Trending Up? Trending Down?

 

(h/t UKAthletics)

It’s been an interesting week for our Kentucky Wildcats to say the least. First, they turn in one of their worst performances of the year in an 87-82 loss at LSU, then they have a “players only” meeting where all the players hashed out their woes, and then they played one of their best games of the season, beating Mizzou 84-79. What to make of all of this? I don’t know. It looked like the Cats were about to turn the corner after they smacked Georgia last weekend but then Baton Rouge happened. Now? It looks like the Cats are again about ready to take the next step. Let’s hope they do.

 

Trending Up:

 

James Young’s Shooting. Last time I wrote this post I listed this in the “Trending Down” section. But it’s time to give credit where credit is due because James Young has been much more like the shooter we anticipated lately. Since UK lost to Arkansas, Young has shot 16/37 from deep, or ~43%. If Young can hit the trey ball at a 43% clip for the rest of the season that would be huge for UK’s chances to make a deep run in March (or April).

 

Team Chemistry. Let’s be honest, the LSU game was a disaster when in comes to the team aspect. The Cats had only 8 assists to 13 turnovers, and then, of course, there was the infamous video of nobody helping Dakari up. Since then, though, the Cats have done nothing but show signs of improvement in that category. There was the “players only” meeting during the week, and then there was today when the Cats showed signs of progression by posting a 1.57 assist to turnover ratio. Also, the Cats were quick on the trigger to help out teammates and were showing tons of emotion on the bench. It’s trending up, but it’s also something that we need to see out of them for the rest of the year.

 

Team Three Point Shooting. I’ve already touched on how Young has shot it well recently, but the whole team has been shooting it well recently. In the last three games, UK has shot 22 for 46 from beyond the arc, or ~48%. The Cats have only shot 33% on the season from three-point land but if this recent stretch of shooting is any indication of how they’ll shoot later on then this UK team will have a solid postseason.

 

Trending Down.

 

Willie Cauley-Stein. I hate to beat a dead horse, but how could this list not include Willie. Here’s Willie’s stats from this week: 24 minutes, 3 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block and 5 fouls. This Kentucky team will not achieve their end goals if they get play from WCS like this. Today was the least amount of minutes Willie played in a game since last years loss to Texas A&M when he was being doctored in from injury. He needs to start getting involved in physical games like today because it seems that WCS’s main struggles come in highly physical games.

 

UK’s Non-Conference Schedule. The non-conference schedule of Michigan State, Baylor, UNC and Louisville looked extremely challenging at the time, but as the season has worn on that schedule looks far less daunting. Today, Michigan State lost to Georgetown on a neutral floor, and have now lost two of their last three. UNC is starting to play a little better, but they are still 4-4 in the ACC and just 14-7 overall. Baylor posted a strong road win today against Oklahoma State but is just 2-6 in the Big 12 and could very easily find themselves at 2-8 soon (next two games: home vs. Kansas, away vs. Oklahoma). Finally, Louisville has now lost two home games in AAC play after dropping a home tout against Cincinnati on Thursday.

 

@BWardKSR