One of the buzzwords surrounding this Kentucky men’s basketball team early in the season has been identity, or more specifically, the lack thereof.
Last season’s group had an obvious identity. Made up of mostly veteran transfer portal additions from smaller schools, Kentucky was going to do whatever it could to outscore and outshoot the opponent, using plenty of actions to free up shooters and find backdoor cutters. The result was a Sweet 16 bid and a ton of ranked wins.
Going into year two under Mark Pope, it was expected that the Wildcats would try to replicate that identity, but with a little bit more athleticism, physicality, and depth to boot.