If you look at the box scores, you might see a freshman trying to find his way. If you listen to Mark Pope, you hear a coach who sees the light bulb turning on.
With Jaland Lowe sidelined, the keys to the “Ferrari” have been handed to Jasper Johnson, Denzel Aberdeen, and Collin Chandler. And while there have been bumps in the road, Pope took to the airwaves Monday night to defend his Jasper Johnson’s vision.
“Jasper has got a really underappreciated ability to pass the ball,” Pope said.
OTE to SEC has been a struggle
It hasn’t been
seamless. The transition from OTE, where it is played more like AAU, to a more structured SEC floor general is hard. Mark Pope’s offense is not an easy one to master, and struggles have been there. Pope didn’t shy away from that reality.
“There is a learning curve,” Pope admitted. “We talked about this earlier as [Assistant Coach] Jody [Collett] was talking about [former UK guard] Joe Crawford. You know, it made me think of Jasper and the experience he’s going through right now. Every rookie goes through this experience, and he’s been on a learning curve with his passing ability.”
Very few young point guards can step on the floor and run the show on their own; that is what made Cal’s run of point guards so impressive. Mark Pope isn’t just seeing generic improvement with Jasper, though; he is seeing specific, high-level reads that are essential for his offense to be successful.
“He’s getting more comfortable with finding seams and finding gaps and finding space to make plays,” Pope explained. “He’s one of our most talented guys at hitting the roll, actually.”
For a team that relies heavily on ball-screen action so far, having a guard who can consistently hit the roll man is non-negotiable. Jasper also has a great rim finish; if he has truly unlocked that part of his game, the “growing pains” might be about to pay off in a big way.
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
