Collin Chandler and the Cats play Michigan State in New York Tuesday. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky has a chance to regain some of the national luster it lost after falling to Louisville last week when it plays Michigan State in the Champions Classic Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.
“I can’t wait to play in New York. It’s going to be my first time playing in New York in my college career, so I’m going to have some family and friends come out to watch me,” said UK forward Mo Dioubate, who had his first double-double at UK Friday against Eastern Illinois. “And it’s at the Garden. Every kid’s dream is to play at the Garden, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Sophomore Kam Williams, a Tulane transfer, said he was excited for himself and his team to go against Michigan State.
“It’s going to be another good test for us,” Williams said. “They got a good point guard, great bigs. I really think they bring a lot, so we gotta make sure we see man, see ball and really try to contain them.”
Kentucky got what coach Mark Pope called a “functional” win over Eastern Illinois coming off the disappointing loss to Louisville where the Cats trailed by 20 points with 12 1/2 minutes to play before rallying to cut the final margin to eight points.
Dioubate said he’s been trying to become a better leader.
“Coming to this team, Coach told me that one of the things that he wanted me to be was a vocal leader for the team,” the Alabama transfer said. “’Ive been one of the guys that speaks up when it’s time to be spoken to. Myself, Otega (Oweh), and Collin (Chandler) have been doing a very good job as well.
“Even (freshman) Malachi (Moreno) being a young guy he’s one of our vocal leaders, especially on offense and throughout the game. He’s always talking.”
Eastern Illinois coach Marty Simmons, who grew up as a fan of former UK guard Jay Shidler, said UK’s aggressiveness makes it a difficult matchup.
“They were physical, they played extremely hard and took us out of pretty much everything we wanted to do.
We watched their game against Louisville and that was one of the most physical games I think I’ve seen, so we were certainly prepared for the physicality,” Simmons said. “They were ready, they punched us right in the mouth, right from the get-go, and we never really regained any confidence.”
4 Responses
These players are paid professionals. They should look at this as a business trip.
Last year they went to a Broadway show. Two couples got engaged in Central Park. One of the players that got engaged threw his back out (I think I know how that happened) and he wasn't the same the rest of the year.
We weren't ready to play and Ohio State blew us out.
When you run a offense through a player like Oweh it makes things very difficult. I think Pope is seeing this. He isn't a good shooter from 3 or jump shots. The only time Oweh scores usually is on run outs, free throws, and when he penetrates and the defense doesn't collapse. Other wise he's very hard to set up shots for. We need to run out offense through Collin Chandler. The problem with this is Pope will not run his offense through Collin Chandler. I think the only way he does is if we lose a couple of games in a row or lose 2 out of 3 games. We need to switch something up on the offense and play more pressure defense. The word on the street was we are 14 deep. So running the other teams legs off was on the table. It looked like Louisville ran us to death with way less guys. Either they are in better shape or Kentucky has some soul searching to do. Im tired of worrying about players stats and if Oweh has double figure scoring while shooting 7-8 free throws. Against Louisville Brown showed why Oweh wasn't in the NBA draft last year and I'll be surprised if he's a first round pick. I say late second round if hes lucky. What happened to Jason Robinson last year when he was going to the NBA a year early he literally did nothing to help us win last year it was Oweh who was the better player. The same this year with Oweh And Chandler. Chandler will be the better player by the end of the year. Don't be surprised if you hear Chandler's name being talked about as a late first round pick this year. I would run the offense through Williams over Oweh. Williams is a much better shooter and to me he plays hungry like Oweh did last year. The worst thing a player can think is that they've made it. Once they get this thought in there head they dont play as hard. They won't dive on th floor after the ball they will watch it roll past them because they dont want to get hurt. Aberdeen Chandler Oweh Williams Jelavic. Would be my starting 5 with Moreno and Noah beimg first off the bench. Johnson has impressed me with his passing more than his shooting which will come. He needs to distribute the ball more than shoot it
Pope likes running the offense through the center. He did at BYU and did last year with Amari. The trouble is Garrison can't do it. The jury is still out on Moreno, but he's not ready yet. I read where Pope commented that he thought Jelavic could play center. That might be the best option considering he has good experience. Atleast until Quaintence is ready. Jelavic has the ability to shoot mid range jumpers. Moreno and Garrison hasn't shown that they have a jump shot. When and if Quaintence gets to 100%, Garrison and Moreno will not get a lot of minutes.
I agree with Wildwest, these are professional basketball players. They have a job to do, and there are no nights off.
As for this matchup with Michigan State, I start with Izzo's experience and the grinding style of play that his teams always use.
They are undefeated with a nice win over Calipari's Hogs, but all MSU games have been at home, so this is their first trip.
Based on their early-season performances, I think UK should beat Michigan State by 8 or 9 points.
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