"There are major, major jumps at hand": Jon Rothstein doubts Mark Pope’s Wildcats as he ranks Kentucky at No. 9 in SEC Preseason Power Rankings
NCAA insider Jon Rothstein’s power rankings for the 2024-25 college basketball season are out, and Mark Pope’s Kentucky are ranked ninth in the list. The first-year coach grips his alma mater after John Calipari transitioned to Arkansas earlier this offseason.
Rothstein’s evaluation comes through assessing major building blocks like impact players, freshmen caliber, transfers, projected starting lineup, potential breakout players and sleepers. Despite the program-wide shakeup, Mark Pope’s presence acts as a ray of hope for Cats fans.
However, Jon Rothstein thinks Kentucky will go through plenty of learning curves and hurdles in the 2024-25 season.
"People automatically think that just because a team wears Kentucky across its chest, it’s going to be really, really good," Rothstein said on the Colle Hoops Today podcast.
"I want to remind people this - there are major, major jumps at hand for many of Kentucky’s players who have transferred to Lexington,” the insider followed.
Kentucky features a complete identity makeover with a roster cultivated out of the recruiting cycle and the transfer portal. On paper, it gives teams like Alabama an edge, considering the composition of its oster.
Apart from chemistry or history of playing together, Jon Rothstein argues the potential of the entire roster. Players like Jaxson Robinson, Andrew Carr, Brandon Garrison and Kerr Kriisa have experience of playing in the Big Five conference.
However, almost half of the transfers arrive in Lexington from a mid-major league. Moreover, they will be expected to take on a regular rotational role and contribute significantly, posing questions about the readiness of the pack.
Mark Pope is eyeing a quick-paced run-and-gun system
Three-pointers are the Rosetta stone to winning basketball games. The Golden State Warriors became the most successful NBA franchise of the last decade by aiming from the arc, and the Boston Celtics powered through the league this season doing the same.
With that, Mark Pope aims to instill the practice of shooting a lot of 3-pointers in his first Kentucky roster. A hint of that comes through the coaching staff’s encouragement for Andrew Carr, a 37.1% 3-point shooter last year, to take more shots from distance. The same goes for Otega Oweh, who could twinfold his 53 three-ball attempts this year with apt playing time.
During Mark Pope’s 2023-24 season at BYU, his roster averaged a little over 30 3-pointers per game. Fans can expect Kentucky to top that in the coming season, albeit with playing at a quicker pace.