Big Blue Nation wanted a modern offense from Mark Pope, and that’s exactly what they got — at least through one preseason game.
Kentucky shot the ball the way everyone hoped it would in the first exhibition of the 2024-25 season, earning a resounding 71-point victory over a dominant Kentucky Wesleyan group. The Wildcats shot 79 percent (27-for-34) from 2-point range and 50 percent (21-for-42) from deep. As a result, he scored a total of 123 points with 48 successful shots, 32 assists, and only 5 turnovers. England scored on less than 70 percent of their total possession.
We call it efficiency.
Other than going 6-9 from the free throw line, Kentucky was nearly perfect considering the circumstances. However, the shot chart shows an even clearer picture. The image below shows all the shots Kentucky players attempted against KWC. The left side shows the second half, and the right side shows the first half. Black dots indicate makeup, white dots indicate mistakes.
What makes it stand out?
See how there is some pristine gray left on both sides between the surroundings and the paint? Notice how few dots of white and black there are in this area. That’s by specification.
On the left, there is only one dot in that area. It was a shot taken just outside the block by center Amari Williams. On the right, you can see a pair of Jackson Robinson’s mid-range jumpers, one successful and one unsuccessful. All this means is that 119 of Kentucky’s 123 points against KWC came from one of three spots: 3-pointers, shots in the paint, and free throws.
“What I like about it is that I made most of the shots,” Pope said after the win. “We didn’t have a lot of hard-fought shootouts. We got a lot of shots. We got them in a lot of different ways, we got them by racing through space, we got them by screening, we got them by finishing cuts. ”
Most of Kentucky’s points came in transition. The Wildcats forced 18 turnovers and turned them into 39 fast break points. Kentucky Wesleyan didn’t exactly challenge Pope’s debut on both ends of the floor. So one shouldn’t take anything too seriously from just one exhibition, but at least we saw Pope’s offensive plan in action.
And it was beautifully executed.
