** Spoke about the importance of supporting flood relief efforts which you can do through the UKAthletics website. Has been in contact with the governor several times. Says the first part of money will go to paying for funerals for the 14 individuals who died in the flood. Expresses gratitude for what BBN has done already.
** Pope said Andrew Carr getting healthier means a lot. They've been without three leaders for a lot of the last month. He's finding his way back. Looked like his old physical, attacking self. The last two days were the first times he had back to back full practices. Carr performed against an imposing Vanderbilt team that can be tough to score on.
** Gives major kudos to Ansley Almonor. Pope said he's been playing incredible basketball. He's one of the most lethal shooters in the SEC. He's fighting like crazy. Says it's a beautiful thing to have guys who do whatever it takes and playing elite level basketball.
** Said Collin Chandler was a "2-2-2" guy. Two assists, two turnovers, two steals. But said he gave them a massive energy boost off the bench tonight. Pope talked about bamboo trees. Says they can grow up to 36 inches in a day. Massive networks of roots but you don't see it then they shoot up out of the ground. Pope said that's like Chandler. He's growing a lot of roots and the plays he made today he's been making in practice. He will help them in a huge way down the stretch.
** Amari Williams decided he wasn't going to pass tonight but that was the only thing he needed to improve on. Lots of metrics are showing Amari is top-5 all-time in the SEC in terms of player rating per 40 minutes. He's getting more confident around the rim. He wasn't unstoppable at the rim early in the season because he would get rushed. Now he's getting to his spot and going to work. The last jump hook he made over his right shoulder from 8-9 feet was a world class play and he's making it look easy. We're witness an incredible analytic guy who is fun to coach. He's grown so much and is taking on so much but wants more.
** Otega Oweh was unbelievable on both sides of the ball. He's putting together a special season.
** Pope said he's happy for the guys they get this little injection of positive energy. It's a brand new team. They played well but didn't finish in the first game. Game two was tonight. Now going to Alabama and "dealing with that insanity down there."
** Pope said there's a lot of room for defensive improvement because they're not great. But they're getting better. Travis Perry had a hard job tonight and he stood in there admirably. Collin Chandler was really good on the defensive end and still has a done of room to grow. Noted he had Trent Noah guarding their leading scorer, a 5'11 jet guard, for 4-5 minute stretches during this game. If you had asked him early in the season if that would be the game plan he would have said no, never. But Noah gave them a special defensive effort. Said Koby Brea took a slight defensive vacation against Texas but was back to a better version of himself there. Oweh is the ring leader on defense. They're communicating better.
** The point of attack is where you really lose something on defense with Lamont Butler out. You can't replace that. That's a massive challenge for Kentucky to figure out. When Lamont was out Jaxson became the point of attack defender. He was pretty functional. Losing that defender it pushes everybody up the scale and all your matchups are harder. The staff spent a lot of time arguing about how they would match up with Vandy's guys on the perimeter. If/when those guys come back they will benefit.
** Pope said he talks to Chandler a lot. He's a special young man, "as good as they come" as a human being. He's a special talent and they know where he's going to end up but can't forecast how the zig zag path is going to get him there. The freshmen have had a lot thrown at them at various points this year and they've responded. Chandler has a skill set that's unique to his team. Even if they get all their guys back he can do some things that are unique for Kentucky. He could be a difference-maker at tournament time.
** Pope said Andrew Carr getting healthier means a lot. They've been without three leaders for a lot of the last month. He's finding his way back. Looked like his old physical, attacking self. The last two days were the first times he had back to back full practices. Carr performed against an imposing Vanderbilt team that can be tough to score on.
** Gives major kudos to Ansley Almonor. Pope said he's been playing incredible basketball. He's one of the most lethal shooters in the SEC. He's fighting like crazy. Says it's a beautiful thing to have guys who do whatever it takes and playing elite level basketball.
** Said Collin Chandler was a "2-2-2" guy. Two assists, two turnovers, two steals. But said he gave them a massive energy boost off the bench tonight. Pope talked about bamboo trees. Says they can grow up to 36 inches in a day. Massive networks of roots but you don't see it then they shoot up out of the ground. Pope said that's like Chandler. He's growing a lot of roots and the plays he made today he's been making in practice. He will help them in a huge way down the stretch.
** Amari Williams decided he wasn't going to pass tonight but that was the only thing he needed to improve on. Lots of metrics are showing Amari is top-5 all-time in the SEC in terms of player rating per 40 minutes. He's getting more confident around the rim. He wasn't unstoppable at the rim early in the season because he would get rushed. Now he's getting to his spot and going to work. The last jump hook he made over his right shoulder from 8-9 feet was a world class play and he's making it look easy. We're witness an incredible analytic guy who is fun to coach. He's grown so much and is taking on so much but wants more.
** Otega Oweh was unbelievable on both sides of the ball. He's putting together a special season.
** Pope said he's happy for the guys they get this little injection of positive energy. It's a brand new team. They played well but didn't finish in the first game. Game two was tonight. Now going to Alabama and "dealing with that insanity down there."
** Pope said there's a lot of room for defensive improvement because they're not great. But they're getting better. Travis Perry had a hard job tonight and he stood in there admirably. Collin Chandler was really good on the defensive end and still has a done of room to grow. Noted he had Trent Noah guarding their leading scorer, a 5'11 jet guard, for 4-5 minute stretches during this game. If you had asked him early in the season if that would be the game plan he would have said no, never. But Noah gave them a special defensive effort. Said Koby Brea took a slight defensive vacation against Texas but was back to a better version of himself there. Oweh is the ring leader on defense. They're communicating better.
** The point of attack is where you really lose something on defense with Lamont Butler out. You can't replace that. That's a massive challenge for Kentucky to figure out. When Lamont was out Jaxson became the point of attack defender. He was pretty functional. Losing that defender it pushes everybody up the scale and all your matchups are harder. The staff spent a lot of time arguing about how they would match up with Vandy's guys on the perimeter. If/when those guys come back they will benefit.
** Pope said he talks to Chandler a lot. He's a special young man, "as good as they come" as a human being. He's a special talent and they know where he's going to end up but can't forecast how the zig zag path is going to get him there. The freshmen have had a lot thrown at them at various points this year and they've responded. Chandler has a skill set that's unique to his team. Even if they get all their guys back he can do some things that are unique for Kentucky. He could be a difference-maker at tournament time.
