Mark Pope’s list of things to buy on Black Friday

This year, there is a link between Kentucky basketball and Black Friday. Mark Pope and the Wildcats are looking for deals to improve their game in preparation for a run to the championship, just like people who are shopping for gifts or a new big screen TV. Now that the season is in full swing, Pope’s shopping plan will make sure that Kentucky is at its best by March.

Let’s see what Pope is going to buy:

1. Bouncing back is the doorbuster

Pope isn’t afraid to go after offensive rebounds. “We’d like to have a 30% offensive rebounding rate,” he said. In terms of offensive boards, that’s about 14 per game. The Cats aren’t quite there yet, and if they can get there, they might be able to control plays. It’s thought that making that many threes will lead to a lot of long rebounds, which will let the Cats shoot even more.

2. Be careful with turnovers

If you don’t want to break that shiny new thing, turnovers are like that. Even though 10 per game isn’t bad, the Cats do get careless sometimes. UK would be very good at scoring if they could get that number down below 10 and improve their rebounds. This is a number to keep an eye on as the season goes on.

3. Consistent communication that is defensive

On Pope’s Black Friday list, defensive talk is a must. On his call-in show, which you can listen to here, he asked, “You can do it once, but can you do it every time down the floor?” Defences that are consistent, especially against good offences, will be very important in the SEC right now, where both Alabama and Auburn are scoring a lot of points.

4. Shooting 3s as much as you want

Another thing Pope dreamed about? 35 shots from three-point range each game. If Kentucky’s shooters are on, they can do what they want, and their precision can make defences weak. Cats, keep shooting!

5. How Amari Williams Has Grown

Sometimes, Kentucky’s offence is built around Amari Williams, who is learning how to deal with double teams and different defensive tactics. Pope talked about how important it was for him to grow because he thinks he will get better every game by seeing new things.

Extra gifts for stockings

Kentucky averages 35 defensive boards per game, which is the most in the country. The Cats have been able to ride out the growing pains of learning the new system and playing together thanks to that base. Remember that this team hasn’t been together for a whole year yet.

“It’s a race to the Final Four,” Pope said. The Wildcats want to make improvement. If they do these things, they’ll be in the running for the tournament in March.