Post UK-Appalachian State Thoughts

I said during UK’s 93-69 victory that I don’t remember a scoring performance on par with Jodie’s 46 point effort against the Appalachian State Davy Joneses (doesn’t their mascot look like Davy Jones from Pirates of the Carribbean?).  The first thing I did when I sat down to collect my thoughts on the game was to look up when a Kentucky player scored that many to see if I was indeed right, and I was.  The last time a UK player scored as many as Jodie Meeks did today was on February 23, 1970, when Dan Issel poured in 47 against Alabama.

It was a performance for the ages for Jodie Meeks, and it sure was fun to watch.  It was the sixth most prolific scoring performance in Kentucky basketball history, and none of the top 5 performances have come more recently than 1970 when Dan Issel had 5 performances of 42 points or more in February and March of that year (I guess that’s why he’s our all time leading scorer). 

Jodie was 14-21 from the field and 9-14 from 3 (and he missed his last three attempts), and I don’t think anyone will be questioning his shot selection.  Coach Gillispie recognized the performance, and took all four other starters out before Jodie so he could get his own ovation from the Freedom Hall crowd that chanted his name on multiple occasions in the second half.  He scored on drives, he scored on steals, he scored in transition, he scored on mid range J’s, he scored from the line, and he scored from 3.  He showed all game long why he’s going to lead the SEC in scoring and App State guard Kellen Brand summed that up pretty well: “I like him because you can’t really judge how to play him because you have to play him honest. He can get past you and if you back off of him he can shoot.”

The Cats sprung out to a 10-0 lead on the strength of two threes by Meeks, and they never looked back.  They stretched the lead out to 53-21 at the half (Jodie outscored them 24-21), and coasted home in the second.  UK really did look good in that first half.  They turned the ball over only 4 times (wow), shot 56.7%, forced the Mountaineers into 14 turnovers, and held them to only 27.3% from the field.  As I said, the intensity took a slight drop in the second half, and App State cut into their lead, but never came close to threatening.

The main source of intrigue so far this season has come at the point guard position for this team, but another topic that I am watching closely is how well and how often the secondary big men play (Stevenson, Harrellson, and Stewart).  Today AJ Stewart was on the floor for 8 minutes and played pretty well.  On the game, AJ scored 9 very encouraging points.  He had two mid range J’s (one of which was an and 1) and made a beautiful spin move and finished with his left hand.  He was not strong on the boards, but provided an offensive presence. 

Perry Stevenson had a decent performance, scoring 7 points, grabbing 5 boards, and blocking 3 more shots (the team had 12 on the, but the other star on the inside during the IU game, Josh Harrellson, did not play in the first half, and was on the floor for only two minutes in the second half.  Jorts did not perform up to Coach Gillispie’s expectations during the week between games in practice (“He hasn’t practiced like he needs to,” Gillispie said. “We have more players who can contribute now. If you want to play, you better practice. The last two days were the best days of practice we’ve had. Josh has not practiced as well.”).  I’m guessing he would have played had UK’s opponent been a more formidable one, but Gillispie used the game as a chance to send a message to Jorts.

After two and a half weeks off due to injury, Ramon Harris made his return to the team, playing nine minutes, scoring 4 points with 2 rebounds and 2 assists.  This was a good game for Ramon to start working his way back into the flow of the game, and he did contribute while he was on the floor.  Hopefully Ramon will be at full strength by the time the Cats make their return trip to Freedom Hall, because he will be needed, and that game doesn’t seem as unwinnable as some thought it would be.  UofL has looked a bit vulnerable thus far, and Ricky P will be the first to tell you it takes time for his teams to round into form.  They just took a loss to Tubby Smith’s Golden Gophers today, and I see no reason why the Cats should not be competitive with the Cards after watching them play their last two games. 

That game is a couple weeks in the future still, and this UK team has a lot of growing to do in that time, but it’s difficult not to look ahead.  Based on Gillispie’s optimistic comments on the team and the good practices they have had of late, I’m feeling pretty good about the Cats.  Now for the grades:

Turnovers/Point guard play: B

Those observant readers out there will note I have tweaked the name of this category a bit to address point guard play on a game by game basis, because that’s the issue that this turnovers category is really driving at.  As I said before, UK turned the ball over only 4 times in the entire first half, which did not seem possible about a month ago.  They ran their offense very effectively (having a Jodie Meeks shoot it like Mark Price when he was on fire in NBA Jam didn’t hurt things).  Just like in the IU game, the offense seemed to be more in sync with Michael Porter on the floor.  This is a function of UK playing teams that cannot pressure the ball as effectively, and the fact I think Gillispie and the rest of team is helping him stay out of those pressure situations.  He’s not being asked to do too much, and the role he is playing right now is one that I believe he is capable of executing the rest of the season.  Porter had 5 assists and only 1 turnover, and he seems to be making consistently better decisions.  The crowd also went out of its way to applaud Porter’s play in one instance, which was very encouraging for me.  Liggins did not play all that well, turnover the ball over 4 times against 3 assists.  Things have been quiet on the Liggins front this week, which is a good sign.  Let’s hope Gillispie is working his magic.

Rebounding: C+

The one area where the Cats could have turned this game into even more of a blowout than it was on the boards.  The big guys did not rebound as well as they will need to in the future, and App State won the battle 42-34, and 18-9 on the offensive boards.  When UK builds leads in the future, it’s going to be key to restrict teams to one and done possessions.  Offensive rebounds are almost like turnovers in my mind.  You play solid defense and force a miss, but it doesn’t become a stop until you get the board, especially since the defense is often prone to a quick shot right after an offensive rebound. 

Getting the ball to Patterson: B+

Pat got the ball on the first possession and got to the line, which set the tone for the remainder of the game.  Patterson shot under 50% for only the second time all season (6-13), but I was happy with the way he was a priority even while Jodie was going off.  I also saw an encouraging sign: the Cats entered the ball with a bounce pass to Patterson from the wing a couple times.  Three of the guys who are going to be on the wing for the Cats often are Harris, Miller, and Galloway, and they are three solid passers.  The Cats have seemed to want to enter the ball from up top so far this year, but that is where the defense is best positioned to defend it, so utilizing the wing to get him the ball is going to be important in the future.