Game Thoughts : UK vs Pikeville
November 1, 2007
The Cats were victorious with a 99-64 win over Pikeville in the first exhibition game of the season.
Jodie Meeks led the way finishing with 34 points (10-12, 7-9 on 3’s), with 27 of those coming in the first half.
Patrick Patterson chipped in with a very efficient 21 points on 10 of 12 shooting.
Game recap and stats can be found here.
Overall Game Thoughts
It’s not expected to learn too much from this game going in. It’s the first exhibition game against an obliviously lower tiered team.
For the first game, though an exhibition game, it was a pretty good effort. There were times that we got sloppy out there and that’s something that will need to be improved. Too many turnovers (21) in this game.
Offensively: I was impressed with the nearly 62.0% shooting percentage overall. Probably most with the 52.4% from 3 land. Great outside shooting will help us immensely this season.
Defensively: It wasn’t the best and I’m sure coach Gillispie will be getting his point across on that. This was probably a game we could of easily won by 50, but that’s not important. Should of rebounded better and we allowed some easy outside shots.
Player Thoughts
Jodie Meeks:
Jodie was simply on fire from outside and nearly perfect. His performance really didn’t surprise a bit, as I expect big things from him this season. If his continues shooting the ball like that it will be a huge plus for the team. I know that coach Gillispie wanted to see his defense improved and it looked like he’s been working on that.
Patrick Patterson:
Patrick Patterson had a very nice game, 1 rebound shy of a double-double. It was a very quiet 21 points for him, it was one of those things where you wouldn’t have known it. He didn’t start the game, but of course that won’t last long. If he can put up strong numbers anywhere near that, it will be huge.
Joe Crawford:
Joe came off the bench for this game and had a nice game scoring 15 on 6 of 10 shooting, along with four assist and two steals. Many questions were made how he would handle things with his attitude etc, but he handled things pretty good.
Perry Stevenson:
Packing on some more pounds will really do him good. Defensively you could see some good potential in him. He blocked some shots , but he needs to be stronger around the basket and grab some more boards.
Ramel Bradley:
Ramel had a decent game and did what he’s expected to do. be the leader of this team. He did have 5 turnovers, but doled out 9 assist. He will be a big part to our success this season.
Alex Legion:
He didn’t look comfortable at all and there was no flow. It’s his first game, so that’s expected. Hopefully he’ll break out at some point soon in the season.
