After the Whistle: Let’s keep climbing

A new dawn, a new day. The Mark Pope era is officially upon us.

103-62. That’s a 41-point stomping in his first victory as the University of Kentucky Men’s coach.

Pope donned No. 41 for the Cats back in the day.

What could be more fitting for his opening win? You cannot make that kind of stuff up.

It is a script for a movie.

It is the kind that makes me want to pop some popcorn, mix in some chocolate, watch every game with my Pops, and see Pope hoist up that No. 9 trophy. Popcorn, Pops, Pope.

How fun are these Wildcats to watch?

This style of play soothes the soul.

We are watching guys from all positions knock down the three, space the floor, make backdoor cuts and play some old-school basketball mixed in with some new.

I am aware of live by the 3, die by the 3. There will be games where we are ice cold. But if we can be hot at the right time, the possibilities are endless.

Personally, Otega Oweh has impressed me. I like his ability to get to the rim. He seems like the guy we go to when we need a bucket and to draw the and-1.

Down three and there’s one play left? Great news. We have a few we can dish to.

Jaxson Robinson, Koby Brea and Kerr Kriisa look smooth as butter. They are always ready to shoot.

It seems as if every guy on the floor has the green light.

So far, I am willing to leave a last-second shot to almost 7-footer Andrew Carr, Ansley Almonor and Collin Chandler, too.

Lamont Butler is a menace on defense. He gives me Ashton Hagans and Marquis Teague vibes. He is going to hound the point every second he is on the floor.

Travis Perry will eventually earn some minutes and Trent Noah has potential.

Brandon Garrison and Amari Williams are giving us size on the post. They make passes that our guards can make.

At one point we had a play where we had five or six no-look passes and a score.

We are leading the nation in assists.

Yes, yes, I know. Only two games in.

It is nice to see some ball movement instead of dribble drive at the top of the key, pass to the post, hope he does something, and just stand around the 3-point line hoping we score.

Oh, and some inbounds plays.

For 15 years we watched our big man stick his arm up in the corner, then pass to the wing. And how many times did we watch a turnover in that corner?

Mark Pope studies the game.

He even attended officiating symposiums to get a better perspective from a referee’s perspective.

From an official’s point of view, I appreciate his effort.

Xs and Os are different from the rules of basketball.

Instead of berating the officials, seeing someone at his level just want to talk about something is great.

I’m sure in the heat of the moment, there will be times he gets heated. But the willingness to see it from the other side has earned my respect.

After our second win against Bucknell, we crept up to No. 19 in the polls.

While writing this, I’m counting down the moments until we play Duke. If you are reading this, you already know who won.

All I can say is, let us keep climbing boys.

And as always, Go Cats.

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