Mark Pope told reporters at Wednesday's SEC Tipoff that he welcomes the championship pressure at Kentucky. He also offered a more useful preseason claim. According to ESPN's account of his remarks, Pope believes the Wildcats can become a strong team defense through their length, connection and decision-making.
That idea has a test date. Kentucky hosts Little Rock in an October 16 exhibition, the first of three before its November 3 opener, according to the school's schedule. The question is whether Kentucky's size changes an opponent's choices over a full possession. A blocked shot would be one answer. Forcing a guard to pick up the ball, move a pass away from the rim or start an action again could be just as revealing.
Pope has named the pieces
At a September media session, Pope said he wanted length to affect every possession. He named Zoom Diallo and Mason Williams as physical guards, with Malachi Moreno, Franck Kepnang and Justin McBride providing size inside, according to Kentucky Athletics. That is a description of the roster he assembled, followed by a challenge to use it together.
A long guard can crowd a passing lane, but a teammate still has to cover the space behind him. An interior defender can meet a drive, but somebody has to find the shooter he leaves. Those are the exchanges I'd watch in the exhibitions. Pope's list of physical players says who might make them. It cannot tell us yet whether they will make them at the right time.
The SEC preseason media poll placed Kentucky seventh. Milan Momcilovic made its second team and Moreno its third. ESPN put the Wildcats 25th in its October 7 preseason ranking. A poll measures expectation, not a possession. It does make Pope's defensive claim a useful way to judge progress before the games count.
Watch the second effort
Little Rock on October 16, Texas Tech on October 23 and UCF on October 28 give Kentucky three chances to show how the group communicates. When the first defender slows a ballhandler, does the next defender close the passing window? After a missed shot, does the same group finish the possession with a rebound? A team can be tall and still give up a clean second chance.
There is an offensive question too. Pope told ESPN he likes his lead guards and centers and believes this could be his best shooting team. CBR has already examined how Momcilovic's shooting could help Moreno roll. The defensive test asks something different of that pairing and the players around it. Kentucky needs to see whether its size lets those lineups stay on the floor when opponents attack them.
Kentucky's first exhibition will give Pope an early answer to the question he posed in September: can the Wildcats use their length on every possession? A disrupted first pass will matter. So will the recovery when an opponent gets through. The second play is where a roster trait starts to become team defense.
