Maxey Finds His Range against Lamar
Kentucky’s “sniper” hadn’t made a bona fide appearance since the first game of his college career.
Tyrese Maxey found his range again Sunday.
“Me, I just felt comfortable,” Maxey said. “I felt like Coach Cal’s been doing a really good job of just making this team really jell together. I feel like we’re getting better every day.”
Maxey buried four 3-pointers en route to a 21-point outing, his best since scoring 26 in a season-opening win over No. 1 Michigan State. The freshman guard led the way as No. 9/10 UK (5-1) took down Lamar (4-2) on Sunday night, 81-56, and broke a cold streak that saw him made just 3-of-15 3s over his previous four games.
“I just stayed with my training, stayed with getting up shots at nighttime, in the morning,” Maxey said. “I’m confident in myself. I feel like I’m going to make the next one. It doesn’t matter if I miss, make. I put in too much work to have that kind of thought process that I’m going to miss.”
All of Maxey’s 3-pointers came just after Lamar had rallied from down double-digits to tie the game at 19-all midway through the first half. He did so in the span of barely four minutes and the outcome was never in doubt from a 22-2 run to close the half on.
“Well, it’s what stretched the game out,” Calipari said. “Like, those baskets like bang, bang, bang. And he knows, if it’s in transition, he can take it. Like, if we throw it ahead and he’s open in transition, don’t drive it, just shoot that ball.
Maxey certainly caught Lamar’s attention with the barrage, as he didn’t even attempt a 3 after halftime. That was no issue though, as Maxey hit all four of his shots from inside the arc. Even more encouragingly, Maxey tossed a perfectly thrown lob to Nick Richards to beat the Cardinal zone in the opening minutes of the second half.
“What we were saying in the second half, and he started and he had a drive and threw that lob, that now that you made shots, you don’t have to foot fake and do anything,” Calipari said. “All you got to do is catch it and look at the rim and they’re flying at you, now drive in and get somebody a shot, which he started the half doing.”
In spite of that play and all his scoring, no one received more coaching from Calipari than Maxey. The most common subject is his passing.
“He had three assists,” Calipari said. “I want to see six assists. I don’t want to see three assists. And we put him in position to go do that and he didn’t get it done today.”
As you would expect, it’s a message Maxey has heard over and over.
“Every single day at practice,” Maxey said. “Every single day in the game. He wants me to get in the lane and create for others, and I really see why.”
Maxey doesn’t tire of hearing Calipari in his ear. It’s that kind of coaching that prompted him to seek out coming to Kentucky.
“He’s always hard on me and I’m grateful for it,” Maxey said. “At the time, it doesn’t feel good, but he loves us all and he’s going to coach us really hard and he wants to win just like we do. So I’m thankful for it.”
Calipari is demanding of Maxey because he knows Maxey can deliver at a high level. The same is true of his team.
“It takes reps, it takes experience, which means games,” Calipari said. “How many have we played? We’re six games in. I’m trying to tell them, ‘Don’t panic, don’t worry about how you play, we’re going to get it right, let’s just keep moving forward, next step.’ “
