The Kentucky Wildcats’ season came to an end in the Round of 32 against Iowa State, so head coach Mark Pope gave a bit of a roster-needs update on his weekly radio show with Tom Leach.
In Pope’s two seasons at the helm for the Wildcats, he’s dealt with a lot of roster challenges and depth issues, especially in the backcourt.
Pope gave an update on what he’s looking for in a point guard for the coming years, a big focus being on finding more shot creators.
“We are desperate to bring creators here to Kentucky,”
Pope exclaimed. “Creators are people who earn shots for teammates and can go earn shots for themselves. There are a bunch of other metrics that go into it. The best teams are creator-rich, and unfortunately for us, they play a large role in the changes at the point guard spot, which was a place where we struggled all year.
“Creators deal with pressure, earn guys better shots, and make shots for themselves. This is a space where we’re going to have a high, high focus as we build this roster for next year.”
Pope also added that losing Jaland Lowe really affected a lot of guys on the team, bringing up that it was unfair to Jasper Johnson to play back-up point guard minutes, and added that Denzel Aberdeen was asked to play a position that he was unfamiliar with.
Here’s to hoping Kentucky is able to find more guys who can create shots for themselves and others this offseason.
