Four games, four successes, one gold decoration for Kentucky men’s b-ball.
The 2023 GLOBL Jam Tournament gold medal matchup between Team Canada and Kentucky on Sunday night was a rematch of Thursday’s game, which UK won comfortably, 93-69. The final result was similar to the first. After Canada put up a fierce fight in the first half, the Wildcats were forced to fight, but Kentucky’s third-quarter run broke the game open and led to an 89-72 victory. Therefore, UK will leave Toronto, Canada, and make a beeline for Lexington with some new equipment and an ideal 4-0 record.
Since our usual takeaways host, KSR’s Jack Pilgrim, is still in the air as he returns to the United States, I will take his place. Spoiler: Most of my thoughts are positive. How about we make a plunge directly into my focal points from the last round of a unimaginably fun run up north for the Wildcats.
Kentucky goes undefeated in Toronto
Beyond certain minutes against Group Germany in the initial game, it never felt like Kentucky was at any point genuinely tested in this occasion. It was true that the opposing team attempted to cut into the Wildcats’ lead at times, but only after UK had established firm momentum control. A few mental failures would be normal from a group this youthful. For that to just surface a small bunch of times across four games is a demonstration of how controlled this gathering played.
Credit to lead trainer John Calipari for keeping this group secured. After spending Friday swimming around Drake’s pool, few would have blamed the Cats for starting slowly this weekend. However, that was never the case. UK was secured from the initial tip on Wednesday to the last signal on Sunday. Antonio Reeves and Tre Mitchell, two seasoned veterans, contributed to keeping Kentucky focused on the goal.
Each of Kentucky’s four games was won by an average of 12.8 points. Team Germany attempted a late comeback in the opening game, but they lost by eight points. The main matchup against Canada was a victory beginning to end. Group Africa, similar to Germany, set up a battle in the final part yet lost by twofold digits. Canada got no opportunity in the gold award rematch.
Maybe the most noteworthy part of Kentucky’s title run was the hostile proficiency and fellowship that the ‘Felines played with. In all four games, UK scored an average of 91.8 points per game and shot over 40% from the field. Of the group’s 142 all out made field objectives this week, 103 of them fell off a help. That implies more than 72% of the group’s made shots fell off a pass from a partner — a tip top number. For reference, the most elevated help rate from a Power 5 school in 2022-23 was 66.2 percent from Tennessee.
Ultimately, Kentucky appeared to be a team that will be entertaining to follow throughout the upcoming season. It’s significant we recall that this was as yet mid-July ball, yet the diversion worth of this gathering is out of this world. There’s a blend of youthful and old with ability at each of the five positions. Furthermore, goodness no doubt, there are two harmed seven-footers actually ready to be added to the program.
Welcome to the party, Justin Edwards
Five-star green bean Justin Edwards is a projected lottery pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and is even seen as a likely top-three pick by certain specialists. However, it took him some time to track down his furrow this week. It was only after partially through Kentucky’s second round of the occasion that the 6-foot-8 wing started to track down his mood.
Be that as it may, when he did — when it included the most in the gold award game — he demonstrated deserving of the promotion. Edwards completed Sunday with a game-high 23 focuses on 10-20 shooting (2-6 3PT) in the rematch against Canada. He added seven bounce back, two helps, one take, and two blocks to his detail line in just shy of 28 minutes played.
Not exclusively was Edwards unimaginably forceful in all out attack mode end in the primary half, however he was dynamic on safeguard the entire evening. He will consistently contribute at that end of the floor for Kentucky this season. However, once the season begins, it will be difficult to defeat the Wildcats on any given night when he scores 20 or more points because UK has so many other offensive tools at its disposal.
Not the prettiest brand of first half ball
Truly, the main half against Canada was precisely near perfect. Even though Kentucky led for most of the first 20 minutes, it was arguably the biggest offensive “struggle” (using that term loosely) of the tournament. The subsequent quarter, specifically, showed a few breaks in UK’s offense. Credit it to playing four games in five days or Canada dunking all through a zone guard, however it wasn’t the most ideal presentation we saw.
That being said, the details still profoundly preferred Kentucky, which drove 45-39 at the break. The Wildcats shot 50 percent overall and had 14 assists on 18 made baskets. Be that as it may, there were additionally eight turnovers and some scrambling on protection. Addison Patterson of Canada was on a mission to score and was rarely interrupted. He scored 18 points in the first half, but he only scored 20 after shooting 1-7 in the second half.
A dominant performance in the third quarter Despite tired legs, Kentucky started the third quarter on a roll, even if it didn’t feel like it. The Wildcats did nothing eye-popping, yet a 12-3 run heading into the storage space made the score look unbalanced. UK took a 72-53 lead into the crush and never looked spirit in the fourth.
Most notably, freshman guard Rob Dillingham’s foul-free three-pointer made this his best quarter of the tournament. He would hit a free throw and make another one from deep, this time with a toe on the line, less than a minute before the halftime buzzer.
DJ Wagner, a fellow freshman guard, also found his rhythm in the third quarter. He worked his way to the rim, made a shot from outside the arc, and played aggressively on the other end of the floor. In addition, Tre Mitchell was impressive in the third quarter, scoring eight points, grabbing five rebounds, and providing two assists.
Canada went from being somewhere near only a couple of focuses to getting no opportunity at a rebound in practically no time. That was a typical subject all through this week for Kentucky. The cherry on top was accomplishing this in the gold medal game. The ‘Cats should have similar game-changing runs this season, in my opinion.
Antonio Reeves is your GLOBL Jam MVP
Also, it was merited. Fifth-year watch Antonio Reeves, who was selected as Kentucky’s group commander this week, displayed in each of the four games exactly how significant his return briefly season in Lexington will be. Sunday was really his “most terrible” execution of the week — just 18 focuses on 6-12 shooting (4-8 3PT) notwithstanding two bounce back and two blocks — however he actually had snapshots of brightness. Reeves hit a triplet of three-pointers in the final quarter that put to sleep any thought about a Canadian rebound.
In any case, overall, there was no halting Reeves throughout the week. Beside a short stretch of physical, up-in front of him safeguard from Group Africa on Saturday, he was in full control as the most experienced Wildcat. Across four games, Reeves found the middle value of 23.0 places in 28.5 minutes per challenge. He shot a blistering 57.9% from the field as a whole and an even greater percentage of 56.3% (18-32) from beyond the arc.
We ought to likewise give a good representative for Tre Mitchell’s Sunday execution. He posted the main twofold by any Wildcat of the whole occasion, getting done with 18 focuses, 11 bounce back, five helps, and one take in almost 37 minutes played. He may have been Kentucky’s most consistent presence throughout the week, surpassing even Reeves. It’s difficult to make sense of how significant they’ll both be this year — both on and off the court.
Anyway, when does the customary season begin once more?
