Kentucky's puzzling starting lineup has a negative effect on energy

Call it a cautious approach due to injuries, or advanced analytical minute distribution, or player favoritism, or maybe just some good old-fashioned stubbornness. Regardless, Mark Pope does not start Kentucky’s best players. He insists that the key to the offense, Jaland Lowe, and the future lottery pick, Jayden Quaintance, come in off the bench after the Wildcats are inevitably down a few buckets. It is an approach that so many voices around Big Blue Nation are up in arms about, and yet, Pope continues to do it game after game, a similar strategy we saw last season.

But, here is the thing: not starting Kentucky’s best players does more than put them at a basketball disadvantage. It sets a mentality that the plan is to ease into the game, and players’ energy levels match this tentative approach.

Slow starts have become synonymous with Mark Pope’s brand of basketball. Even against weaker competition, it is often around halftime before Kentucky picks up the intensity to the level you would expect to see out of a top-end basketball program. If, in fact, they pick it up at all. Ahem, Gonzaga.

Around Thanksgiving, I called out the Wildcats’ sleepy starts and hypothesized that perhaps a change in pre-game rituals might be in order. Everyone loves a good nap and a prayer, something several players have said they do before games, akin to the way Mark Pope used to prepare. However, naps and prayers aren’t exactly the most motivational activities on the planet. Meanwhile, Kentucky fans are just praying for a game where Kentucky comes out hot and stays that way.

For better or worse, teams’ mentalities tend to match their head coach, and by not starting the best players, Pope sends the message that they, too, should be cautious, and that shows.

Who are Kentucky’s best players?

If Jaland Lowe and Jayden Quaintance should start, then who should they replace? The obvious answer is Collin Chandler and Malachi Moreno. Both Chandler and Moreno have played great in spurts, but they are a clear step below Quaintance and Lowe in terms of talent.

If BBN Twitter is any indication of the fan base’s feelings, they’d also like to see Kam Williams start in place of Denzel Aberdeen as well. A lineup of Lowe, Oweh, Williams, Dioubate, and Quaintance is about as alluring as it gets, but these five only played together one minute and 48 seconds against Alabama, and that didn’t come until midway through the second half.

In fact, for the first 30 minutes of the game, Kam Williams played fewer minutes (six) than he made 3-pointers in the previous game against Bellarmine (eight). He then played every second of the last 9:59 in the game. It is a good indicator that Pope still hasn’t found any level of confidence or comfort with rotations on this team, whether it is the starting lineup or substitution patterns in general.

Would a different starting lineup have helped beat Alabama? Maybe not, but Kentucky can’t keep digging itself into a hole and expect to come back. In four of Kentucky’s seven games against P4 teams, Kentucky has found itself down by at least 20 points. Even in their two wins against Indiana and Alabama, they trailed by seven at halftime before kicking it into gear and pulling ahead in the second half.

Similarly, Kentucky played Alabama fairly even in the second half, showing they are capable of competing well against good teams. They just have to find a way to start the game with this same level of tenacity.

Pope says he considers changing the starting lineup all the time

Will it change? Mark Pope was asked about the puzzling starting lineup after the Alabama game. His answer showed openness, but it won’t give Kentucky fans a ton of confidence.

He said, “It’s interesting, because our first two or three minutes were solid, and then we just — we just hit a wall. For sure, we’re considering that all the time.”

I translate this answer to, “What are you talking about? Our starting lineup got off to a 5-0 lead, and for other unknown reasons, we gave it up. But sure, kid. [***pats reporter on the head***] We might change it up.”

That interpretation was probably more patronizing than what Pope intended, but again, the point remains that it isn’t so much that the starting lineup puts Kentucky in a talent deficit, although that is part of it. By not starting his best players, Pope gives off vibes of, “Be careful, everyone! Let’s just take it nice and easy and not get anyone hurt.” That message is not going to amp up anyone.

One of sports’ greatest truisms is that when you play not to get hurt, or you play not to lose, that is when you are most likely to get hurt and lose. Thankfully, no one got injured against Alabama, but Kentucky fans’ souls are continuing to get hurt every time the Wildcats lose in embarrassing fashion like they did on Saturday. And tipping off the game with an overly cautious approach isn’t helping.