Hello again, HOB. Down at newly renovated Memorial Coliseum for the return of UK Basketball Pro Day this evening. The Cats will be working out for NBA scouts from about 6-7:30. I’ll share some observations here with you in this thread…
* It’s only warm ups, but it’s crazy to see so many shots hitting nothing but net.
* Cats get some last-second instructions from Mark Pope and break the team huddle at midcourt with “1-2-3 JUICE!”
* Practice begins with a diving on floor for loose balls drill on one end and a charge-taking drill on the other. Interesting. I bet that’s never occurred at a UK Pro Day.
* Perry and Carr just combined to hit about 12 3s in a row from the right wing. Carr finally had one rim out. Perry was dead-center every shot.
* They have a drill where they have to go end to end for X amount of time and try to put up as many points as they can. Pope watches that time and scoreboard like a hawk, barking at Cats to keep pushing.
* Kriisa is a charge-taking fool out here. Defensive pest.
* Garrison getting after it defensively on a drill where they give the offensive player 5 seconds to attack the basket, and he’s got to defend against several guys in a row, rapid-fire. He rejected/altered several shots and got high-fives from the other guys in the blue jerseys.
* Butler and Kriisa seem to be the energy guys who lead and pull this team along with them.
* Oweh is intriguing. I think his offensive game might be limited to attacking off the bounce and scoring in transition right now, but he just offers a lot in terms of defensive length and physicality.
SOME 5-on-5 SCRIMMAGING STARTS…
* Blue Team is Butler, Brea, Carr, Garrison, Perry
* White Team is Oweh, Kriisa, Robinson, Williams, Noah
* Chandler rotating in for Perry on Blue, Almonor for Noah on White. Looks like it’s a rep apiece for those guys, in and out.
* Pope stops play to get on guys about the ball stopping. Wants that thing moving. Move it or shoot it.
* Observation: Bringing these bigs along may be the key to starting strong this season. I think the perimeter is going to be very good (or better). Still have questions about how these guys will look in the paint.
BACK TO PRACTICE DRILLS…
* 3v3 work in halfcourt sets against the walk-ons on each end. Robinson with a super-smooth step-back 3. I think he’s gonna make a lot of buckets on that one this season.
* Kriisa nice corner 3 on the move. Guy is a constant ball of energy.
* Working a lot of back-door cuts off Williams’ passing in the high post.
* Chandler looks like he’s getting back into basketball shape. He’s been assertive today.
* Another observation: I think this is an intriguing bunch. A lot of interesting parts to work with. No clear-cut stud (yet). They’ll need a great system. I think they have one. But it’s just different from what we’ve been watching the last 14 years.
* Noticed a lot of "connectivity" as far as the players with arms around each other, picking guys up, that sort of thing. Seems like a close-knit bunch, despite having come from a lot of different backgrounds to form a new team.
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* It’s only warm ups, but it’s crazy to see so many shots hitting nothing but net.
* Cats get some last-second instructions from Mark Pope and break the team huddle at midcourt with “1-2-3 JUICE!”
* Practice begins with a diving on floor for loose balls drill on one end and a charge-taking drill on the other. Interesting. I bet that’s never occurred at a UK Pro Day.
* Perry and Carr just combined to hit about 12 3s in a row from the right wing. Carr finally had one rim out. Perry was dead-center every shot.
* They have a drill where they have to go end to end for X amount of time and try to put up as many points as they can. Pope watches that time and scoreboard like a hawk, barking at Cats to keep pushing.
* Kriisa is a charge-taking fool out here. Defensive pest.
* Garrison getting after it defensively on a drill where they give the offensive player 5 seconds to attack the basket, and he’s got to defend against several guys in a row, rapid-fire. He rejected/altered several shots and got high-fives from the other guys in the blue jerseys.
* Butler and Kriisa seem to be the energy guys who lead and pull this team along with them.
* Oweh is intriguing. I think his offensive game might be limited to attacking off the bounce and scoring in transition right now, but he just offers a lot in terms of defensive length and physicality.
SOME 5-on-5 SCRIMMAGING STARTS…
* Blue Team is Butler, Brea, Carr, Garrison, Perry
* White Team is Oweh, Kriisa, Robinson, Williams, Noah
* Chandler rotating in for Perry on Blue, Almonor for Noah on White. Looks like it’s a rep apiece for those guys, in and out.
* Pope stops play to get on guys about the ball stopping. Wants that thing moving. Move it or shoot it.
* Observation: Bringing these bigs along may be the key to starting strong this season. I think the perimeter is going to be very good (or better). Still have questions about how these guys will look in the paint.
BACK TO PRACTICE DRILLS…
* 3v3 work in halfcourt sets against the walk-ons on each end. Robinson with a super-smooth step-back 3. I think he’s gonna make a lot of buckets on that one this season.
* Kriisa nice corner 3 on the move. Guy is a constant ball of energy.
* Working a lot of back-door cuts off Williams’ passing in the high post.
* Chandler looks like he’s getting back into basketball shape. He’s been assertive today.
* Another observation: I think this is an intriguing bunch. A lot of interesting parts to work with. No clear-cut stud (yet). They’ll need a great system. I think they have one. But it’s just different from what we’ve been watching the last 14 years.
* Noticed a lot of "connectivity" as far as the players with arms around each other, picking guys up, that sort of thing. Seems like a close-knit bunch, despite having come from a lot of different backgrounds to form a new team.
*******
