This time around, Mark Pope should have more options in an important role
There will forever be a what-if feeling around Mark Pope’s first Kentucky basketball team.
What if Lamont Butler didn’t suffer a shoulder injury that left him at far less than 100% health for the Wildcats’ stretch run? What if Kerr Kriisa didn’t go down with a foot injury in December that ultimately ended his season? What if Jaxson Robinson didn’t endure an injury to his red-hot shooting wrist at the worst time possible?
Even before he started constructing his second UK basketball roster, Pope was looking for ways to preemptively eliminate the what-ifs.
“I have a really talented backcourt. I have so many options,” the Kentucky coach declared Monday afternoon.
That declaration came with one particular position in mind.
Butler, of course, was UK’s starting point guard last season — the team’s “heart and soul,” as Pope often put it — but his college career ended with the veteran playmaker wearing a bulky, restrictive brace on that injured shoulder.
Kriisa, a unique offensive talent with an unmatched sense of pace among his UK teammates, didn’t get to show much of any of that, falling to the floor with a broken foot in early December and never returning to the court as a Wildcat.
During the times when both were out, Robinson was the team’s de facto point guard. Robinson, by his own admission, was not a point guard. And then he got hurt, too. Robinson was 31-for-60 from 3-point range in the seven-game stretch that preceded his injury.
While all three were sidelined, the primary point guard duties fell to freshman Travis Perry, who started games against NCAA Tournament-level competition in a season in which he wasn’t expected to get much playing time at all. Perry had his moments — and his effort was never in question — but the assignment, at that point in his career, was often overwhelming.
And so Pope had to piecemeal the point guard spot for a sizable chunk of the season.
At times, 7-footer Amari Williams was the Cats’ most effective playmaker offensively. Nice to have someone with that skill set in a pinch, but not optimal for long stretches in big games.
Other times, the task of offensive creation fell on whoever else could dribble by his defender. Defensively, things often got out of whack when Butler wasn’t there to patrol the perimeter.
Pope’s hope is that nothing like this happens the second time around.
It all begins with Pittsburgh transfer Jaland Lowe, who has been the presumptive starting point guard for the Wildcats since his commitment to Kentucky in the spring.
Coaches often go out of their way to make it clear that no roles are promised — especially when it comes to program newcomers — this time of year, but Pope made no moves to dissuade anyone of the notion that Lowe will be his go-to guy in the backcourt when he was asked about the point guard spot Monday.
Kentucky’s coach was tasked with talking about his “backup” options at that position. He bit on the question.
“Otega (Oweh) has played some minutes at the 1,” Pope began. “Collin Chandler has played a lot of minutes at the 1. Jasper Johnson is completely capable of playing the 1. I think (Denzel Aberdeen) is very comfortable playing the 1. So we’re in a little bit of a different scenario than we felt like we were in most of the season last year. We have so many capable options.”
If all of those players can actually play the point when the games begin, Pope will indeed have plenty of options.
Possible UK point guards
Lowe, an All-ACC performer at Pitt, is expected to play the lion’s share of those playmaking minutes. Aberdeen, a sixth-man-type guard at Florida last season — a key piece off the bench for the national champions — projects as Lowe’s primary backup, though it’s possible he also cracks the UK starting lineup alongside him.
That’s two high-level options.
Oweh and Chandler, of course, were Wildcats last season.
Oweh, who was Kentucky’s leading scorer then, has mentioned decision-making, general playmaking and creating for others as major points of emphasis for his own development heading into this season.
Chandler, who spent two years removed from basketball — while on a church mission — before arriving at UK, often looked out of place as a primary ballhandler last season, though his comfort level clearly improved by the end of the campaign. New teammates have talked positively about his playmaking abilities during the ongoing summer practice session.
And Johnson, a shifty five-star freshman, is certainly comfortable with the ball in his hands.
Pope has talked about some of the areas where this UK team will be a work in progress, but asked Monday to single out a spot where his Wildcats are already ahead, he didn’t hesitate.
“I think we have some space to find some great pace with this team, actually, for a lot of reasons,” Pope said. “One, because we have some personnel that I think have motors. I think we have some guys with special motors. I think we have some depth that we can really rely on that’s going to help us.”
A portion of this answer dealt with Kentucky’s versatile frontcourt — guys like Mouhamed Dioubate and Brandon Garrison, who should be able to push the pace — but this also served as a jumping-off point for Pope to brag on his perimeter players.
“I think we have a chance to have a really dynamic backcourt — guys that are really capable of making multiple moves, to make plays in the backcourt,” he said. “I think this team has a chance to really pass the ball at an elite level. So I have high hopes for this group.”
Pope said there have been times this summer when Lowe has shown off his blazing speed.
“We had possessions where Jaland Lowe ran by everybody on the court in transition to get to the rim,” he said. “He’s got unbelievable jets.”
Aberdeen can run, Pope added.
“Collin Chandler is going to be an elite-level pace guy,” he proclaimed.
Everyone already knows what Oweh is capable of on the perimeter. And that’s without the added gains he hopes to find as a playmaker this offseason. Johnson — with the reputation as a creative, accomplished scorer — will surely be a spark plug at times for UK’s offensive attack.
And to Pope’s larger point of mentioning his entire backcourt when asked about the specific possibilities at the point guard spot: he should have multiple creators on the court at any one time. These are all guys who should be able to take the ball and get something started.
That wasn’t always the case last season, even when the Cats were relatively healthy.
“I also think, at the 2 and the 3, we’re built a little bit differently, where we probably are going to have more ‘get where you want to go’ ball-handling on the floor, besides just our point guard,” Pope predicted. “I think our 2 guard, for the most part, in the game — and a lot of times our 3 — is going to be really aggressive off the bounce, also be able to make plays off the bounce. I think we’ll live in that space a lot this year.”
