Mark Pope says Koby Brea is in a stretch of doing incredible things
Koby Brea came to Kentucky known for his impressive offensive ability and being one of the more efficient shooters you will find in college basketball. Here lately, Brea has stepped up, not only on offense, but Kentucky’s staff is seeing major strides on the defensive end, especially in the games without Lamont Butler.
Kentucky got Butler back on Tuesday, but that effort was still there from Brea defensively. Now, with Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson injured, he’ll need to continue this stretch of impressive play. Mark Pope says Brea is in a stretch of doing incredible things as an experienced guard in college basketball, and he is understanding how valuable he is on this Kentuxcky team. Not only showing his impressive offensive ability and expanding it, but making some pretty major strides defensively as the season goes on, especially recently due to some key players being banged up.
“He’s made big steps all season long, he really has. …Sometimes the moment spurs us on to become something we’ve wanted to become, and for Koby, the moment was super clear. The moment for our team was super clear. It was like, guys, this is an emergency situation right now. There’s actually not someone else to go to. We’re using all of the guys, and now it’s just time for us to be better. I think as we grow we go through fits and starts, where we plateau a little bit, we don’t see it or understand it or something that’s so simple, and then all of a sudden we get knocked across the head and all of a sudden we see it. But man, he’s started to see it the last two games. He’s been incredible. In every single practice in between, he’s been incredible. …You get this incredible cocktail down the stretch where Seniors do great, incredible, magnificent things, and maybe he’s in that space right now.”
The Wildcats will want Brea to stay on point, especially as March nears, but first, they’ll need to take care of business on the road against Texas, where they’ll need Brea to step up again with the injuries they have right now.
