Legally contesting shots among top priorities for Kentucky defensively entering '25-26

Kentucky did a lot of things extremely well in Mark Pope‘s debut season in Lexington. The Wildcats created and made open shots, played with pace, and had a historic scoring balance that saw six players average double figures while also being a top-10 defensive rebounding team. They were also one of the worst teams in the country when it came to scoring defense, forced turnovers and offensive rebounds.

You saw Pope address many of those issues with physicality and athleticism in the portal while also maintaining that same uptempo, run-and-gun identity that makes the system a thing of beauty to watch. Among the main teaching points of emphasis upon regrouping from the offseason and time of roster building? Legally contesting shots, something the staff felt needed work after taking in the one-year sample size.

Kentucky needed to improve defensively, and that was a quick fix for some of those issues.

“We want a legal contest every time, it was a non-negotiable for us this summer,” associate coach Mark Fox told Cameron Mills in the latest UK HealthCare Practice Report. “Rebounding is not important until you force misses. We’re trying to really drive home the point with our team that for us to go from good to great on the defensive end, contesting shots legally is important.”

We see clips of Kam Williams contesting a shot from Otega Oweh, Denzel Aberdeen flying by Collin Chandler to force the miss, and maybe most impressive, Malachi Moreno getting up to contest a three from Jasper Johnson at the top of the key.

Technique is important, but so is the want-to. Williams, Aberdeen and Moreno had both in the selected footage.

“That made a very open shot a very hard shot, just by the effort of Malachi,” Fox said of the specific Moreno clip. “The windows for open shots get smaller and smaller at this level. If guys are playing as hard as Malachi did in this clip, those windows are super tight. That’s really what we want to do.”

Those two things work hand in hand, because it forces the offense — what Pope and the Wildcats are best known for — to adjust and get better. That’s how iron sharpens iron, the offense improving as the defense improves.

You never want the team to dominate on just one end of the floor, because it means the other is a disaster. The Wildcats are on their way to meeting more in the middle.

“It’s the daily battle of the offense vs. the defense,” Fox continued. “We’re always looking to create opportunities and advantages for our offense, create open shots. Our defense is fighting like crazy to make sure the offense doesn’t get those. You have to develop the instincts of when a guy is going to shot fake. That’s why it’s five vs. the ball — you’ve got the defense behind you.

“It’s the daily battle of the offense trying to create openings and the defense trying to take them away.”

It sounds crazy to say a simple contest can be the difference between a win and loss, but sometimes that’s all it takes. If you can get up to force a miss without fouling, it sets up a rebound and push the other way, turning defense into offense.

And Kentucky is always comfortable getting in a track meet.

“You’re looking for every inch. You’re looking for every inch to get better,” Fox said. “We feel this is an area where we can be a little bit better, we can be very consistent with it. It’s a chance for us to improve our team with just a small detail.”

Take a look for yourself:

We are back with another @UK_HealthCare Practice Report with @CameronMillz

Coach Fox & Cameron Mills discuss @KentuckyMBB's
emphasis on contesting shots legally in practice this summer pic.twitter.com/AIcXhP0of9

— UK Sports Network (@UKSportsNetwork) September 18, 2025

Good stuff from Coach Fox and Cameron Mills.