Does Kentucky have great shooters? ‘I hope so,’ Coach Cal says.
Kentucky made at least one three-point shot in 1,047 consecutive games before missing all six shots from beyond the arc against Davidson in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky’s new streak of making a three-point shots lasted only 72 games. The Cats missed all 10 attempts in losing to Richmond 76-64 Sunday night.
The misses were not due to lack of practice, Brandon Boston said. “That’s something we work on every day. All day, every day, honestly.” He missed his three attempts.
Olivier Sarr was philosophical.
“You’ve got games like that,” he said. “That’s stuff you can’t control.”
Kentucky made six of 16 three-point shots against Morehead State on Wednesday.
“We’ve got great shooters on the team,” Sarr said. “And I don’t worry about that.”
On the postgame radio show, Coach John Calipari was asked if Kentucky had capable shooters.
“I hope so,” he said. Calipari added that players open for shots were not passed the ball enough. “You’ve got to give it to him.”
‘Trying too hard’
Missed free throws also cost Kentucky. UK made 20 of 33 (60.6 percent). That was only a slight dip from 64.3 percent (nine of 14) against Morehead State.
Assistant coach Joel Justus advised patience with a freshman-dependent team adjusting to college basketball.
“It’s a first opportunity for our guys to be in close games,” he said. “To be in a big game like this to where every basket matters both on the offensive end and the defensive end. To where every possession matters.
“So the missed free throws are a product of trying too hard. It’s not a lack of concentration. It’s concentrating too much.
Go-to guy?
Brandon Boston got the ball down the stretch. That raised the question of whether he is emerging as UK’s go-to guy.
“I think he has that mentality,” said Justus, who added that the coaches must teach Boston how to handle that role.
Boston sounded ready to accept that role.
“I feel I have a big responsibility to uplift and encourage the team,” he said. “To fight through adversity at all times. … We’re a new team playing against an experienced team.”
Looking ahead
Based on top-25 polls, Kentucky’s schedule only gets more challenging in the next four weeks. In that time, UK is scheduled to play two ranked opponents (No. 6 Kansas on Tuesday and No. 22 UCLA on Dec. 19) and two other opponents receiving votes in The Associated Press and/or coaches’ top 25 rankings (Georgia Tech on Saturday and Louisville on Dec. 26).
The only opponent in the next four weeks that did not get a vote in either preseason poll? Notre Dame, which Kentucky plays on Dec. 12.
3,075
The announced attendance was 3,075, which is the 15-percent-of-capacity limit caused by coronavirus caution. As he has said before, Calipari found the lack of the usual Rupp Arena crowd a hindrance for his team.
“Without fans in Rupp, we’re just playing a basketball team on a court …,” he said on his postgame radio show. “The kids are having to do it on their own. It’s a tough deal.”
Profile raised
As with Morehead State on Wednesday, Richmond saw a benefit in sharing the basketball stage with Kentucky no matter how the game played out.
“Anytime you have a chance to play Kentucky, just playing with them is a chance to increase your profile …,” Richmond Coach Chris Mooney said before the game. “I think that’s an opportunity, and that’s for just about everybody Kentucky plays.”
No Keion
Despite the absence of Keion Brooks, the only returning veteran who played significant minutes last season, Kentucky breezed to victory in the opening game.
How did Kentucky do it?
“We just go hard,” freshman Cam’Ron Fletcher said after the 81-45 victory. “We are just a team that fights. That’s it.”
When asked to define what he meant by fight, Fletcher said, “Don’t worry about scoring or anything else. Just worry about fighting, and everything else will fall into place. When you’re playing hard, stuff just falls in line.”
A calf injury sidelined Brooks for much of the preseason and the first two games. Justus said he could not say when Brooks might make his season debut.
Remember Evansville?
On Nov. 12 of last season, Evansville won at Kentucky 67-64. Before Sunday’s game, Richmond Coach Chris Mooney was asked if he’d use that game to bolster his players’ belief that they could beat Kentucky.
“Look, in a 30-game schedule, for Kentucky almost a 40-game season usually, there are going to be games when things don’t go as planned,” Mooney said. “So, I don’t necessarily think we’ll see that or talk about it.”
