Just looked at the stats for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope over the last five games.
KCP shot 63 percent (!) from the field, 55 percent from behind the arc, and 80 percent from the line. He averaged 20.1 points per game.
He also snagged 7 bds an outing and got 1 steal per game over the same period.
Georgia has gone 4 and 1 during this stretch and KCP is obviously the reason. Pretty amazing performance.
Meanwhile, Kentavious continues to rise up the charts in just about every SEC statistical category for the 2012/2013 season.
Category Average Rank
Scoring 17.8 2nd
3-ptrs made 2.5 2nd
3-pt pct 38.4 4th
Steals 2.2 2nd
Free Throw pct 78.7 4th
Field goal pct 46.5 4th
Defensive rebounds 5.4 3rd
Minutes played 33.4 3rd
If KCP's recent performance were stretched out over the entire season, he would be #1 in scoring, #1 in field goal percentage, #1 in three-point percentage, #1 in three-pointers made, and #4 in free throw percentage. Of course he can't go back and re-play the earlier games, and at some point he'll likely hit a wall if he keeps playing just about every minute of every game. However, if he avoids injury and somehow keeps going the way he is, he could arguably have the best SEC season ever for a UGA hoops player, and maybe for the entire league.
Showing posts with label Kentavious Caldwell Pope. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kentavious Caldwell Pope. Show all posts
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Songs from the Dawgs?
Wow. I loved today's article from the AJC.
Sound of Music
Just in case the AJC ever gets rid of the link, here's a quote:
As soon as coach Mark Fox stepped inside the door on the lower-level concourse, he was engulfed in a sea of black jerseys who jumped up and down as they chanted something that sounded like “yeet, yeet, yeet!” Moments later, that noise morphed into a rendition of the school fight song, “Glory to Old Georgia.” Only this was an abbreviated, rap-style version. The celebration was finished with some loud, timed applause.
The message: The Bulldogs are starting to get this basketball business down, and they’re thoroughly enjoying it.
“We’re feeling good,” said Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who led the Bulldogs with 19 points. “There’s a lot of confidence going around. We’re helping each other and picking each other up. Everybody’s stepping up every night now.”
Asked about the musical postlude, Caldwell-Pope laughed and grinned wide.
“We’re just re-mixing a little bit,” he said. “We’ve got Houston Kessler providing a little beat box and Kenny Gaines singing for us. We’re just singing and having fun.”
Houston Kessler beat-boxing? Are U kiddin' me?
Maybe anything is possible in this season. Heck, if they can sing, perhaps they might find a way to get invited to the Big Dance.
Sound of Music
Just in case the AJC ever gets rid of the link, here's a quote:
As soon as coach Mark Fox stepped inside the door on the lower-level concourse, he was engulfed in a sea of black jerseys who jumped up and down as they chanted something that sounded like “yeet, yeet, yeet!” Moments later, that noise morphed into a rendition of the school fight song, “Glory to Old Georgia.” Only this was an abbreviated, rap-style version. The celebration was finished with some loud, timed applause.
The message: The Bulldogs are starting to get this basketball business down, and they’re thoroughly enjoying it.
“We’re feeling good,” said Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who led the Bulldogs with 19 points. “There’s a lot of confidence going around. We’re helping each other and picking each other up. Everybody’s stepping up every night now.”
Asked about the musical postlude, Caldwell-Pope laughed and grinned wide.
“We’re just re-mixing a little bit,” he said. “We’ve got Houston Kessler providing a little beat box and Kenny Gaines singing for us. We’re just singing and having fun.”
Houston Kessler beat-boxing? Are U kiddin' me?
Maybe anything is possible in this season. Heck, if they can sing, perhaps they might find a way to get invited to the Big Dance.
Woo-Hoo! Dawgs Win! Gaines Gets PT.
UGA beats South Carolina in Columbia. Final score: 67 to 56
I missed most of today's game and I missed the Auburn game, too. However, from the little bit I caught of today's action, it's apparent that Coach Fox has finally seen fit to give Kenny Gaines substantial playing time (24 minutes). Bravo! He even played Gaines and KCP at the same time. Together on the floor with Mann! Amazing.
Now, if he would just put Brandon Morris at the 4 position and slide Donte over to center. That line-up would be the starting five that I thought we would have before the season began. Guys who can catch and finish in the post, guards who can put the ball on the floor and drive. Players who can advance the ball against the press.
In the pre-season I thought that UGA would be good enough to maybe get into the top five in the SEC. Needless to say, I was disappointed with with the fact that we started out of the gates poorly and then lost to Georgia Tech and Florida. Ugghh. I hate losing to those guys in anything.
