Andrew Carr's 'elite-level' decision-making was on display against Minnesota State

Andrew Carr has played a lot of basketball. The 6-foot-11 forward has started 112 of the 117 games he’s appeared in across his four-year college career (two seasons at Delaware followed by two more at Wake Forest) before transferring to Kentucky. His 1,286 points during that span are the most of any player on a Wildcats’ roster loaded with plenty of experienced and battle-tested fifth-year veterans.

As a floor-spacing big man who can do a little bit of everything, it’s no wonder new head coach Mark Pope joked that Carr was born to play for him. Hell, Carr is even beginning to sound and act like Pope (compare their postgame press conferences and you’ll quickly catch on to what I’m talking about). Through two preseason games for Kentucky, we’re beginning to understand why Pope heavily targeted Carr in the portal.

During his first preseason game with the ‘Cats last week, Carr went for 10 points (4-4 FG), four rebounds, and one assist in just 16 minutes against Kentucky Wesleyan. In game two against Minnesota State on Tuesday night, Carr posted 14 points (5-7 FG), three rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block in 17 minutes. Due to foul trouble in the first half, most of that production came after halftime.

Equally as important, especially as a big man who has the ball in his hands plenty, Carr has yet to record a turnover. He’s beautifully picking his spots when it comes to scoring or passing — not too sped-up, not too slowed-down. It makes for some aesthetically pleasing hoops.

“Andrew Carr is such an elite-level decider. He’s really a capable decision-maker,” Pope said postgame. “One, he’s a 66 percent two-point shooter, which is pretty incredible. He shot 38 percent from the three last year. He’s really wildly efficient at making shots. He makes shots. But he stacks decisions.

“It’s something we saw in film from him last year at Wake Forest, where he is turning the ball and someone jumps in the passing lane and he can actually stack a decision where he reads it correctly, gets downhill, gets to two feet, makes another ball fake, and then finally completes a pass or a play. There’s not that many guys his size with his ability to make shots and finish shots that can stack decisions like him. He’s really special.”

I love when Andrew Carr can flip his hips and turn a little drive into a post move. Makes for really good offense.

The 6’11” 4-man goes coast-to-coast here and draws help as he makes a move towards the midline.

Great pass out to Trent Noah. Bang! pic.twitter.com/TuMuwBCP5i

— Brandon Ramsey (@BRamseyKSR) October 30, 2024

Carr has been stacking good decisions like he’s playing Street Fighter on easy mode. He says it’s “a lot of reading and reacting” to what the defense is showing, trying to think a play or two ahead of what’s coming. His basketball IQ is very high.

“I think he’s really really difficult to guard as a scorer and as a playmaker,” Pope added. “I think he’s good in both of those areas.”

But Pope was also impressed with what he saw out of Carr on the defensive end against Minnesota State. The defending Division II national champions were still no match for Kentucky, but this was a matchup that would require more effort on that end compared to the first exhibition. Especially with Amari Williams playing just three minutes before going down with an injury, there was more responsibility on that end for Carr.

“I thought he had a real challenge defensively (against Minnesota State),” Pope said. “Sometimes when you’re playing undersized teams that really shoot it one through four, and at times one through five, he’s got to race around the floor and guard smaller guys. And I thought his attention to detail on the defensive end was really terrific tonight. His defensive performance was much improved from our first exhibition. I was really proud of him tonight.”

Watch the latest Mark Pope press conference on the KSR YouTube Channel.