Freshman Jasper Johnson knows he has to defend to play for coach Mark Pope this season. (Larry Vaught Photo)
Coach Mark Pope believes that freshman Jasper Johnson was the “most dangerous scorer” in high school basketball last season and is counting on his 3-point range and shot creativity to help UK this season. However, Johnson knows it is not all about offense.
“Your whole life you play a role, whether you know that or whether you don’t. I know a lot of my role now is to score the ball. But first things first, I have to defend,” the 6-foot-4 freshman said. “No matter where you play, your main role is to defend, guard the ball, guard your yard, things like that.
“That’s what I’m really trying to work on and focus on right now, watching film, getting extra reps with guarding the ball. I know if I get acclimated to that, everything else will take care of itself.“
Johnson joined his UK teammates a bit late this summer because he won a gold medal with USA Basketball. A minor ankle injury playing for USA made his transition to college defense more “challenging” but he knows adjusting and showing he can play defense has to be a priority.
“The only thing I’m really trying to adjust to now is the physicality and learning all the new terminologies in our system,” Johnson said. “I know coach Pope wants us to be precise with our answers and be quick thinkers. That’s really the main focus right now.”
Johnson also likes the way that Braydon Hawthorne, another slender freshman, is handling the physical play on both ends.
“He’s been learning, adjusting to the physicality. He’s an elite player on both ends of the floor. He uses athleticism and his length to contest shots. I know everything’s coming to him fast, just like the rest of us, but he’s definitely progressing,” Johnson said.
Pope praised Hawthorne’s “ankle mobility” at his summer press conference and explained how that helps him cut and move easily.
Hawthorne said no one had ever praised his “ankle mobility” before.
“They said my ankles are just, I guess good,” Hawthorne said. “I guess I can move really well for my size, that’s what allows me to move my ankles.”
9 Responses
Johnson needs to be prepared to see very little playing time. Lowe, Aberdeen, and Chandler fill the point and Oweh and Noah are ahead of him at the shooting guard spot. Forget small forward as Williams, Dioubate, and Hawthorne have that covered. The real question to ask is if Johnson is prepared to help Kentucky win a national title this year, even if he doesn't play much? He will be in line for significant PT next year after Oweh leaves and Noah starts at the 2. If Johnson stays 3 years, he will be a starter. We soon shall see.
The word is Jalveic is on campus, Barry, Johnson will be playing more you think,
Indeed he is
Your wrong. Jasper will get a decent amount of playing time….he's already good enough to compete at the college level. He will be a regular rotation player.
I will predict Johnson will be starting at some point this season. He could come off the bench and play starter minutes like Sheppard did.
No matter start or on bench, I think he will be a big contributor
Oweh is poised to be the SEC player of the year. Noah is poised to have a breakout season behind Oweh becoming a double digit scorer. Johnson is good, but the 2 guys ahead of him are clearly better. Who will he take minutes from?
Johnson is a combo guard. He can play 1 or 2 guard. Johnson has played against some big time talent. We have all seen freshman out play older,
more experienced players.
Granted Johnson is good, but is he better than Lowe? Aberdeen? Oweh? Noah? The answer is no to all of the above. Some said Chandler would have a breakout year this year, but where is he going to get minutes? Hawthorne is good, but Williams and Dioubate are better. Chandler, Johnson, and Hawthorne will be lucky to get 5 minutes each per game. That is the allotment for 3rd stringers. That just shows how good this team will be.