Defense & Coaching staff

[JonathanW]

I don't know the coaching staff like some of you on here. Who they are, what their roles are, etc...
But I do know in general good management, which should apply to head coaching as well, is that you hire people who are good at what they do especially in areas that are not your own strength.

Pope is an Offensive coach. Fine. Then make sure one of your assistants is a Defensive coach.
Do we have "that (Defensive) guy" on staff now?
If not, we need to get him here this summer!

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I don't know the coaching staff like some of you on here. Who they are, what their roles are, etc...
But I do know in general good management, which should apply to head coaching as well, is that you hire people who are good at what they do especially in areas that are not your own strength.

Pope is an Offensive coach. Fine. Then make sure one of your assistants is a Defensive coach.
Do we have "that (Defensive) guy" on staff now?
If not, we need to get him here this summer!

His staff might be just as "thrown together" as his roster. We hired Mark Pope April 12th. Not a whole lot of time to get EVERYTHING you want in place.

I suspect neither our roster nor our coaching staff is exactly what Pope wants, but instead, was all Pope could get. I don't know if that means there will be coaching changes in the off-season.. but I would suspect by the start of year 3 (at the latest), we're going to see some players and staff who have moved on and new pieces brought in.

 

[Basscat1987]

Alvin brooks is supposedly the defensive guru of the team.

 

[kywildcat41035]

Alvin brooks is supposedly the defensive guru of the team.

If that is the case I'm disappointed I thought he would be a whole lot better than this!

 

[The_Answer1313]

Isn't Mark Fox on the staff?

He didn't have bad defenses from time to time at Georgia.

But this year I think it goes beyond that.
You don't just need coaches that specialize in this stuff. You need to have the players.

The last two years we've had really really good offensive players. Some very good shooters. But then those guys also tend to be the guys that are just not good on defense.

I feel like we are getting the mix wrong here.

 

[WildcatUKx]

Alvin brooks is supposedly the defensive guru of the team.

I thought Mark Fox was?

 

[bnewt]

I thought Fox was sort of the "business" manager, not really a coach

 

[true blue1]

I thought Mark Fox was?

If that to be the case that sure explains a lot.

 

[The_Answer1313]

Funny thing about Fox.............

Had some decent defensive teams at Georgia but they were always terrible at one thing.........

Forcing turnovers. Like ranked in the high 200s or even 300s.

Which we ........also happen to be terrible at this year

 

[runt#69]

His staff might be just as "thrown together" as his roster. We hired Mark Pope April 12th. Not a whole lot of time to get EVERYTHING you want in place.

I suspect neither our roster nor our coaching staff is exactly what Pope wants, but instead, was all Pope could get. I don't know if that means there will be coaching changes in the off-season.. but I would suspect by the start of year 3 (at the latest), we're going to see some players and staff who have moved on and new pieces brought in.

LineSkiCat ... if I didn't know better, I'd have thought you were NAIL ON THE HEAD with that post !

😉

cause' that's what I think you just did!

 

[WeWant9]

I don’t have an issue with Pope’s calm demeanor, I do think that is what draws kids these days. However, we do seem to need some type of assistant who is a hard nose SOB who will tell it like it is to the players. You need some type of staff balance of good cop/bad cop. Not everything needs to be sunshine and rainbows.

 

[The_Answer1313]

My opinion is that it doesn't really matter.

I think all this is just masking the fact that from a talent level, this team is lacking quite a bit.

I don't think Pope becoming an asshole is suddenly going to make Brea or Robinson be able to keep their guys in front of them on defense.

 

[fisherscatfan]

I don’t have an issue with Pope’s calm demeanor, I do think that is what draws kids these days. However, we do seem to need some type of assistant who is a hard nose SOB who will tell it like it is to the players. You need some type of staff balance of good cop/bad cop. Not everything needs to be sunshine and rainbows.

Listening to Pope’s postgame comments saying something like the locker room got pretty emotional at halftime makes me think he got into them a little yesterday.

 

[fisherscatfan]

My opinion is that it doesn't really matter.

I think all this is just masking the fact that from a talent level, this team is lacking quite a bit.

I don't think Pope becoming an asshole is suddenly going to make Brea or Robinson be able to keep their guys in front of them on defense.

