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By: RONALD "DOC" BALL
General Impressions We needed a quality win to stop the bleeding. This fit the bill. General impression was "we can play better" but it was a marked step in the right direction. I'm not holding out the excuses of injury because we have too much talent for it to be an issue, plus injuries happen EVERY YEAR TO EVERY TEAM. You need to expect it and plan for it in November and December. The turnovers were maddening simply because of the stupidity of most of them. And while improved, the defense was still suspect IMO. Fortunately, we had one player start the game ready, and he carried us the first 4 minutes. I prefer Onyeso in the starting lineup, unlike many others. We don't need his offensive lack of production but we do his defensive presence, especially on a defensively challenged team.
Tre Mitchell B- Did well in his 21 minutes of action with 6 rebounds but only 5 pts on 2-5 shooting. Like everyone without the initials RD, AB or AT, he had 2 turnovers, along with 2 assists. Both his treys seemed forced.
Justin Edwards B+ By his start and his start alone, UK stayed in the game early. Sort of faded as the game went on after starting 3-3 from the field and 1-1 from the line. I was happy with that. Overall he was 4-7 meaning he hit 1 of his last 4 shots. He had an assist and only 2 rebounds, something we need more of. His 23 minutes was well spent. His +/- was second highest on the team.
DJ Wagner C+ IMO still bothered by injury and believe his 18 minutes was more a keep him fresh type thing. He only logged 5 1/2 minutes in the second half. He was 1-4 shooting with a couple FT for 4 points. Did get 4 assists to achieve the 2:1 assist to TO ratio. He was -4.
Aaron Bradshaw B Lead the team with a +16 on the +/-. I credit some of that to him being in the second half when UK was playing better. Hit both his shots for 4 pts, had a couple blocks and 2 rebounds. Still not as aggressive on the glass as he needs to be. Sort of disappointing to see only a couple rebounds in 13 plus minutes. IMO this was a game you could have used AB more. Old Miss is not a big interior team as far as big / strong. Their centers are thin and tall....like Aaron. I was a good matchup for him. However, Onyenso's play limited that.
Antonio Reeves B You can't expect a higher grade when you go 1-5 from long range. Overall was 6-12 which is fine, but when you are the long range guy, you need to do better. But his 7 rebounds led the team, which is outstanding for him but also needs to be seen as a not so good for the bigs. Did finish +8. Had no assists. His defense was improved.
Zvonimir Ivisic
Robert Dillingham B- Was worried we were going to see "bad rob" but he kept it under control without going wild. Did make it to double figures with 10 points on 4-7 shooting (2-3 from range). Had a team high 3 turnovers to go with 4 assists. He also seemed to have the ball a bit more than normal. I am still waiting for him to break out defensively due to his quickness.
Reed Sheppard B Can we please get past the "high IQ" cliche? I see the mind numbing TO and the "fly by my shooter" and don't think "HIGH IQ". His positive stats were excellent. 13 points on 5-10 shooting and 3-6 from range is excellent, as is the 5 steals, 5 assists and 4 rebounds. But the desire to shoot the lanes that result in so many open treys is troublesome for me, as are the unexplained lapses that result in TO. But did have a game high +16, so that says the team played best with him on the floor.
Ugonna Onyenso A- Didn't miss any of his 3 shots, and went 2-4 on FTs. But needs to get more than 3 rebounds. Of course everybody knows the 10 blocked shots was the game note. I love his physical nature. IMO he needs to be in the starting lineup for rim protection. I know the fad is "small ball" but you can go 4 small and 1 big when you big runs the floor. Onion runs the floor. I like him at 24-26 mpg, he did 24.
Adou Thiero B- Was 1 of 4 for 4 points (had 2 FT), only 5 rebounds, an assist and no TO. But he had a team worse -8 +/-. IMO the back still an issue but he runs the floor so well that it promotes pace.
Jordan Burks
Joey Hart
Coaching C+ Good work on addressing the defense. Still a ways to go but baby steps. Played the players playing well, but still had a good rotation. Now if we could just start the first half like we do the second.
Officials C Bad which is average for the SEC. But at least they didn't spend 20 minutes at the review table, like the ACC crew calling the UNC-CH vs Syracuse game.
Commentators C It's Bilas, you know what you are getting...soft served. I do like Ravich though... and prefer both to Dawg Dykes. But do wish the network would go to PIP rather than turf to ESPN News (which I don't get) or the ESPN app with I could not get to log on.
Other Defense held them to 38% and 23% while we went 52% and 33% overall and long range respectively. We won the battle of the glass 37-34. 15 turnovers is way too many, especially dumb ones. 17 asists on 28 made baskets isn't bad! We shared the ball pretty well
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