Kentucky vs Boston....A Preview

Kentucky vs. Boston University UK leads 2-0

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs Boston University….11/30/10 Tuesday 7PM...FS South/BBSN/ESPN 3

Boston Terriers

Location: Boston, Mass
Enrollment: 31,766
Arena: 7,200

Head Coach: Patrick Chambers
Career Record: 21-14 (60%) One Season

2009/10 Record: 21-14
2009/10 America East Record: 11-5
2009/10 Postseason: 2-1 (CBI)

2010/11 Record: 4-3

Northeastern 66 Boston 64
Boston 76 George Washington 67
Villanova 82 Boston 66
Boston 58 Marist 37
Hampton 51 Boston 50
Boston 66 Nevada 57
Boston 66 Cornell 61

Boston

PPG-64
FG%-39%
3 PT%-33.9%
FT%-71.8%
RPG-36
APG-10
TO’s-13
SPG-7
BPG-5

Probable Starting Lineup PPG

John Holland G/F 6’5” Sr…….17.9
Patrick Hazal F 6’6” Jr………..5.0
Darryl Partin G 6’6” Jr………..10.3
Jake O’Brien 6’8” Jr…………..9.9
D.J. Irving G 6’0” Fr…………..7.1

Boston University, not to be confused with Boston College of the ACC, returns 3 starters from last season. The Terriers best player is John Holland who led the conference in scoring last season averaging 19.2 PG. Holland is a terrific player and would likely start on many Division 1 teams. Thus far this season, Holland is leading the team in scoring and takes 26% of the shots. Holland is a solid rebounder for his size….shoots 35.4% from long range while leading the Terriers in steals.

Hazal and O’Brien are the leading rebounders…..while Irving is the leading assist Terrier with 21. The Terriers have good experience, but are not a big team…..and with the exception of Holland….don’t have any top notch players.

As a point of interest…..Boston just defeated Cornell which has ex UK player, Mark Coury. Coury scored 9 points for Cornell and was a starter.

UK returns from Maui after defeating Oklahoma and Washington, but were taken to the woodshed by U Conn. The Cats now know that they have a lot of improving to accomplish…. both offensively and defensively. All in all, the loss to U Conn was a very valuable learning experience for these young Cats.

Brandon Knight, a very talented Cat, must improve his overall play…as his early season stats are not good…..FG%-41.1%....3 Point %-26.5%.....FT%-57.1%.....14 Assists compared to 23 TO’s. Knight has too often over penetrated and taken bad shots. He knows he must be the catalyst for the offense….getting all the Cats involved in the offense. Of course, Brandon isn’t the only Cat that has played out of control….namely Liggins and Lamb. Miller must get the ball more often as he is shooting the rock extremely well this season….47.7%....and 9-19 from the perimeter.

One Cat that has already brought his A game…is Terrence Jones who is playing at a spectacular level……averaging 21.2 PPG……50% FG%....46.2% from the perimeter…..leads team in rebounds with 10.2……has 14 blocks…..8 steals. The only chink in Jones game is his FT shooting which is a dismal 55.3%.

Unquestionably, there is an abundance of talent on the UK team, but it is a young team that will need to work hard week by week to master the offense and defense that coach Cal wants UK to achieve. It will take time, but these Cats after being embarrassed by U Conn will be more than willing to do what’s necessary to correct the early season mistakes.

The Boston game will allow these young Cats to show coach Cal some needed improvement in their overall game…..and I believe we will see a much less selfish team…..and instead more passing and less playing out of control.

I see UK defeating Boston by 25 points. GO CATS!