Practice Makes Perfect: Kanter is Americas best practice player.

Have you really watched a Kentucky basketball game this year? No, I mean really watched it. Being the coach from your recliner chair or wherever you watch the game. If you haven’t I suggest you do so because this team is so smooth and work together so well. Their chemistry is off the charts and they like to shoot the rock similar to, dare I say it? Early Pitino teams. As a Kentucky fan though we are entitled to be a negative Nancy every so often and if you have watched a Kentucky game this season you can see what our weakness is: Interior defense and rebounding. Thankfully though, we have Enes Kanter.

You may be saying “wait, Enes is ineligible to play for the rest of the season,” oh nothing has changed, the appeal process begins at the end of the month and we will know the details soon after that but because of the appeal process even though Enes is ruled ineligible he can practice with the team. This means that Josh Harrelson and Eloy Vargas have to go against the big man…Every….Single…Practice.

Vargas and Harrelson shouldn’t be complaining, and turns out they aren’t. In fact, Josh Harrelson is very happy about the fact that he is probably going up against an NBA lottery pick every practice. Not only does he have to guard Kanter but he has to box him out and rebound over him too, the same goes for Eloy Vargas, because according to Harrelson, “It’s definitely a two person job.” The good news? “He’s making me and Eloy (Vargas) way better”.

It may be a two person job but the presence of Enes Kanter in practice may have explained the phenomenal job by the UK defense in last night’s game against Portland, especially the play of Harrelson. Harrelson had 12 rebounds on the night and four were offensive boards including one early bucket where he snatched the offensive rebound and tipped it right back in.

There was also the fact that Kentucky blocked A LOT of shots last night, and most of those came from the blind side on the interior. Kentucky as a team had nine blocked shots and four of those came from Darius Miller who had one outstanding block on the perimeter, but the rest came from blind siding big men in the post.

Enes Kanter may not be able to contribute in the game but it very obvious that his effort as a practice player has paid off in game for the rest of the team. I know, I know. It was Portland, but the effort Kentucky gave was as if they were playing North Carolina, the defensive effort in the post was there and that focused effort and improvement is an obvious product of what Kanter has brought to practice.

Although we do not want Enes to remain a practice player, we want him on the court and the same goes for teammate Jon Hood who said “I love Enes,” and then finished with “So does everybody else, we wish he could play.”

So do we Jon…So do we.

Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans