Keion Brooks cites ‘tweaks’ to explain improved three-point shooting
Keion Brooks has been working on improving his perimeter shooting. It showed in Kentucky’s exhibition victory over Kentucky Wesleyan on Friday night.
Brooks made four of six three-point shots en route to 18 points. This from a player who had made only 23.4 percent of his three-point shots in his first two UK seasons (11 of 47), and never more than two in a game.
Brooks cited the difference made by practice-practice-practice. This led to increased confidence.
Plus, he added, “There’s some tweaks I made to my shot to let it come off smoother.”
Brooks said the tweaks involved hand placement on the ball, putting more arc on the shot, and how he rotates his hips when shooting. The goal is shooting with consistent mechanics, he said.
Sahvir Wheeler saluted Brooks’ improved shooting.
“He put the time in,” Wheeler said. “He’s confident.”
Brooks and Wheeler noted how good shooting is not a solo act.
“We’re empowering him when we pass it to him (by shouting) shoot it!” Wheeler said. “He’s shooting well in drills. It’s not a surprise.”
Brooks said that the encouragement from teammates plays a role in his shooting.
“I’d be doing them a disservice if they get me open shots and I don’t make them,” he said.
Kentucky Wesleyan Coach Drew Cooper said he was surprised by how well Brooks shot.
“Keion Brooks wasn’t exactly at the top of our scouting report,” Cooper said.
TyTy and Sahvir
Wheeler and freshman TyTy Washington gave UK double-barrel contributions in the backcourt. Wheeler had 10 points, six assists and only one turnover. Washington scored 18 points.
“I know there was speculation in the preseason about how are we going to handle one guy playing and the other now,” Wheeler said. “… We complement each other. He can get me some shots. I can get him some shots.”
Pressing
John Calipari’s Kentucky teams have not pressed a lot. UK did use full-court pressure at times against Kentucky Wesleyan.
“I just wanted to speed them up,” Calipari said, “and get the game going like we want.”
UK’s desire to play at a fast pace was reflected in a 21-0 advantage in fast-break points. A faster pace might also enable UK to use its depth to wear down opponents.
“How much we’re going to press, I don’t know,” Calipari said. “But I think that we can press with our guards.”
Davion’s defense
While Calipari lamented Kentucky’s interior defense, but did salute one example of effective defense on the perimeter. The honoree was Davion Mintz, whom Calipari used as a teaching tool.
“Davion helped himself today because of how he guarded,” the UK coach said.
This made Mintz’s 1-for-5 three-point shooting irrelevant.
“One-for-five from three doesn’t matter,” Calipari said. “You can stay on the court if you defend that way.”
Mintz still contributed on offense. He scored 12 points. He also matched Wheeler’s assist-to-turnover ratio of six-to-one.
Injury update
Returnee Jacob Toppin and transfer CJ Fredrick did not play.
When asked if either or both would be able to play against Duke in the season’s opening game Nov. 9, Calipari did not sound optimistic.
“We don’t know yet,” he said. “Jacob has practiced, like, one day. But we’re coming down to the wire now.
“CJ has not started (practicing) yet. So, it’ll be hard.”
Thinking of Duke?
Brooks denied that the UK players are thinking of the highly anticipated opening game against Duke.,
“You don’t want to get so caught up in that you lose track of the journey it takes for you to get there to that first game …,” he said. “Even in the locker room, that’s not something we talk about. We talk about how we compete.”
50th anniversary
Joel Utley began his 61st season as radio play-by-play announcer for Kentucky Wesleyan. That’s believed to be a record for an NCAA basketball program.
Utley isn’t the only person with a wealth of experience in Panthers athletics. Roy Pickerill, whose title is sports information director emeritus, began his 50th season with the program.
To mark the milestone, “they gave me balloons and cake and a photo of me from 1974,” Pickerill said. “I’m about 100 pounds lighter, and I had hair.”
Pickerill started as a KWC student. He said he retired as SID, and now works as an ambassador for the college.
Tie game
UK and Kentucky Wesleyan made basketball history 103 years ago.
On Feb. 9, 1918, the teams played a game that ended in a 21-21 tie. It was the first tie in NCAA basketball history.
According to Pickerill, the tie score was caused by a scorer’s error that wasn’t discovered until after the teams had departed the gym.
The game was played in Winchester, which was Kentucky Wesleyan’s home from 1890 until a move to Owensboro in the early 1950s.
This story was originally published October 30, 2021 at 12:19 AM.
