Koby Brea’s teammates tell him he’s the best shooter in the world — and he's playing like it

Imagine knocking down five 3-pointers on eight attempts in a single game and your season average drops nearly five whole percentage points. It sounds impossible, but that was the reality for Koby Brea following Kentucky’s blowout win over Jackson State — 78.9 percent from deep (15-19) down to 74.1 percent (20-27).

What a scrub, huh?

The Dayton transfer is on track to beat Kentucky’s all-time record set by Reed Sheppard at 52.08 percent last season by 22 percent on better volume, 5.4 per game compared to 4.4. He’s feeling so good he drilled a 3-pointer in the corner in front of Mark Pope and immediately started talking trash to his own head coach against the Tigers.

“That was awesome. I love that,” Pope said, adding that he finds it hilarious his 5-8 night from deep dropped his shooting percentage. “… (That) is just crazy and I’ve never seen that in my lifetime. He’s sure is doing special things for us.”

How about his teammates? Have they ever seen anything like that? Of course not, because it’s never been done before. Brea’s hit rate of 49.8 percent last season at Dayton is already top-20 in the history of the sport among those with at least 2.5 makes per game. The record is 56.03 percent set by Micah Mason of Duquesne in 2013-14, a number he very well may leave in the dust if he sticks with his current pace.

“No, not even close (to seeing anything like this). No. Never,” Andrew Carr told KSR on Monday. “Koby is one of a kind, man. He’s really special.”

Is there a secret to his success? Carr admits part of it has to be a gift from the man above. The rest is hard work paying off to the point where his peers firmly believe every shot he takes is going in.

He thinks so, too.

“Honestly, I don’t even know (how he does it),” Carr continued. “I think it’s got to be a little bit of God-given touch and talent. He works super, super hard. We see that and just the way the ball comes off his hand. He thinks it’s going in, we all think it’s going in every single time.”

Any advice he can give his teammates to follow in his footsteps? They jokingly ask, like the Tune Squad trying to drink Michael’s Secret Stuff in Space Jam.

Considering the team as a whole is shooting 42.3 percent from deep on the year, Brea doesn’t think they need that much help

“They do (ask for advice), but just playing around. At the end of the day, once you get to this point and this level, everybody has their shot and their mechanics, their routine,” he said. “It’s hard to change that right now — it’s been working out for everybody pretty well. I don’t think anybody should change anything. We just like joking around here and there.”

Those jokes are part of his teammates’ consistent effort to keep the good vibes going with Brea — because whatever he’s doing right now is working pretty darn well. If making him feel like the greatest shooter to ever touch a basketball is what it takes to make him the greatest shooter to ever touch a basketball, that’s what they’re going to do.

“They keep hyping me up. Every time I see them, they’re just like, ‘The best shooter in the world just walked in!’ It’s definitely something to get used to, but it’s cool to see how much energy they give me,” Brea said. “We all do it to each other — you’ve got to give the same energy right back. There is positivity in the room all the time.”

What’s it like having that guy on your side? The results are pretty clear.

“It’s super dangerous when you have someone on your team like that,” Carr told KSR. “It’s not only from right on the line, he’ll take two or three steps back, as well. He’s such a threat for us and adds so much to this team.”