Mark Pope promised a fast-paced Kentucky basketball offense. What do the numbers say so far?
During the summer months — when discussion of Mark Pope’s first Kentucky basketball team was mainly theoretical — specific benchmarks for the Wildcats’ promised offensive style of play emerged.
Some, like UK’s desire to launch 35 3-pointers each game, are now widely known. Others, like the goal of getting the ball over the halfcourt line in the first three seconds of the shot clock on each possession, flew a bit more under the radar but remain integral to the offensive pace Pope preaches.
But out of all these guiding principles, one serves as the best measurement of how UK wants to play on offense, and the chaos that the Cats can cause opposing defenses.
One of Kentucky’s goals this season is to get a shot up within the first 14 seconds of the shot clock. This means that when the shot clock shows 16 seconds still remaining, at the latest, the Wildcats should be watching a ball in motion toward the rim.
This tidbit was revealed via fifth-year guard Jaxson Robinson, the only member of the 2024-25 UK basketball team to previously play for Pope.
“Usually when we practice, we practice with 14 seconds on the shot clock,” Robinson told the Herald-Leader during the summer. “We don’t play with 30 seconds. So he likes to get ’em up fast and make sure that we get back in transition and get a stop. And then we’re out again.”
Now, we have tangible evidence to see how the Wildcats — who are now 5-0 and ranked No. 8 in the nation — have fared in this pursuit during the early season.
During UK’s first seven games this season — including exhibition contests against Kentucky Wesleyan and Minnesota State Mankato — the Herald-Leader charted each countable Kentucky basketball offensive possession.
This meant filtering out scenarios in which attempting a shot during the first 14 seconds of a possession were altered by game conditions. This included second-chance possessions when the shot clock reset and end-of-half situations when the shot clock was turned off.
From 514 total countable UK offensive possessions, the Wildcats took shots within the first 14 seconds of the possession on 324 occasions. The grades out to an overall 63% success rate for this team goal.
Here’s a game-by-game breakdown of UK’s offensive outings this season.
▪ In UK’s first exhibition against Kentucky Wesleyan, the Wildcats went 58-for-74 (78.4%) when it came to taking shots in the first 14 seconds.
▪ In UK’s second exhibition against Minnesota State Mankato, the Wildcats went 53-for-77 (68.8%).
▪ In UK’s first regular season game against Wright State, the Wildcats went 47-for-73 (64.4%).
▪ In UK’s second regular season game against Bucknell, the Wildcats went 41-for-74 (55.4%).
▪ In UK’s third regular season game against Duke, the Wildcats went 38-for-69 (55.1%).
▪ In UK’s fourth regular season game against Lipscomb, the Wildcats went 40-for-69 (58%).
▪ In UK’s fifth regular season game against Jackson State, the Wildcats went 47-for-78 (60.3%).
The analytics tell an even better story.
According to KenPom, Kentucky runs the fifth-fastest offense in the nation. The Wildcats have an average offensive possession length of 14.4 seconds, which only trails four smaller schools (New Mexico, Cornell, Cal Poly and Prairie View A&M). By this measurement, Kentucky is the fastest high-major offense in the country.
For comparison, last season’s high-flying UK offense under John Calipari averaged 15.6 seconds per offensive possession, which was 18th in the nation.
This quickfire offense hasn’t come at the expense of effectiveness, either.
Per KenPom, Kentucky is 11th in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency (118.9 points scored per 100 possessions) and third in the country in effective field goal percentage (61.3%).
Early returns from Pope’s system have also produced one of the most efficient players in college basketball: Fifth-year guard Koby Brea is second in the nation in individual offensive rating (176.6) and first in 3-point shooting percentage (74.1%).
The results in the box score confirm what these deeper numbers say, too.
Kentucky has scored 100 or more points in three of its five games this season. UK has also made at least 10 3-pointers in each game, which is the first time the Cats have ever done so in a five-game stretch to begin a season.
“We just get so many more possessions than an average pace team in college basketball,” fifth-year forward Andrew Carr explained. “Just the way we try to play super fast. You’ve got to get across half court in the first three seconds and then the first open look, it’s a requirement of us to shoot the ball when it’s an open look.”
“At this level, 30 seconds (on the shot clock), you’re probably only going to get one or two, maybe two, good looks,” Carr added. “So when you get that and you earn one for your teammate, then we really pride ourselves on being able to take those.”
