Kentucky's defense could not contain Louisville freshman Mikel Brown. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky coach Mark Pope basically said what most UK fans were thinking Tuesday night after Louisville beat the Cats 96-88 in the Yum Center after once leading by 20 points midway of the second half.
“I thought they played great. Guys played together. They played hard. [They] were really competitive in a good venue. Congratulations to them,” Pope said. “We’re really disappointed with the product we put on the floor today, and we’re excited to find ways to get better.”
Kentucky had 14 turnovers that led to 19 Louisville points while Louisville had only six turnovers. The Cardinals had 20 assists while UK had only 14.
“We played extremely poorly, but we do have a competitive group, and we had some interesting new vibe lineups for us in the second half, trying to respond to some things,” Pope said. “And I thought I was proud of the guys for competing, but that’s not the standard we have at Kentucky.”
Kentucky actually shot a higher percentage from the field overall, 3-point range and the foul line and also barely won the rebounding battle — statistical edges that normally would lead to a win.
Kentucky’s postgame press conference lasted only five minutes and Pope did all the talking. Guards Collin Chandler and Denzel Aberdeen were there but were not asked any questions while Pope was there and left with him after his last question was answered.
The assist-to-turnover ratio was the difference in the game for Pope.
“We were really sticky with the ball,” Pope said. “The 20 (assists) to six (turnovers) compared to the 14 (assists) to 14 (turnovers) tells the whole story of the game. There are a lot of facets to the game where it got to that, but we’re going to lose a 20-6, 14-14 game. We’re just going to lose it, and it’s a credit to Louisville for playing the game the right way. We got punished for not playing it the right way.”
Kentucky always got punished by Louisville freshman sensation Mikel Brown who scored 29 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the field and 10-for-11 at the foul line. He was only 3-for-10 from 3 but got inside to score or get fouled almost at will. He also had five assists and just one turnover in 33 minutes.
“He is a really special talent to be as young as he is and come play the game the way he does,” Pope said. “He’s got a really, really terrific change of speed. It was really difficult for us to keep him in front of us, and he actually finished the ball well at the rim tonight, which was really good. We kind of lost the discipline of our defensive principles, which was incredibly disappointing for us. We were on our heels on the defensive end the whole night, and that’s a problem that we’ll fix.”
Pope admitted the magnitude of the game might have made some players try to do too much.
“Sometimes, the emotion, the momentum of the game makes you want to try and do too much. We just forced ourselves from the very simple, basic principles that can help us be successful, that we’ve actually had some success at and a lot of that was credit to Louisville. A lot of it was a credit to the deficit we faced so early in the game,” the Kentucky coach said.
“Some of it was due to some untimely misses and a little bit of anxiety. But our discipline was poor in terms of our decision making.”
10 Responses
Nailed it – just nailed it !!!
A:TO ratio is like the evidence in a crime scene which is the key to solving a mess (crime, loss, etc).
So my post on the other thread is supported by Coach Pope. Thanks, Coach!
Love the Pope ! However, I think he should be a little tougher on the boys.
Paul, I agree & the use of the bench to sit players who are not getting the COMPLETE job done as a player, is the hardest he can be on a player.
I’m a Pope fan and last season one of my few disappointments was the lack of using the bench to sit players who were NOT practicing Team 1st ball.
Genuine TEAM chemistry cannot be measured by being friends off the court. Sharing the ball makes winners.
Last season, UK started out with 2 Exhibitions and 5 to 7 games plying superior ball by sharing and not taking quick 3’s without a good look at the basket and the ridiculous circus act shots at the basket were not a part of that stretch of dominance.
Then, by the 10th game and going forward, there were SOME players who played as individuals and no longer cared about teammates. So a double digit loss seqson was the result instead of parlaying the big win over Duke into a stellar season.
Pope and his assistants instilled an overwhelming sense of TEAM 1st into everyone to start last season, but too many quit playing FOR the TEAM.
It happened quicker this season, as the combination of so many players who have worn other jerseys (even some had worn more than 1 other jersey) and the TEAM 1st concept did not reach the inner desires of SOME players.
Oweh sets a poor example in too many games. He misses layups and can’t hit the 3 very well. He handles the ball a lot and seldom shares it. It’s just stars which are non-arguable.
Individual play (selfish play to be more accurate) has a negative impact on the entire TEAM and will eventually breakdown any possible TEAM 1st play, just as it led to many losses that should have been wins.
If ALL the players listen and practice the TEAM 1st concept taught by Coach Pope & his assistants, then UK becomes a FF contender. However, without it, the S16 may be too much to expect this seqson.
Coach Pope may need to reassess the tone of his coaching. Pope is all about positivity and love. Sometimes, you have to get a bit angry to drive a point home. Sometimes, you have to bench a kid, even take him out of the starting lineup to get their attention. Sometimes, you have to make a kid run suicide line drills to change an attitude, behavior, or focus. You absolutely have to instill the mandate that there is no I in team, no matter if you have been named pre-season SEC player of the year. Oweh, Lowe, Dioubate, Johnson, and Garrison all need mental re-sets. All of them were showered with praises about how they could walk on water and they have started believing it. They all see themselves as heroes, not teammates. Nip this in the bud or it will derail our season.
Coaches have to be like parents, not the kind that try’s to be best friends with their kids but the ones who believe in discipline when the kid is acting like a spoiled brat! These kids don’t care now they are making the big bucks and looking to make even more by thinking they are the next Jordan or LeBron. Hero ball is all we are going to see from now on. We will never see number #9 with this hero’s. POTY of the SEC, First TEAM All American? When Pigs Fly! Give me a break!
There is a thin line between motivating the players and letting the players motivate themselves. The way Oweh is playing I'm sorry I would bring him off the bench until he starts not turning the ball over and forcing contested shots. Robinson did this last year. We were a better team without Robinson last year. I honestly think this team would be better without Oweh. He gets to much unneeded attention. He was a better than average player last year but definitely not as great as the media makes him out to be. He doesn't act like he cares. If you noticed we went on runs every time he was on the bench. Don't believe rewatch the game. Every time Pope would take out Oweh we would go on a run. As soon as he goes back in the game Louisville would start to dominate again. Oweh is not good at dribbling and passing. He's good at drawing fouls and transition defense otherwise he's a below average player. I would start Aberdeen Chandler Williams Jelavic and Moreno. I would have Oweh and Garrison come off the bench first for whoever needs a breather. The only reason Oweh will get close to his scoring from last year is because of the free throw line. The same as last year. Almost half of his points come from the free throw line. I think he would be much better off the bench checking in the first time someone runs out of gas or is playing bad put Oweh in. He's a Senior he can't transfer so Pope is in control of the whole situation. He's definitely not a all American and he was overrated last year. We need to run our offense through Aberdeen and have him run the point and try to find Chandler and Williams on the corners for 3s.
Jasper jinxed himself when he said "I'm the best shooter in the world." I bet Chandler wouldn't say anything like that. I hope he doesn't.
Right about that on both counts, WildWest.
He's not Odie Smith yet.
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