Kentucky rejects "letdown game," rolls past Lipscomb
Kentucky's Jaxson Robinson lined up a 3-point shot in the Wildcats' 97-68 win over Lipscomb on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena. Robinson led UK with 20 points on the night. (Photo by Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated)
Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor
@JDrumUK
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- "Letdown game" will not be part of Kentucky's vocabulary this season.
So said the Wildcats' new head coach, Mark Pope, after his team followed an emotional upset of No. 6 Duke in the Champions Classic with an impressive 97-68 thrashing of Lipscomb on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena.
"It's human nature to worry about that a little bit," said Pope, acknowledging the typical narrative that sports fans and media fall into after a team records a big win, "but we really work hard to focus on what we are trying to do. Our guys are really hungry to get better. We're hungry to become a great team, and we don't have a lot of time to do it. The last game was over, and it was 'How can we get better?' It's the only thing we talked about.
"The biology of that, the neuroscience of that, is actually 100% in support of it. We're not going to focus on what we don't want to happen, we're going to focus on what we do want to happen. Our guys have received that really well."
The Cats' grad senior point guard, Lamont Butler, seemed to back that mentality up during postgame interviews.
"A letdown game? What's that?" he asked. "... (Pope) just preaches to us that every next game is the biggest game of your life. I think that's how we approach it."
(CONT) ... .
Kentucky's Jaxson Robinson lined up a 3-point shot in the Wildcats' 97-68 win over Lipscomb on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena. Robinson led UK with 20 points on the night. (Photo by Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated)
Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor
@JDrumUK
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- "Letdown game" will not be part of Kentucky's vocabulary this season.
So said the Wildcats' new head coach, Mark Pope, after his team followed an emotional upset of No. 6 Duke in the Champions Classic with an impressive 97-68 thrashing of Lipscomb on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena.
"It's human nature to worry about that a little bit," said Pope, acknowledging the typical narrative that sports fans and media fall into after a team records a big win, "but we really work hard to focus on what we are trying to do. Our guys are really hungry to get better. We're hungry to become a great team, and we don't have a lot of time to do it. The last game was over, and it was 'How can we get better?' It's the only thing we talked about.
"The biology of that, the neuroscience of that, is actually 100% in support of it. We're not going to focus on what we don't want to happen, we're going to focus on what we do want to happen. Our guys have received that really well."
The Cats' grad senior point guard, Lamont Butler, seemed to back that mentality up during postgame interviews.
"A letdown game? What's that?" he asked. "... (Pope) just preaches to us that every next game is the biggest game of your life. I think that's how we approach it."
(CONT) ... .
