Indiana/Kentucky Game thread

[CrimsonCats]

Hey I wish AJ were the answer to that question as much as you do. But his 22.2% 3 pt shooting through 11 games coupled with his poor percentage in the Adriatic League before arriving are starting to feel like who he is, not a slump. At times I’ve thought he was an upgrade defensively only to be out of position allowing an uncontested dunk the next trip. Still, hope experience with this group allows him to find his role effectively.

Doing a direct comparison is really interesting here.

Player A: 5.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists in 17.6 minutes; shoots 25% from 3 and 69% at the line

Player B: 6.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.4 assists in 15.4 minutes; shoots 22% from 3 and 67% at the line

Player A is Brandon Garrison, who at least before last night, was getting a lot hate from fans who considered him to be a bum who should be benched if not dismissed from the team.

Player B is Jelavic, who at least a decent portion of our fans think should be a staple of our most effective lineups, to the point that they’re complaining he didn’t play even on a night where we finally won a game against a team capable of beating us.

I don’t know if people got a little too pulled in by the highlight videos, or just have trouble letting go of their (in this case mostly positive) stereotypes about Euro players or what, but the the gap in perception between those two is pretty wild when they’re practically the same player statistically.

[KentuckyWild2020]

Obviously AJ's 3 point % isn't great but how many times has he took a contested shots in order to get some touches?

Better question, how many plays have they ran for him to get some decent looks?

Regardless, still think Pope needs to find a way to play him.

[KentuckyWild2020]

Doing a direct comparison is really interesting here.

Player A: 5.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists in 17.6 minutes; shoots 25% from 3 and 69% at the line

Player B: 6.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.4 assists in 15.4 minutes; shoots 22% from 3 and 67% at the line

Player A is Brandon Garrison, who at least before last night, was getting a lot hate from fans who considered him to be a bum who should be benched if not dismissed from the team.

Player B is Jelavic, who at least a decent portion of our fans think should be a staple of our most effective lineups, to the point that they’re complaining he didn’t play even on a night where we finally won a game against a team capable of beating us.

I don’t know if people got a little too pulled in by the highlight videos, or just have trouble letting go of their (in this case mostly positive) stereotypes about Euro players or what, but the the gap in perception between those two is pretty wild when they’re practically the same player statistically.

Fair enough..

AJ should take the ball and go home effective immediately, problem solved. There is nothing to be gained here for him..

Now since we are doing stats, let's analyze a key factor with the plus + minus - of Garrison and AJ, let's include Dioubate in that as well..


At some point we will have to shoot the ball.

[SportsFan]

Difference between BG and AJ is that Garrison has a year under his belt and people were hoping to see an improvement... and if nothing else, some hustle and effort added to his game. BG has also been starting and given what seems like a good opportunity.

AJ is new and doesn't seem to have been given the same opportunity. While the statistical results may be similar, with AJ there doesn't seem to be a lack of effort despite not being given the same opportunity.

There's the primary difference.

[Catsrock]

Doing a direct comparison is really interesting here.

Player A: 5.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists in 17.6 minutes; shoots 25% from 3 and 69% at the line

Player B: 6.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.4 assists in 15.4 minutes; shoots 22% from 3 and 67% at the line

Player A is Brandon Garrison, who at least before last night, was getting a lot hate from fans who considered him to be a bum who should be benched if not dismissed from the team.

Player B is Jelavic, who at least a decent portion of our fans think should be a staple of our most effective lineups, to the point that they’re complaining he didn’t play even on a night where we finally won a game against a team capable of beating us.

I don’t know if people got a little too pulled in by the highlight videos, or just have trouble letting go of their (in this case mostly positive) stereotypes about Euro players or what, but the the gap in perception between those two is pretty wild when they’re practically the same player statistically.

This is true and interesting. Of course part of the discrepancy of perception is what most if not all Cat fans felt we were getting in these 2 guys. BG is around 6’10” 245 lbs. AJ about 6’11” 225. But I think we wanted BG to be a down low player defensively and HOPEFULLY fill a Amari Williams type role offensively. Potentially hitting the open guy from up top. NOT wanting to Jack 3’s. But maybe hitting a midrange shot that Amari couldn’t. In AJ it was sensible to expect a Euro style stretch 4. That’s what he did in Europe. Although his percentage was not very good.

The real problem to a lot of us with BG until the last 2 games was it simply looked like he’d rather be anywhere other than on a basketball court. Now if he continues to show the fire he has the last 2 games then he can absolutely contribute this season. And he does occasionally make a really nice pass to cuting teammates. Just not as often as Amari did.

AJ has not looked disengaged to me. He just still looks like he joined the team late and hasn’t caught onto what they’re trying to do. At times that contributes to the team looking like it has no idea what it’s trying to do. And, again, that shot just has to start falling a little more often. His shot doesn’t look bad. It just doesn’t go in the round thing. Maybe JQ will be cleaning those up sooner than later. But that’s a different discussion.