Kentucky basketball: Game preview, 3 keys vs Florida
By Drew Koch
1. Quade Green is firing on all cylinders
Quade Green returned from a 3-game hiatus to suit up against the Florida Gators on January 21st. That game did not end well for Green. He was 1-of-8 from the field, including 0-of-4 from downtown. Green finished that game with 2 points in 17 minutes.
Fast forward to now. Green has been on a tear of late. During UK’s 4-game winning streak, Green is averaging 13.5 points and hitting 47% of his three-pointers. John Calipari is very comfortable playing Green and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander together in the backcourt. However, against Ole Miss, Cal was able to get a Shai a rest on the bench, and play Green and Hamidou Diallo together at the guard spots.
Quade Green is a capable shooter. He loves the pull up jumper and he’s quite good at it. Green is not the distributor that Gilgeous-Alexander is, but Quade has still dished out 3.8 assists during UK’s win streak as well.
This Kentucky basketball team is better with Shai and Quade in the lineup together. Gilgeous-Alexander is able to drive the lane and score, or find the open man. If Green, Kevin Knox or Wenyen Gabriel are occupying the perimeter, SGA has a plethora of players who can fill it up from deep.