Davion Mintz finds playing sixth-man role for Kentucky ‘so cool’
For Kentucky player Davion Mintz, being sixth is first-rate.
On Friday, UK Coach John Calipari continued to lobby for Mintz to be named the Southeastern Conference’s Sixth Man of the Year.
“That means a lot to me . . . ,” Mintz said of Calipari’s endorsement. “I’d love to have it.”
Mintz defined the sixth-man role as bringing energy, making shots and playing good defense. Doing those things while coming off the bench as a sixth man is a new experience.
“I came off the bench my freshman year of college,” he said of playing for Creighton in the 2016-17 season. “But it wasn’t the sixth-man role. I’ve never had the sixth-man role in my life.”
Mintz started 12 of 29 games as a freshman. He averaged 12.2 minutes.
“The time I came off the bench, it was definitely warranted,” Mintz said with a smile. “I’d say there were guys that honestly were better than me.”
Mintz is averaging 8.8 points. His 36.4-percent shooting accuracy from three-point range is second only to Kellan Grady (42.2 percent) among UK players who’ve made more than two shots from beyond the arc this season.
In the last three games, Mintz has made eight of 15 three-pointers. In the last six games, he has a 16-to-6 assist-to-turnover ratio.
“I’ve embraced it,” he said of the sixth-man role. “It’s been a really fun role once you figure it out. . . . I’m able to see things (from the bench that I wouldn’t be able to see (in a starter’s role).”
Of course, a former Kentucky player was basketball’s original sixth man. That was Frank Ramsey with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Mintz cited a current player, Lou Williams, as an inspiration for those being a sixth man. Williams is a three-time winner of the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award. Now with the Atlanta Hawks, he is also the NBA’s career leader in points scored by a non-starter.
“He really defined that role, and he made it cool for a lot of young kids,” Mintz said.
When Williams was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2015, the song “6 Man’ by rapper Drake played during the presentation.
“The immature person would laugh, like, oh, you’re coming off the bench,” Mintz said. “But Lou made it so cool.”
Championship good
Florida Coach Mike White spoke highly of Kentucky.
“I think this team has a chance to win it all,” he said of UK. “I really do.”
White cited several championship quality assets that Kentucky possesses: passing, shooting, an ultra-fast point guard, transition offense, rebounding, screening, defending.
“There’s probably only a few teams out there, in my opinion, that just don’t have a glaring weakness,” White said. “And I just think they’re one of them.”
Winning doesn’t help
Florida has won its last four games. For a team on the metaphorical “bubble” for an NCAA Tournament bid, that would seem to be encouraging.
But Florida’s NET ranking has dropped during that four-game winning streak. The Gators were No. 47 as of Friday. Before the first of four straight victories, Florida had a NET ranking of 45.
The drop could be a product of winning against so-so competition: 81-72 over Oklahoma State, 66-65 at Missouri, 62-57 against Ole Miss and 72-63 against Georgia.
Missouri, Ole Miss and Georgia are in 12th, 13th and 14th place, respectively, in the SEC going into this weekend’s play. Oklahoma State has a record of 11-12 overall and is tied for sixth place in the Big 12.
White had a philosophical response.
“It beats the alternative, right?” he said of four straight victories not boosting Florida’s NET. “If we lost a couple of those, we would have dropped even more.”
Florida has a 1-4 record against ranked opponents. The lone victory was over then-No. 20 Florida State by a score of 71-55 on Nov. 14.
As of Friday morning, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi had Florida first in his “First Four Out” category.
‘No excuses’
UK Coach John Calipari used his weekly radio show and Friday’s teleconference to encourage fans to attend Saturday’s game and make their presence known.
After saying that he expected Florida to try to muscle UK, Calipari added, “we need every fan in that building. It’s Florida. It’s 4 o’clock. No excuses. Let’s fill this thing up.”
Etc.
Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes will call the game for ESPN.
This story was originally published February 11, 2022 at 3:21 PM.
