"Alabama's always been so potent": Mark Pope raves about Nate Oats' team, urges caution against their playing style

Kentucky coach Mark Pope praise Nate Oats' playbook while discussing the Wildcats' upcoming game against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Friday. The first-year UK coach highlighted several aspects of Oats' offense, citing shooting guard usability, spacing, speed and offensive rebounding.

With that, Pope also highlighted Alabama's ability to punish opposing teams right after a made bucket, inferring that his team will need to pick its moments to celebrate in the game as it could potentially backfire.

"Alabama right now is, of course, they've always been so potent, demanding shooting guards' space, their pace is elite," Pope said. "I don't know if the metrics change every but they are one of the fastest-playing teams in the country.

"And when you break down their possession usage in the first six seconds and second six seconds of the shot clock, after makes, that's actually when they're the most, they punish you.

"So, it's one of those games where if you're not careful you're gonna make a big-time play and your guys will be celebrating and the cameras will be focused on your guy and then they're gonna come back to your guys and they'll have the ball again because Alabama's already gone scored."

Kentucky will be forced to consider every detail while defending the Crimson Tide and maintain it throughout the game. The program is ranked fifth in free throw attempts per game (27.2) and ninth in bench points (35.1). Both teams enter the contest with a similar 14-3 season and 3-1 conference play record.

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Mark Pope commends his players' desires to improve

After the Wildcats defeated No. 11 Texas A&M 81-69 on Tuesday, Mark Pope took a moment to praise his players and their desire to get better. He said that the roster steps up to the coaching staff's demands, saying that is an uncommon thing to witness as a coach.

“You know you’re really blessed as a coach when you have great students," he said (Timestamp: 4:00).

"And what I mean by that is our guys want to learn. When we point our guys in a direction, our guys go. It’s unbelievable. And that sounds so simple, but it actually doesn’t happen in basketball with very many teams."

To back up his statement, Mark Pope highlighted that the UK not only outrebounded Alabama by 10 (40-30) but also held the Crimson Tide 11 boards less than their average of 41.6 rebounds per game.