Mark Pope says Andrew Carr is an "elite-level" decision maker

Pope says his efficiency is a big part of his skillset.

Oct 23, 2024; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Andrew Carr (7) passes the ball during the first half against the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images / Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Kentucky basketball held their final exhibition on Tuesday night before the season officially begins next week, cruising to a 98-67 win over Minnesota State after starting off slow. One of the standout players from the game was Andrew Carr, who made an impact in areas other than shooting, which is very encouraging.

Carr is seen as a brilliant stretch-four, but he made a real impact around the basket on Tuesday. He had 14 points on 5-7 shooting overall, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, a block, and 2 steals. Pope likes how he uses his decision-making for the best, saying he makes his decisions at an "elite" level.

"Andrew Carr is such a elite level decider. Like he's really a capable decision maker. One, he's a 66% two-point shooter which is pretty incredible and he shot 38% from the three last year. So, he's really wildly efficient at making shots. He makes shots. He stacks decisions. It's something we saw in film from him last year at Wake Forest where he is turning the ball and someone jumps in the passing lane and he can actually stack a decision where he reads it correctly, gets downhill, gets to two feet, makes another ball fake, and then finally completes a pass or play. There's not that many guys his size with his ability to make shots and finish shots that can stack decisions like him."

- Pope on Andrew Carr's decision-making.

Not only does he make decisions at a very high level, but he's really dangerous for defenses to guard as both a scorer and a playmaker. It's defense that is an area of his that can see some improvement, and he did just that against Minnesota State.

"I think he's really really difficult to guard as a scorer and play maker. I think he's good in both of those areas. I thought he had a real challenge defensively. Sometimes when you are playing undersized teams that really shoot one through four and at times one through five, you know, and he's got to race around the floor and guard smaller guys, and I thought his attention to detail on the defensive end was really terrific tonight. It was much improved from his defensive performance was much improved from our first exhibition."

- Pope on Carr's defensive improvement.

Carr will certainly be one of Kentucky's best players this season, and him already showing improvements on the defensive end is very encouraging. That is especially so once he starts showing more of his shooting skills as a stretch-big.