Nov 26, 2024; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Otega Oweh (00) defends during the second half against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Kentucky has set a very difficult goal to achieve defensively this season

Originally posted on Kentucky Wildcats on SI
By Wyatt Huff | Last updated Sep 26, 2025 7:30 AM ET

Kentucky basketball practice is now in full swing after beginning official practice on Monday as we keep getting closer to the start of the season with Big Blue Madness just a few weeks away. The social media team for Kentucky basketball has been hard at work at week feeding fans the highlights they are craving.

As the season gets closer, fans are very anxious to find out more about their team that will be stepping onto the court. UK Sports Network's Cameron Mills sat down with Kentucky assistant coach Mikhail McLean to discuss what the team is looking to accomplish on the defensive end in particular, an area the staff and fans know was a weakness last season. The players have been saying it throughout the off-season, but McLean believes Kentucky can be really elite defensively, and they have a big goal in mind.

"The number one key of our defense, and I'm gonna say this out loud for everybody to hear, we want to be a top 10 defensive team in the country. We have the personnel, we have the athleticism, the discipline, most important, the depth to do it. We can play hard for long periods of time."

Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

McLean also dove deep into a few of Kentucky's strategies with handling ball-screen defense in particular, which was a big emphasis to improve on throughout last season.

"They have four responsibilities, the guards and the bigs. The guards have to listen to the call, so if I'm coming behind you and I say there's a screen coming left and you jump to the right side, that's on you, you gotta listen. The next thing they need to do is switch their feet and get into the body. ...The third thing is, now they need to sprint to recover. It's not okay just to jump to the side, they need to sprint to get back in front of the ball and then contest the passes. ...The bigs are the most important people in the ball-screen defensive coverage. The bigs, one, have to make the call. As they make that call, the bigs now have to get to the point of the screen. We don't want them playing a drop coverage. In the coverage, we want that guard to always go over the screen. So if it's a scout where it's a team that's a non-shooting (team), yes we might try and go under, but we want that guard to go over the screen, we want that big to be at the point of the screen."

It's clear how much pride this Kentucky team is taking on the defensive end, and guarding ball-screens is such an important key in being a good defense. Kentucky will certainly have the athletic defenders to stay with their man and make sure that isn't a flaw this season.

This article first appeared on Kentucky Wildcats on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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