Former Kentucky Wildcats in the NBA: 12/6 Edition
Dec 5, 2012; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo (9) puts up a shot while guarded by Minnesota Timberwolves guard Alexey Shved (1) during the fourth quarter at TD Banknorth Garden. The Boston Celtics won 104-94. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
A busy night for the Kentucky Wildcats in the NBA. There were a wide range of performances from the Ex-UK players with some disappointing while others were excellent for their teams. Regardless, many of the players tonight showed they are essential to the success of their teams moving forward.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist- 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block. Though the stat line looks sufficient, the loss against the Knicks was a rough game for Kidd-Gilchrist. He committed an inexcusable turnover with little time remaining when J.R Smith intercepted his pass. To add insult to injury, J.R Smith drained a long jump shot over MKG to win the game for New York Knicks.
Rajon Rondo- 17 points, 11 assists, 1 steal, 1 rebound. Prototypical stat line for the elite point guard in the win over the Timberwolves. This was Rondo’s first game after his suspension, and he made an immediate impact for Boston with Avery Bradley out of the lineup.
Brandon Knight- 4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists. A tough night for Knight as his stats were pretty low along with his team’s five home game winning streak being snapped by the Warriors.
Tayshaun Prince- 24 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists. Despite the loss, Tayshaun made an excellent showing in Auburn Hills last night as the leading scorer for the Pistons. He continues to provide the veteran leadership to a very young Detroit team.
Jodie Meeks- 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals. Meeks continues to be the sharpshooter for the Lakers as he made 3 from behind the arc last night to score 9 points in the Lakers win over the Hornets. In only 25 minutes, Meeks provided the offense needed as well as 3 steals in a solid effort.
Darius Miller- 1 rebound. Miller got very limited playing time in the loss to the Lakers. The Hornets are desperately missing the production of Anthony Davis who is out with injury.
Doron Lamb- 4 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal. Lamb has been putting up these kind of numbers consistently at this point in the season. With 22 minutes of play, he took 8 shots to only have a .250 field goal percentage in the loss to the Spurs.
Enes Kanter- 4 points, 3 rebounds. Kanter only received 16 minutes of playing time in the win over the Magic. He still managed to put up some production in that limited span and continues to battle for time in a power-forward heavy team.
Demarcus Cousins- 25 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block. This is the stat line most expected Cousins to average coming into this season. However, Cousins has struggled by those standards, and he expressed his disappointment in himself as well as confusion as to why he has not improved from last season. However, the season is still young and Cousins has shown in games like this one that he can take over the game at the forward position.
Eric Bledsoe- 8 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal. Bledsoe continues to show he can produce in all aspects despite checking into the game for only 19 minutes. If Chris Paul was not in his way, Bledsoe would more than likely have excellent stat lines as he shows every skill needed for a starting NBA point guard when he does get on the court.