Coach Kenny Brooks likes the Steve Nash qualities that Georgia Amoore has. (UK Athletics Photo)
The great players find a way to still dominate a game even when they are not having their best offensive game.
That’s what Kentucky point guard Georgia Amoore did again Sunday in a 96-78 Southeastern Conference win at Vanderbilt.
Amoore sparked UK to a blistering 31-point first quarter with her passing and ball handling against Vandy’s trapping defense designed to make her give up the ball. At one point she was 3-for-13 from the field but hit her last five shots to finish with 24 points, nine assists and two rebounds in 39 minutes.
Coach Kenny Brooks was not even worried about her four turnovers because of the way she controlled the game — and she did hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to put the game out of range.
Amoore has now had six straight games with 20 or more points and six straight with nine or more assists.
“We got off to a great start. It was basketball turned football and then back to basketball. They just battled,” Brooks said after the win. “That was a very physical game. It might be one of the most physical games I have been part of.
“They tried to trap and we have the best point guard in the country. It’s really hard to put her in a trap. Georgia just commended the game. The two 3’s she hit in front of us (on the bench) were big.”
Brooks said No. 16 Kentucky, now 13-1 overall and 2-0 in SEC play, has an edge every game because of Amoore in Brooks’ opinion. She came with him from Virginia Tech where she was a two-time All-American.
“When you have the best point guard in the country it makes everyone’s job easier,” Brooks said. “They doubled and tried to trap her every time she came off a screen
She is so elusive and will make you pay. Her vision is terrific and her passing is unmatched. I am still amazed at the way she passes.”
Brooks told her early to model her game after former NBA great Steve Nash and he believes she’s done that with her overall play.
“She started the season in a funk shooting,” Brooks said. “She was having to learn to play being the focus of the opposing defense.”
Amoore had plenty of help as Amelia Hassett went 6-for-10 from 3-point range and finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists in 31 minutes. Dazia Lawrence, who hit seven 3-pointers against Mississippi State Thursday, added 17 points (3-for-5 on 3’s) and Clara Steak had 17 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Teonni Key had 14 points, hitting a pair of three-pointers, and pulled off seven rebounds.
Because of the weather, Kentucky stayed in Nashville Sunday night. They play again Thursday at Florida at 5 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
5 Responses
Sound like the women team is for real.
I’m from Va. A Va Tech fan. I loved watching Georgia play. So I wanted to see her play in person again. We drove 6 hours to Kentucky over Christmas to watch her and Claire play. They didn’t disappoint either. Georgia is something to watch. You can see the wheels turning in her head as to what to do. As a former basketball coach she is a coaches dream player. She’s the whole package. I love that her team has that same hunger as she does to be the best. They have bought into what she has to offer. They will do whatever it takes to succeed. I love it. They also have bought into what Kenny Brooks has to offer. I pray God’s continual blessing over them.
This UK women’s bball team has more RAW TALENT and SKILL than does the men’s team. And honestly, over the last 5-6 years, women’s college basketball has become a more quality "watch" just from a bball fan’s perspective. If u just love the game of bball and want to see it played well and executed well, but SKILLFULLY AND INTELLIGENTLY, then watch women’s college bball. They honestly play the game the way the game is SUPPOSED TO BE PLAYED–to their credit. They use their SKILL and their TALENT to EXECUTE, which is the way the men used to play the game too before it became all about just basically wanting to fight all the time. The men don’t want to use their SMARTS, their INTELLIGENCE, anymore, in playing the game, they just want to use their body, which has created a mentality of laziness and a lack of hard work in becoming better as a player, as compared to the old days. I don’t think the men today work as hard or invest as much of their own personal time in working on their game and improving their craft as in the past–too many other distractions for them. Plus now, with basically being compensated minor-league professionals—-well, all of that has produced a far less quality college bball product today in general, but mainly on the men’s side, as opposed to 20, 25, 30, 40 yrs ago. In the last 6-8 years, I have watched the quality of the men’s game deterioriate, while seeing the quality of the women’s product increase. In that time span, as far as the SEC goes, it has been teams like SCAR and LSU that have been at that top level of quality talent, athleticism, shooting, all skills, plus recruiting—and coaching. These are the areas where KY has been so far behind for so long. Kyra Elzy just did not have it. And Kenny Brooks is going to bring us a level of coaching and recruiting that she could not–and quite frankly, a level that we have never had here in our women’s program. Not only is he going to IMPROVE our program from where it has been over the last decade-plus, he is going to elevate us to have a chance to get on that level of a SCAR or an LSU in women’s bball. We have a lot to be excited about with this current team, and the talent that we have, and the way it is being coached–and honestly, this team has two coaches this year–a coach on the sideline, and a coach on the floor. Georgia Amoore is a coach on the floor–and she has the ability to push this KY team up to a level that it has never been. At the time, Rhyne Howard was considered one of the top 3-4 players to ever play here–I think by the time this year is over, Georgia Amoore is going to make everybody forget about Rhyne Howard and anybody else who played here during that time. Yes, I know the women’s program won the first SEC Tournament Championship while Rhyne played here. But I believe this current team has an excellent chance of winning another one of those, and also doing much more than that, and going much further than that. I think in a very short time Kenny Brooks is going to make that period of KY WOMENS BBALL look very minor league. I think he, and the players he is going to recruit and the teams he is going to build, are going to have the capabilities of doing things here that we have never seen before. Georgia is awesome, and so is this team!! Good luck to you the rest of the way, girls and Coach!!!
Oh to see every one of your games again. Need to get your Kentucky schedule and put all game details on my calendar. Just one old Hokie❤️
At least 9 Assists per game for the past 6 consecutive games is a ln extremely SUCCESSFUL TEAM FIRST stat which makes her worthy of all the accolades.
UK now has 2 coaches with the TEAM 1sr mentality and both will continue to get better as they lead UK back to the league & National spotlight.
Great UK BB in Rupp Arema & Memorial Coliseum. Lexington is the home of Elite Basketball Teqms!