Antonio Reeves hasn't skipped a beat; hits 8 threes against Team Africa

Antonio Reeves was Kentucky’s second-leading scorer a season ago. If his first three games at GLOBL Jam are any indication of what’s to come, he’ll easily be the team’s top scorer in 2023-24.

Through those first three games — all wins for the Wildcats — up in Toronto, Reeves has been shooting the leather off the ball. He’s poured in at least 23 points in all three outings, capped off by an electric 27-point performance against Team Africa on Saturday. In that 12-point win for Kentucky, Reeves connected on eight of his 11 three-point attempts, including four in the second quarter alone.

Reeves continues to do exactly what he did for most of last season with the Wildcats (minus his poor NCAA Tournament performance against Kansas State) but at an even higher level of efficiency. The 6-foot-5 sharpshooter is averaging 24.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game in Canada so far while shooting 60 percent from the floor (24-45) and an elite 58 percent from long range (14-24).

For fans that followed Kentucky last season, this isn’t exactly anything new from Reeves. He averaged 15.7 points per game during Southeastern Conference play and over 41 percent of his outside looks. His 37 points on 10-13 shooting from distance against Arkansas on the road will be remembered for years to come.

But there’s something slightly different about this version of Reeves, just a few months removed from a 1-15 shooting night in what was Kentucky’s final game of the 2022-23 season. He’s more confident, and it’s not hard to tell when he’s on the court. He’s been handed even more freedom than he had last year by head coach John Calipari.

27 PTS, 8 3PT – @ToniooReeves 🤩 pic.twitter.com/Hq1uWdhXye

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) July 15, 2023

Reeves is the go-to scorer now and he’s embracing that role. It’s noticeable through his quick trigger and lack of hesitation. He’s dribbling into stepback jumpers and settling into three-pointers before his fingertips even touch the ball.

“You know what, I loved that he comes off the bench, he shoots an airball, hard right — airball — and makes the next shot. That doesn’t happen a year ago. Does not happen a year ago,” Calipari said of Reeves after Saturday’s win. “That’s what I’ve been talking about all week here. The individual meetings, the team meetings, state of mind. How do you get to the state of mind you need to be in?

“And you cannot count on someone else getting you into that state of mind. You got to do it yourself. The rest of your basketball life is gonna be that: can I get myself in that zone where nothing affects me? Where there’s no up and down, nothing exterior. A coach, a fan, an official, no one gets to me, I respond to that stuff the way I want to. You control that. So what’s I’ve been working on. Proud of him. He’s so much more confident and comfortable.”

Reeves’ confidence isn’t just helping his own game though. With so many freshmen on the team still learning the college game, his belief that every shot is going in is trickling down to the young guys.

“It definitely helps a lot because it just shows that he came from a smaller school and now he’s at Kentucky, and he takes the shots with no remorse,” Freshman guard Rob Dillingham said of Reeves. “He’s gonna take the shot and he hits the shot so it just shows he has a lot of confidence, so it helps instill confidence in ourselves because we go against a lot of adversity. Definitely helps a lot.”

With every made shot this week, Reeves has reconfirmed what the Big Blue Nation already knew: Kentucky needed him back for another season. There was a period in time not long ago when it felt more likely than not that he was on the outs. But whatever it was that made him return — be it video games or the chance to improve his game before making the leap to the NBA — it’s already paying off for everyone involved.