Delaware State @ Kentucky: The First State comes to town

by Truzenzuzex on Nov 21, 2008 7:36 PM EST in Basketball Comment 3 comments

I have a special place in my heart for Delaware. One of my businesses is incorporated there, and they are a very friendly in general to commerce. But the reason I am talking about them right now is because the Delaware State Hornets are coming for a visit to Rupp Arena tomorrow at noon.

Basic facts about Delaware State:

Conference: MEAC
Head Coach: Greg Jackson
Location: Dover, Delaware
Enrollment: 3,756
Nickname: Hornets
Colors: Columbia Blue and Red

Team Statistical Comparison (Courtesy of StatSheet.com):

School	Kentucky	Delaware St.	Comments
Conference	SEC	MEAC
State	KY	DE
Founded	1865	1891
School Type	Public	Public
Enrollment	26545	3711
Rankings
Conf Standing	2	2
AP Rank	0	0
RPI	0.31	0.25
RPI Rank	242	271	Sheesh.
SOS	0.42	0.33
SOS Rank	176	207
Wins & Losses
Overall	0-2	1-4
Home	0-1	1-1
Away	0-1	0-3
Neutral	0-0	0-0
Conference	0-0	0-0
Top 25	0-1	0-0
Scoring
Pts Per Game	80.5	55.4	That's different
Shooting
FG Pct	50.4	41.2	Amazing that we are shooting 50% and are 0-2
FT Pct	71.2	61.6
3pt FG Pct	21.4	35.4	Ah. This could be why
Rebounds
Reb Per Game	44	34.8	No contest
Off Rebs Per Game	13.5	11
Def Rebs Per Game	29	22.2
Assists, Steals, & Blocks
Assists Per Game	15.5	10.2
Steals Per Game	6	4.2
Blocks Per Game	10	3.8	Ten (10) blocks per game over two games including the #1 team in America
Turnovers & Fouls
TO Per Game	26.5	17.4	Dear God ...
Fouls Per Game	20.5	14	Nothing new here.

Well, what can I say? Kentucky looks superior on paper just like they did to VMI, with the notable exception of 3-point shooting. The Hornets are a pretty good three-point shooting team, and you can bet they know that UK has been giving up the three like mad, and shoots it poorly.

I must confess, it is amazing for UK to be averaging ten blocks a game. I have never heard of that, especially since we had as many blocks against North Carolina as we did against VMI. I wonder how long that stat holds up at that impressive number.

UK is averaging 26.5 turnovers per game. That makes last year's 18 TO/game look like something to be proud of. On the other hand, one thing we can be proud of over last year is the 15+ assists we are averaging so far, a big improvement over the 12.7 we averaged last year.

Players

Lets have a look now at the players and their stats. Probable starters are highlighted in yellow:

Kentucky

Player	Yr	Pos	GP	GS	FG%	3FG%	FT%	Per Game Averages
Player	Yr	Pos	GP	GS	FG%	3FG%	FT%	Min	Pts	Reb	Ast	TO	STL	BLK
J. Meeks	Jr	G	2	2	38.3	30	88.9	36.5	29	5.5	1	5.5	1.5	0.5
P. Stevenson	Jr	F	2	2	61.5	0	77.8	32.5	11.5	10.5	1	2	1.5	3.5
P. Patterson	So	F	2	2	73.3	0	71.4	31.5	13.5	9	2	1	0	2.5
R. Harris	Jr	F	2	2	66.7	0	53.8	30	15.5	1.5	1.5	4.5	2	0.5
D. Liggins	Fr	G	2	0	42.9	0	0	22.5	3	4.5	6	5.5	0.5	1
M. Porter	Jr	G	2	2	40	0	0	20	2	3.5	2.5	4.5	0.5	0.5
D. Miller	Fr	F	2	0	50	0	50	17	6	4	1	3.5	0	0.5

