Kentucky basketball’s Mark Pope on Trent Noah’s shooting skills
Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope reflects on Trent Noah’s transition into an elite shooter as he prepares for his sophomore season.
LEXINGTON — Much to the dismay — but certainly not surprise — of those sitting in the stands at Memorial Coliseum, Mark Pope grabbed a microphone prior to Friday night’s Blue-White intrasquad game and delivered a double dose of disappointing news.
First: Kentucky men’s basketball sophomore forward Jayden Quaintance, arguably the Wildcats‘ top transfer portal addition, wouldn’t take the court as he continues to work his way back from an ACL injury.
Second: Superstar guard Otega Oweh only would appear in a limited capacity while dealing with an injury of his own (a foot ailment).
UK forged on, with the Blue team eventually downing the White, 35-26, in a game decided by the Elam Ending.
Here are three things we learned as Kentucky now looks ahead to next week’s exhibition against top-ranked Purdue at Rupp Arena:
Let’s repeat: Oweh isn’t 100%. Quaintance, considered the team’s best pro prospect, didn’t leave the sideline.
Of the players at full go, Andrija Jelavić arguably was the best on the court. Off the bench, he sank a pair of 3s. (One banked in, which led to a sheepish grin afterward.) To top it off, he slammed home the final two points of the contest on a fast break to seal the victory for the Blue team.
Jelavić also was active defensively, grabbing four rebounds and blocking a shot attempt by 7-foot-2 center Reece Potter.
“He’s getting better every day,” Pope said, referring to Jelavić. “He started at a deficit. He was nine weeks late. He missed the whole summer training camp. And the way we play is so understanding-and-decision-making intensive and kind of getting a feel for how we do it. And he’s gotten better every — I mean, he’s made huge strides in the last two weeks, so I’m excited about his trajectory.
“He’s making the game a little bit simpler, which is really important for him. He brings a unique physicality to the game that I think can really be important for us. So we’re expecting big things from Andrija.”
Jelavić isn’t expected to start this season. But anything he can add off the bench — which, as Pope noted, should be plenty, provided the 6-foot-11, 225-pounder stays healthy — will be a boon for these Cats.
Trent Noah is an elite shooter
Koby Brea was as good a shooter as college hoops has seen the past three seasons. He spent his final go-round as a collegian at UK.
Based off his performance in last week’s 3-point contest at Big Blue Madness, coupled with his showing Friday, it looks like sophomore forward Trent Noah will fill the shoes Brea vacated as the Wildcats’ most deadly sharpshooter.
Noah knocked down multiple 3s for the Blue squad in Friday’s winning effort.
That’s not what delighted Pope most, though.
“Tonight, a night where we really struggled in our assist-to-turnover ratio, Trent’s a 3-0,” said Pope, alluding to Noah’s three assists without a giveaway. “And he shoots 50% from the 3-point line. He just is a vet that just knows exactly who he is. He’s got incredible physicality around the ball where he can protect it. And he runs hard.”Â
But one never can forget about his shooting touch.
Every time the ball leaves his hand, everyone believes it’s going to find the bottom of the net.
Just like Brea.
“He’s clearly just a dangerous, dangerous, dangerous, dangerous shooter,” Pope said of Noah, a Kentucky high school star. “He just brings this calm to our team. I think he’s going to bail us out of situations — like Koby did last year, a little bit. It’s been incredible to watch him grow.”
Freshman guard Jasper Johnson contributed multiple buckets for the winning cause. In fact, he was the night’s leading scorer, finishing with 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting (2 of 3 on 3s). He also showcased a willingness to defend and distribute — areas, unlike his scoring, viewed as question marks entering the season.
“I feel like I played pretty well,” Johnson said. “There’s definitely aspects of the game that we do here at Kentucky that I’ve got to get better (at). But I feel like my teammates, they were all encouraging me, (and) my coaching staff.
“So I just let the game come to me. I did what I need to do to help impact winning, and that’s all that matters.”
Malachi Moreno, who joined Johnson on the Blue team, was always around the ball while vying for rebounds of the offensive and defensive variety. (He pulled down a game-high nine boards to go along with four points.) Given legitimate concerns about how quickly he might adapt to the college game, Friday was a step in the right direction. It also occurred just days after Pope sang Moreno’s praises at SEC basketball media days.
“You shake your head and be like, ‘I didn’t know that’s the guy I recruited a year ago,'” Pope said Tuesday in Birmingham, Alabama. “He’s been such an impactful freshman for us so far in training camp.”
And then there was Potter.
He’s not nearly as young as Moreno or Johnson. He spent the past two seasons at Miami (Ohio), after all. But aside from the shot Jelavić rejected and a woefully short 3-point attempt, Potter was solid. At times, spectacular. At one point, he had multiple baskets in a row for the White team.
Sure, Potter is well down the bench at this point. He’s not expected to play much, if any, this season.
But if forced into action in a pinch because of injuries to the players ahead of him at center (Quaintance, Moreno and projected starter Brandon Garrison), Potter should be able to provide valuable minutes to hold down the fort in the frontcourt until reinforcements return.
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.