The men’s basketball X account posted an “inside look” into banner camp and fans reacted to one thing they noticed instantly.
The men’s basketball X account posted a video of a “look inside” the last week of basketball practice that Head Coach Mark Pope has affectionately called “Banner Camp.” The name implies where Kentucky basketball has been, with lots of National Championship banners hung on the way and the goal to hang another one, knowing the work starts in the first week of practice.
Pope wanted his team and the fans to run with the quote, “The magic you are searching for is in the work you are avoiding.” This quote came up multiple times throughout the video and is an exceptional quote, but it’s not what Kentucky basketball fans reacted to or ran with. It was something they noticed in the video itself: a passing attack offense.
Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio said it this way, “This video of UK Basketball Practice is awesome. I love the Offensive philosophy but it is going to be VERY different than what we are used to.” And it truly was a sight to behold because we are not used to seeing the ball move that much or the passes be that crisp or the unselfish ability to get others the ball.
Former Wildcat Head Coach John Calipari had a clear offensive scheme that was focused on getting his elite freshman to show off their athletic ability and create shots for themselves. To be fair, it also would, when run, effectively open up shots for others. It is known as the “dribble-drive” system, and it worked with the players that Calipari recruited and often with his “one-and-done” philosophy. It was about as simple as he could make it for freshmen, and it worked most of the time. The frustrating part was when it didn’t work.
The downside to the system was when Kentucky took on disciplined, elite defensive teams, the offense would then look stagnant. It depended a lot on players trying to break down defenders one-on-one. If a team was a disciplined zone team or was good at sending help into the paint but did not lose track of the outside man, it would fall apart. When Calipari had effective perimeter shooting, it could often work really well, but when he didn’t, it would crumble under good defenses.
This is why fans became enamored by the 30 seconds of passing and spacing. We see an entirely different offensive philosophy, one in which we see tons of passing to the perimeter to break down the defense, lots of spacing, and the ability to take a good outside shot. This team has a ton of outside shooters. Pope said in the video, “We put together the best shot-making team in the country.”
Coach Pope says in the video that who they are now is “We shoot and we wedge. We shoot, and we wedge. That’s who we are.” This is going to be such a unique-looking Kentucky team and the excitement is real, and the hype is contagious. Pope has Big Blue Nation buzzing.
Here’s a couple more reactions to close:
To quote Coach Pope, “Bring the next one. Relentless.”