There are three members of Kentucky’s 1,000-point club who played their high school basketball in the state of Indiana. Can you name them? The answer is at the bottom of this column.
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Former Wildcat and veteran college hoops analyst Larry Conley is a big Terrence Jones fan.
Conley said he saw the Wildcats practice in mid-October and both Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb appeared to be well ahead of Jones in their development, so he’s impressed with Jones has moved to the top of the class for now.
In an appearance on “The Leach Report” radio show, I asked Conley is Jones perhaps reminded him of another UK big man who was just as comfortable on the perimeter as he was in the paint: Jamal Mashburn.
“I think (Jones) is a little more mobile than Mashburn was in college,” Conley said.
On another subject, Conley said thinks top-ranked Duke is “far and above everybody else right now.”
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Jones has scored 25 or more points three times in his first eight games. If he adds to that total Saturday against Indiana, he’ll join Rex Chapman as the only UK freshmen to score 25-plus against the Hooisers.
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Kentucky had a season-low nine turnovers in the 72-58 win over Notre Dame and the total through eight games is only 91. At this same point last season — against lesser overall competition — the Cats had committed 141 turnovers, with four games of 21 or more.
Why the improvement?
“They’re better shooters,” head coach John Calipari said in a recent postgame interview on the Big Blue Sports Network. “When you’re not as good a shooter and you’re open, you try to drive it anyway because you don’t want to shoot it and that’s when you get into trouble. You take what the defense gives you. This team is doing a good job of that. “
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Three can carry two but two can’t carry three.
That’s a basketball axiom often stated by my broadcast partner and former UK great Mike Pratt.
It’s a great way to capsulize the need for a team to have more than two consistent scorers. Jones and Knight are filling two of those slots most nights but finding that third scorer has been more of an issue.
Pratt thinks junior Darius Miller is an ideal candidate, but he must be more aggressive on the court.
“It’s a mindset (issue), not skill set,” Pratt said. “To put it in business terms, he fits that model of the third (scorer).”
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Freshman Stacey Poole may start to see more action in the coming games. “At this point, I’m probably flipping Stacey and Jon Hood (in minutes),” Calipari said. “There were three rebounds that were in Jon’s hands that he couldn’t come up with. Whoever comes up with those balls is going to stay in the game. It’s no disrespect, it’s just how it is. Now, Stacey’s going to get his opportunity to play.”
The coach also explained what Kentucky did to keep Ben Hansbrough in check after he torched the Cats for 19 points in the game’s first 14 minutes.
“We almost played him like it was a box and one,” Calipari “If we had had time (in Maui), we’d have done the same thing with Connecticut (and Kemba Walker). Everybody switch and we’re playing him and make these other guys beat us.”
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Trivia answer: Louie Dampier (Indianapolis), Kyle Macy (Peru) and Jim Master (Ft. Wayne).
