KSR's takeaways from Kentucky WBB's 11-1 record in non-conference play

Kenny Brooks led Kentucky to an 11-1 record in non-conference play — a better start that most of us anticipated heading into the season. To recap it all, we here at KSR are going to provide our takeaways from Kentucky’s non-conference slate.

This team meshes perfectly – on and off the court

From the middle of summer to the end of December, it’s clear that this team works really well together. Big Blue Nation got to see behind the scenes of the players at the movies, or even having a Christmas party complete with White Elephant. It’s obvious to anyone that these players are friends, and the chemistry is undeniable.

On the court, the assists tell the full story. This team is clearly unselfish and willing to share the ball with each other. Not only is that more fun to watch, but it also displays how much these players truly trust each other.

“She [Dazia Lawrence] missed an opportunity to pass the ball out, and she pulled up and she shot it. I didn’t yell, I just alerted her to another opportunity because we always want to get the best shot…” Kenny Brooks said regarding his team’s pass offense.

With Georgia Amoore becoming a little more aggressive with her shot, it’s up to some of the other players to pay attention to teammate’s open looks. Luckily, they’ve been having no problem adjusting.

— Katie Hutchison

Snapped the Louisville streak!

As a proud Louisville hater, it felt extra good to be able to get a win over the Cardinals on November 16th. Before we even get to the actual game part, let’s just talk about the hours leading up to the game.

All week, I had been talking about how this was Kentucky’s time, and on The Memorial Memo, I made a case to the fans as to why they should sell out Historic Memorial Coliseum — and they did. I won’t take the credit for it — I’ll pass that off to the team — but it was awesome to see UK finally release that official “SOLD OUT” graphic on social media.

When I arrived to the arena on gameday, a number of Kentucky fans stopped me to talk about the upcoming rivalry game. It was fun chatting it up with the BBN pregame. It’s always fun when people squint at you before asking if you’re that guy that does women’s basketball for KSR. Not too long after that, I had to let Talia Goodman inside the arena because she went to the wrong door (and she also wore red to the game. Disgraceful.) Then, until about 30 minutes before tipoff, I spoke with some of the national media folks who were in attendance so that they could get a read on what was about to transpire.

I watched as the general admission seating filled up almost immediately after fans were let in, and that’s when I knew that Memorial would be at its best that night.

Kentucky had lost seven consecutive games to Louisville dating back to 2015. It felt like Jeff Walz had Kentucky all figured out, but there was one looming issue that he had to face this time around: Kenny Brooks.

Leading up to the game, Brooks had won three consecutive games against the Cardinals, and it felt like the Cats had the upper hand because of that. However, for most of the game, Kentucky was playing from behind. Then, the Cats managed to push the game to overtime, dominating the extra period to secure a 71-61 victory.

Georgia Amoore and Dazia Lawrence threw the L’s down, Kenny Brooks pumped his fists and gestured to the fans, and I yelled that Louisville sucks in our Rapid Reaction as some of their assistants were walking by just outside of my line of vision.

I’ve experienced a lot of ups and downs covering this program, but no highs were higher than the one that night.

— Phoenix Stevens

A truly veteran team is exactly what Kentucky needed

Last season, most of Kentucky’s roster was filled with underclassman. While most of them were talented players, none of them had true SEC or even college basketball experience. Nowadays, college sports revolve around what happens in the offseason with the transfer portal. With NIL, a lot of the best players choose the school that can pay them the most. It’s no longer all about who can recruit the most (or best) freshmen.

For Kenny Brooks, the majority of his roster is full of upperclassmen. Two graduate students, a redshirt senior, and four juniors make up over half of the roster. Of Kentucky’s starting lineup, Clara Strack is the only sophomore. Even then, she’s had experience playing in the NCAA Tournament last season, after Elizabeth Kitley’s season-ending injury.

Most of the lineup, besides the freshmen, of course, have real, good college basketball experience, and that makes a huge difference. Kentucky’s players have encountered opponents better than them. They’ve encountered opponents bigger than them. They’ve encountered problems that young players have probably not yet faced.

A veteran lineup is necessary now. And Kentucky has just that.

— Katie Hutchison

Loss at North Carolina sucks, but that was the one to lose

Alright, time to talk about the not-so-good stuff.

Kentucky’s 72-53 loss at North Carolina was just downright ugly. There’s no way to spin that. However, I do think that it’s worth noting that if there was any game that Kentucky probably should have lost in the non-conference, it was that one.

