5-6 foot 200 points,Mark Pope’s first Kentucky men’s return with full commitment…
5-6 foot 200 points,Mark Pope’s first Kentucky men’s return with full commitment…
The media recently completed interviews with all 12 of the players on new coach Mark Pope’s first Kentucky men’s basketball roster.
I talked with UK men’s basketball beat writer Ben Roberts abMark Pope’s first Kentucky men’s basketball roster.out what we learned from the interviews, our impressions of the players, what Kentucky fans might be worried about and what’s next for the Wildcats this summer.
Pat Kelsey channeled Winston Churchill to describe the feeling of his inaugural Louisville men’s basketball team wrapping up its two-game exhibition tour of the Bahamas on Thursday afternoon.
He called it, “The end of the beginning.”
What’s next, then?
“I haven’t left my room since I got here,” the Cardinals’ first-year head coach said. “I’m going to be on the waterslide in about 24 minutes with my son; I’m going to find out a way to rent a jet ski.”
Kelsey and his players earned the much-needed rest and relaxation after U of L swept its stint at the Baha Mar Hoops Summer League with a 111-71 victory over the University of Calgary in Nassau.
Kelsey billed Thursday’s matchup against the Dinos as tougher sledding after Louisville’s 52-point drubbing of a loosely assembled all-star team from the Caribbean island Tuesday night.
Calgary plays at Canada’s highest amateur level, has a national-championship-winning coach entering his 25th season at the helm and returned the core of a roster that went 20-12 during the 2023-24 campaign. On a trip to Greece last summer, it went 0-4 in two games apiece against Wichita State and Yale (an NCAA Tournament team) but lost by an average margin of only 10.3 points.
Kelsey described Dan Vanhooren’s squad as being savvy, mature and loaded with shooters. So is his; and, with a regular-season mindset, they followed his simple instructions, “We’ve got to be ready to play.”
Kasean Pryor and Chucky Hepburn combined to score 12 of the game’s first 15 points to ignite the rout. The Cards, with five players reaching double figures, never trailed and led by as many as 47. Their average margin of victory for the trip: 46.
That doesn’t mean much, considering the 2024-25 season doesn’t tip off until early November; but Kelsey said he told his team to “be great in our system” regardless of the score. In that regard, he should be for the most part happy with what he sees when he runs back the tape.
On Thursday, Louisville shot 52.1% (12 for 31 from 3-point range); tallied 22 assists on 37 made field goals; dominated the glass (53-25) and outscored Calgary 25-2 on second-chance opportunities. It also forced 13 turnovers and turned them into 20 points.
The Dinos shot 31% (18 for 58) and were held to three second-half 3s on 18 attempts after starting 5 for 9 from beyond the arc.
“Human nature seeps in; you can just relax (and say), ‘Hey, we’re up a lot; we’re going to win
