The 7 Best Parts of Kentucky Basketball's New Practice Video

MrsTylerKSR

Kentucky Basketball is almost here, and on Thursday, we got a glimpse into what’s been happening inside the Joe Craft Center. The program released a seven-minute video chronicling a day at “Banner Camp,” Mark Pope’s version of Hell Week that started when the NCAA’s official practice season began on September 23.

I’ve seen plenty of practice videos in my 14 years of covering Kentucky Basketball. This one is a little different. Obviously, after a complete changing of the guard during the offseason, we’re all desperate to know what’s going on inside that gym. We’ve been fed crumbs throughout the summer, short clips of Pope talking to his squad and shooting drills. Compared to that, this is a feast. And, although I want to avoid direct comparisons to Pope’s predecessor because it’s unfair to both sides, this video also feels like chicken soup for the fanbase’s soul after some long, hard years.

Naturally, I’ve watched the video several times since it dropped yesterday afternoon, to the point I wanted to share my favorite parts. I came up with seven since that’s how many days there are until Big Blue Madness.

We follow the Cats through two practices, the first starting at 7 a.m. and the second at 2 p.m. Players start arriving at the facility at 6 a.m., before the sun is even up, for treatment and warm-ups. The first voice we hear is Pope’s, delivering the “quote of the day”: “The magic you’re looking for is in the work you’re avoiding.”

When it comes to motivational sayings, that’s a new one for me. And, unlike most, it doesn’t make me cringe. In fact, it makes me think about all the work I’ve been avoiding — hello, barren yard devoid of grass, dirty windows that need washing.

“We’re not avoiding any work here, are we?”

My hand joins the team huddle as they prepare for practice.

The video includes plenty of passing and shooting drills. Both are integral to Pope’s system and look flashier than they will in game action, but man, it’s beautiful to see. The ball zips around the court, leading to open threes (that halfcourt series around the 3:40 mark leading to a Koby Brea three is just insane). Passing is about more than just the ball moving around the court; it’s a way to keep the team tethered and locked in.

“We’re going to jump in wanting to become great and tied together and that’s why when we get on the court at Rupp with 22,000 fans going crazy, we’re going to be a problem because we’re going to be so connected,” Pope says.

In the afternoon practice, Kentucky scores 54 points in the first minute of drills. That’s below the goal, but Pope tells them to just keep shooting.

“So, listen,” Pope says, turning to Jaxson Robinson, who followed him to Kentucky from BYU. “You want to give the speech? You’ve heard this speech a thousand times.”

Robinson just smiles as Pope continues.

“Here’s the deal. This is us as a team; we make shots. We put together the best shot-making team in the country, okay?” Pope said. “When we have 54 in the first minute, what’s the answer to that? We didn’t shoot well in the first minute. Shoot it! And wedge. Because this happens to us all the time. We’re 54 in the first minute. We’re 77 in the second minute.

“We might be 0-7 in the first four minutes of the game, and then we run off 9-11 and the game is over. That’s just how it is. We shoot and we wedge, we shoot and we wedge, and we shoot and we wedge until the end of time. Yeah? Do it over and over, that’s who we are. That’s who we’re going to be.”

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Around the 4-minute mark, we get to see Kerr Kriisa do what he does best. First, he knocks away a Lamont Butler pass and slaps hands with Pope. On the next play, he draws a charge under the basket and the entire team comes over to celebrate. I can’t wait to hear the crowd roar at Rupp when he does that for the first time.

Kerr’s shooting and passing are impressive too. The pick-and-roll to Andrew Carr for a dunk at the 5:50 mark is awesome, as is the “Bang, bang” he yells after swishing a three.

Even Kentucky’s seven-footers can handle the ball. At the 4:35 mark, we get to see Amari Williams bring the ball down the court and dish it to Andrew Carr, who does a spin move and scores. A thing of beauty.

The threes steal the show, but it was nice to see Otega Oweh just drive the lane, blowing past Andrew Carr around the 6:05 mark. On the play right before it, Oweh shows off a nice midrange jumper as well.

Passing, shooting, and pace are all fun to watch but the top takeaway I had is positivity. After a play, Pope stops practice and pulls the guys in.

“I want you to feel yourself right now because this is a universal experience,” Pope says, using Lamont Butler continuing to shoot after missing some threes as an example of not giving up (earlier in the video, we see the team celebrate Butler after he finally sinks a three in the corner). “Lamont could have shied away after missing a couple of threes but he didn’t. Like, fine. Bring the next one, bring the next one, bring the next one. That’s relentless.”

“All of the world is trying to suck away your energy,” Pope adds. “You just refuse to give in to the frustration. We’re going to feel that every single day, every single game and we’re going to get great at refusing to let our energy change.”

Good advice for us all. Those dirty windows don’t stand a chance.

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