The Cats Illustrated Basketball Stock Report is once again updated to reflect the latest trends in Kentucky basketball, this time following games against Utah and Ohio State in Las Vegas.
Remember, these are simply snapshots in time and can change quickly.
| 📉 | Nick Richards. Did you think Richards had turned the corner? You weren't alone. Regardless of the competition, which was weak for the most part before the Vegas trip, Richards had played the most consistently solid basketball of his Kentucky career. Until Vegas. Richards played only 12 minutes, scoring two points and grabbing zero rebounds, against, Ohio State. That was due to foul trouble. He was 1/3 from the floor against Utah with four fouls. He has committed four fouls in four of Kentucky's last five games. |
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📉 | E.J. Montgomery. It's amazing that only four games against Montgomery scored 25 points and had nine rebounds against Fairleigh Dickinson. He had four points and five rebounds in 25 minutes against OSU. Against Utah (8 points, 10 boards) he was more serviceable, but against Georgia Tech had was scoreless in 20 minutes. The overall trend line is pointing down. |
📈 | Ashton Hagans. Kentucky's best player this year has been Hagans and it probably hasn't been close. He has been consistent, doing it against the best and worst teams on the schedule. On the season Hagans is averaging 13.9 points (48% FG), 3.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists. He has scored in double digits in four straight games and is averaging 10 assists per game over UK's last five contests. He's currently in the running for All-American point guards honors, though it's early. |
📉 | Kahlil Whitney. We're showing Whitney trending down here, but in reality it has been pretty much the same story all season. While he has started throughout the season, Whitney can't stay on the court for long. Calipari seems to want to give him a leash and more chances, but Whitney is as disjointed as ever offensively. He hasn't scored in double-digits since Kentucky's second game of the season and in Las Vegas he was solid against Utah but fouled out, then made very little impact on either end of the court against Ohio State. |
↔️ | Keion Brooks. Brooks was scoreless in Kentucky's season opener against Michigan State and was held without a point for the second time this season against Ohio State (0/3 FG) in nine minutes of play. However, it would be wise not to imagine an overall trend down for Whitney since he had been averaging nearly a dozen points per game over UK's three games prior to that. If he bounces back quickly maybe the Ohio State game was the outlier and not a real regression. |
📈 | Nate Sestina. He's back sooner than many expected and made Kentucky's pick and roll game a lot better knocking down five three-pointers. He won't always hit that many but if he can give opponents something to worry about outside the arc it will open things up for Hagans and Maxey on those plays. |