Especially when Brea doesn’t really seem to try. Brea seems to just let himself get screened off way to easily. He just accepts it and expects somebody to pick up his guy.

 

[WeWant9]

Listening to Pope’s postgame comments saying something like the locker room got pretty emotional at halftime makes me think he got into them a little yesterday.

Thanks, didn’t watch/read anything on the postgame. I’m glad he did, I know I would’ve blown a gasket after watching that first half in person.

 

[catsfan325]

I think it's been said by Pope before that Fueger and Hart are the more offensive coaches while Brooks and Mark Fox are the more defensive. It's not necessarily that black and white - they all have their hand in everything but each coach has areas they contribute a little more to.

Big issue with the defense is personnel and injuries, but still wouldn't surprise me if Pope looks to add the defensive equivalent of Cody Fueger to the staff this offseason. We've got a very cheap staff relative to the top of college basketball. Should have $ to add big time coaches if they so desire

 

[oldsports_]

It doesn't matter who the "defensive" coach is, you have 3* guys who are slow as hell. Things will change by year three.

 

[JonathanW]

My opinion is that it doesn't really matter.

I think all this is just masking the fact that from a talent level, this team is lacking quite a bit.

I don't think Pope becoming an asshole is suddenly going to make Brea or Robinson be able to keep their guys in front of them on defense.

Defense is not "talent". Defense is #1 "EFFORT", #2 Communicating, #3 Playing Smart, #4 Athleticism

 

[BlueWorldOrder74]

My opinion is that it doesn't really matter.

I think all this is just masking the fact that from a talent level, this team is lacking quite a bit.

I don't think Pope becoming an asshole is suddenly going to make Brea or Robinson be able to keep their guys in front of them on defense.

This all day and it’s been easy to see from the start. We just don’t have the athletic talent that every other team in the SEC has. Skill, we are pretty good. We just don’t have the athletic ability to do a bunch of stuff. I do think Mark was doing a descent job with scheme - until he lost both PG’s and most of Carr. This can’t be overlooked. That is not easily overcome.

Mark is a great coach, but seriously limited in what can actually be done here. It’s a freaking miracle that we were as successful as we were up to the injury of Butler and Carr. Mark was doing a coach do the year type of job with the team he was able to put together.

Let’s see if he can recruit some of the best and pull some of the biggest needs from the portal. That will be the indicator of how Mark will do long term.

 

[Ron Mehico]

My opinion is that it doesn't really matter.

I think all this is just masking the fact that from a talent level, this team is lacking quite a bit.

I don't think Pope becoming an asshole is suddenly going to make Brea or Robinson be able to keep their guys in front of them on defense.

It’s my understanding that if Pope yells loud enough at Robinson he’ll change him from a 3 point shooting SF to a defensive minded PG. Should make Brea faster too.

It reminds me of a funny story my older brother used to tell me about his track and field coach in HS. My brother ran the 200M and finished 4th and was bummed out at the state finals. His coach came up to him, completely dead serious, and said “Hey keep your head up, you almost finished top 3. Next time, I really want you to focus on just running a little bit faster”

 

[fisherscatfan]

Thanks, didn’t watch/read anything on the postgame. I’m glad he did, I know I would’ve blown a gasket after watching that first half in person.

I should be clear that I don’t know but his comments, the pauses to gather his thoughts before speaking etc., sure made me think he was alluding to it but didn’t want to come out and say it.

 

[UKSanders]

Defense is not "talent". Defense is #1 "EFFORT", #2 Communicating, #3 Playing Smart, #4 Athleticism

I disagree only that athleticism matters more than you are suggesting here.

He can have all the "want to" in the world, but if a defender is just too slow, he will still get abused by a smart coach/superior player. A good coach can try to mask that as much as possible, but athleticism matters immensely.

Now, that being said, elite athleticism is wasted if those first 3 things are there as well.

I think right now that current Cats have a combination of lacking all of it.

 

[The_Answer1313]

I don't really buy the notion that defense is mostly effort either.

I've seen far too many players that were good on one end and not the end to think it's just an effort issue.

To me, it's mostly skill. Some players shoot the ball well. Some block shots.

