The score says Kentucky dominated North Carolina Central. The film says the offense finally woke up. The head coach says the defense is still nowhere close to where it has to be.
Asked what he saw on that end of the floor after a 103–67 win, Mark Pope didn’t waste time pretending.
“I was disappointed in our defense tonight,” he said. “I was disappointed with the fouls. I was disappointed with the late gap help. I was disappointed with our on-ball ball screen pressure.”
That’s a lot of “disappointed”
for a game Kentucky won by almost 40.
NC Central finished with:
- 67 points
- 42 percent shooting (24-of-57)
- 30 points in the paint
- 13-of-17 at the line
- Only 13 turnovers
Those numbers aren’t awful, but they aren’t the numbers of a defense that’s ready to survive March, either, considering the competition. And Pope knows it.
Kentucky basketball has ‘to grow’ on the defensive end
Pope broke down exactly what bothered him:
- Kentucky wasn’t “way more up the line” and aggressive enough in ball-screen coverage.
- Guards didn’t turn dribblers and instead let them pick apart the defense.
- Help from the “third defender” was “hit or miss,” especially with NC Central spacing the floor.
- Too many weak-side defenders were “naked” and failed to make the play anyway.
“They did a nice job spacing the floor where the floor was really overloaded,” Pope said. “You just have your third defender naked on the weak side and we have to make that play. And we didn’t tonight for the most part.”
He circled the same themes over and over:
- Clean up the fouls.
- Clean up the gap help.
- Take real pride in keeping guys in front.
“If we’re going to be a really good team in competitive games, those are spaces where we have to grow and this group will,” Pope said. “I love these guys. We just need to get better there and we will.”
That’s the tension right now. You can see why he’s encouraged and why he’s still angry at the same time:
- Kentucky blocked 5 shots and had 9 steals.
- They turned those into 27 points off turnovers and 34 fast-break points.
- But they also gave up straight-line drives, put their hands in the cookie jar too often, and bailed out possessions with fouls.
For a team that was supposed to be built on defense and toughness, especially after last year’s group was labeled soft on that end, “pretty good for a buy-game opponent” isn’t close to enough.
Pope keeps talking about standards. He keeps talking about competitive spirit. But he’s also brutally honest about where most of that has to show up.
“If we’re going to be a really good team in competitive games,” he said, “those are spaces where we have to grow.”
The offense finally looked like Kentucky again. The pace was there. The threes fell. The ball moved.
But if the defense doesn’t catch up, if the fouls, late help and soft ball pressure linger into Indiana, St. John’s and the SEC, this game will end up being a footnote instead of a turning point.
Pope clearly knows it. The question now is whether his players do. I hope they do, this team should be much better than it has played and that is where all the frustration comes in.
Do you think they will turn it around?
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Drew Holbrook has been covering the Cats for over 10 years. In his free time he enjoys downtime with his family and Premier League soccer. You can find him on X here. Micah 7:7. #UptheAlbion
