Kentucky Wildcat Basketball Preview – Know Your Enemy: Vanderbilt Commodores
By Paul Jordan
GAME 24
FEBRUARY 12, 2011, 1:00 PM
#24 VANDERBILT COMMODORES 17-6 (5-4)
MEMORIAL GYM – NASHVILLE, TN
SERIES HISTORY
KENTUCKY LEADS 133-43
RECENT HISTORY
2/20/2010: KENTUCKY 58 Vanderbilt 56
1/30/2010: KENTUCKY 85 Vanderbilt 72
2/17/2009: Vanderbilt 77 KENTUCKY 64
1/10/2009: KENTUCKY 70 Vanderbilt 60
2/12/2008: Vanderbilt 93 KENTUCKY 52
You can keep the cheesy anniversary card, but Saturday’s game at Vanderbilt marks the three year anniversary of one of the most embarrassing losses in Kentucky basketball history. We are talking about the 93-52 beatdown that Vanderbilt put on Kentucky … you remember the game … the one where we were down 41-11 at the half? Yea. Let’s move on.
Kentucky is 4-6 in their last 10 trips to Nashville and last year’s win snapped a four game streak. It is important to note though that those were some pretty average Kentucky teams that went to Nashville. None of them were ranked at the time. If you want to be positive, Kentucky has not lost at Vanderbilt as a ranked team since 2004 and are 4-2 in Nashville as a ranked team over the past 10 years. Kentucky has won their last two road trips here as a ranked team, so the quality of the team UK is sending has a lot to do with our success there.
THE STARTERS
#1 – G – BRAD TINSLEY – JR 6’3 210
10.5 ppg, 4.5 apg, 4.1 rpg
#23 – G – JOHN JENKINS – SO 6’4 215
19.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1 apg
#44 – G/F – JEFFREY TAYLOR – JR 6’7 225
15.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.4 apg
#5 – G/F – LANCE GOULBOURNE – JR – 6’8 225
7.6 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.6 apg
#3 – C – FESTUS EZELI – JR 6’11 255
12.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 0.2 apg
BACK COURT
Brad Tinsley has made the position move from shooting guard to point guard this year and for the most part, has done a pretty good job. He has an A/TO ratio of 2.00 which is good, but he tends to struggle with long, athletic guards like Kentucky will throw at him. Tinsley’s shooting has actually improved with the switch to the point, and he is hitting 37.2% of his treys. Tinsley is actually a decent rebounder and even has a triple double on the season. Tinsley is not a great defender though and he could struggle against Lamb and Knight’s quickness. In just his sophomore season, John Jenkins has emerged as the top scorer in the SEC and he can take over a game. He is a 3-point machine and is hitting 40.7% of his attempts and has been on a scoring tear over his last ten games, averaging 21.2. His “low games” have been 18, so the common thought has been to let him get his points and shut the rest of the Commodres down. Kentucky will try of course, so expect Jenkins to get a heavy dose of DeAndre Liggins. Jeffrey Taylor is a very solid wing player and is the true leader on this team. He does everything for the Commodores, as he is second in scoring, assists, and leads the teams in steals. He also hits 40.2% of his treys which is impressive considering he just had one three pointer all of last season. The only knock on him is that he does turn the ball over a good bit. Kyle Fuller will see some time but the freshman seems a little overmatched right now, averaging 2 points and 1.6 assists a game and is hitting just 32.7% of his shots and 20% of his treys. Regardless, Kentucky can not ignore him and let him do a “Scottie Wilbiekin” on them.
FRONT COURT
Like Taylor, Lance Goulbourne is a very gifted wing and can play either the three or the four, but I think we will see Lance more entrenched at the PF position tomorrow. He is a bit inconsistent, but has had stretches where he has played very well offensively for a few games at a time, but then he disappears for a few games. He can be a dominate rebounder at times, but he has just 14 rebounds total in his last four games. He’s not a great 3-point shooter (29.7%) and tends to make that the focus of his scoring. Against Alabama last night, all of his FG attempts were treys. Festus Ezeli is the rarity. He is that Nigerian prospect that actually develops and does more than just block a ton of shots. He has blossomed from averaging 3.8 ppg each of the past two years to become a legitimate double digit scorer. He is hitting 57.9% of his shots and he can hurt you on the offensive boards. His game is still limited a bit offensively to a 10 foot radius of the basket, but he is very effective inside. He does average more fouls a game (3.4) than blocks (2.2) however. Ezeli only plays about 22 minutes a game. Steve Tchiengang gives the Commodores a true international flavor as the 6’9 junior hails from Cameroon. He is averaging 5.1 points and 3.2 boards a game and will take the occasional trey, of which he is hitting 41.7% Freshman Rod Odom is another big player that at 6’9 is averaging 4.7 ppg and 2.8 apg. Despite his size, 65% of Odom’s FG attempts are 3-pointers and he is converting at a 42.6% rate.
OUTLOOK
Vanderbilt i
s not a very deep team as they really only play eight players regularly. So for the first time in a while, we won’t have to hear the incessant babble about how thin Kentucky’s bench is compared to their opponent. Ezeli and Tchiengang essentially share the center position, so in reality, so that bench gets a little thinner when you consider that. Regardless, Vanderbilt is always going to be a very well coached team and they are a handful to handle at home. Unfortunately, it looks as if we may see the same officials in this game as worked the Vanderbilt/Alabama game so you really never know if officiating is going to play a part in the game. I really hate that officiating has gotten so bad in the SEC that we have to consider who the officials are in a pre-game scouting report, but Mike Slive needs to start handing out some fines.
Vanderbilt has a nice, but not overwhelming frontcourt. Jones should be able to overwhelm Goulbourne and Harrellson can hold his own against Ezeli/Tchiengang. But for once, it will be nice to go a half without one of those two getting two early fouls. Now if Jeffrey Taylor plays the four some, that can present problems for Jones as Taylor can take over a game. I actually feel pretty good about Liggins and Miller covering Jenkins and Taylor though. 3-point defense will actually be a concern as well. Vandy is hitting 38% of their treys which is a higher percentage of past seasons.
They key to this game is to get off to a good start. If Kentucky gets in early foul trouble and has to go to the bench for extended minutes, Vanderbilt can exploit that. Believe it or not, I think that Kentucky can have a good game inside tomorrow and that can be a key to victory. For some reason, I feel a dominating performance by Jones and maybe a double double from Harrellson. If we can get that, that will open up our three point snipers and hopefully allow us to get a 6-8 point lead which will help to neutralize the crowd. One thing we do not want to do is have to foul at the end because Vandy is a good FT shooting team. I think this is a game Kentucky can steal on the road and one they have to wn if this is going to be a SEC contender. In a close one, Kentucky 71 Vandy 67.
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