LIVE UPDATES: The Field of 68 at Kentucky Basketball practice

Collin Chandler said Kam Williams hit 10 threes in a row in yesterday’s practice

We’re down to the final interviews! When asked for a scouting report on Kam Williams, Collin Chandler said that Williams hit ten threes in a row in yesterday’s practice.

“I wish that BBN could have been at practice yesterday. I don’t know if people have talked about it, but it was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. We were just going up and down, probably 10 possessions in a row, we found Kam for a three. Contested or not, 10 in a row. Probably had 30 points straight. Hopefully, the tape will be out soon.”

Yes, show it to us.

Jasper Johnson up to 190 lbs.

Jasper Johnson is up now and told Goodman and Dauster he’s up to 190 lbs., having gained 10-15 lbs. since his time with Team USA at the FIBA World Cup this summer. That’s 10 lbs. higher than he’s listed on UK’s roster, and exactly what Pope wants to see from the prized freshman before the season.

“My main focus has been putting on weight. Coach Pope has been really big about me eating multiple meals a day, trying to get stronger.”

Brandon Garrison on fatherhood

Brandon Garrison’s turn in the chair included some dad talk. Garrison lit up when asked about his son, Akarii, who will turn two next month. BG said that his favorite part of fatherhood so far is when his son started talking and said “Dada.” He’s also an expert at changing diapers now.

Jaland Lowe said to keep an eye on Denzel Aberdeen

Jaland Lowe and Mouhamed Dioubate joined the show and talked about how the team’s collective goal is to win No. 9, etc. When asked who’s standing out in practice so far, Lowe mentioned another member of the backcourt: former Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen.

“I played against him my freshman year in Barclays, and playing against him that year, I felt like even just then, he was a guy that had a real special talent. Even though he wasn’t able to display it all last year, he still embraced his role and did very well, but the way that he’s playing right now and the way that we see his talent is immersing right now, it’s incredible to see, and I’m super happy for the season coming up for everyone to see it.”

Pope confirms he was interested in the Arizona job in 2021

Pope confirmed the story that Goodman told on KSR this morning about being interested in the Arizona job in 2021. Thank goodness it went to Tommy Lloyd instead.

Pope tells a wild operation story while playing Operation

Everyone knows how Mark Pope dropped out of medical school to pursue coaching. Field of 68 asked him to show off his surgical skills with Operation. One problem: they forgot to turn it on.

That led to an amazing story about how Pope’s daughter, Avery, had an emergency appendectomy three weeks ago during a mission trip in El Salvador. The surgeon was a veteran and hadn’t done the procedure in a while, so Pope FaceTimed with him and helped talk him through it with his medical knowledge. Can you imagine?! Avery is recovering well, by the way.

Pope on Louisville, Kelsey

Yesterday, Field of 68 was at Louisville, which gave Pope a chance to make some jokes about Pat Kelsey. The Cards are No. 6 in Field of 68’s Top 25 rankings, the Cats No. 7.

“You don’t understand the level of hatred we have for each other. This Pat Kelsey, have you been in his room? He has pictures of me all over.”

Jokes aside, Pope said that Louisville being good again is good for the sport as a whole.

“Louisville is picking it up, which is so awesome. Indiana is picking it up, which is so awesome. I think North Carolina’s going to be better this year, which is so awesome. I think Virginia is going to be better. When this cluster is great, the game is even better.”

Shooting numbers

Pope’s first Kentucky team broke the single-season record for three-pointers made. He told his team today that they want to break that record again. This group may not seem to have as many shooters as last year, but Pope said they’re improving at a rapid pace.

“As of today and last week’s work encore, we had six guys above 70% [three-point percentage]. We were dancing around with two, trying to get to a third earlier in the summer. Now, we have six, and we have a seventh who’s been dancing at 69%, 68% for three straight weeks. We’re going to have seven guys over 70%.”

Pope said Andrija Jelavic shot 77% from three last week alone.

Jayden Quaintance injury update

Quaintance is on the court for practice, shooting the occasional free throw or jump shot, but not participating in full action. Pope didn’t give a specific timeline for JQ’s return to the court, but did share some numbers about how symmetrical his legs are, whatever that means.

“He’s like the five-and-a-half-month stage right now. His numbers are ridiculous. Right now, he went from when he first got here, 49-46% strength asymmetry between his legs in all different categories. Now he’s at a 3%. Mind you, that’s talking about a 3% asymmetry with a strength that’s like 20% higher than the average same size and weight of an NBA player.”

When pressed, Pope shared more on Quaintance’s recovery. Sort of.

“I do know that we are going to proceed with the utmost caution. I’m being honest with you. He’s actually passing benchmarks faster than we thought he humanly possible could. With that said, we’re still going to be smart because he’s got an incredible future in this game. He’s so physical and strong and explosive that he could probably trick us, so we’re going to be really cautious. We’ve got a whole map laid out. We’re going to see how it goes. I would love to see him on the court full speed tomorrow. That’s probably not going to happen. We’ll see.”

Mark Pope admits he’s a horrible driver

While talking about road trips, Pope himself admitted that he’s a very bad driver, telling a story about how he got a ticket while driving the Autobahn in Switzerland with his wife over the summer before the FIBA U19 World Cup. How much was the fine? “Not quite as much as the Rupp Arena ice cream, but somewhere in the vicinity.”

Jayden Quaintance may not be much better, but he finally passed his driver’s test, which Pope said was “absolutely legit.”

Goodman and Dauster’s practice observations

Some quick-hitters from Goodman and Dauster on the practice:

We’re getting raw practice footage on the live stream

Platoon? Platoon.

Otega Oweh has been out with turf toe