Otega Oweh (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky coach Mark Pope worried a bit about how Otega Oweh would play against Kentucky Wesleyan in Wednesday night’s 123-52 exhibition game.
He shouldn’t have.
Oweh scored 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting but also had five rebounds, three assists and one steal in only 18 minutes.
“I was so proud of Otega tonight. I actually wondered if this was going to be a little bit of a complicated game for him because it is such a heavy gap team. His decision-making about when he attacked all the way to the rim and when he came to two feet was brilliant and actually incredible all night long,” Pope said.
“And first time here, first time playing this way, first time playing with these guys. For his decision-making to be so good, I was really, really proud of him.
“Listen, he is a big body. He’s got big broad shoulders and he is really powerful at the rim. He carves out space and he actually puts a shoulder in your chest when he turns your hips and creates some space for him to go finish and he is really explosive downhill. But he’s always been that but what’s been really brilliant to watch is his decision-making about when he chooses to get there and when he chooses to be a two-foot guy and a two-handed guy and he was great tonight.”
Oweh was 2-for-2 from 3-point range but even though Pope wants the team to fire away from outside he knows that is not his game.
“My game is really to get downhill. But I’m always ready to be open and, if you have an open shot, you take it,” Oweh said.
He can also be a sneaky defensive player with his strength and athleticism.
“Everyone has a spark to hold their own. We’re great on the offensive end and the defensive end,” Oweh said.
The Oklahoma transfer enjoyed playing his first game in Rupp Arena.
“It was amazing. Just the bright lights, the court, the fans cheering on everything. It’s just nice knowing you have a good fan base that supports you,” Oweh said.
Even though UK won by 71 points, Oweh knows there is room for improvement.
“I would say (we need) to just continue to sharpen ourselves on defense. We had a couple plays where we gave them some back doors, so we need to be active throughout the game,” Oweh said.
4 Responses
I saw a very organized team play. Each player knew what he was supposed to as a team mate. Every time down court..off the glass. staing on his D postion. and help out when needed.. pass for another assist. 30+ for game unbleievable. ready to tke the shot..
Rating they are coachable and shows they have a coach for all of them. each of them like someone before
Beed some work on back cuts and few others but for first time out.
As Ricky would say.
LOOKING GOOD LUCY
O K yeah I’m dating myself be kind to super Seniors please
Go Cats
Prez
Butler and Oweh are going to be nightmares for opposing backcourts this season. If you shut down the guards, the rest of the team will struggle. The frontcourt defense needs to work on defending backdoor cuts and that will come around soon. Controlling the paint will get better and everyone seems to be focused on rebounding and getting the ball up the floor. It’s one thing to score 123 points, but is altogether another thing to hold a team to 52, even if it was Kentucky Wesleyan. We had 8 players in double figure scoring with Carr, our assumed leading scorer, only having 10, and Kriisa hasn’t even played yet. I liked that even though the 3 wasn’t falling early, they kept shooting and were good on 21 of 42. Other teams will try to take away the 3 point line, but our defense will cause that effort to wane in the second half. I can see teams fouling us a lot, especially if our freethrow shooting doesn’t match our field goal efficiency. The 39-1 team knew they were going to dominate teams. This team has 3 more games to realize their protentional in that regard. The Duke game will tell us much. As much as I want us to put a beatdown on the Pukes, the Clemson and Gonzaga games will be even more telling. Basketball is fun again in Kentucky. I don’t see this team ever embarrassing BBN with lazy defense and selfish offense. Thank you Mark Pope, oh and thank you Fayetteville for giving the Fraud a place to run to. The Hogs need to remember and will be reminded often that they ain’t machines and they are pretty young too! Winning won’t matter as long as he gets his pets into the NBA.
This team played extremely well together; especially, for their first time out. It is great having so much actual playing time experience on a team, once again. That experience will pay great dividends. There is not much another team can do that most of these players haven’t seen before. They will know what it takes to slow another team down when necessary. They may not always be able to accomplish the task, but they will know what they need to do.
Who cares about football when you have this team to look forward too!!
I saw a well coached KY basketball team. Its has been what seems like an eternity since I’ve been able to say that.