Freshman Jasper Johnson doesn't think there is a team chemistry problem with coach Mark Pope's team. (Vicky Graff Photo)
What’s been wrong with the Kentucky basketball team? That’s a question most Kentucky basketball fans have been asking, and coach Mark Pope really has not been able to answer.
Many fans believe it has been a lack of effort by the players. Pope has acknowledged the same.
“I don’t think we lack a willingness to give 100 percent effort,” freshman Jasper Johnson, who had a career-high 22 points against North Carolina Central, said. “I feel like we come out every game and try to compete to the best of our abilities every night. It’s the game of basketball, you never know what can happen to impact the outcome of the game, but I always feel like our effort’s there as a team.
“I feel like we’re just trying to focus on getting better right now, both mentally and physically. Do whatever we can to come out and get wins.”
Johnson said the main problem is that UK has lost games.
“But I don’t feel like things are wrong (on the team),” Johnson said. “I just feel like we’re learning as we’re going. We don’t want to be playing our best basketball right now. We want to compete at a high level and win games, for sure, but I feel like it’s just a learning experience so far.”
Kentucky responded to adversity last week against Indiana, overcoming a halftime deficit to win 72-60 despite going only 3-for-15 from 3-point range. Pope went with a shorter rotation in the second half after finding five players who were clicking together.
“We will be relentless, and we will motivate ourselves into playing some great basketball. And we just willed ourselves into a win tonight,” Pope said after the Indiana game. That is what we had to do, that’s what we have to do right now. If we do that enough, then all of a sudden, we are going to have some belief that we can win this way, and things are going to loosen up a little bit.
“That is just a process. It’s not rocket science. If you’ve been around sports, you know it’s the process. That’s where we are right now. We have the guys to do it.”
They will get a chance to prove that today when they face St. John’s in Atlanta.
27 Responses
This team can get out and run, but they also have to be able to play in a wrestling match. When the 3's aren't falling, you have to be able to go inside. I think this team is at their best playing muscle ball because that suits their best defensive guys. They can lock you down on one end and then pound it inside on the other end. The best scenario is a combination of run and gun and ground and pound, but this team was trying to be one dimensional with the run and gun and now trying to learn the ground and pound. When they get to where they can do either one as the game dictates, they will be hard to keep up with.
I mustve been watching a different uk team
Starting the game with 2 straight turns and then Moreno misses a cripple. We still have got to be the worst team unable to score effectively inside. This is not UK basketball.
Ive been flipping between uk game and the 2024 pop a shot championship on espn news .. the latter is quite compelling.
Look, it's not like this is the first time we have seem this level of ineptitude from this team. Everybody on the planet knew that this would be a rock fight. Pope OBVIOUSLY does not have any clue about how to fix it. Not true??? Then why the F doesn't he fix it!!??? JQ's cameo appearance didn't change anything. Has Jelavic been kicked off of the team??? Say what you will, but we are back in Billy Clyde territory!
Here's a question.. does anyone work with our "bigs" footwork around the hoop? You just cant throw the freaking hook shot at the hoop a million miles an hour and hope to god it goes in. Garrison im talking to you
We're not going to have to worry about Garrison much after today.
Truth
This one very UGLY BB game. Pope continues to show each week that he has way in over his head even if we win this game. He shows no emotion or sense of urgency on the sideline. He just stands there clapping, pointing, yelling and you know no one can see him or hear him. We have no offensive game at all and are totally inept shooting inside or feeding the post. The only positive to this game is that JQ is staying healthy and making presence felt. NO HOPE IN POPE.
I said it here yesterday that my gut was telling me they would win. That second half was what we been waiting for .
Some people just wasn't patient with JQ return and Lowe in there there a different team in what we being seeing Just gotta have faith in the good and bad. The good will come out in time.
I dont believe my eyes.. Kentucky got out Kentucky 'd by st. Johns.. Love the quaintaince fast flushes. I cant see lowe making it all year. Someone needs to tell oweh not every shot is a good one .. he does some real dumb stuff.
Pope was crazy for keeping JQ in that long and risking reinjury. He mismanaged that and has mismanaged Jelavic all year also. This is 2nd straight game where we come out and look totally clueless starting a game. You could tell that for some reason Chandler was tentative and really didn't want to take a shot and went O fer. Also 2nd straight game where we have only gotten 4 pts first at 15 min mark.
The Stormin Mormon did look tentative.
Mike, I don't know what will make you happy, but Pope made some adjustments the second half with Lowe returning and JQ playing something we did not have in that first half and for the first time this season we match the other team physically even better in my opinion.Defense was another thing it wins games
Cats 79….I like a coach that has some high energy and can get in a player's face if need to, a coach that can strategize to get a team to play 2 complete halves, a coach that can start his best players, a coach that can teach basketball fundamentals and a coach that can recruit on the national stage….that's all. Pope right now doesn't check any of those boxes.
79 gets upset when you badmouth anything about Kentucky.
Barry, I have no problem you guys talking negatively about the cats everybody got there opinion
We checked the W box today. That's all that matters.
I kind of like that thinking Wildwest
Larry , thumbs up or down on Stormin Mormon nickname?
No, not much on nicknames but that is one I have not heard
JQ and Lowe were the difference in the second half. How long can they stay healthy? Teams with fast guards will still give us trouble as Lowe is a liability on defense.
Running lowe thru screens will really tax that wing. He just barely reached out with his arm , really minor contact caused that issue today.
So we are going to play thug ball, lol? JQ at the 5, Dioubate at the 4, Williams at the 3, Oweh at the 2, and Lowe at the point. Bellarmine will be a practice game. Let's see how that lineup fares at Bama. What has happened to Jelavic? Is he still on the team?
Or Johnson he didn't play much yesterday either
You can forget about Jelly.
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