Work Habits Helping Cats Find New Gear
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Dominique Hawkins is normally smiling and at ease when talking to reporters, but he was sweating bullets Monday.
The senior guard wasn’t fazed by hard-hitting questions or anything though.
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| Kentucky at Vanderbilt | ||
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Tue., Jan. 10 – 7 p.m. ET |
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| Coverage | ||
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TV: SEC Network |
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| UK | 2016-17 Team Stats | VU |
| 13-2 | Record | 8-7 |
| 3-0 | Conference Record | 2-1 |
| 94.2 | PPG | 72.3 |
| 71.1 | Opp PPG | 68.7 |
| .490 | FG% | .432 |
| .401 | Opp FG% | .425 |
| 41.9 | RPG | 35.7 |
| .349 | 3PT FG% | .403 |
| .297 | Opp 3PT FG% | .365 |
| .694 | FT% | .774 |
| 18.8 | APG | 14.5 |
| 7.1 | SPG | 4.5 |
| 6.5 | BPG | 3.9 |
The reason for his perspiration was an intense pre-practice workout.
“It’s not an every-day thing, but I try to get in the gym as fast as I can when I can if I’m not getting treatment,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins, recognizing the potential impact of marginal improvement, has taken every chance available to him to work on his shooting. On this occasion, spot-up shooting, one-dribble pull-ups and floaters were the focus.
Encouragingly, Hawkins didn’t have the gym to himself either. Although No. 6/6 UK (13-2, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) has coasted to three straight blowout victories to start conference play, the Wildcats aren’t resting on their laurels ahead of a Tuesday trip to Vanderbilt (8-7, 2-1 SEC) for a 7 p.m. matchup.
“He’s in there and so are other guys,” John Calipari said. “Today, De’Aaron Fox had his best workout – pre-practice – that he’s had this year, which kind of tells you where he’s going. Bam (Adebayo) was in here this afternoon and got an extra workout in.”
With Camp Cal fast approaching its end as classes resume on Wednesday, it seems Calipari has a team full of players who have taken his message about extra work to heart. But not without a little resistance.
“You know, they’ll argue with you,” Calipari said. “But they never win.”
The reason they never win is Calipari has the big stage of Kentucky on his side. The drive to succeed on it and the corresponding fear of failure are too strong to overcome.
“You get an opportunity to get on this stage and you can’t really hide,” Calipari said. “You can go up there with a cracked voice and say that it was your dad, mom, aunt. No, dude, you sang and your voice cracked. So what was it? That’s what this is.”
At this level and with such a young team, there are going to be figurative voice cracks along the way. The idea is for the Cats to be pitch perfect come March. If recent results are any indication, they’re well on their way.
“You’re on the stage now,” Calipari said. “No excuse. You have to master your craft. You get an opportunity to play. Guys are doing great. Derek (Willis), I told him; I grabbed him and said, ‘I’m proud of you, kid. You’re just getting better.’ ”
Somehow, Fox might be doing the same.
Reading between the lines, the star freshman point guard might have put up a fight when he was challenged to step up his work. That’s understandable considering the run of success he had to start his career, but the way he played in scoring 27 points against Arkansas suggests he might be finding another gear entirely.
“Most young kids, they just don’t know. Some guys – like, we gave them a different practice time,” Calipari said. “He’s 15 minutes earlier than everybody else. He’s gotta be here. Kenny (Payne) is spending extra time with him, and it’s not just skill. It’s conditioning, going harder.”
That figures to serve Fox and the Cats well when they take the court in a challenging environment at Memorial Gymnasium, but even better down the road.
The biggest concerts of the year, after all, aren’t for another couple months.
“They know it’s a process,” Calipari said. “We know it’s a process. They’re building their own confidence, their own self-esteem, their own self-worth. They build that themselves through work.”
Wildcats Pull Away from Arkansas to Improve to 3-0 in SEC
With all eyes on Malik Monk as he faced his home-state school, Arkansas, it was one of his backcourt brothers that stole the show Saturday night in a 97-71 Wildcat win at Rupp Arena.
Freshman guard De’Aaron Fox scored a career-high 27 points as No. 6 Kentucky pulled away from Arkansas in the second half to improve to 13-2 on the year, 3-0 in Southeastern Conference play. Derek Willis and Isaiah Briscoe each added 15 points apiece and Monk tallied 12 in his ballyhooed showdown with the Razorbacks.