Given our early season losses, I figured that Fox was set on his line-up. If he hadn't seen enough during the practices and the Italy trip to figure out the relative strengths of the players on his roster, then I didn't see much hope for the SEC calendar. However, here we stand today at 4 and 4. Sure, the SEC is weak this year, but so were a good number of the teams we played prior to the SEC part of the schedule. The difference, in my humble opinion, is that KCP is playing a lot better, and Fox is starting to put his most talented guys on the floor.
A lot of fans called for Kenny Gaines to get more minutes. We were so bad before at scoring the basketball that we were hard to watch. Playing Gaines could hardly hurt the team. We desperately needed more offensive production. In fact, I wrote earlier in the season that I was "calling Gaines out." But in fairness to him, Gaines can only perform to the extent that he is allowed to play.
Fox had insisted on making Gaines back up KCP, which is a losing proposition for Kenny. Now that KG finally got major minutes, he has shown to the fans and to the coaching staff what he can do. Having been inserted into the starting line-up for the second half of the South Carolina game also proves that he and KCP can be on the floor at the same time.
It's not hard to figure out. Putting guys that can drive the basket on the floor makes the whole team more efficient. Against the Gamecocks, it worked. We 'bout had 4 guys to score in double figures (KCP had 19, Gaines had 11 and so did Charles Mann-- John Cannon had 8). As it stands, our four top scorers for the game all shot 50 percent or better from the floor.
Best game of the year, in my opinion. Shucks, we may indeed finish the year in the top, rather than the bottom, third of the SEC. Right now we're number six, so if we can keep the streak going a few games longer, the team will develop a lot more confidence.
I missed most of today's game and I missed the Auburn game, too. However, from the little bit I caught of today's action, it's apparent that Coach Fox has finally seen fit to give Kenny Gaines substantial playing time (24 minutes). Bravo! He even played Gaines and KCP at the same time. Together on the floor with Mann! Amazing.
Now, if he would just put Brandon Morris at the 4 position and slide Donte over to center. That line-up would be the starting five that I thought we would have before the season began. Guys who can catch and finish in the post, guards who can put the ball on the floor and drive. Players who can advance the ball against the press.
In the pre-season I thought that UGA would be good enough to maybe get into the top five in the SEC. Needless to say, I was disappointed with with the fact that we started out of the gates poorly and then lost to Georgia Tech and Florida. Ugghh. I hate losing to those guys in anything.
Given our early season losses, I figured that Fox was set on his line-up. If he hadn't seen enough during the practices and the Italy trip to figure out the relative strengths of the players on his roster, then I didn't see much hope for the SEC calendar. However, here we stand today at 4 and 4. Sure, the SEC is weak this year, but so were a good number of the teams we played prior to the SEC part of the schedule. The difference, in my humble opinion, is that KCP is playing a lot better, and Fox is starting to put his most talented guys on the floor.
A lot of fans called for Kenny Gaines to get more minutes. We were so bad before at scoring the basketball that we were hard to watch. Playing Gaines could hardly hurt the team. We desperately needed more offensive production. In fact, I wrote earlier in the season that I was "calling Gaines out." But in fairness to him, Gaines can only perform to the extent that he is allowed to play.
Fox had insisted on making Gaines back up KCP, which is a losing proposition for Kenny. Now that KG finally got major minutes, he has shown to the fans and to the coaching staff what he can do. Having been inserted into the starting line-up for the second half of the South Carolina game also proves that he and KCP can be on the floor at the same time.
It's not hard to figure out. Putting guys that can drive the basket on the floor makes the whole team more efficient. Against the Gamecocks, it worked. We 'bout had 4 guys to score in double figures (KCP had 19, Gaines had 11 and so did Charles Mann-- John Cannon had 8). As it stands, our four top scorers for the game all shot 50 percent or better from the floor.
Best game of the year, in my opinion. Shucks, we may indeed finish the year in the top, rather than the bottom, third of the SEC. Right now we're number six, so if we can keep the streak going a few games longer, the team will develop a lot more confidence.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
KCP for Heisman!
Complete game for the Dawgs in the win over Texas A&M. Wow, it sure does feel good to get the W.
Congrats, too, to Coach Fox. He mixed in a little press, gave Kenny Gaines a few more minutes, and kept his guys from letting the game get away late in the second half.
I'm not a Larry Conley fan. Not by a long stretch. But he was right on target in his commentary that Kentavious is probably more valuable to his team than any other player in the SEC. We might have won a couple of games this season without KCP, but just a couple. Kentavious plays great defense, gets the team out on the break, rebounds the ball and this year has really increased his shooting percentage.
