Tre Mitchell says "dudes are hungry" to make Kentucky better. (Vicky Graff Photo)
West Virginia transfer Tre Mitchell has not spent a lot of time with his new Kentucky teammates going into this week’s play at the GLOBAL Jam in Toronto but he certainly has liked what he has seen from his new — and mainly freshmen — teammates.
“We’ve been doing a lot of competing. It’s been a lot of competing. Dudes are hungry,” Mitchell said. “Dudes want to get after it every single day and it shows in the way that we play.
“Dudes are diving on the floor, dudes are going out the bus but at the same time.”
That’s the kind of infectious enthusiasm that a championship team can have. I still remember UK’s summer trip to Canada in 2010 when I got my first look at Brandon Knight. One game with UK up about 25 points in the final minutes, he dove on the floor and rolled out of bounds chasing a loose ball. No coach, including John Calipari, can teach that trait and you might remember that Knight helped UK reach the 2011 Final Four.
Mitchell has played at UMass, Texas and West Virginia. If he appreciates the way a freshman-dominated team is practicing, that’s a really good sign.
“I think we moved the ball very well in practice. There’s dudes willing to give up a good shot for a great shot,” Mitchell said.
“And I don’t think there’s really any selfishness out there on the court, even though the dudes have just gotten here and just learned each other’s games and are still learning each other’s games. I think that we’re on trajectory to do something great.”
2 Responses
GO CATS!!
This will be the best year we have seen in almost 10 years. We have a final 4 roster. There is no excuses to not make it to at least the elite 8 anything less is a major disappointment. If Cal don’t blow the year with the same bs we should be very good. We finally have shooters so there is no excuse there. I see Mitchell averaging a modest 13 points and 9 boards a game. I see Reeves averaging 16 ppg. I see Wagner averaging 10 ppg and 5 apg. Dillingham 8 ppg 5 apg. Edward’s 12 ppg. The Center position is where I see maybe a problem or 2. I think we will get very modest production from our bigs and I see Onneyso or however you spell it as a 6-8 ppg 8-10 rpg 2-3 bpg type of year his offense is very raw but will pick up as the year goes on. Bradshaw if he plays will be a 7 ppg 5 rpg 2 big type of big. Their will also be one player out of Hart Shepherd and the other 3 star that will make a contribution to the team. If Shepherd can knock down 1 or 2 three pointers a game that will be his niche. I would like to see Hart and Shepherd play 1 on 1 because I have a feeling Hart would win that battle whoever has better defense out of Hart and Shepherd will get the nod for 8 mpg in my opinion while that latter will maybe get 4-5 mpg.