Victoria Graff Photo
If you have climbed back on the Kentucky Final Four bandwagon — or maybe you never climbed off — you are not alone and coach John Calipari’s team certainly has started to trend the right way with three wins in the last four games.
That includes road wins at Auburn and Mississippi State along with the home blowout of Alabama.
“Kentucky is a work in progress,” ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg said after UK’s win Tuesday night at Mississippi State. “If Reed Sheppard continues to play like he did today I say they have a chance to get to the next level. This dude was ridiculous. All of a sudden this is a very special team in terms of its ceiling.”
Here are some numbers, courtesy of UK stats guru Corey Price, that help validate that high ceiling:
— Sheppard is the only Division I men’s basketball player since 2010-2011 to come off the bench and have at least 32 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals in a single game.
— For the first time ever Kentucky basketball has had five different players named SEC Freshman of the Week in a single season (Aaron Bradshaw, Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards, Reed Sheppard, DJ Wagner).
— This is the 121st of Kentucky basketball and is the first time ever that Kentucky has had 11 different players score at least 13 points in a single game in the same season: Aaron Bradshaw, Jordan Burks, Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards, Zvonimir Ivisic, Tre Mitchell, Ugonna Onyenso, Antonio Reeves, Reed Sheppard, Adou Thiero and D.J. Wagner.
Sean Vinsel of HoopsInsight might have the most encouraging numbers for Kentucky fans.
“Over the last 6 games UK has the 11th best offense and 35th best defense per Torvik. In the 6 games before that UK was 12th and 175th,” Vinsel posted.
He said the defensive rise is about three more opponent turnovers per game in those six games and a drop of seven-percent in opponent 3-point field goal percentage.
Sam Vecenie, senior writer at The Athletic on the NBA/NBA Draft, also took to social media to suggest a path that could lead UK to postseason success:
“With Reed, Rob, and Reeves on the court, Kentucky outscores its opponents 135.8-102.4 (points) per 100 possessions. Even just in SEC games, Kentucky wins Reed/Rob/Reeves minutes 131.6-111.3. They’ve only played 162 minutes together in SEC play before tonight (at Mississippi State). Just play your best guys.
“And again, I’m someone who over the years has defended Calipari a lot. And I even have defended the Dillingham usage more than most. But Kentucky has an actual chance to win a title this year talent-wise. They won’t do it unless he plays his best guys together consistently.”
6 Responses
11 different players scoring at least 13 points in a single game is really good, but it also points to the glaring issue with this team; Consistency.
You know Reeves is going to get his points, Mitchell is going to get rebounds, Sheppard is going to do the little things, make others better, and not take bad shots. Other than that, I can’t think of anything else that is really consistent with this team. I guess the low number of turnovers for the team would count, also.
It would be great to have a center that you know is going to get his blocks and rebounds or at least between the 3 of them you could count on 12 to 15 points, 8 to 10 rebounds, and 3 or 4 blocks most every game.
This team is kind of pick your poison, because if one is not playing well there’s always someone on the bench or in the line up will pick up the slack,
Love me some Ky basketball right now. We have the talent, and I like Dillinghams and Reeds toughness. For a 158 lbs, Dilly is a bad dude, and mixes it up with the big boys 👍
Sheppard is j of st cool 90% of the time, and as much as we Ky fans would like 100% its just to fast of game to be perfect😁.
Go Ky, your going in the right direction. I really believe in tyou on a neutral floor😊
The Vegas odds haven’t moved much when it comes to Kentucky winning either the SEC Tournament or the national championship. So, the oddsmakers evidently don’t see the improvement being written about here. But it looks like to me the team is growing up before our eyes.
Enjoyed the article Larry. I’m glad someone is paying attention to the numbers. They have certainly improved the last few games. Noticed that another writer recognized the combination of Reed, Rob & Reeves.
Coach for life. Titles, he cares not, but put him on ESPN on draft nite and he is as happy as can be