I can't think of any shooting guard that Georgia has ever had that brings more to the table than KCP. Kentavious is averaging 17 points and 6 boards a game and shooting a respectable 42 percent from the field. He also gets 2 assists and 2.5 steals per game.
In the last ten years we've had designated three-point shooters like Ricky McPhee who also did pretty well on the defensive end. Gerald Robinson could drive on anybody, but he was more of a second point guard. Corey Butler played some at the two-guard, but he was a defensive ace, rather than a scorer. Billy Humphrey could shoot, but he had hobbled wheels for a portion of his career, and I don't remember him rebounding the ball much.
Levi Stukes was a shooting guard in a point guard's body. Ezra Williams could shoot, but he didn't have much of a mid-range game. Jarvis Hayes was more of a small forward. D.A. Layne could score, but see my description of Levi Stukes above.
You'd have to go back to the era of Shandon and Willie Anderson to find Georgia's last big athletic two-guards, guys who could score, defend and rebound. But even then, the Anderson brothers were more scorers than shooters. If Kentavious is not the best ever UGA two-guard, then he's close. If basketball had a Heisman, KCP would get my vote.
Congrats, too, to Coach Fox. He mixed in a little press, gave Kenny Gaines a few more minutes, and kept his guys from letting the game get away late in the second half.
I'm not a Larry Conley fan. Not by a long stretch. But he was right on target in his commentary that Kentavious is probably more valuable to his team than any other player in the SEC. We might have won a couple of games this season without KCP, but just a couple. Kentavious plays great defense, gets the team out on the break, rebounds the ball and this year has really increased his shooting percentage.
I can't think of any shooting guard that Georgia has ever had that brings more to the table than KCP. Kentavious is averaging 17 points and 6 boards a game and shooting a respectable 42 percent from the field. He also gets 2 assists and 2.5 steals per game.
In the last ten years we've had designated three-point shooters like Ricky McPhee who also did pretty well on the defensive end. Gerald Robinson could drive on anybody, but he was more of a second point guard. Corey Butler played some at the two-guard, but he was a defensive ace, rather than a scorer. Billy Humphrey could shoot, but he had hobbled wheels for a portion of his career, and I don't remember him rebounding the ball much.
Levi Stukes was a shooting guard in a point guard's body. Ezra Williams could shoot, but he didn't have much of a mid-range game. Jarvis Hayes was more of a small forward. D.A. Layne could score, but see my description of Levi Stukes above.
You'd have to go back to the era of Shandon and Willie Anderson to find Georgia's last big athletic two-guards, guys who could score, defend and rebound. But even then, the Anderson brothers were more scorers than shooters. If Kentavious is not the best ever UGA two-guard, then he's close. If basketball had a Heisman, KCP would get my vote.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Dawgs Beat LSU!
Feels good to win one. We hit our free throws and had some good defensive stops when we needed 'em. Final score: UGA 67, LSU 58.
We're not an elite team, but maybe we'll improve during the year. Good to see Donte Williams show some signs of life out there. If he can get us 14 and 5 every night, UGA can beat some of the teams on our schedule.
KCP filled up the box score with 22 points, 5 assists, 6 steals and 3 rebounds.
Sounds like we'd better beat LSU while we can. They'll be a lot better next year. Tough to hear that LSU is bringing in three top-100 players next year, when we don't have any.
Speaking of LSU players, I hope the guy for LSU that got injured there at the end turns out to be okay.
We're 7 and 10 on the year. We need to go on some type of win streak. Let's practice this week against the press because teams will be using that against us all year.
We're not an elite team, but maybe we'll improve during the year. Good to see Donte Williams show some signs of life out there. If he can get us 14 and 5 every night, UGA can beat some of the teams on our schedule.
KCP filled up the box score with 22 points, 5 assists, 6 steals and 3 rebounds.
Sounds like we'd better beat LSU while we can. They'll be a lot better next year. Tough to hear that LSU is bringing in three top-100 players next year, when we don't have any.
Speaking of LSU players, I hope the guy for LSU that got injured there at the end turns out to be okay.
We're 7 and 10 on the year. We need to go on some type of win streak. Let's practice this week against the press because teams will be using that against us all year.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
KCP Has Fixed His Form
Bravo.
I don't know if anyone else noticed, but Kentavious used to let his elbow flare out to the right on his release. That action created a rightward spin on the ball which caused the ball either to drift to the right or twirl out of the bucket. I mentioned it before the season as an area for improvement, and you can see it on the Georgiadogs.com video I linked back on August 2, 2012.
