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The Blue/White game took place at Rupp Arena tonight and while Big Blue Madness is the glitz and glamour of UK Basketball, the B/W game is our first look at this year’s team in a game environment. This is the last time the Wildcat fans will get to see their Cats before the exhibition games start on October 29 against Kentucky Wesleyan and they were excited to see how they would perform.
It is hard to make any conclusions of how the team will perform against outside competition from watching an intra quad scrimmage, but the following are some insights of how each player performed:
Sahvir Wheeler: Even if he doesn’t start Wheeler will lead in assist this year. He keeps his head up looking for an open teammate constantly. Sahvir is fearless for his size and drove inside on the bigger defender several times.
Tyty Washington: Everything that Washing ton does he makes look easy. His layups and passes looked like he was in a practice. He scored in every way possible hitting threes, dunking, and and-one jumpers. If he doesn’t lead the team in scoring this year, I will be shocked.
Daimion Collins: Super athletic. Daimion is going to have some posturizing dunks this year. Even though he has a small frame he crashed the boards on both sides of the court. He also hit all four of his 3-point shots.
Davion Mintz: Mintz is the same as he was last year bringing leadership and three-point shooting to the team. He also appeared to be the best conditioned out of all the players and pushed the ball up the court as soon as he received it.
Dontaie Allen: Dontaie looked more comfortable out on the court and played well within the flow of the game. He showed that he can still hit the three, but his time might be limited with all the talent at his position.
Keion Brooks: Keion looks like he can guard anyone on the court. He was also was versatile on the offensive side of the court by driving the ball and hitting the spot-up three.
Bryce Hopkins: Bryce is going to be hard for opposing teams to guard. He is too big and strong for a guard to cover, but he is also to fast off the dribble to bring in a forward.
Kareem Watkins: Even though he didn’t much playing time I was impressed with his ability to handle the basketball.
Kellan Grady: Grady has an excellent shot from the three-point line and will be able to handle the ball if the guards get into foul trouble.
Oscar Tshiebwe: Gets down the court fast for his size. He scored the first points of the game and got back on defense to make a block, but it was called a goaltend. Oscar is going to be hard for any opponent to handle down low because of his size and strength. He was the first player to score in double digits. He hustled to every loose ball on the rebound or on the floor.
Lance Ware: Lance was very active down low on both ends of the court. He dunked the ball multiple times and blocked Tshiebwe on a post-up move. He seemed to handle the pass better this game then he did last season.
After watching the game, it is hard not to get excited for the start of the season. We knew that we would have a great class of talented players, but seeing them in action confirms it. Let our revenge tour of the 2021-22 season start with a win against the Duke Bluedevils when the season opens on Nov. 9th.
