WT MEMBER
Talk about a way to see where a team really stacks up this early in the year. Second regular season game, with a team starting three freshmen and two sophomores, against #11 Kansas, in primetime, at Madison Square Garden, does it get any better than that? A dominating second half led to a ten point Kentucky win, but it was not all good on Tuesday night. Here’s what I saw.Positives:
• Defense. This team is so far ahead of the previous two teams in terms of defense. As you know, Calipari has stated he does not do defensive drills in the first month of the season. Holding a team like Kansas to 65 points and 34% from the field in only our second regular season game is impressive.
• Fighting back after Kansas started the game on a 10-3 run. This is a young team, in Madison Square Garden, in primetime, against Kansas. We could have easily rolled over and quit after a 10-3 Kansas run to open the game.
• Darius Miller. Miller only scored five points, but he did a lot that will not show up in the box score. When he came in, the offense flowed better, we worked the ball inside more, and he made a lot of hustle plays.
• Hustle from Anthony Davis. This is the third straight game I have written this line, but I have no problem writing this thirty more times this year. Seeing a guy the size of Davis hustle back on defense, dive for loose balls, and trail fast breaks is refreshing.
• Michael Kidd-Gilchrist rebounding. The kid was all over the glass, logging 9 rebounds from the 3 spot. Rebounds from Kidd-Gilchrist will help push the pace of the game, and result in more fast break points.
• Speaking of Kidd-Gilchrist, he is just as good a defender, if not better than DeAndre Liggins. And this is a kid who is only two regular season games into his college career. Come March, and hopefully April, Kidd-Gilchrist is going to be a shut down defender, responsible for the other team’s best player. Harrison Barnes is going to have his hands full on December 3rd.
• Doron Lamb running the offense. The offense ran better in the first half with Lamb at the point guard position. Lamb appears to have really put in the effort to better learn how to play the point guard position. With no real backup to Teague, Lamb being able to adequately fill in at the point guard spot is much needed.
• Quick hands defensively. We were able to get into a lot of passing lanes and really disrupt the flow of Kansas’ offense.
• 7-15 from three point range. We all know how athletic this team is, but so was the 2009-2010 team. A lack of shooters cost us a chance at a title that year and I was somewhat worried about that this year. So far this year, they have calmed those concerns. If we can continue to hit three’s at this rate, we are going to be tough to beat.
• Terrence Jones stepping into a leadership role. He did not force shots like he had a tendency to do last year, but when Kansas would go on a run Jones took it upon himself to end those runs. At the 7 minute mark of the first half, Kansas had just gone on a little run to take a 21-14 lead. Jones answers by posting up, and getting and easy two, then follows it up on the defensive end with a steal and a dunk. This was a huge momentum swing in this game.
• Anthony Davis played a very physical game. Say what you want about Davis’ body type, but he was not afraid to be physical down low. If Davis can keep up this physical style, it just makes him an even scarier player.
• 7 blocked shots from Anthony Davis. Davis is currently on pace to block 192 shots this year. Obviously, he is not going to block 192 shots, but he is one of the most skilled shot blockers I have ever seen. It is not unrealistic to think he could break the Kentucky single season record of 83 held by Melvin Turpin and Andre Riddick.
• Yet another balanced scoring attack. Doron Lamb led the way with 17 points, followed by Terrence Jones with 15, Anthony Davis with 14, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Maquis Teague with 12 each.
• After seeming lost on the offensive end and playing too much one on one basketball, we ran the Dribble Drive pretty effectively in the second half. We have done this every game so far this year. If Calipari can get these kids to come out and play the way they have played in the second half this year for entire games, we are going to be scary.
• The attitude this team shows! A lot is being made about the pose from Terrence Jones, the three over the eye from Marquis Teague, and I think it is ridiculous. I want this team to show some attitude, some swagger. If it comes off as cocky, so be it. Go out there, know you are better than them, then prove it, and do not be shy about it!
• Marquis Teague looked like a completely different player in the second half. Again. Calipari needs to get this kid to play within himself for an entire game. He is showing flashes of excellence. He just needs to put it together for an entire game.
Negatives:
• Kyle Wiltjer’s lack of playing time. I expected this coming into the year, but after the two exhibition games, and the game vs. Marist, I thought I might be wrong about Wiltjer. The fact that Wiltjer only logged three minutes in our first real test is alarming. Eloy Vargas played more minutes than Wiltjer.
• Settling for too many jump shots. In the first half, we settled for too many outside jump shots. Our starters have an average height of 6’6 and every one of them is able to drive to the lane and create. Why we were standing around the perimeter and taking so many jump shots, I do not know.
• Marquis Teague was out of control in the first half. This seems to be a common occurrence so far this year. Teague needs to learn to come out of the gate calm and not try to force too much. All six of Teague’s turnovers were in the first half. If I were Calipari, I would consider starting Lamb at the point guard position, and letting Teague come off of the bench.
• Free throws. 55% from the line. We left 13 points on the board from the free throw line. At some point, Calipari needs to address this. It has plagued him throughout his career. Fifteen minutes at the end of practice to shoot free throws could go a long way.
• 19 turnovers. Most of them were caused by trying to force the issue and playing out of control. Calipari needs to get these guys to slow down and play within themselves.
• We did not stop the ball on defense on Kansas fast breaks. Even on 2 on 1, 3 on 2 breaks, you have to stop the ball and force the ball handler to make a decision. There were a lot of times when we did not do this and let the ball handler drive straight to the lane for an easy layup.
This was the first real test for this team, and the first real opportunity to pick out some positives and negatives. Some say Kansas is down this year, and while they might be right, this is still a very good basketball team that we just beat. Overall, I was pleased with the performance. We came out, were punched in the mouth by Kansas, fought back, went on a big run in the second half, and put them away. We showed spurts of being great, and spurts of being freshmen. Like I always say, come March, there is no such thing as freshmen anymore. We have all the pieces to hang another banner this year.
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