Not only were the Cats on the road, they were on the road against a Top 20 team in the country. There’s no shame in losing a game like that. Of course, it’s disappointing that Kentucky was never really competitive against the Tar Heels, but everyone is allowed one bad game, right? Besides, I’d rather lose now than in March.

It was especially brutal to watch Teonni Key play, who had just seven points on five shot attempts against her former team. Georgia Amoore had 10 points at the half on 4-6 shooting, but she would go 0-6 in the second half, ending with those 10 points.

Courtney Banghart has what I would say is her best team yet in her time at the helm in Chapel Hill. At 13-2, their only losses come to No. 7 UConn on a neutral court and No. 13 Georgia Tech who is undefeated. Hopefully, the Tar Heels make a run in the ACC and make Kentucky’s loss look a bit better.

But regardless, it’s good that this is the one Kentucky dropped, rather than Purdue Fort Wayne or Belmont — someone who would have put a significant blemish on Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament resume.

— Phoenix Stevens

Kenny Brooks was a HOME RUN hire

From the beginning of his tenure, fans could tell that Kenny Brooks was different. After watching four years of some extremely lackluster Kentucky Women’s Basketball, it was time for a change. I think most of BBN can agree: Mitch Barnhart knocked the hire out of the park.

Whether he’s telling jokes in a press conference or sitting on a folding stool on the sideline, Brooks does everything with a purpose. For the first time in a long time, it’s fun to listen to a coach. It’s fun to watch a coach do his job. It’s fun to watch Kentucky Women’s Basketball. And, it’s already apparent that Brooks could go down in history as one of the Kentucky ‘greats’ through only 12 non-conference games.

Of course, fans won’t get to see Brooks in full force until tournament time, but there’s still plenty of ways he’s proven himself as the best possible coach for this program.

Recruiting

After losing the majority of last year’s team to the transfer portal, Brooks came in on an almost completely empty slate. While it’s not crazy to believe that Brooks already discussed coming to Kentucky with some of his current roster, I’d like to believe he started from scratch. Sure, he brought over Georgia Amoore and Clara Strack from Virginia Tech, but he also recruited Amelia Hassett from JUCO’s Eastern Florida State College. The man can recruit, that’s for sure.

Changing Georgia Amoore’s shot

If you remember anything about Amoore from Virginia Tech, you’d know she’s one of the best shooters in the country. She had multiple 30+ point games and set a record for the highest points scored in an ACC matchup (39). Recently, she hit 2,000 career points, and what better place to do that than at Historic Memorial Coliseum.

However, this season, Amoore’s shot lost a little bit of its spark. Of course, Brooks noticed. He revealed in a press conference following a win over Belmont, that he changed her shot two weeks prior. At the beginning of December, Amoore and Brooks took time to adjust her release, and it made a huge difference.

“If looks could kill,” he said, “I wouldn’t be here right now. But she didn’t fight me on it. She wasn’t comfortable with it. She didn’t like it… we simplified some things.”

“We have an unwritten or unspoken verbal communication where I know when she doesn’t like something, but I’m really stubborn and I’m like ‘No, we’re going to stay with it.’ Now two weeks later, it looks really, really good.“

— Katie Hutchison

Getting better at the perfect time

Ever since the North Carolina game, Kentucky has been on an upward trajectory.

Offensively, Kentucky is starting to find some rhythm after really struggling to open the season. While the slow starts seem to be a bit of an issue still, Kentucky is getting better at not letting those slow starts set the trend for the rest of the game.

According to Corey Price, the Cats have scored 82+ points in four consecutive games for the first time since 2015, when they did it five times in a span from November 18th to December 2nd. So, not only is the offense rolling at a rate good for this team, but good for Kentucky in general.

Kenny Brooks wanted Georgia Amoore to be more selfish offensively moving forward, and that has shown in her game. She has now scored at least 20 points in four straight games, and she’s not the only player seeing similar recent success.

Dazia Lawrence has now recorded at least five assists in four straight games after recording zero total assists in the four games prior. Not too shabby for a prototypical score-first guard. Amelia Hassett is three-point shooting, rebound-grabbing machine who can put up a double-double on any given night too.

It feels like all of the pieces are slowly starting to come together for this team, and that is extremely beneficial heading into SEC play.

— Phoenix Stevens