Kellan Grady goes from ‘crappy job’ to ‘making an impact’ for Kentucky
Kellan Grady sees himself in a balancing act so far this season. He’s trying not to force anything on offense while also being assertive.
“It’s hard, it’s hard,” he said after Kentucky defeated Albany 86-61 Monday night at Rupp Arena. “I think I did a crappy job of that against Ohio.”
Grady missed his only two shots and went scoreless against the Bobcats.
Three nights later, he made four of seven shots (three of five from beyond the three-point arc) and scored 14 points against Albany.
Although Grady was a 2,000-point scorer for Davidson before transferring to Kentucky this season, UK Coach John Calipari seemed to suggest that the player was learning about being the focus of a scouting report.
“Like, don’t leave him,” Calipari said of the opposition’s mindset. “You know what that means. They’re working hard not to get you shots. … You have to work really hard to play now. You’ve got to work harder (to score) than they’re working to keep you from scoring.”
Grady acknowledged that he must take a different approach to scoring for Kentucky than he did for Davidson.
“I was the leading scorer at Davidson, and took 15 shots a game,” he said. “So, bluntly, that’s obviously different.
“I’m on a team with great players. The biggest thing for me is making sure I’m making an impact in the game.”
‘Keep shooting’
Dontaie Allen missed the five shots he took, all from three-point range, in a scoreless 13-plus minutes. This followed scoring three points against Ohio and two against Mount St. Mary’s.
“One of the guys said to Dontaie during the game, ‘Dude, if you make two shots, we’re going to break this open,’” Calipari said. “… I want him in there shooting the ball. … I kept saying, ‘Just keep shooting.’”
Calipari suggested that getting beat on defense had adversely affected Allen’s offense.
Through five games, Allen is averaging 2.6 points and 7.6 minutes. He has made five of 14 shots (three of 11 from three-point range).
Brooks contributes
Keion Brooks scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds. That gave him 39 points and 16 in the last two games in which Oscar Tshiebwe was hampered by foul trouble.
“Look, he’s got to be a 15- (or) 16-point and eight-rebound guy for us,” Calipari said.
Looking ahead
Kentucky’s next game is Friday against North Florida. The Ospreys (a sea hawk) opened the season with five straight losses before defeating an NAIA team, Webber International, 103-43 on Saturday.
Blue Ribbon, Athlon and Lindy’s all picked North Florida to finish second in the Atlantic Sun Conference’s East Division.
Rebounds
Kentucky went into the game ranked second nationally in rebound margin with an average advantage of 19.4 rebounds.
Albany had been outrebounded by an average of 6.5 rebounds per game. That ranked 318th of 350 teams.
Oscar Tshiebwe was leading the nation in average rebounds (16.5 per game) and average offensive rebounds (8.25 per game).
Incidentally, going into this week’s games, Tshiebwe’s former school, West Virginia, was tied for 303rd nationally. The Mountaineers had been outrebounded by an average of 5.2 per game.
North Florida will come into Friday’s game having been outrebounded by an average of more than 11 rebounds per game (29.7-41.2). That ranked 341st nationally.
North Florida’s opponents have averaged 16.2 offensive rebounds.
Freshman honored
The SEC named TyTy Washington its Freshman of the Week. He averaged 18.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists in UK victories over Mount St. Mary’s and Ohio.
Against Ohio, Washington had 20 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. He joined Isaiah Briscoe and James Young as the only UK players in Calipari’s time as coach to have at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a game.
Against Albany, Washington matched the season-high 20 points he scored against Ohio on Friday.
Tickets available
Single-game tickets for Kentucky’s remaining home games were to go on sale at 5 p.m. Tuesday, UK said. The tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com or the Ticketmaster app.
Home games against North Florida, Central Michigan and Southern are already on sale, UK said.
UK is also offering two five-game ticket packages for $280 each. The Blue pack includes home games against Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi State and Ole Miss. The White pack includes home games against Tennessee, Florida, High Point, Vanderbilt and LSU.
If bought before Nov. 29, the Blue and White packs will include complimentary tickets for games against Central Michigan and Southern, respectively.’
Information on student tickets is at UKStudentTix.com. Information on group tickets are at groupsales@uky.edu. Information on courtside and other premium lower level seats can be received by calling the K Fund at 859-257-6300.
This story was originally published November 23, 2021 at 12:34 AM.
