Wall Hits Game-Winning Shot In Debut; Patterson Also Impresses

November 17, 2009

In his first career game at Kentucky, freshman point guard John Wall wasted little time endearing himself to the Wildcat faithful. After Miami (OH) hit a game-tying three, Wall took the inbounds pass all the way up the floor and buried a step-back 15 foot jumper from the left wing with 0.5 seconds to seal the victory for Kentucky.

Wall was impressive in his first game at the college level. He was able to use his speed and explosiveness to get to the charity stripe and convert 10 of his 19 points at the line.  He also showed the ability to break down the defense and get  his teammates open looks which was evident by the 5 assist that he recorded. The one thing that he needs to improve on next time out is taking care of the ball. Wall committed 5 turnovers in the game, mostly in situations that he was trying to be too fancy with his dribble while trying to do too much. Overall he had a terrific first showing and did nothing to suggest that he is not the top prospect in this years draft.

Patrick Patterson recorded his 2nd straight double-double to open up his junior season. Patterson posted 17 points and 10 rebounds in the win. He also nailed 1 of the 2 three-pointers that he attempted in the game. He only attempted one three-pointer all of last season. If he can continue to show scouts that he improved his jump shot  and expanded his range over the summer, it will do wonders for his draft stock.

After looking disinterested during the first 30 minutes of the game, Kentucky big man DeMarcus Cousins received a very animated lecture on the bench from Head Coach John Calipari and Assistant Rod Strickland. As soon as they put him back in the game about midway through the 2nd half he came alive and started rebounding the ball and scoring some points inside. Cousins has a well chronicled past of coasting through games in High School which is one of the reasons why NBA teams are very hesitant to risk a high lottery pick on the freshman. It will be interesting to see if Cousins can consistently stay motivated during his time in Lexington.

UPDATE: Here is video of Cousins from his postgame interview with the media that Lexington Herald-Leader Columnist John Clay posted on his blog last night after the game.

The highlight was this quote from Cousins explaining what Coach Calipari told him during their talk on the bench that I mentioned above.

“Coach Cal wants me to smile more. Y’all know that story. I’m not really the type that smiles on the court. I mean, with the smiling, that’s just got to do with my body language and he felt that I had bad body language in the first half. So he said smiling would help the situation.”

Something tells me that DeMarcus is going to struggle when NBA teams assess his character during interviews either this year or next.

Leave a Comment » | DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall, NCAA Prospects, Patrick Patterson | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Jack Kett

Prospects to Watch 11/16

November 16, 2009

ESPN is giving you a nice early look at some of the top NBA prospects in the NCAA tonight. Here is the schedule and the players that you should keep your eye on this evening:

Monday November 16th

Miami (OH) @ Kentucky 7:00 EST ESPN 360

  • Kentucky Frosh PG John Wall - The debut of the widely perceived first pick in the 2010 Draft. Wall is as gifted of an athlete as you will ever see. He possesses lightning quick speed to go along with great size and athleticism that allows him to get to the rim whenever he pleases. He reminds many scouts of Chicago Bulls PG Derrick Rose. Like Rose during his freshman year at Memphis, he will need to show a little bit more consistency in his outside shot . If he does that then he will follow in Rose’s footsteps to being the first name called in the NBA Draft this June.
  • Kentucky Frosh PF DeMarcus Cousins - Possesses the most complete package of any big man in the country. Cousins can score from anywhere on the court. He can post up, shoot the three or hit a mid-range jumper. He also has a terrific handle to go along with his 6’10” 250 pound frame. With that said, coach Calipari has a lot of work to do. Cousins has a reputation of playing very lackadaisical out on the court. He tends to mentally check out of games which has led a lot of scouts to question his heart. It should be interesting to see how Cousins performs this year.
  • Kentucky Junior PF Patrick Patterson – After declaring for the 2009 NBA Draft, Patterson decided to withdraw his name and come back for his Junior season in order to improve his draft stock. A little bit on the short side at 6’8”, Patterson has the strength and athleticism to make up for it. If he can refine his low-post game and show a little bit more consistency in his mid-range jumper, he should have no problem being picked in the middle of the first round.

Coast Carolina @ Duke 7:00 EST ESPNU

  • Duke Junior F Kyle Singler – A versatile player that can do a little bit of everything despite not being great at anything. Singler is not the most athletically gifted player that you will see, but he makes up for it somewhat with his high Basketball IQ. He needs to continue to add some weight to his frame to allow him to hold his own on defense. If he can do that and continue to improve in other areas of his game then he will have a chance at being a late first round pick either in 2010 or 2011.

Virginia @ South Florida 7:30 EST ESPN 360

  • Virginia Sophomore SG Sylven Landesberg - One of the most under the radar prospects in the whole country! If he can continue to build on his terrific freshman campaign which saw him score just under 17 a night, he will be a first round pick if he decides to make himself eligible. Landesberg is a very well-rounded  slasher who continues to improve his outside shot. I expect him to generate a lot of buzz this year despite not playing for one of the powerhouse programs. For right now think mid to late first round.

Colgate @ UConn 9:00 EST ESPNU

  • UConn Senior SF/PF Stanley Robinson – One of the hardest working players in college basketball. Robinson is a very gifted athlete who unfortunately seems to be a tweener at this point. He is not quite big enough to bang down low at the next level and he lacks the jump shot and ball handling skills to play on the perimeter. As for now he looks to be a defensive, high energy guy in the NBA. He has a chance to crack the first round but most likely he will be one of the first guys off the board at the top of round two.
  • UConn Sophomore PG Kemba Walker – Like Robinson, Walker is another athletic, high energy guy out of UConn. Walker needs to become a little bit more of a pass-first PG in order to improve his draft stock. He is blessed with excellent speed and athleticism which allows him to get to the hoop with ease. If he can become more consistent with his jump shot, he will become a lot more dangerous as opposing teams would not be able to sag off of him as much. He is a potential late first round pick at this point in time.

CS Fullerton @ UCLA 12:05 AM EST ESPN

  • UCLA Sophomore PG/SG Malcolm Lee – With Jrue Holiday and Darren Collison moving on to the NBA this is Lee’s chance to shine. He is a very athletic combo guard that has the ability to put up big time scoring numbers thanks to his terrific speed and athleticism. Like Holiday and Collison, Lee is a terrific defender that is capable of turning his defense into offense with his ability to create turnovers and get out into the open court. As of right now a lot of people have Lee pegged as a late first rounder but with a big year he could creep his way into the middle of the first round and possibly even the bottom of the lottery.

Leave a Comment » | DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall, Kemba Walker, Kyle Singler, Malcolm Lee, NCAA Prospects, Patrick Patterson, Prospects to Watch, Stanley Robinson, Sylven Landesberg | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Jack Kett