Kentucky Team Summer Pickup Game Reports.....

I asked for them....you gave them. We received a number of reports from folks who have been able to catch some summer pickup games. Below is the best one and something for you to read on a boring summer Saturday..... Patterson — very impressive. He has a knack for coming away with the ball in traffic. He has great hands and catches everything thrown his way. He hustles and loves to play the inside game. I never saw him hang around the perimeter and try to shoot 3s. He seems to know his strengths and focuses on them. He has a good shot inside of 15-18 feet. Legion — in my mind Legion was the most impressive newcomer. He is lightning quick at catching the ball and shooting. He comes off of screens so well and can shoot so quick. He is one of those guys that does not have to be totally square to shoot well. I was told by one of the student assistants that his work ethic is as good or better than Meeks and that is really saying something. He apparently spends up to 2.5 additional hours per day working on his shooting, outside of his personal conditioning schedule. Meeks — really focused and a hard worker. Shoots extra every night in the gym from 11pm to midnight. They showed us the drill he does for that hour. I worked on that with my son recently and it is a tiring drill. You do a few hundred jump shots in that hour. Meeks looked really physically fit. Bradley — he has gotten even stronger and is absolutely without doubt the team leader. He pushes everybody and I think if he will listen closely to BCG he could be in for a great season. I think he will and his attitude is outstanding. Jasper — he was in a knee brace following his surgery. He told me that the knee got progressively worse over last season and the early off season and that he had to have it done. He expects to be cleared to practice by midnight madness. Carter — he was in a sling. My son had a dislocated shoulder two years ago and Carter actually asked him some questions about his recovery. At best, from the things I heard, he cannot be expected to contribute until after Christmas at the earliest. He also told my son that he had grown another inch and a half and was now over 7’3”. Stewart — he was definitely a pleasant surprise. He needs to work on his shooting. His release is a bit awkward but he has a fairly soft outside shooting touch. He did pretty well against Patterson inside and I feel he will be second only to Patterson in the low post. He has apparently grown some more and looked almost equal to Patterson in height and physical size. I think he may be a good surprise. Harris — like you said he seems to be overlooked. He quietly goes about his business and one student assistant told me he appeared to be the biggest improvement from last year’s team. He told me that he had grown another inch and was now 6’7”. He is a very good athlete and I expect him to contribute. He held his own in scrimmages. Porter — inconsistent is the key word for him. Inconsistent in shooting for sure. I kept hearing people say what a great shooter he was but he seemed to never have a game totally in sync. I never saw him get hot and hit 4 or 5 in a row. I saw that for sure with Legion, Meeks and Bradley. I’m not sure about his future at Kentucky. Stevenson — he was evidently hampered by some kind of minor injury as he only scrimmaged about twice. Patterson and Stewart are too strong for him. Perry seems best at the transition game and being able to move up and down the court. I don’t think he does too well in a half court set. He did not look to me as if he had gained any additional weight. Crawford — did not scrimmage but once and looked similar to last year’s player. He had some kind of nagging injury. Coury — he hustles all the time and knows his limitations. He shoots pretty well inside 15 feet and is very scrappy on rebounding and going after loose balls. He knows how to position himself well around the goal and consistently got a lot of good put backs on both ends. I think he will contribute more this year. His conditioning and physical appearance seemed markedly improved over last year. Williams — he seemed like a better athlete than the reports I read on him. He gets up and down the floor pretty well. Other than that he was totally dominated by just about everybody on the inside. He does not know how to use his size advantage. He tends to go straight up and needs to learn how to pivot and position himself better underneath. I cannot see anything but a redshirt for him this year.