Mark Pope preaches analytics; he loves numbers, and he listens to them when they show up in trends. Well, I have one that should have him changing his entire gameplan.
Andrija Jelavic came to Kentucky known more as a mid-post face-up threat. Mark Pope has extended that range out to the 3-point line with minimal success so far. Jela is shooting just 29 percent on 58 attempts. That experiment didn't really land with the type of connection that I think Mark Pope had hoped.
But was has worked is allowing Jelavic to shoot inside the paint.
Andrija Jelavic is putting up elite 2-point numbers
For a team that shoots right around 50% on layups and struggles with long offensive droughts, this team has an easy answer staring right at them. Andrija Jelavic is shooting 67% on 2-point shots on 61 attempts, according to ESPN.
So, that percentage is not some fluky thing that is happening on 25 shot attempts. Jelavic looks and feels more comfortable in the mid-post area, where he is given space to operate.
Now, he lacks the physical strength to do a lot of the heavy lifting on defense down low. He is slender and can get knocked off the spot on defense, but all of Kentucky's big men have that issue. What the other big men don't bring is elite inside scoring.
Malachi Moreno- 59 percent on 139 attempts
Brandon Garrison- 58 percent on 81 attempts
Mo Dioubate- 58 percent on 110 attempts.
So, the guy who has made the most percentage-wise has the fewest attempts inside the paint. That doesn't make sense.
Andrija Jelavic is not a big body, but he is skilled
As I said, I get that Jelavic is slender and gets knocked around. But if you have a team around him that can really cut off the ball, space it enough to force hard doubles, and knock down open shots, there is real joy to be found by giving the ball to Jelavic in the mid-post.
I envision using Jelavic more like Tim Duncan and less like Robert Horry. Yes, it would help this team if he could step in and knock down around 35% from deep, but that is not his game right now.
So, the next time Kentucky finds itself in a drought, maybe it should look to Jelavic down low to break them out. The numbers say it will work; Pope loves numbers, so let's see it.