Andrew Carr is a special player who can do a lot of things for coach Mark Pope. (Vicky Graff Photo)
If there was one knock on Wake Forest transfer Andrew Carr going into this season it was that he was not an overly physical player and might have trouble against physical Southeastern Conference players.
However, Carr muscled his way for late scores in the upset win over Duke and more than held his own in a physical matchup against Western Kentucky Tuesday when he had his first UK double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope knew about the speculation on Carr not being physical enough.
“Andrew has always been known as a really, really physical player. I’m joking a little bit,” Pope said after Tuesday’s win. “He’s got a really true physicality and I thought his focus was unbelievable tonight.
“Our guys have a goal, one specific goal every time we walk into the practice. Our assistant coaches, our staff does an unbelievable job of giving our guys one very specific goal. So, Andrew Carr’s goal yesterday was to demand a catch, even to the point of yelling and screaming at his teammates, just one time to earn a catch. That was his goal yesterday.”
Pope thought he met his goal.
“He was unbelievable today, winning catches and being physical with the ball, like he was really special,” Pope said after Tuesday’s win. “And these really specific measurable attainable goals that our staff worked so hard with our players to have every single day, they pay off. And it’s a great example, a terrific example and I thought he was great today and I thought he was demanding.
“I thought he protected the ball. You think about all the possessions he had against a swarming, swarming super talented defense. I think they are 52 or 62 in the country defensively right now. But this swarming defense they had against a bunch of undersized guys that could be really frustrating for a guy built like Andrew Carr and he has three assists, zero turnovers, 18 points, 10 rebounds and was ridiculously efficient and tough with the ball. Super proud of him.”
Wait. Pope had more.
“He also shot a turnaround jumper long which he’s missed the last three or four short. He shot it long and actually bounced off the back of the rim, went in. These little things that he’s focused on are pretty great,” the UK coach said.
Carr also gives Pope the ability to go small and play him in the post with four guards on the perimeter. That paid off against Western’s pesky, quick defense.
“Andrew has been special. You have the luxury of him being a starting forward that you don’t have to run a ton of actions for. You can kind of pick and choose and he will manufacture points. If you think about it, he’s 6-11 and he’s handling the ball full-court a lot. He was handling the ball against a lot of pressure tonight and he was not just making a simple play but he was pretty demanding,” Pope said.
“He’s a zero turnover guy on the night. He’s putting himself in a lot of traffic and a lot of harm’s way and still off the bounce is a zero turnover guy. That’s really significant. It speaks well to his vision and understanding of the pieces on the court and where guys are and where he can take risks and where he can’t.
“He brings a physicality, he definitely did tonight. He brought a physicality. You saw him late in the game, the last 10 minutes go twice really hard over his left shoulder and be really demanding and kind of going through bodies and that’s Andrew Carr. That’s really special.”
5 Responses
I believe Carr is the most important dude on the team this year. He steadies the ship in rough water. Go Cats!
You are exactly right Jimmy. When the going got tough with Duke and Western, Carr was the guy who stepped up along with Oweh. Butler can score, but he needs to be more of a facilitator instead of looking for his own shot. Brea is coming into a Carr like mode off the bench. Clemson and Gonzaga will tell more about who is buying into Pope’s system.
Carr and Ortega are the two most valuable players at this point in the season, at least in terms of guys who step up and put the team on their back when the game is on the line and up for grabs–they jump in and come up with huge points or huge plays defensively to save the game for the team. I would like to see Amari step up and become the 3rd guy on this list. He is actually my favorite player thus far, I really like Amari, I like his size and his build, and I think he has a ton of potential and ability that just needs to be unlocked–I think there are a ton of things he can do and bring to the table, based on his build and his skill sets. He is big and can take care of things inside but he is also nimble and quick enough that he can play like a guard too. I would like to see him become more involved in the offense. Of course if you are hitting 10-15 threes every game, then Amari inside isn’t as crucial, but you are going to need him at some point, you aren’t going to hit 10 threes every game, so hopefully Amari can get more involved as the season progresses. We are going to need everybody with this stretch of games coming up–two big tests await over this next week, and it is going to provide a very accurate read of where this team really is right now. Before the season started, I was convinced that the one guy this team wouldn’t be able to do without was JAX, because I have been so used to teams that had established stars who the team could not do without, and who had to, for the most part, always be on point with their game for KY to win. But once the games got underway, I saw quickly that that’s NOT the way things were going to go with this team. Like I expected JAX to be kind of on a level talent-wise above the others, where he would be counted on heavily to carry them, as I said. But this is a team where the sum of their parts is greater than each of their individual talents. A true TEAM. GOD LOVE EM! 😊
Amari is my favorite too. He was playing sluggish again tonight and a Georgia State player started roughing him up and he started playing inspired after that.
He made one of the best passes I’ve ever seen. And hit 5-5 freethrows.
Hopefully I brought Amari some good vibes! Literally right after I posted this, it turned out Amari will be who we remember from the GA ST game!! I was actually glad to see that fight happen because I think it woke alot of our guys up, including Amari—we had a chance to see how guys would respond when pushed around and when they see their teammates being pushed around–and the response was rapid and swift! I loved seeing Koby go straight after Peters IMMEDIATELY after he saw the chicken-sh** cheap shot he threw at Amari. And I loved seeing Amari react in a positive way, I loved seeing the emotion and the mentally-strong approach to handling being come after. Otega went after Peters too, so it was an immediate reaction from the teammates when they saw one of their guys taken to task by the opponent. I love seeing that, and it reveals how close these guys are with each other. U gotta love that closeness, and the camaraderie these guys have. They haven’t even been together that long but u would never know it when u watch them. That’s a major credit to Pope to be able to build that level of chemistry in just 6-7 months. That fight last night lit a fire under this team and woke them up, and propelled them to the game-winning run. That was actually a positive that they faced that kind of adversity and got hit in the mouth from a team like GA ST because they are going to be facing that quite regularly once SEC play begins. They are going to take several steps up the ladder on the level of physicality once they reach the SEC portion of the season, and it may be a big adjustment for them for awhile. They are going to face some big front lines, and they’re going to get pushed around by quite a few teams in the conference, so that may be an issue for them for awhile. Hopefully they can find a way to deal with that. We will need Amari, Andrew, and Ortega all day long against those teams. Clemson and Gonzaga will provide good tests on this as well, and will just provide good tests PERIOD, in every phase and every way. We are going to know ALOT more about where this team really is right now, and how good they really are, after the games against Clemson and Gonzaga. Right now, we have one more football game to get through before we transition to bball for good—IT IS FOOTBAAAALLLL TIIIIIIIIME IIIIIINNNNNNNN THE BLUUUUUUUEGRAAAAAAASSSSSSSSS!!!!!!
GO CATS–L’s DOWN—BEAT LOU!!! THE CUTTER BOLEY GAME!!!!!! It’s OUR BOWL GAME THIS YEAR!!