Delaware State

Player	Yr	Pos	GP	GS	FG%	3FG%	FT%	Per Game Averages
Player	Yr	Pos	GP	GS	FG%	3FG%	FT%	Min	Pts	Reb	Ast	TO	STL	BLK
F. Sandidge	Jr	F	5	5	32.3	20	56.7	32.8	7.6	6.8	2.6	2.8	0.4	0.8
D. Johnson	Sr	G	5	3	39.6	37.9	92.3	31	12.2	3.4	0.4	1	0.6	0.2
M. Neal	Jr	G	5	5	41.9	30.8	60	29.8	6.6	4.8	2	3	1.4	0.2
T. Welcher	So	G	5	4	50	33.3	80	26.2	4.6	2.6	2.4	1.8	0.8	0
F. Bouie	Jr	G	5	1	38.9	33.3	54.5	24	8.2	1.6	0.8	1.8	0.4	0
A. Dubois	Sr	F	4	4	37.1	0	100	28.3	6.8	7.3	1.5	2.3	0	2.8
K. Douse	Jr	F	5	2	44	60	30	17.2	5.6	2.4	0.4	1.6	0.4	0.4

Delaware State does not have a player over 6'7" tall, so we are much bigger than they are -- which ought to be a caution to us, since the last team with that kind of statistics ran us all over the floor and came out victorious. Fortunately for the 'Cats, Delaware State does not seem like the kind of team that can really do that with a 55 point/game average.

Conclusion

There really seems to be no justifiable reason why UK should not dominate the Hornets, and if they don't, we will see even more recriminations than we have recently. UK is clearly a work in progress, but I am encouraged by Gillispie's recent conversation with Andy Katz of ESPN, and I am confident that Billy Gillispie knows what he is talking about.

The Big Blue Nation needs a Big Blue walkover, and I truly hope Gillispie has the Wildcats well prepared for the Hornets. Every small D-I school we play is thinking they have a shot at hanging a Wildcat scalp in their tiny arena after Gardener-Webb and VMI, and they are going to attack our weaknesses (which have been so obvious a Jai-Alai fan could identify them), so UK must find a way to get the ball up the floor and into the hands of Patrick Patterson.

By the way, the word is that Patterson has sheared his 'fro. Maybe it's a reverse-Sampson thing. We can only hope.

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Comments

3pt shooting

The bad 3pt FG% combined with the overall excellent FG% should only serve to reinforce the importance of getting the ball inside to Patterson and Stevenson. Not only will that result in more points and fouls, but it should also lead to more inside-outside passing to set up better shots from behind the arc.

The majority of the threes against UNC (and I presume against VMI) came from guys just dribbling up to the line and launching. That’s a terrible time to take that shot – you’re not in rhythm and most of the time teammates aren’t in rebounding position. Better to get the ball inside and then shoot in rhythm from a pass from the post. Of course, that just brings us back to the need to get the ball inside to Patterson which brings us back to the need for vastly improved PG play.

Still, this is a team that UK should look good against. They don’t appear to do anything gimmicky, but I would guess they’ll play a lot of zone given the height difference and UK’s poor outside shooting. At the very least this will be a good test to see if the players have learned some patience on offense.

"That's not a Sherman tank, it's Frank Thomas!" - Monkeyball

by JLeverenz on Nov 21, 2008 10:19 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

3 point shooting:

The majority of the threes against UNC (and I presume against VMI) came from guys just dribbling up to the line and launching. That’s a terrible time to take that shot – you’re not in rhythm and most of the time teammates aren’t in rebounding position. Better to get the ball inside and then shoot in rhythm from a pass from the post. Of course, that just brings us back to the need to get the ball inside to Patterson which brings us back to the need for vastly improved PG play.

That’s exactly right. Launching 3’s off the dribble is a shot you can get almost any time you want it, and most opponents will let you have it because it is a low-percentage shot for all but the Chris Loftons and the J.J. Redicks of the world. That’s the kind of shot you put up when all other options have been well defended.

The reason our 3-point percentage sucks is that we haven’t demonstrated an understanding of what a good 3-point shot looks like.

A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan

by Truzenzuzex on Nov 22, 2008 10:05 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Hope springs eternal

The score is 0-0 right now and there’s a season full of games in front of us. Lets see that coaching that won coach of the year!

Hell, after being embarassed on national TV… if Billy G can run off a string of victories through the year that takes us on a decent post-season run; he might be able to hang a national coach of the year on his wall! (I’m telling myself that is his master plan…)

Of course its difficult, its a shortcut... if it was easy it'd just be "the way."

by chirop1 on Nov 22, 2008 9:18 AM EST reply actions 0 recs