Collin Chandler (Vicky Graff Photo)
If you look at his individual statistics, what sophomore Collin Chandler did in Friday’s win over No. 1 Purdue would not overly impress you.
He had two points on 1-for-3 shooting, five rebounds, three assists, one steal and only one turnover in 16 minutes. However, the one number that would impress you is that Kentucky was +15 with him on the floor. That was the highest mark for any player on the team.
Not only did coach Mark Pope like what his sophomore guard did, he loved what he did.
“He was the highlight of the whole game for me. I would give him the MVP of the game,” Pope said.
Why?
“That’s the defining feature. If this team wants to do something historic, that’s what we need.” Pope said. “And we need to champion it and we need to take pride in it and we need to be like, ‘Yes, that was me.’
“He was unbelievable. He played 15 minutes, he was a +15. He was +1 per minute. That’s a ridiculous ratio for anything over six or seven minutes of play. He had a ridiculously spectacular dunk.
“I have so much confidence in him to make the right decision on offense and so much confidence in him to be incredibly defensively sound with great energy and you have guys like that. It makes you feel good as a coach because good things are going to happen when he’s on the floor.”
While Chandler only had two points, it came on a spectacular dunk after Chandler split the Purdue defense and brought Kentucky fans to their feet as they roared approval for his move.
“The dunk was spectacular but he had two elite level full speed cuts where he hit roll late that broke it open and our bigs finally started rolling,” Pope said. “The whole first half, one of the things we were stuck on was we couldn’t get our bigs to roll. I think partly some fatigue and just the head spinning because of the deal.
“He really got us started. And then everyone else saw how that felt, the roll guys and live ball, ball handlers. You got Mo (Dioubate) making that play and Jasper (Johnson) making that play and DA (Denzel Aberdeen) making that play. It was contagious. He had a massive impact on the game.”
4 Responses
Excellent recognition by Pope!
Noah, Moreno, Garrison & Dioubate had 4 of the top 5 efficiencies & they were the 4 players I liked most, plus Chandler whose ANE was lower but he added fire power to the TEAM.
He's athletic and explosive. When he blew by his man and made that tomahawk dunk he inspired his teammates to play harder and more motivated.
Team sports isn't just about numbers. If it was just about numbers the team at the end of the season with the best record at the end of the season could be declared the national champion.
We wouldn't have NC State beating Houston in the early 80s.
We wouldn't have Villanova beating Georgetown. The list goes on and on.
Chandler can help his case for more PT by making a few 3s.