Olivier Sarr spent more time watching than producing during Saturday's loss at Louisville. He had one point and one rebound. Last year at Wake Forest he had 16 points and six rebounds against Louisville. (SEC Photo)
Olivier Sarr was a second team all-ACC player at Wake Forest last year and some felt the 7-footer would have been drafted after his junior season if he had not transferred to Kentucky. Blue Ribbon College Basketball Editor Chris Dortch considered him the top transfer in the nation and when he received his waiver from the NCAA to be eligible this season, expectations were that UK was then a serious Final Four contender.
But Sarr is not the same player at Kentucky right now.
He had one rebound and one point in Saturday’s 62-59 loss at Louisville. He was 0-for-4 from the field. A week earlier against North Carolina not only did he not score, he didn’t take a shot.
“Sarr is too talented, too skilled (to not score),” ESPN analyst Dick Vitale said.
“Sarr has to carve out space before the ball is coming to him. He has to get into a defender’s body and create a seal,” ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg said. “If you are a legit post player if you are not getting position, you are losing position.”
Kentucky went to Sarr twice early Saturday. He missed both shots. He took only one shot the rest of the way before missing a potential game-winning 15-foot shot with about eight seconds to play.
“They did a good job of fighting and fronting and doing some things. He missed some shots. He missed a couple of easy ones. When you start missing shots, it starts playing with your confidence. I mean, it is not like we aren’t trying to go to him. We are,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said after the game.
“He will be fine. This has been hard. Missing a couple of shots, I have to get on him, or get with him before he gets on the bus and just say, ‘I love you, man. You are fine.’ This wasn’t just him.”
Kentucky’s last four games — Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Louisville — have all been against ACC teams that Sarr faced last year. In the four losses, he’s averaged 25 minutes, 7.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. He’s made 12 of 24 shots — most of that came when he was 11 of 16 from the field against Notre Dame. In the other three games, he’s a combined 1-for-8 from the field. He’s also taken just 11 free throws in these four games after averaging 7.1 free throws per game against those same four teams last year.
Here is what he did against those same ACC teams last season:
— In a 90-80 loss to Notre Dame, Sarr was 7-for-13 from field and 4-for-6 from the foul line and had 18 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes.
— In an 86-76 loss to Louisville, Sarr was 4-for-6 from the field and 8-for-10 at the foul line and had 16 points and six rebounds in 25 minutes.
— During a 74-57 win over North Carolina, Sarr was 2-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 at the line and had six points and one rebound in 13 minutes.
— In an 86-79 loss to Georgia Tech, Sarr was 4-for-7 from the field and 3-for-5 at the foul line and had 11 points and four rebounds in 23 minutes.
— In one of his best gams during an 84-73 win over Notre Dame, Sarr was 12-for-16 from the field and 6-for-7 at the foul line and had 30 points and 17 rebounds in 32 minutes on Feb. 29.
— On March 3 in a 93-83 loss to North Carolina, Sarr was 5-for-8 from the field and 2-for-3 at the line and had 12 points and 11 rebounds in 24 minutes.
That comes out to 15.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 23.5 minutes per game. Those were the kind of numbers expected at Kentucky but he has not delivered.
Teammates have not lost confidence in the 7-foot center.
“He’s working really hard. Olivier is really trying. Right now, it could be a lot of pressure at the moment. But Olivier is a great player, he’s going to figure it out,” senior point guard Davion Mintz said.
“We’ve just got to find a way to keep him involved in our offense. We’ve got to find a way to get him involved early, especially when there’s mismatches for him. We’ll watch the film and we’ll figure that out going forward.”
Sophomore Jacob Toppin said the Cats had “buzzard luck” on Sarr’s last shot because the ball was in the basket and came out. If Sarr hit that shot and/or the one he took against Notre Dame that could have won the game he would have changed UK’s whole season.
“We can’t do nothing about that. That was a great shot. He shoots those every day. He’s making 100-plus shots from that spot on the court every day, so he knows to just keep shooting and we just have to live with that,” Toppin said.
Maybe but the biggest issue is why a player who was so good in the ACC last year cannot be that good against the same teams now that he’s at Kentucky.
