Mark Pope gives a concerning reason for Kentucky’s struggles
It was only a few days ago that Kentucky Wildcats fans were celebrating a win over Vanderbilt, and hoping that they had turned a corner. If they could play like that consistently, they could make an NCAA Tournament run. Then, they ran into Texas A&M. The Aggies made a 27-3 run late in the first half, and Big Blue Nation was, once again, left to try and figure out this year’s team.
After the game, coach Mark Pope was asked about the loss, and many factors were mentioned, but one excuse was particularly concerning. Among other things, he blamed fatigue for some of their issues.
These Saturday/Tuesdays have been a little bit challenging for us with our limited, limited roster size right now.
The Wildcats are 1-5 this season on Tuesday games when playing power five teams coming after a weekend game, and that’s a problem. During March Madness, they’ll play two games in 48 hours, and in the SEC Tournament, games come every night.
Obviously being down three starters hurts, but Pope still uses his bench a lot. Kentucky’s starters, relative to other teams, don’t play huge minutes. Otega Oweh averages 31.6 minutes per game, which isn’t even in the top 250 players in college basketball. No other Wildcats player even averages 30 minutes. Fatigue shouldn’t be an issue.
Pope continues to be positive, and says that their issues are fixable, but if they’re getting tired this late in the season, that might not be true. Things are only going to get tougher, and Kentucky’s bench has struggled all season. The starters will have to play big minutes for postseason success, tired or not.
