UK Basketball Blue/White Scrimmage Review

Written by Ian | 29 October 2009

Thanks to some help from some local friends I was able to attend last night's UK blue/white basketball scrimmage in Rupp Arena.  The atmosphere was pretty electric for having 14,000 people in the building and some of the guys looked pretty electric themselves.  Here's a quick run-down, player by player, of the action I caught last night.

John Wall - Any review of this year's UK basketball starts and ends with Wall.  I watched the Madness scrimmage and he looked impressive, but you can't understand how talented this kid is until you see him in person.  Everyone talks about his first step being lightning quick, but what amazes me about the kid is that "first step" isn't always on the first move.  What I saw Wall do, that I've never seen anyone do, is take two to three dribbles at normal speed and then in one step absolutely blow past his defender to get to the rim.  He seemed to be able to turn it on and off when he wanted.  The most scary thing is it seems like he has a talent for letting his defender stay close until the help side defense relaxes, thinking his man has him locked down, and then blowing past to finish at an open rim.

Patrick Patterson - Patterson looked much like he did last year except he does appear to be in much better physical shape than last year (due to his training in California over the summer).  He also showed an improved jump shot.  Pat Pat made two of four threes in the game, but the extended range wasn't  the most improved part of his jump shot.  That was the quickness with which he got the shot off.  Last year Patterson could make the 15 - 17 foot jumper consistently, but he took forever to get the shot up.  Last night he showed he can pull the trigger quicker and still have a good release.

More player run-downs after the jump.

Eric Bledsoe - Bledsoe showed some lightning quick moves himself and showed what kind of athlete he is by rising up several times.  Bledsoe also showed a serviceable shot from the outside.  He couldn't get his set shot off over anyone, but with his speed and ball handling abilities he'll never have a need to do so.  Eric also showed some amazing floor vision, snapping passes all over the court throughout the night.

DeMarcus Cousins - Cousins is a real X-factor on this team.  Immense talent is evident in this kid and he's an absolute mountain of a man.  The only knock can be his effort on certain plays.  If they can get Cousins to play with effort and use his head this year he'll be tough for teams to stop.

Daniel Orton - Cousins counterpart at freshman big man is Daniel Orton.  Another large body with extreme athleticism, Orton impressed me almost more than anyone else last night.  He showed the ability to step out and hit a few jumpers and I absolutely loved the way he rebounded.  Orton is around the rim on every shot, swatting away layups and crashing the offensive and defensive boards aggressively.  The talent drop off from Cousins to Orton is not a large one right now and Orton will be huge for UK all year.

Darius Miller - The other starter is Miller.  Darius seemed to hide a bit in the offense when playing with the first unit.  He seemed timid at times, deferring to get the ball to Wall, Patterson, and Cousins.  When playing with the second team he came out of that shell.  Miller scored on 4 straight plays at one point, absolutely working Darnell Dodson.  If Miller can get his jump shot sorted out (he was shooting on the way down a lot) and be more aggressive when playing with the talented first unit, he'll contribute big in games this year.

Darnell Dodson - The high point man on the night, Dodson showed a good (if not pure) stroke from the outside while making 4 threes on the night.  What was surprising about Dodson was his willingness to take the ball to the basket aggressively and score inside the arc.  Dodson did not looked intimidated at any point when playing against the first team and appears to be confident in his abilities.

Josh Harrelson - Harrelson showed a good outside stroke and did what he always does, play physically and rebound.  In fact, Josh had a double double at halftime.  When running the high screen and pop with Wall, Harrelson was very effective.  He's a huge body to lay that screen and if his man hedges, which he'll have to with Wall coming off the screen, Josh can knock down the open three.  Look for Harrelson to help out with long range shooting and to be very physical in games where UK needs rebounding help if the big guys get into early foul trouble.

John Hood - Hood was another very impressive player last night.  He showed good athleticism, though he's not as fast as the starters.  Hood seems to know that though and did a great job of getting a step past his man and pulling up for a mid range jumper.  That is a solid move for a freshman to have as most will tend to over penetrate or get back tapped thinking they've lost their defender.  John also showed a decent shooting stroke from the outside and will likely make a lot of his playing time this year based on his ability to make that shot.

Mark Krebs - Not a lot of  thoughts on Krebs.  As expected, Krebs showed a decent outside shot and played solidly while in the game.  His athleticism hurts him a bit but he may find some time when the guards are in foul trouble or some outside shooting is needed.

Ramon Harris - Harris showed that he'd worked hard on his outside shot during the summer.  It was much improved, and when he was shooting on balance he was knocking them down.  The only problem is that Harris, despite having a big strong, athletic body, does not finish well in the lane.  That will keep him from logging any major minutes on this year's team.

Perry Stevenson - Perry had probably the worst night of anyone at the scrimmage.  He's still not confident with the ball and is much weaker than even the freshmen big men.  He can step out and hit the outside jumper but Perry's jump shot, much like Patterson's last year, is a slow wind up shot.  He can't get it off over anyone and this team won't look for him to do so.  Perry will most likely see mop up duty this year as there just isn't a spot for him available without him having any ball handling abilities.

DeAndre Liggins - Liggins was very interesting last night.  He amassed an impressive eight fouls in the game.  This was a direct result of Liggins trying too hard.  It was evident that he's playing his ass off to try to find minutes on this team.  His major problem right now is a complete lack of aggressiveness on offense.  He will blow past his man and then just stop in the lane looking for someone to pass for.  Never does he look for his shot or try to finish at the rim.  If he would do so, Cal might find him some minutes, but for now it looks like he'll be providing an extra body at the end of blow outs.

Overall the game last night was impressive on many levels.  The sheer athleticism shown by the new players, and Patterson's increased conditioning and strength, was off the charts.  Defensively, the kids were rough, but apparently they've only been working on the defensive side of the ball for a few days.  Hopefully that'll come around and this team should be tough to beat this year.  All in all, a good night for the fans and players.  Hopefully the good times keep rolling into the season.