What did Otega Oweh, Kentucky’s leading scorer last year, think after Kentucky lost 84-70 to Georgetown in Thursday night’s exhibition game?
“We just have to be consistent. We had a great game defensively. So, we just have to continue to be consistent,” Oweh said.
“That starts with practice, the reps that we want to take off, we have to be super key and then just taking the things we do in practice and bring it to the game, I feel like we did a lot of stuff that we did in practice.
Oweh led Kentucky with 17 points, three rebounds and one assist in 26 minutes. He was only 4-for-12 from the field, including 1-for-4 from 3, but did make eight of 11 free throws.
Kentucky’s offense never got into a flow. Oweh didn’t use having injured point guards Jaland Lowe and Denzel Aberdeen not playing as a reason for UK’s struggles.
“I feel like even our paint touches, we had a lot of paint but we just didn’t play them out. The ball didn’t fall today, but we still could have impacted the game in other ways. Get some stops without transition,” Oweh said.
Can Kentucky learn from the loss that included more turnovers than assists?
“Thats hard because no one wants to lose. We don’t want to lose but we can definitely learn a whole lot,” Oweh said.
Georgetown coach Ed Cooley still believes Kentucky has a special team.
“I love this Kentucky team. They’re fast in transition, they can really shoot the ball,” the Georgetown coach said. “Obviously, when Lowe and JQ (Jayden Quaintance) get back, I think they have a different identity.
“I thought our ball pressure really bothered them, and I thought the physicality of the game played into what I call Big East basketball.”
7 Responses
I only saw a minute or 2 of the game but from what I saw in the first half, I knew it was going to be bad. In just the short time I saw, Jasper Johnson took three 3-pointers. He didn't look to pass and didn't look to make a drive to the basket. Now don't get me wrong. I love this kid and he will learn and get better and to be honest, he was open on all 3 shots. He just looked out of control and trying to bring UK back on his own. What also bothers me is back earlier before the season when he made the statement, he was the best shooter in basketball. It is good to have confidence, but you have to curb that with reality and team play. He is a decent 3-point shooter, but as of now, he is very streaky.
As I said, I love this kid and love our team, but they will all have to use this as a learning tool and move on.
We need to toughen up and get mean! We did not bring the fight to Georgetown; they brought it to us and we couldn't wait for it to be over. It used to be that teams played hard because they wanted to win. Now, they HAVE TO WIN or the NIL faucet will run dry…and so will multi million dollar coach's salaries. Take this asswhooping like a man, toughen up, and come ready to play on Tuesday night. We should score 100+ points and hold Nichols under 50. We need to have 2 or 3 guys foul out; we have the depth…we don't have the reputation of being killers!
Good call Mr. Cooley and you are being very charitable. We know we have good players but coaching staff still a ? mark IMO. We lost too many games that we should have won last year. Pope does need to focus more on practice improvement and game planning and less on Love for the players and how well they get along. We need to more from softball to hardball with sense of urgency if we want to attain Greatness this year.
I don't know how Oweh thought they played great defensively. Garrison hasn't improved any in my eyes. Ky will have to play 2 bigs most of the time in my opinion. Quaintence will have to start at the 4. The Cats are going to be real vulnerable until he plays. They could take some loses early unless the bigs man up. Chandler and Noah are too slow. Cats should play zone with them in the game.
I will be surprised if we get JQ on the floor. Brings back some memories there.
Pope needs to have the Cats go at each other harder in practice. I know he fears another injury, but without those kind of practices, they won't be ready for teams that will come at them like Georgetown did.
In this Brave New World, the coaches are no longer control. The transformation of college sports from amateur to professional is now complete, and the players are now in control.