A month ago, panic was setting in around Kentucky basketball.
The Wildcats’ offense, built around spacing and high-volume three-point shooting, simply wasn’t delivering. Kentucky was hitting just 32 percent from deep, and the “bombs away” system Mark Pope installed looked more theory than reality. Outside of Collin Chandler, reliable perimeter shooting was hard to find, and even believers were starting to wonder if the approach would ever translate.
Mark Pope never wavered.
Behind the scenes, the numbers told a different story. Throughout the summer and into the season, Kentucky’s NOAH Shooting System data was elite. Several Wildcats graded in the 90s — meaning their shots were online more than 90 percent of the time. Pope trusted that kind of precision wouldn’t vanish once the games mattered.
For a while, it looked like it had.
But instead of abandoning the plan, Pope doubled down. He kept preaching patience, insisting the math would eventually work itself out.
Now, it has.
Kentucky is shooting 38.7 percent from three in SEC play, the best mark in the conference. The turnaround has been fueled by deadly efficiency from Denzel Aberdeen (47.1%), Otega Oweh (43.5%), and Collin Chandler (47.1%). Three shooters above 43 percent from deep forces defenses into impossible decisions.
Yet Pope insists the improved shooting isn’t the real story.
The real breakthrough is MP4T — Making Plays for Teammates.
Ball movement, spacing, and quick decision-making have created cleaner looks across the floor. Kentucky isn’t just shooting better — it’s generating better shots because players are creating for one another.
“We’re actually shooting the ball better because we’re making plays for each other at a higher level,” Pope said. “Hopefully that continues, because if it does, we have a chance to be a really good offensive team. The numbers work themselves out over time.”
That philosophy drew skepticism after Kentucky’s game against Alabama. Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats designed his defensive approach to force the ball inside and suggested at halftime that Kentucky wasn’t interested in passing. Postgame, he went even further, implying Pope’s offensive numbers were misleading and inflated by games against weaker opponents.
As conference play continues, those criticisms are getting harder to justify.
The Wildcats are sharing the ball, stretching defenses, and turning analytics into wins. What once sounded like blind faith now looks like foresight.
