New Era: Kentucky basketball needs go-to guy in postseason. Who fits bill for Mark Pope?
Mark Pope molded his first team at Kentucky with the intent of making it well-rounded offensively with the added threat of having shooters at nearly every position.
That kind of balance is fine and good for the regular season, but for the Wildcats to make noise starting in Nashville at the SEC Tournament, Otega Oweh needs to come up big. This may not be factually accurate, but the phrase “go-to guy” was borne out of March Madness and more specifically the NCAA Tournament.
Oweh is the only player who fits that category right now for UK. There will come a point in the postseason when the Cats need someone to carry the offense. When a team has them scouted so well and has the personnel to match making every point on every late-game possession feel like that could be the game-winner. Oweh has shown he’s the guy who can get UK through, beyond just being the team’s leading scorer.
UK lost the potential for another player who could be that guy when guard Jaxson Robinson reinjured his wrist at Oklahoma and had to have season-ending surgery. Certainly Pope trusts having the ball in the hands of Lamont Butler to make late-game decisions. Butler delivered the biggest shot in San Diego State’s history when his game-winner against Florida Atlantic put the Aztecs in the 2023 national title game.
But Butler hasn’t been fully healthy since January. Since coming back from a shoulder injury, he’s shot 10 for 26 from the field — including 1 of 6 from 3-point range — and averaged 8.7 points per game. Koby Brea, whose 44% 3-point shooting leads the SEC, always has the potential to go off for 20-plus points in any game. But he generally tends to take shots produced in the flow of the offense, not generate shots on his own.
In 11 games as a starter this season, Brea’s average of 12.8 is just a basket more than what he’s scored (10.3 points per game) while coming off the bench. If a play breaks down, Brea isn’t the guy you want to give the ball to and say go get a bucket.
