John Calipari has to find a way to get his team hitting more 3-point shots. (Vicky Graff Photo)
If you are a Kentucky basketball fan wanting to believe that the Cats are going to hit 3-points this year despite how poorly they have shot the last two games, then I am going to try to find some reasons for optimism for you.
Let’s start with ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes talking about Kentucky senior point guard Davion Mintz.
“Ten in white can really stroke it and I don’t care when or why,” Dykes said about Mintz. “His stroke is as pure as any in the SEC. I think this kid can shoot with anyone in the SEC.
“He shoots it from deep with ease. Gets his feet into it and that ball has a true rotation every time. Valuable, valuable piece for Kentucky.”
Mintz is 4-for-10 from 3-point range in UK’s first three games and easily has been Kentucky’s best long-range shooter.
Let’s go to freshman BJ Boston, who is 0-for-11 from 3-point range .
“That’s something we’re constantly working on every day. We just gotta get in the gym and put up more shots just to get our confidence back up,” Boston said. “Our guys’ bodies are changing and there’s different ways to shoot so we’ve got to keep tackling it every day.
“We’ve been hitting 3′ in practice and like I said that’s something we work on all day, every day in the mornings and again at night.”
To me the encouraging thing here is that Boston and his teammates obviously know they have to improve and have been working to try and do that even if the results have not been there in games.
Kentucky coach John Calipari continues to insist this will be a good 3-point shooting team — but doesn’t it seem like he says that every year. Kentucky doesn’t have to be good, just adequate from 3-point range instead of 9-for-47 (19.1 percent) like it has been so far.
“They have each got to learn what their strengths and weaknesses are,” ESPN analyst Dick Vitale said. “You’ve got to know who should shoot the 3’s and who shouldn’t.”
Even Isaiah Jackson’s high school coach, David McGlown, is confident he will hit 3’s. He has missed both his 3-point tries this season.
“We talked all last year about expanding his offensive game to show all he could do,” McGlown said. “He needed work but his shooting will come around. He’s just got to get confidence. He will hit some 3’s, make those pull-up jumpers and hit fadeaways as his confidence grows. But he definitely can hit a 3.”
