Amoore is Right That One Shot Shouldn’t Define a Brilliant Career

Three times in the last 21 seconds All-American Georgia Amoore got a shot that could have beat Kansas State and sent Kentucky to the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen.

Amoore had been amazing all season for Kentucky. She led the team in scoring and assists. She hit a 3-pointer with 33 seconds left in regulation to put Kentucky ahead 69-67.

However, in the final 20 seconds she could not connect, including the last shot just before the buzzer after a Kentucky inbounds play. She put up a runner from about four feet away on the baseline but it bounced around the rim and fell off to give Kansas State the 80-79 overtime victory.

For a fifth-year collegiate player who has played in the Final Four, it was not the ideal ending to her career. However, she had a remarkable perspective about how she maintained her poise even after the game ended when shaking hands with Kansas State players.

“I’m not going to let one shot affect five years, like that’s pretty much it,” Amoore said.

Amen.

A miss is a miss but what she did at Virginia Tech for four years and now at UK for one year is remarkable.

She set a Kentucky single season assist record with 213 this year and her 78 3-pointers are third best in UK history. She scored in double figures in 32 of 33 games and had 21 games of at least 15 points and five assists, the most by any SEC player in the last 22 years.

Combined with her 34 points in the First Round win over Liberty, she became the only player in program history to total 52 points in any two-game span in the NCAA Championship.

Kentucky inbounded the ball with 3.2 seconds where Amoore inbounds the ball and then gets it back. She said “nothing” was running through her mind on the play.

“We’ve run that play all year. They kind of bit when I went off the handoff. Usually it is a handoff, so I had to reject it. As soon as I caught it, I realized how open I was, and it’s up to fate at that point,” she said.

Fate was not kind to Kentucky but coach Kenny Brooks correctly  noted his team had multiple chances during the game to make other plays that could have won the game.

“I think everybody will try to focus on the floater that Georgia missed at the end. Georgia had a 3 towards the end, Amelia Hassett had a wide open 3. We had opportunities,” the UK coach said. “We’re going to leave, we know we went down fighting. We had the opportunities that we wanted. Yes, we wish we could have stepped up and knocked them down, but it wasn’t for lack of effort.

“Some of the things that happened, you give them (Kansas State) credit. We had a lead, and they had to make shots, and they did, and they made those big shots. We came back down, and we were countering. It was just a terrific basketball game. I think a lot of people will be able to enjoy it. There had to be a winner, there had to be a loser.

“I think that’s what makes March so special. But we had our opportunities. We know that. We didn’t fumble it away. We didn’t kick it away. We didn’t make a bad decision. We had the opportunities. They stepped up and made theirs. We had the opportunity. We just didn’t make ours.”

Amoore, a projected first round WNBA draft pick, called it a “blessing” for her and Brooks to help “bring Kentucky back” this season.

“Obviously Kentucky is a name brand on the men’s side.” Amoore, who also had six assists, three rebounds, one steal and one block Sunday, said. “I told the girls, it’s up to you, whatever you decide, but hang around because it’s only going to go up from here. It’s an attractive style of play. Coach Brooks proves that he’s a winner.

“So I think it’s cool to be the foundation and be the, I don’t know, just project the program forward. That’s been the greatest thing is seeing the crowds come back game after game. Even Memorial, like I didn’t see the old one, but I heard of it, so it’s been cool to play in the new one and to kind of just get things rolling back again.”

Say amen again BBN and remember all those great moments from this season and what the future will be like.

But also remember just how special Amoore is because it might be a long time before we see anyone quite like her again. Let teammate Dazia Lawrence explain.

“I know for me that G has taught me to, no matter what, again, show up and work hard. G has had an amazing career. I have followed her career since I came to college. I’ve always been a fan. I think, when I first committed, she texted me, and I was like, ‘Oh, Georgia is texting me?’ Lawrence said after the game.

“I think always just showing up and being the best version of yourself. I don’t think I’ve seen G have a bad day in a practice or in a game or anything like that. She’s so mentally strong, and she uplifts us every day. No matter if we just turned the ball over, took a bad shot, or anything like that, she just shows up as the best version of herself no matter what she’s going through at home or outside of basketball.

“That’s the one thing that I will forever take. And always working hard. She didn’t get in this position that she’s in just because she showed up. She showed up every day and worked her tail off every single day. I will always remember that and just always, because of her, show up and work no matter what.”