Andrew Carr shakes hands with UK fans after the win over Wright State. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Wake Forest transfer Andrew Carr has a passion for basketball that not every college player today has.
“I love basketball, I study basketball. I’ve watched basketball throughout the years. My dad played basketball and he taught me how to play. And he told me, ‘Practice that 15-footer on the baseline. This is my shot,’” Carr said.
“All that has slowly phased out of the game nowadays. So, it definitely has evolved, and the only way to continue to get better is to grow with it.”
That’s the attitude that Kentucky coach Mark Pope knew immediately he wanted to be part of his first UK team and part of why he thinks Carr will be special for the Cats this season.
“Andrew Carr is such an elite level decider. Like he’s really a capable decision maker. One, he’s a 66 percent two-point shooter which is pretty incredible and he shot 38 percent from the three last year. So he’s really wildly efficient at making shots,” the Kentucky coach said.
“He makes shots. He stacks decisions. It’s something we saw in film from him last year at Wake Forest where he is turning the ball and someone jumps in the passing lane and he can actually stack a decision where he reads it correctly, gets downhill, gets to two feet, makes another ball fake, and then finally completes a pass or play. There’s not that many guys his size with his ability to make shots and finish shots that can stack decisions like him.”
Pope sees him as being difficult to guard because he is both a 6-11 scorer and playmaker. Pope knows smaller teams could present defensive matchup issues for Carr but believes he will be able to cope.
“He’s got to race around the floor and guard smaller guys,” Pope said after UK’s exhibition win over Minnesota State. “I thought his attention to detail on the defensive end was really terrific. It was much improved from his defensive performance from our first exhibition.”
4 Responses
Carr has the perfect attitude towards winning!
He had a good game tonight. Bucknell was no cupcake. Brea has found his stroke again, just in time for Duke!
With his skill level and scoring efficiency he needs to take more than 6 shots and get more than 3 boards. Great win for sure and can’t wait for the real test on Tuesday.
I agree. He needs to take at least 9-10 shots a game. The way this team is set up tho anyone can take alot of shots on any given night. Carr seems at times to make the extra pass instead of going up with a 10-12 footer which he’s almost automatic at 10-12 feet out.