3 keys for Mark Pope’s Kentucky basketball team heading into 2024-25 season

LEXINGTON — Regardless of how things shake out on the court in 2024-25, Kentucky basketball’s upcoming season will be one for the ages.

That’s because, for the first time since the end of the 2008-09 campaign, someone other than John Calipari is guiding the program. Mark Pope, an alum and a team captain of the 1996 squad that won the national title, is tasked with returning the Wildcats to glory.

It begins Nov. 4, when UK hosts Wright State at Rupp Arena.

But for the season to be defined by more than merely serving as Pope’s debut campaign as UK’s coach, here are three keys for the 2024-25 Kentucky basketball squad with barely a month before the opener:

Kentucky basketball must find right lineups

Pope and his staff can mix and match various starting fives as much as they want prior to the season. They can tinker after the season tips off to their heart’s delight. But at some point, UK will need to decide the five it will call upon to set the tone at the beginning of each game. Options abound. According to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, who was allowed to attend Kentucky’s Tuesday practice in person, here are the early favorites to earn starting jobs: Lamont Butler, Koby Brea and Jaxson Robinson at the guard spots, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams at the forward positions. If that group ends up as the starting five, that leaves plenty of talent off the bench, including Ansley Almonor, Brandon Garrison, Kerr Kriisa and Otega Oweh — as well as whatever meaningful minutes Collin Chandler, Trent Noah and Travis Perry can contribute in their first year of college.

Winning battle on the boards, especially offensively, a must for 3-point-happy Cats

Assistant coach (and offensive coordinator of sorts) Cody Fueger has told anyone who will listen his goal for the 2024-25 Wildcats is that they average 35 3-point attempts per game. Even if UK is better from the perimeter, percentage-wise, than 2023-24, when it set a single-season mark for accuracy (40.9%; 327 for 800), players are going to miss more shots than they make from distance. That heightens the importance of rebounding; specifically “long rebounds.” The farther away a shot attempt is, the farther away the ball is likely to ricochet after a miss. The Wildcats’ fire-away 3-point approach this season will make this scenario a reality numerous times every game. Though rebounding always must be a team-wide effort, it will place added pressure on UK’s big men: Carr, Garrison and Williams. A star at Drexel, Williams has averaged two offensive rebounds per game in his college career; Carr ranked among the top 20 in the ACC in total offensive boards in back-to-back seasons (2022-23 and 2023-24) at Wake Forest; and Oklahoma State transfer Garrison was 19th in offensive rebound percentage in the rough-and-tumble Big 12 last season — as a true freshman, no less.

Identify top scoring option(s) in 1-on-1 scenarios

The Wildcats don’t lack for shooting from deep. Brea was the top 3-point marksman in Division I last season (49.8%; 100 for 201) at Dayton. Almonor tied Farleigh Dickinson’s single-season mark for 3-point makes (93) in 2023-24. Carr and Kriisa are proven perimeter threats, while Oweh and Robinson have steadily improved in that area. The first-year trio (Chandler, Noah and Perry) all showcased 3-point aptitude during their high school careers. Of course, shooting 3s isn’t the be-all, end-all. It’s also a means to an end. The “five-out offense” — a system in which every offensive player on the floor begins a possession behind the 3-point line — Pope and Fueger employed during their stint at BYU also opens up shots closer to the basket. With opponents keying so heavily on the perimeter, the lane regularly clears out, allowing the ball handler to dish off to a cutting teammate for a straightforward conversion. But there will be times when a foe with a formidable defense shuts off the 3-point line and bottles up backdoor cuts. What will the Wildcats do then? For as many shooters as this team boasts, it lacks a bevy of players who have shown — repeatedly — the ability to create offense out of thin air, in 1-on-1 matchups. Their best bets for that likely will be Carr, Kriisa (also the team’s best passer) and Robinson. How well that trio fares in those nip-and-tuck situations will be the difference in victory or defeat in tight games.

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball 2024-25: 3 keys for Mark Pope, Wildcats this year