John Calipari is challenging his Kentucky team to be great at 3-point shooting, and the Cats will get a chance to see one of the best in action when the Wildcats play Portland on Friday night.
Portland’s Jared Stohl led the nation in 3-point accuracy last season, hitting 48 percent of his shots from behind the arc.
“I think the thing about Jared that I’ve seen is the fact that with all the NBA players I’ve seen over the years, he’s undoubtedly got the quickest release on his shot of any player I’ve seen,” Pilots radio play-by-play man Bill Johnson said in an interview with www.tomleachky.com, adding that Stohl “looks like he’s about 15 years old.”
Johnson said Stohl gets most of his 3-point looks off picks but added the Pilots are pushing the pace offensively much more this season than they did a year ago.
“They have great ball movement,” Johnson said. “They move (it) really quickly. Quick passes, good picks, a lot of backdoor plays and they’ll set up a lot of screens for Stohl.”
Portland’s starting lineup also includes the son of former Seattle Supersonics’ Jack Sikma.
“(Luke Sikma) is tough,” Johnson said. “He will not be intimidated by anybody. (He’s a) prolific rebounder and a very good defender. He’s the type of player that every team in America would like to have on their roster. “
Johnson said the Portland coaching staff knows Kentucky’s athleticism provides a tough matchup, but the returning members of the Pilots’ team were part of wins last season over Oregon, UCLA and Minnesota.
“History never won a game and tradition never won a game,” Johnson said of the staff’s message to the team. “The Pilots have great respect for Kentucky — who wouldn’t? — but they’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Johnson said Portland plays an occasional game in the Rose Garden, which is the site for Friday’s contest and the home of the NBA’s Trail Blazers. Normally, the Pilots play in a 5,000-seat gym on campus.
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This will mark the second-ever meeting between UK and Portland. The first came in 1989, in the old UKIT, when the Pilots’ coach was former UK and Portland Trail Blazers’ star Larry Steele.
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Kentucky’s last game in Maui, Hawaii, came four years ago in the third-place game at the EA Sports Maui Invitational. Remember the team that beat the Cats that day?
It was Memphis, coached by John Calipari, which beat UK 80-63.
= = = Of Kentucky’s top 10 all-time leading scorers, three — Jack Givens, Kevin Grevey and Tayshaun Prince — are left-handed like current freshman Terrence Jones.
He probably won’t be in a UK uniform long enough to become the fourth, but Jones might make a run at the best-ever first year for a lefty at UK. But it’s a tall hill to climb.
Grevey scored 524 points and averaged 18.7 points per game in his first varsity season back in 1972-73 (as a sophomore). If you look at freshmen only, Givens’ 292 points is the best for freshman southpaw.
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Coach Cal has often repeated the story about how he was advised against renewing the scholarship for DeAndre Liggins when Calipari came to UK. You can bet Calipari is glad he followed his own instincts as Liggins has developed into a key contributor, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
“It has to be something you want to do,” Liggins said of being a defensive stopper. “You have got to stop them and that is something I take pride in, playing defense. That is my biggest role and will take me far in life as a basketball player.
“I was never a big-time scorer. I was always a guy who took charges and got steals. I scored here and there but I was never a big-time scorer. When I came to college I needed to change my role.”
Now, Liggins is also being counted on for leadership.
“It is a group effort but me and Darius (Miller) have experience,” Liggins said. “It is hard to me because it is new to me, but I need to get adjusted to it quickly.”
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Here’s a stat to motivate Derrick Locke to get himself as close to 100 percent as possible for the Tennessee game next Saturday:
In the history of Kentucky football, only three players have rushed for 100 or more yards at Neyland Stadium — and Kentucky won two of those games. The exception was 2006 when Rafael Little surpassed the century mark and the Cats were throwing into the end zone for the win on the last play of the game.
