Game Thoughts : Seattle vs Kentucky

Kentucky bested Seattle 82-63 in it’s second and final exhibition game of the season. The real test starts Tuesday Nov. 6th, when Kentucky host Central Arkansas in the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic.

Game Starters:

• Patrick Patterson
• Jodie Meeks
• Mark Coury
• Ramel Bradley
• Ramon Harris

Player Thoughts:
Joe Crawford

Joe seemed out of sync and was trying to force too much in the first half. He took some bad shots and just couldn’t find a good rhythm. The second half he settled down and played a decent game (14 points and 5 boards), but did foul out.

Jodie Meeks

He’s started off the game where he left off the other night, hitting the outside shot. I would of liked to seen him take more shots (3 attempts) in the first half. He wasn’t so hot the second half. He needs to develop his game more, drive to the basket etc. and not always rely on the 3 so much.

Ramel Bradley

It wasn’t a good game for him tonight. Finished with six turnovers and only three assist. It looked like it just wasn’t clicking for him, he got into foul trouble early and had to sit.

Patrick Patterson

He started out the game very well, hit some shots and made plays. Unfortunately, foul trouble put him on the bench early. He came back in the second half starting where he left off offensively and also made some nice blocks on the defensive end. (Actually did a little of everything) He’s is showing that’s he’s the player everyone expected him to be, but I do want to see how he matches up with some stiffer competition.

Mark Coury

He did a nice job rebounding tonight. He needs to improve his offense, he miss a couple shots down low that he should of got. He ended up 1 rebound shy of a double-double with 11 points and 9 boards. He is showing promise and could very well help the team this year.

Alex Legion

He looked a little better than the other night, but I would like to see more involvement from him.

My Player of The Game:

I will give it to Patrick Patterson. He did a bit of everything tonight. 6-6 shooting - 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three blocks in 27 minutes.

Final Thoughts:

Wow, the officials called a tight one, way too many fouls called. It did go both ways, but I hate to see so many fouls.

Kentucky played nice defense for the most part, specifically the the first half, until late which allowed Seattle to inch closer. They to need clamp down the whole game though (see below).

They still exhibited the turnover bug from the other night (16 for the game).  Cutting this down would be nice, they can do better.

Closing out…I would really like to see improvement in closing out games. They need to put the hammer down and do a better job. They showed they can play defense, but it must be done throughout the whole game. You let your guard down against a higher caliber team and it could get ugly.

It’s early in the season and there are things they can improve upon. It’s just going to take some time. As the competition gets better we should get a better look at how well they can handle it.