Kentucky gets a rare break this week to prepare for the remainder of the regular season.
The Wildcats (14-4, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) fell to No. 9 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll following a 102-97 loss to No. 4 Alabama last Saturday. Pope said the one-week layoff gives his players, especially Lamont Butler and Andrew Carr, time to heal for the rest of the season.
“We have to take advantage of it and everybody’s got one,” Pope said. “Ours is probably coming at the best time for us in terms of finding a pathway to a little better health for our guys. I didn’t think that was the determining factor of the game (against Alabama).”
Pope said the objective for this week is for his squad to “be fresh and for our guys to get fresh and to get healthy is going to be key No. 1, and we would also like to make some big strides of improvement.”
In the loss to the Crimson Tide, Pope’s first loss at Rupp Arena as coach of the Wildcats, he said his squad “left so much on the table.”
“There is so much room for us to grow,” he said. “There (are) so many spaces where we can get better. In particular, playing this style of game. That’s going to be the nature of the season. We played our first five games in the league against all teams in the Top 25. It’s the nature of this league right now.”
Kentucky gets a rematch against Alabama on Feb. 22 in Tuscaloosa. The remaining schedule features seven away games and six home contests, including a home-and-home against No. 6 Tennessee. Kentucky also hosts former Wildcats coach John Calipari and Arkansas on Feb. 1 and top-ranked Auburn a month later on March 1.
“The most important thing for us is we can’t waste any energy or any time on nonconstructive things,” Pope said. “It’s a race to see how fast we can get better, and that’s not easy. … That’s kind of the speed we have to go with this.”
Pope is confident the Wildcats will bounce back Saturday at Vanderbilt. Kentucky is undefeated (3-0) in bounce-back games this season and, added the loss to Alabama served as a lesson, especially on the defensive end of the court for his team.
“The one thing our guys are good at is they are good at getting better and we will punish teams in the future that guard us like this even more than we did (against Alabama),” Pope said. “We just are not that far along. Every game gives you a new challenge and we just couldn’t execute that space in the game.
“I’ve got beautiful guys, my guys are fighting for each other … there is zero part of my guys that are in this for themselves at all. That doesn’t exist at all. These guys are fighting for each other.”
NEXT GAME: Kentucky at Vanderbilt, 1:30 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: ESPN, UK Radio Network.
Coach Mark Pope emphasizes defense to Kentucky's players. (Photo by Les Nicholson)