 

[Cobb4uk]

Defense is not "talent". Defense is #1 "EFFORT", #2 Communicating, #3 Playing Smart, #4 Athleticism

If your correct why don't you see Centers that have #'s 1,2,3 &4 guarding a PG. You can have all of the attributes your talking about but if you don't have speed ther's a problem. Dakota Euton isva prime example, he had the sbove without athleticism and speed, if you remember him.

 

[catsfan325]

Last thing I'll say about defense but a healthy Lamont Butler changes it. Without him - think about all the vulnerable guys on that end. Smart coaches/teams hunt weak defenders over and over and over and over. Right now we've got multiple weak defenders in at all times and have very little flexibility in terms of lineup potential. 10 guys, 1 (Carr) is heavily compromised and 3 are true freshmen who are not currently SEC caliber players. At least half of the other 6 are below average defenders. Eeking out the Tennessee win was honestly so impressive.

Just gotta hope we can get healthy and win a few games in the tournament. Short of that save up on NIL and sign some dawgs who can shoot and spread the floor.

 

[JRCAT14]

My opinion is that it doesn't really matter.

I think all this is just masking the fact that from a talent level, this team is lacking quite a bit.

I don't think Pope becoming an asshole is suddenly going to make Brea or Robinson be able to keep their guys in front of them on defense.

I am going to agree and disagree about lacking talent reasoning. I will agree we may not have the talent to be an elite defensive team, but the talent is good enough to be a much better defensive team than we've been exhibiting. Defensive strategy, technique, and effort/intensity are a lot to blame for our defensive woes. Good defense is played by a team not just by five individuals. There are a lot of teams out there that I have watched play better defense than this team that are not any more athletically talented than this team.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

We are the seventh worst of giving up points. Pope is not demanding them to play crazed on defense. I saw where a guy was talking about NC having the same problem years ago with being terrible on defense. He said they was brought into a gym with no rims and they ran and ran and done sprints and worked on passing with no shooting for a few days.

Pope has good enough players IMO to play with the intensity of everybody that plays us but he will not work their butts off until they are the best shape they can be in and he will not make them play great defense on every possession or they sit. It hits you in the face watching the difference in intensity, toughness and heart with some these teams we are playing. We look half speed compared to a lot of these teams in the SEC.

 

[Basscat1987]

I thought Mark Fox was?

No it’s Alvin brooks

 

[JonathanW]

I disagree only that athleticism matters more than you are suggesting here.

He can have all the "want to" in the world, but if a defender is just too slow, he will still get abused by a smart coach/superior player. A good coach can try to mask that as much as possible, but athleticism matters immensely.

Now, that being said, elite athleticism is wasted if those first 3 things are there as well.

I think right now that current Cats have a combination of lacking all of it.

I just know from my personal experience, I was slow AF, could not jump at all, but was a pretty good defender (above average). Could I guard who these guys are guarding? Of course not!!! But UK's players are WAY more athletic than I ever was. And we've all seen good college defenders (I'm not saying best in the country, but better than average) who were not overly athletically gifted. Chuck Hayes had a long NBA career for that exact reason (it sure wasn't his height, vertical, jumpshot, FT shooting, or much of any offensive game), it was because he could take a below average NBA athleticism and still guard the hell out of NBA players. The only area athletically he was above average in NBA in was strength.

Athleticism certainly helps, but ONLY if you have those first 3 things, they matter most.

 

[AzubuikeandFitch]

I want to support a defensive guru addition but we already have plenty of assistants. At some point you've gotta demand more from everyone players and coaches.
Surely to God, somebody can teach defensive principles and question some manhood.

Say what u want about Tubby Smith but the vast majority of his teams could absolutely play Hella half court defense.

 

[ArtLaibsGhost]

So many of you guys lament about "effort" , which is a load of horse apples. You guys seem to think we are back in a high school gym playing podunk county, and " effort" can make up for athletic deficiencies. Unfortunately that's not where our guys are playing. They are playing against the absolute best athletes in America. No amount of " effort is going to make a difference when the guy you are trying to guard is atheletically superior to you. EVERY game we lost, our opponents had better atheletes quicker, stronger and faster than most of our players. Pope got who he could get, their
was a reason many were available so late. For many of you to call them lazy and unmotivated is an insult to them and unworthy of real Kentucky fans. It also is just plain ignorance

 

[The_Answer1313]

So many of you guys lament about "effort" , which is a load of horse apples. You guys seem to think we are back in a high school gym playing podunk county, and " effort" can make up for athletic deficiencies. Unfortunately that's not where our guys are playing. They are playing against the absolute best athletes in America. No amount of " effort is going to make a difference when the guy you are trying to guard is atheletically superior to you. EVERY game we lost, our opponents had better atheletes quicker, stronger and faster than most of our players. Pope got who he could get, their
was a reason many were available so late. For many of you to call them lazy and unmotivated is an insult to them and unworthy of real Kentucky fans. It also is just plain ignorance

I think people confuse lack of talent here with lack of effort.

