Kentucky Mid-Season Progress Report

Thank goodness, this is the last time we have to brave a week long break between UK games. Starting with the Georgia game on Saturday, the ‘Cats will have two games a week the rest of the way.

With that one week break leading up to the opening of SEC play, it’s a natural time to look back on the season so far, so that’s exactly what we’re going to do over the next two days. First up, I will be running down a progress report for each of the players on the UK roster complete with a look back at each of their seasons to this point and a look forward at the second half. Also, they will be getting grades, so get excited about that.

Tomorrow, I will have a similar look at each team in the SEC, along with my projections for order of finish based on their performance to this point.

Let’s get down to it:

The Starters

John Wall
33.5 mpg, 17.2 ppg, 7.3 apg, 3.8 rpg, 4,1 TO, 51.9% FG, 78.6% FT, 39.4% 3P

Other than that turnover number, it’s hard to pick a hole in John Wall’s season to this point, statistically or otherwise. To say Wall has lived up to the hype would be an injustice to the way he has played would be an injustice, which is literally unbelievable when you think about the way he was hyped.

Wall has been everything we expected in the numbers he has put up and the highlights he has produced, but for a freshman to step in, lead the way he has, and come up huge in every clutch situation he has faced all year, Wall is something truly special.

As UK moved into league play, Wall will have to deal with opponent after opponent gunning for him, but that’s no different from anything he has dealt with since he was a high schooler. Like I said, the one area for substantial improvement is turnovers. You don’t want to see Wall play any less agressively, but he needs to pick his spots. Wall has four or more turnovers in nine of his 14 career games.

However, you would have to consider any freshman that is a Sports Illustrated cover athlete halfway into his first season a success.

Grade – A

Patrick Patterson
31.3 mpg, 16.7 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 63% FG, 60% FT, 47.6% 3P

It’s been a very interesting start to the season for Patterson. The development of his outside shot has been something that has made him a significant amount of money. Patterson has also remained an extremely steady defensive and post scoring presence, even showing some nice moves away from the basket along the way.

His baskets this season have been markedly easier than in past year, thanks to playing with much improved talent, but with unbelieve board work from DeMarcus Cousins over the past two weeks, his rebounding has taken a bit of a downward turn. It really doesn’t concern me all that much though, because Patterson will pick up the slack if Cousins is ever in foul trouble.

Patterson’s free throw shooting has also been an interesting topic. He shot around 75% his first two years, but is down at 60% right now. What is that about? I still have to think he will return to his norm, but it’s certainly something to watch.

Through SEC play, Patterson needs to keep up the excellent work, and make sure he knows when to take over games, because there will be times when he needs to do so.

Grade – A-

Eric Bledsoe
28.4 mpg, 10.2 ppg, 3.1 apg, 2.6 rpg, 3.6 TO, 44.2% FG, 76.7% FT, 46.2% 3P

Eric Bledsoe has had maybe the toughest transition to make this season. Not only has he had to learn to play the college game in a new system, but he also had to play away from the ball for probably the first time ever. I would say he’s done pretty well.

Like Wall, turnovers have been an issue for Bledsoe. He has tried to do a bit too much pretty consistently, and will need to continue to improve in that area. Also, he will need to continue to be the threat from outside that has shown himself to be to continue to get the minutes he has.

Grade – B+

Darius Miller
25.2 mpg, 7.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.0 apg, 41.7% FG, 43.2% 3P

Darius is one of three players to have started all 15 games, but he’s the only one in any danger of losing his starting spot. Miller has shown flashes of the potential that playing in the dribble drive affords him, but his lack of confidence remains a major obstacle.

His disposition is such that he will defer to his teammates to a fault and shy away from any kind of conflict. That disposition is what caused John Calipari to only play him eight minutes against UofL, the first time he had played fewer than 17 all year. Miller has improved his outside shooting, but he gets lost on the floor way too often. By no means do I think that John Calipari is close to giving up on him, but if he can’t become just a bit more assertive, he’s going to see his minutes dissipate as the games get bigger.

Grade – C+

DeMarcus Cousins
19.2 mpg, 15.4 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 1.8 bpg, 54.1% FG, 63% FT

I’m not really sure we could have expected any more than Big Cuz has given us. Per minute, he is the best rebounder and scorer in the country and he has given excellent effort almost every minute on the floor.

There are a couple things he can do, though, to improve. First of all, continue to improve his conditioning and fouling habits so he can stay on the floor longer. Second, he needs to continue to work on the much publicized attitude. Every team from here on out is going to try to get under his skin, and he just cannot let it get to him. UK can play without him, but they aren’t the same team.

Grade – A-

Reserves

Ramon Harris
17.3 mpg, 3.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.1 apg, 1.0 TO

Who would have thought? Ramon Harris leads UK reserves in minutes per game. He has found a prominent role for himself on this team as defender and rebounder, culminating with his play against UofL when he was among the five players on the floor in the clutch against Louisville, even nailing a big three.

Look for his minutes to be around 20 minutes most of the rest of the year, and he deserves it. He knows his limitations and he knows his role, which is a pretty impressive thing to say about a player. If he can hit the outside shot with any kind of consistency, he will make a very strong case to be the starter at the three as the year goes on.

Grade – B+

Darnell Dodson
16.8 mpg, 8.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 41.2% FG, 73.3% FT, 39.6% 3P

I think that Darnell Dodson is trying to make up for the all the confidence that Darius Miller lacks. He will never be shy about shooting or trying to make a play, sometimes to his own detriment. However, errors out of aggression will never be that much of a problem for Cal.

Lack of defensive and rebounding effort is a problem though, and that has been something that Dodson has improved upon. Dodson hasn’t always shot as well as he is capable of, but I look for that to improve. I have high hopes for Dodson over the coming years and I think he will make some big shots before the season is through.

Grade – B

Daniel Orton
14.1 mpg, 3.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.4 bpg, 48.4% FG

There was a lot of buzz before the season about Daniel Orton pushing DeMarcus Cousins for playing time. It’s not that we overestimated Orton, but we did underestimate Cousins I think. He’s phenomenal. Orton has also shown some rust after not playing much of his senior year, as well as a propensity to foul a LOT. His future is bright but he’t not going to be a centerpiece of this year’s team.

Grade – B-

DeAndre Liggins
10.8 mpg, 2.2 ppg, 1.0 rpg, .7 apg, 0 TO

It took a while for DeAndre to get on the floor, but in the six games he has played, he’s carved a nice little role for himself by applying some good ball pressure and making sound decisions. For a player that had seven turnovers in his first career game, it’s pretty amazing that he hasn’t committed a single one in 64 minutes.

Grade – B+

Perry Stevenson
9.2 mpg, 1.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg, .9 bpg

Perry is a player that played a lot last year, but in a limited role this season, is pulling his weight, working hard, and maintaining a good attitude. He has seen some meaningful minutes off the bench, but has mainly been used as a way to rest Cousins and Patterson.

Grade – B

The End of the Bench

Josh Harrellson, Jon Hood, Mark Krebs

Of these three, Harrellson has played the most significant minutes, but is still not a major factor. He will get some chances in the case of foul trouble (as he did against Long Beach State). Cal has elected to go with a ten man rotation, and these guys are the odd men out. However, they are doing their best to fill Dwight Perry’s enormous shoes as cheerleaders from the bench, but it’s no easy task.

Chest Bumping Grade – B+