had a full career here. Its harder to tell in just one year. But just look at her career at VA TECH and see what she accomplished there, and that will tell u the story. Fans, enjoy this women’s team this year, especially while Georgia is with us, because I think they have the weapons, the talent, and the coaching to make a serious run. And I think they will be in the thick of the SEC race the entire way. Its going to be a fun season! Congrats, girls, for what u have already accomplished–and keep it going!