Fox played one of his most efficient games to date, making 10 of 16 shots, including a 7-of-7 night from the free-throw line. He also added six rebounds and six assists.
Arkansas put up plenty of fight in the first half, roaring out to a 24-20 lead with 8:04 left in the half thanks to a 9-0 run. But the Wildcats would respond with a run of their own using an unconventional lineup.
With Wenyen Gabriel and Willis in foul trouble, the Wildcats went to a four-guard lineup, sparking a 12-0 run that gave Kentucky a lead it would never relinquish.
Things got a little physical and chippy in the second half, but UK kept its composure and eventually pulled away from the Razorbacks. UK controlled the second half, 56-33.
It marked the Wildcats’ third straight victory of 23 points or more to start SEC play, the first time that’s happened since the 1953-54 season. It’s also the first time UK has scored at least 97 points in three consecutive SEC games since Feb. 10, 15 and 17, 1975.
Willis, who had been hard at work polishing his jump shot during Camp Cal, saw the fruits of his labor against Arkansas, making 6 of 8 shots, including a season-best 3 of 3 from behind the arc. With his team off to a slow start in the first half, Willis kept the Wildcats afloat with eight early points. His total of 15 tied his season high.
Additional notes:
• It’s the fourth time in John Calipari’s eight seasons at UK the Wilidcats have been spotless through their first three league games
• UK shot 52.5 percent from the field, the 10th time this season the Wildcats have hit at least half their shots
• Kentucky made 28 of 40 foul shots, season highs in both categories. It’s the most free throws UK has shot in a game since attempting 46 vs. Illinois State on Nov. 30, 2015
• Against a team that prides itself on beating the opposition in transition, the Wildcats beat the Razorbacks in fastbreak points 24-4
• In addition to 15 points, Briscoe added a game-high eight boards
• Monk extended his season-opening streak in double figures to 15 games, but it was his first game he failed to make a 3-pointer
• With 11 points, Bam Adebayo extended his double-figure scoring streak to 12 games
Fox Tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week for Fourth Time
For the fourth time this season, Kentucky freshman guard De’Aaron Fox was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week. Fox led the Wildcats to a pair of home victories over SEC foes Texas A&M and Arkansas last week. The Houston led the team in scoring, assists and rebounds in the two impressive wins. He averaged 21.0 points, 6.0 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game.
UK’s speedy point guard helped guide the offense to 98.5 points per game, while topping the 100-point plateau against the Aggies. It marked the fifth time this season that UK topped 100 points, a new record under the direction of John Calipari and the most since the 1995-96 team scored 100 or more nine times.
Fox poured in a career-high 27 points, while adding six boards and six assists to help topple the Razorbacks. He was an efficient 10 of 16 from the field and a perfect 7 of 7 from the line. It was his best performance at the charity stripe since going 9 for 9 against Canisius in the second game of the season. He had 15 points, six assists and five rebounds in the win over Texas A&M.
For the week, Fox utilized a 60.0 percent field-goal clip, the best among all of UK’s guards. He has scored in double figures in all but two games this season. Furthermore, he has posted 10 games with six or more assists, including all three games against league foes.
This marks the eighth weekly award of the season for the Wildcats, the most of any team in the conference. Fox has been tabbed the Freshman of the Week a league-high four times. It’s the most SEC Freshman of the Week accolades in a single season since both Ben Simmons of LSU and UK’s Jamal Murray captured the honor four times a season ago.
Adebayo Providing Extra Punch to Offense
After scoring in single digits in two of his first three career outings, freshman big man Bam Adebayo has topped double-figure scoring in each of UK’s last 12 games to provide a consistent inside presence to complement UK’s guard-heavy lineup. He’s averaging 13.1 points per game on the season to go along with a team best 7.3 rebounds per game.
Even more impressive is his efficiency. Adebayo is utilizing a team-best .581 field-goal percentage with players attempting at least three shots a game. He already has 46 dunks on the season, including a career-high eight at Ole Miss. The most by a player in the John Calipari era is Anthony Davis with 92 during the 2011-12 season.
Adebayo isn’t just contributing offensively, however, as told by his team-high 1.9 blocks per game.