Now, he's keeping his elbow tucked, and consequently his shooting percentage will go way up.
I first spotted the change in his form when he was shooting free throws (I think it was in the first half). Great work.
Since I started this post, KCP has hit 3 more contested jump-shots. He ended the game shooting 10 of 14 from the field, averaging 71 percent, by far his highest shooting percentage for any game (his career shooting average is 39 percent).
I don't know if anyone else noticed, but Kentavious used to let his elbow flare out to the right on his release. That action created a rightward spin on the ball which caused the ball either to drift to the right or twirl out of the bucket. I mentioned it before the season as an area for improvement, and you can see it on the Georgiadogs.com video I linked back on August 2, 2012.
Now, he's keeping his elbow tucked, and consequently his shooting percentage will go way up.
I first spotted the change in his form when he was shooting free throws (I think it was in the first half). Great work.
Since I started this post, KCP has hit 3 more contested jump-shots. He ended the game shooting 10 of 14 from the field, averaging 71 percent, by far his highest shooting percentage for any game (his career shooting average is 39 percent).
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Great to Win One!
I know some will say that we ought to beat Mercer. And we should.
But getting it done takes execution. We had just enough today. UGA wins 58 to 49.
There were a few good signs.
1) We hit our free throws.
We went 13 of 16 (81%).
2) Fox used his roster more effectively
Shooting free throws well is good. But to hit'em, you gotta get'em. In other words, we're not going to go to the line if we just pass the ball around the perimeter. We have to attack the basket so we can get fouled in the first place. Charles Mann will do that. About time he got the start. Brandon Morris will do that. Better to give Morris major minutes than to trot Marcus Thornton out there on bad wheels. John Florveus got some key minutes.
3) Shot selection was better
We attempted 44 shots from the field. Only 12 were three-pointers. That's huge. Nemi didn't take any long-distance tries. If we shoot the three off of the drive and kick action, then we're more likely to make them. We hit 7 of 12.
4) KCP was Huge
Guy had 17 points, 9 boards and 3 steals, while shooting 5 of 10 from the floor and 5 of 6 from the line.
There were a couple of concerns, however. We will need buckets from Cannon, Morris and Donte Williams. If those three go a combined 0 for 6 against decent competition, UGA will more than likely lose the game. Besides that, fifteen turnovers is way high.
All in all, though, a good result for the Dawgs. We're now 3 and 7. Let's go on a streak. It's not too late.
But getting it done takes execution. We had just enough today. UGA wins 58 to 49.
There were a few good signs.
1) We hit our free throws.
We went 13 of 16 (81%).
2) Fox used his roster more effectively
Shooting free throws well is good. But to hit'em, you gotta get'em. In other words, we're not going to go to the line if we just pass the ball around the perimeter. We have to attack the basket so we can get fouled in the first place. Charles Mann will do that. About time he got the start. Brandon Morris will do that. Better to give Morris major minutes than to trot Marcus Thornton out there on bad wheels. John Florveus got some key minutes.
3) Shot selection was better
We attempted 44 shots from the field. Only 12 were three-pointers. That's huge. Nemi didn't take any long-distance tries. If we shoot the three off of the drive and kick action, then we're more likely to make them. We hit 7 of 12.
4) KCP was Huge
Guy had 17 points, 9 boards and 3 steals, while shooting 5 of 10 from the floor and 5 of 6 from the line.
There were a couple of concerns, however. We will need buckets from Cannon, Morris and Donte Williams. If those three go a combined 0 for 6 against decent competition, UGA will more than likely lose the game. Besides that, fifteen turnovers is way high.
All in all, though, a good result for the Dawgs. We're now 3 and 7. Let's go on a streak. It's not too late.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
We're Up at Half-Time
Great news!
Even better news: Fox cannot possibly misunderstand the box score. The guys who should get minutes (Mann, Gaines, KCP, Donte Williams and Brandon Morris) are a combined 14 of 19.
Meanwhile, the guys who should play a support role (Brantley, Djurisic, Dixon and Vincent Williams) are a combined 0 for 9.
If Fox utilizes his roster accordingly, we have a shot at turning the season around.
Even better news: Fox cannot possibly misunderstand the box score. The guys who should get minutes (Mann, Gaines, KCP, Donte Williams and Brandon Morris) are a combined 14 of 19.
Meanwhile, the guys who should play a support role (Brantley, Djurisic, Dixon and Vincent Williams) are a combined 0 for 9.
If Fox utilizes his roster accordingly, we have a shot at turning the season around.
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