How are Kentucky players enjoying Mark Pope’s offensive style?
The implementation of Pope’s distinct offensive style has been a team-wide effort. While the system is synonymous with Pope, it’s UK assistant Cody Fueger was has been termed the “offensive coordinator” behind all this.
In general, Kentucky’s coaching staff deserves praise for the way it has gotten 12 brand-new, scholarship players to buy in and execute this offensive scheme.
Those players have raved about their initial experiences in the system.
“We always emphasize our pace,” Carr also said, citing the transition opportunities that the pace produces.
The process of being able to play this fast can’t be expedited. A premium has been placed on conditioning during UK practices.
“It’s just a whole bunch of moving and sprinting,” second-year center Brandon Garrison said. “I feel like it just translates to the game because we’re always moving. (Getting) back in transition defense, the offense is fast paced. So, I feel like it’s helping a lot.”
This is by design. Between how fast Kentucky plays and the depth that exists on Pope’s first roster, the Wildcats are likely to win most battles of attrition.
“We’ve got a deep team, so I feel like our rotation and us being in (good) condition can wear down a lot of teams in the country,” Garrison added.
In particular, fifth-year point guard Lamont Butler is an intriguing case study among UK’s newcomers. Butler previously played four seasons at San Diego State, famously making a buzzer-beater to win a national semifinal in 2023.
While Butler was there, the Aztecs had the following per-game offensive possession length averages:
▪ An average of 16.9 seconds per offensive possession for the 2020-21 season.
▪ An average of 17.5 seconds per offensive possession for the 2021-22 season.
▪ An average of 17.5 seconds per offensive possession for the 2022-23 season.
▪ An average of 17.7 seconds per offensive possession for the 2023-24 season.
How has Butler adjusted to becoming the starting point guard for a UK team that’s playing three seconds faster on offense than he’s used to?
“I got a lot of reps this summer and fall,” Butler said. “At my other school we didn’t play at this same, exact pace. So in (UK) practice, we’re just going up and down until we get tired. But now I feel like my conditioning is really good and it’s been cool to play in this offense . … I’m just grateful that we’re able to play this way. We’ve got the pieces, we’ve got the depth, to do this all year.”
KenPom began tracking average offensive possession length during the 2009-10 season. Since then, the team with the shortest average offensive possession length to win the national title was North Carolina in 2017.
The Tar Heels averaged 15.4 seconds per offensive possession that season, which is a full second longer than UK’s current pace.
How do Kentucky’s opponents deal with UK’s fast offense?
There’s an understanding when it comes to the early-season “buy games” that Kentucky hosts at Rupp Arena.
The opposing team’s head coach always meets with media members postgame. If things go as expected and Kentucky handily wins — which isn’t always the case — the postgame line of questioning to these visiting coaches follows a familiar script.
While a few questions may be asked about an opponent’s style of play or a particular player, most of the questions are about the Cats.
This fall, that’s meant a lot of questions about how hard it is for a defense to try and stop an offense that’s aiming to use less than half of the shot clock.
“It’s hard to go from the offensive end to the defense end just like that,” Minnesota State Mankato coach Matt Margenthaler said of Kentucky’s pace. “… I just think they play the game the right way.”
“Obviously when they get out in transition, they’re hard to guard,” Wright State coach Clint Sargent said after suffering a season-opening loss in Lexington. “… (Pope) built a roster in a short amount of time that really fit his scheme.”
“Kentucky’s offense was a little faster than we anticipated, getting the ball up the floor,” Bucknell head coach John Griffin III added. “… We (did) a deep dive into BYU and how fast they scored off of (opponents’) made baskets, which is unique. … We had a pretty strong understanding that they get the ball up the floor quickly, looking for an advantage and when they had one they would play to that advantage.”
“That’s the best offensive Power Four team we’ve played in my six years at Lipscomb,” Lennie Acuff, the head coach of the Bisons, said after a 97-68 loss.
Then came the kicker.
“… It’s real pleasing to the eye, if you don’t have to guard them.”
Next game
Western Kentucky at No. 8 Kentucky
What: BBN Invitational
When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday
TV: ESPNU
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Western Kentucky 3-2, Kentucky 5-0
Series: Kentucky leads 5-2
Last meeting: Kentucky won 96-60 on Dec. 22, 2021, in Lexington
