Jaxson Robinson says Kentucky is ahead of his BYU teams going into the season

Mark Pope had to put together an entire 12-man roster (and a brand-new coaching staff) in a very short amount of time. But from the outside looking in, the Wildcats he brought into the fold have meshed together quickly and smoothly. Having someone like Jaxson Robinson, who spent the last two seasons at BYU alongside Pope, joining him in Lexington certainly helped build team chemistry and translate his coach speak faster than expected.

But Robinson is still impressed with how fast this group of unfamiliar faces has gone from strangers to close teammates. In fact, he believes this Kentucky team is, at this point in the preseason, ahead of where his previous two BYU teams were at the same stage. And those BYU squads had plenty of holdovers from the season prior in both instances.

“This group, especially compared to my last two teams (at BYU), has picked up Coach Pope’s stuff really fast,” Robinson said at SEC Media Days this week in Birmingham. “I think we’re growing at a really fast pace. I think we’re ahead of where we were last year at this point in the season.”

Looking back at those BYU teams Robinson mentions, the 2022-23 roster (his first with the Cougars) returned 45.9 percent of its minutes played and 43.4 percent of its scoring from the season prior. In Robinson’s second season, the 2023-24 roster saw even more returning production: 74.3 percent of minutes and 68.3 percent of the scoring all came back. There was plenty of continuity already built into those rosters and it led to an NCAA Tournament appearance in ’23-24.

And yet, Robinson really likes where Kentucky is right now. The Wildcats returned exactly 0.0 percent in both minutes and scoring from scholarship players last season. The only holdovers are a pair of walk-ons. That’s what getting better talent and better coaches does though. More talent can make up for some of the shortcomings experienced by less-talented teams.

But as you might expect, there is still a long way to go. The first exhibition game has yet to be played, so we won’t know exactly where this Kentucky team is until we see it in person.

Robinson did share what the Wildcats are working on the most right now though. Earlier in the summer, it was nothing but conditioning. Pope’s offense is all about pushing the pace and shooting lots of three-pointers. That can be hard to execute if you’re standing on tired legs midway through the second half.

“I’d probably say our conditioning,” Robinson said of what the offseason focus was. “We play fast-paced, get up and down the court, fly around on defense, be disruptive. Just getting used to that and getting in shape has probably been the best thing for us over the summer.”

Now that they’re in the shape they want to be in going into the season, the primary focus as of late has shifted slightly, although not too far off from where it started. Conditioning is still the focus but with an emphasis on one particular side of the floor.

“Right now, working on our transition defense,” Robinson added, “I think that’s a big area that can help us really on in the season. Coach (Alvin Brooks) always talks about, early in the season, a lot of teams don’t have sets, they’re still trying to figure things out, and easy buckets come through transition. Just being able to stop that and make it a halfcourt game is probably the biggest thing we’re focusing on defensively.”

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