Cats Illustrated Basketball Stock Report
Once again, the Cats Illustrated Basketball Stock Report is updated to reflect the latest trends for John Calipari's team, this time taking UK's narrow win against the Ole Miss Rebels into account.
| 📉 | Shooting at Rupp. Kentucky's home/away three-point shooting splits are really remarkable. For the season the 'Cats are a full 14 points better (42 to 28-percent) from three-point range in true road games compared to in home games. According to UK basketball history guru Jon Scott, this UK team has, simultaneously, the highest road three-point shooting percentage in SEC games of any Wildcat team since the mid-80's, and the lowest home three-point shooting percentage in SEC games of any Wildcat team since the same year. Kentucky was a painful 2/22 from three against Ole Miss. |
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E.J. Montgomery's toughness. The points have not been consistent for Kentucky's 6'10 sophomore forward, but the effort, intensity, and willingness to leave it all out on the court have improved immensely. Montgomery has become a much better rebounder and is ripping boards away from opponents. He has also become the first player to dive on the court in many instances. |
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Ashton Hagans' offense. Hagans had four turnovers and only three assists against Ole Miss. The player who was once trending ahead of Tyler Ulis' all-time single-season assist record at Kentucky now has 38 assists but 27 turnovers in Kentucky's last eight games, and in eight of UK's last 13 games he has four or more turnovers. Fouls resurfaced as a problem as well. While Hagans locked down Breein Tyree in the first half, fouls meant Kentucky had to play the last minute in a toss-up without him. The defense is anywhere between fine and stellar so that's not a worry. But the offense has deteriorated. |
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Kentucky in the SEC standings. Before the weekend Kentucky was locked in a three-way tie atop the league's standings with only two losses. Following Auburns 85-73 loss to Missouri and LSU's 88-82 loss at Alabama, the Wildcats are in a familiar position for the program: Alone in first place at 10-2. Also before the weekend UK had the toughest remaining league schedule, but that doesn't look quite as daunting the way LSU is playing lately, losers of three out of four. And the game against Auburn is in Lexington. |
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Rebounding. After getting pummelled on the glass by Auburn and losing the battle of the boards to Mississippi State by a narrow margin, Kentucky's rebounding has dramatically improved over its last three games. This will never be one of Calipari's more dominant rebounding teams and the competition has something to do with it -- Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Ole Miss aren't great -- but UK is +25 on the glass over its last three games and that is a big reason UK is 3-0 in those games, all three of which have been close at points in the second half. |