Practice? Changes in Prep Propel Kentucky to Fast Start

Practice. Yes, we are talking about practice. We do not get to watch the Kentucky basketball team practice, but we see the dividends in games.

There is one person who regularly watches the Cats practice. A week ago, Jack Givens was beside himself. I don’t have to retell everything he said on last week’s Leach Report appearance, but the typically reserved UK Hall of Famer was ranting and raving about Kentucky’s prep. “I’m sorry I’m up on my pulpit, but that’s where it starts. It starts in practice,” said Goose.

Mark Pope promised a shake-up in the way the Wildcats practice. It wasn’t just lip service.

Givens attended Thursday’s practice and noticed a difference in the intensity with additional game simulations in practice. Kentucky also cranked up its pregame prep a few notches. Leach and Givens noted that every player was lathered up in sweat at Bud Walton Arena before tip-off.

“We definitely did have a good practice, and we kind of switched our flow up a little bit,” Trent Noah said after the win. “We made it a little more game-like. We did kind of the same pregame stuff that we would do as a game, and then tonight, that kind of helped our slow start. So, I mean, that’s just another credit to the staff. These coaches that we get to play for are brilliant. They’re some of the best minds, and it sure fixed it tonight.”

For most basketball teams, once the season starts, particularly in conference play, practices are light. They’re playing a lot of basketball. There is no need to waste their legs by running rampant in practice. As Pope acknowledged, this team isn’t like most teams. He has to press different buttons to get them to respond.

“The last couple of days, we asked them to approach practice a little different,” Pope said to Tom Leach after the win at Arkansas. “Every team’s different. I’ve never had a team maybe that needed some of the things that this team needs, and I’ve never had a team that maybe can do some of the things that this team has. So we were trying things that we’ve actually never done before, and I thought our guys responded. They really tried to just get a few minutes in each practice where we’re at a heightened competitive level. There’s a good chance it helped us feel right earlier in this game. We’ll see what kind of staying power it has.”

Slow starts put Kentucky behind the 8-ball. At Arkansas, the Cats hit 10 of their first 11 shots, giving them a leg up over the Hogs. But the last thing Pope said is what’s most important. The changes in practice worked effectively in Fayetteville. Will this be a permanent change, or was it a one-game blip?

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