{"id":79012,"date":"2024-12-24T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-25T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/mark-pope-and-amari-williams-continue-to-learn-how-we-function-together\/"},"modified":"2024-12-24T19:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-25T01:00:00","slug":"mark-pope-and-amari-williams-continue-to-learn-how-we-function-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/mark-pope-and-amari-williams-continue-to-learn-how-we-function-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Pope and Amari Williams continue to learn \u2018how we function together.\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

On paper, Kentucky center Amari Williams<\/a><\/strong> has been massive to the program\u2019s success this season. <\/p>\n

Advanced stats love his numbers. EvanMiya<\/a> ranks him as the 34th-best player in the country so far in 2024-25. The seven-footer is averaging 9.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.6 blocks in just 20.7 minutes per outing. He\u2019s shooting a career-high 55.1 percent on expectedly low volume. But the actual eye test doesn\u2019t always confirm what the stats tell us. <\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s holding onto\/dribbling the ball for too long on offense or getting down on himself after a bad possession or two, there is clearly room for improvement. He still coughs the ball up more than twice per game \u2014 lower than his career average, but too much for a big man who is a central part of running Mark Pope<\/a><\/strong>\u2018s offense. But Williams has adapted as the season has gone along. Over the last few games, he\u2019s not initiating the offense through penetration nearly as often as he was early in the season. After a four-turnover performance in the loss to Clemson, Williams has just two combined turnovers in the four games since. <\/p>\n

Williams is simply a unique player, one that will continue to take time to figure out completely. Getting him to be as aggressive as possible at all times is a common ask from fans online. Pope knows he has something special in Williams \u2014 unlocking his full potential is just going to continue to be a process. There\u2019s still a lot of season left to go. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis defensive rebounding percentage is off the charts. He\u2019s one of the best in the country,\u201d Pope said during his radio show on Monday night<\/a>. \u201cHis full rim protection numbers, when you evaluate all the things together, have been really good. And he still has so much more in the tank to offer. And we\u2019re learning each other. We\u2019re learning how we function together and learning each other. <\/strong>But certainly, he has a lot more in the tank.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pope needs<\/em> Williams to keep improving, especially with his consistency. He\u2019s a vital part piece to Kentucky on both ends of the floor. His playmaking as a seven-footer is rare. There are certainly areas that the Big Blue Nation would like to see more effort in, particularly on defense, but the person who matters most \u2014 Coach Pope \u2014 has faith that everything will pan out. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m telling you, he\u2019s a beautiful human being and he\u2019s a terrific, terrific talent,\u201d Pope continued. \u201cWe\u2019re learning how we function in this system and we\u2019re learning how we function with each other so I still think there is massive, massive upside for him playing for us and the University of Kentucky,<\/strong> the way we\u2019re playing. I\u2019m proud of what he\u2019s done so far and I\u2019m incredibly excited about what he\u2019s going to do moving forward. And that\u2019s the real genuine truth<\/strong>. I think we\u2019re seeing the beginnings of what he can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Mark Pope and Amari Williams continue to learn \u2018how we function together.\u2019<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On paper, Kentucky center Amari Williams has been massive to the program\u2019s success this season….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79012\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}