Jimmy Dykes believes Kentucky has roster to 'win right now' under Mark Pope

ESPN college basketball analyst Jimmy Dykes was in Lexington to watch Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats practice on Thursday. He watched the team compete at the Joe Craft Center, then talked to the players in the locker room after things wrapped up before calling it a day.

“Shot makers all over the floor,” Dykes posted on social media. “BBN (is) gonna love this team.”

Spending the day with ⁦@KentuckyMBB⁩ and ⁦@CoachMarkPope⁩ … shot makers all over the floor. BBN gonna love this team pic.twitter.com/shYN8kkzat

— Jimmy Dykes (@CoachJimmyDykes) September 19, 2024

Quite the tease, right? That’s why Matt Jones and the KSR crew had the former Kentucky assistant and current ESPN analyst join the show on Friday to break down what he saw and what fans can expect from Coach Pope’s first team in Lexington — and his future leading the program.

Shooting, shooting and more shooting

As most have expressed after watching these Cats, Dykes says shooting will be this team’s biggest strength and it’s not particularly close. Considering Pope’s coaching identity and the system he’s built over the years, the personnel is there to execute offensively at the highest level.

“He did a great job of identifying guys that fit how he plays. Analytics and what the guy did at his previous school might not be eye-popping and catching your attention like maybe some other Kentucky teams have in the past, but they fit how this guy plays,” Dykes told KSR. “I know it was just a practice yesterday, and they only went up and down for maybe 10 or 12 minutes total, five-on-five, but I’m telling you, they were making shot after shot after shot.

“Kentucky led the nation in three-point percentage last year, they were a very good three-point shooting team, but they didn’t shoot the volume that this system is gonna demand and allow. There’s not a non-shooter on the floor, from what I can see.”

A few questions about the Cats

What are his questions about the team? Attacking the basket and defense. The physical tools are there, but can they put it all together? That’s what he’s hoping they prove once the ball is tipped on the season.

“I want to see more driving of the ball, because — you guys know basketball very well in that state. If you only have a team full of shooters, you can get covered up,” Dykes said. “You’ve got to have guys that can drive it, force the defense to rotate to allow those shooters to get open. I want to see more of that from Otega Oweh and Lamont Butler, probably the two primary guys getting downhill. But they’re capable.

“It’s a system that is — I guess, the big-picture thoughts in my notebook I’m looking at right now: can they score? Check, yes. Can they get stops? Question mark, I don’t know. That’s where they are right now in my eyes.”

What does it mean for expectations?

So how does that translate to season expectations entering year one for Pope? Just how big can Big Blue Nation dream in 2024-25? Dykes personally believes in the Cats. Albeit a fan and close friend of Coach Cal, he understands the impatience in Lexington considering the lack of recent postseason success.

And he believes this team is, for lack of a better phrase, built for March.

“Guys are going to buy in and collectively become a real problem playing in the SEC, I think. Right away, from year one, they’re going to be a major factor under Mark Pope,” Dykes said. “You guys know this, I’m a big (John) Calipari fan, good friend to him. But Kentucky, they just won one NCAA Tournament game in the past four years. Mark knows where the bar is set and it is from year one.

“I think Mark knows, ‘I’m going to win right now, and I’m expected to win right now.’ And I think he’s got the roster to do it.”

Hope in Coach Pope

That’s not a one-off thing, either. This roster is built to succeed this coming season, sure, but the program as a whole is built to succeed under Pope for the long haul.

It’s why he believes we’ll be looking back in five years thanking Mitch Barnhart for making that polarizing move back in April when many wanted him to go one of many other directions.

“Mark let me speak to his team yesterday for just a few minutes afterwards, and I told them, ‘I’ve coached here. I’ve been all across the country in college basketball. There’s no place like Kentucky.’ And Mark Pope knows that,” Dykes said. “With how smart he is and all of the things that I see, his staff included, I think in five years you’re gonna say, ‘Wow, Mitch Barnhart knew exactly what he was doing when he drove that guy in on a bus into Rupp Arena for his introduction.'”

We hope that means plenty of first-class seats on Jimmy’s Jet in the near future, Coach.