Kentucky basketball is changing as Mark Pope is the new head basketball coach, and we will see a new style of play. Coach Pope has almost completed his full roster, and this team is going to be very old compared to what we saw at Kentucky during the John Calipari era.
Last season’s Kentucky team was elite on the offensive side of the floor, thanks to Antonio Reeves, Reed Sheppard, and Rob Dillingham, but they really struggled to get stops. This led to the early exit in the NCAA Tournament.
The 2024-25 Kentucky basketball team that Coach Pope is putting together will be elite on both ends of the floor.
Players like Jaxson Robinson, Kerr Kriisa, and Koby Brea will be the elite scorers on this team. Then you have players like Lamont Butler, Otega Oweh, and Amari Williams, who will be elite on the defensive side of the floor. You also have a lot of role players who are good at everything making this Kentucky team balanced.
If I had to guess, I would say the Wildcats will be a top 20 team on both offensive and defensive efficiency on KenPom this season. Last year, the Wildcats were high in KenPom on offense, but the defensive numbers weren’t great.
The 2024-25 Kentucky basketball team is going to be very different from what Big Blue Nation is used to, but this team is going to be very good and win a lot of basketball games. This team could make it out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.