As demanding as Matthew Mitchell is, he has to admit his three young post players are playing as hard as they ever have.Alexis Jennings, Alyssa Rice and Kyvin Goodin-Rogers have all developed in their first college season, particularly on the defensive end of the floor. The intensity of their play, game by game, is picking up.”But it’s just not quite hard enough for what’s coming and what looms in the conference,” Mitchell said.Kentucky’s non-league schedule is over and the Wildcats sit at 11-2 and No. 11 in both polls. Those young post players have had a lot to do with UK’s strong start, too. Jennings has come on strong of late, scoring in double figures in four straight games, including a 27-point explosion in a win over Tennessee State on Sunday. Goodin-Rogers, meanwhile, is averaging 6.8 points and 5.3 rebounds in starting all 13 games, while Rice has contributed regularly as well.But since last weekend’s nonconference finale, the Cats have gone to work on taking the next step.”It’s some good, some bad and what we’re really trying to do is even that out,” Mitchell said. “And it’s difficult because we’re so young there and I just don’t think–well, I think we’re having a hard time understanding how hard we have to play.”Alabama, UK’s first Southeastern Conference opponent, is likely to make the Cats pay if they aren’t clear about that.The Crimson Tide sit at 11-4 as it prepares to host UK at 3 p.m. ET on Friday. Sophomore forward Ashley Williams, averaging 14.5 points and 6.3 rebounds, leads the way.”It is going to be very, very challenging all season long and it opens up with a real tough one at Alabama,” Mitchell said. “They are a very athletic team. They have what I think is just one of the toughest players in the league. Williams is just so tough down in the post, in the block and can also bring it out on the floor and take it to you.”To cope with that challenge, Mitchell knows it’s going to take a level of focus his young post players are still developing.”You just can’t do one thing and then rest,” Mitchell said. “You have to keep playing throughout the possession. So I think that’s our biggest challenge right now, is just defensively for our post players to understand how consistent the effort has to be. But before we’re consistent we just have to learn how tenacious and how hard we have to play.”Jennings is at the top of the list when it comes to developing consistency, and she’ll surely be motivated to do so in returning to play in her home state. The Madison, Ala., native might inspire some frustration on the part of her coach as she learns to play with the kind of defensive effort that’s being asked of her, but she’s more than capable of contributing meaningfully in the meantime.”I feel good about how she is progressing,” Mitchell said. “One thing that is in her favor is that if she is having a good day offensively, she can really help you and make up for some deficiencies on defense.”Long term, that’s not what Mitchell has in mind. He expects Jennings to become a two-way player.”When it finally clicks for her, we are going to have a really, really top-level player in her,” Mitchell said.O’Neill ‘progressing well’ with knee injurySenior guard Jennifer O’Neill sat out Sunday’s win over Tennessee State with a strained patellar tendon. Days after she was labeled as day to day, O’Neill was back on the court going through a shooting workout. There’s no official word on her status for the Alabama game, but there is reason for optimism.”She went through about an hour of shooting last night and those were
game-like shots and she looked good and bounced back this morning,” Mitchell said. “So I
think–it looks to me like she’s progressing well. We are feeling good
about her progress right now.”