Player A continues to let his man blow by him on defense. Is that a lack of effort? Sure on some level it could be. But it's far more likely these kids care and he just struggles on defense.

 

[sportspm]

I remember Billy Donovan hired a defensive guy on his staff at Florida before their back to championship run. I forgot his name, but remember UF fans giving him a lot of credit for their improved defense

 

[Pelosigalore]

Too much Caucasian out there for UK to play good defense.

 

[ukcatz12]

When this team was full healthy before Kerr got hurt we were statistically a top 35 defense. As more guys have missed time it's gotten worse and worse as the year went on. I honestly think this team's problem right now is about 95% injuries.

 

[Blue_2_the_bone]

Just finished rewatching the first half. Our biggest issues on defense were Almanor, Carr, and Brea just ball watching and never being in position to guard, recover, or stop cuts. Anytime Williams gets pulled out to the perimeter it’s an issue, whether it’s guarding a pick and roll or closing out. Oweh ball watched and allowed his man to cut and get open anytime he was on the weak side. I actually thought Noah and Robinson defended well while they were in. Perry did well aside from jumping at a ball fake with the shot clock winding down. Even when he got beat, he recovered and didn’t let his man score or make an assist, except when Garrison blew his help sssignment at the end of the half and watched the guy go make a layup.

We miss way too many block outs and were lucky the ball bounced to us. Say what you want about Noah, but he’s finding someone to block out if the ball is shot but he’s about the only one besides Almanor.

They scored a lot in transition because we shot early. Usually it was Oweh driving in and throwing the ball up and hoping for a foul leaving guys out of position to get back. He did that way too much. I don’t know if it’s not trusting the young guys or what because they were open some and he wasn’t giving it up. No flow on offense whatsoever when he was in without Robinson or Williams.

 

[Blue_2_the_bone]

I don't really buy the notion that defense is mostly effort either.

I've seen far too many players that were good on one end and not the end to think it's just an effort issue.

To me, it's mostly skill. Some players shoot the ball well. Some block shots.

It is a skill. It’s also physicality, strength, & intelligence. Draymond Green, Chris Paul, Tony Allen, Matt Barnes, Chuck Hayes and Ben Wallace are all guys who come to mind that weren’t great athletes but were great defenders.

 

[fisherscatfan]

My guess is Pope didn’t/won’t light the guys up in film of the Ole Miss game but there is going to be pointed comments made over and over that are going to make for an uncomfortable session for some.

 

[AJG-15]

Hmm here is my take on this. When you ask for C type of job because you don’t have two pg you will get a D or F. As the boss, you need to ask of everyone ( including yourself) an A+ job so you get maybe a B or A-. And you have to keep everyone accountable.

Yes our guys are not athletic is the excuse I am hearing. Okay , last time I checked everyone on the team can dunk the ball, run pretty quickly after a made basket and showed us that they can play with anyone.

I have seen against ole miss , guys with hands down playing zone , which forced Pope to switch to men to men . Same thing against Arkansas,

I have seen our team getting beat on a simple back screen move because Brea , Carr, Jr, Almanor, turn their head and lose their man.

I have seen our guys closing on a shooter using what I called “ picture defense “: they close in after the ball is released so they can fool the coach that they’re trying.

Yeah , I get it ,… it takes energy to play defense, but if you want to play in next level or win a championship you need to spend that energy on every practice and game. And as a coach you need to demand it . I get it, Pope is trying to be mr nice guy, be positive. But you need to keep players accountable.


I need to see Pope sit a guy a whole game for not playing defense or playing lazy defense, Pitino would not allow this type of effort from his players on defense ,

I like Pope , but the fluctuation from a game to another, from one half to another, tells me that something is not working properly.