UK pickup games feature unselfish play

Freshman Darius Miller came down the right side in transition. He threw a lob to the left side of the basket that Ramon Harris caught with one hand and then dunked.
Thus ended an entertaining hour of pickup basketball featuring Kentucky players and a few intriguing strangers on Saturday.
The play came with about a minute left on the running clock. Maybe the players stopped at that point and gathered in a smile-filled group at center court because they realized no better punctuation was possible. Or the dunk won the game.
Either way, the play served to re-enforce the overall impression made in Memorial Coliseum. These players seemed able and — more importantly — willing to share the ball.
In UK’s first public session of pickup games earlier this semester, the imprint made on the mind was an upgrade in athleticism from last season.
On Saturday, the various parts showed signs of meshing.
Individually, a player that stood out was freshman Donald Williams. Unlike the first public workout, he got a lot done. Hit a jumper over Patrick Patterson, a layup in traffic and a pull-up three-pointer.
The pickup games re-affirmed the return to health of Jodie Meeks and Patterson.
The games, which included recruit Jon Hood, also had a pair of slick guards believed to be players for the junior college Vincennes (Ind.) University.

Other observations included:

– The fans got into a H-O-R-S-E game between sophomore A.J. Stewart and recruit Jon Hood that preceeded the pickup games.

Stewart got much the best of it with driving dunks. Hood made his mark with long-range shots. In either case, the crowd cheered each make.

“Only in Kentucky do fans get into a game of H-O-R-S-E,” said Brian Hood, Jon’s father, afterward.

– Patterson has a flair for the dramatic. He arrived fashionably late, after most of the warmup activity. A fan could be heard to say, “There he is,” as Patterson first appeared. The crowd, which I’d estimate at 500, applauded.

– Transfer Matt Pilgrim made a nice play at Patterson’s expense. He spun away from Patterson’s post defense, took a feed and hit a reverse layup before Patterson could recover.

– Poor Jared Carter. The fans want so badly for him to impose his will. But he struggled. Early on, he took a pass in the low post, then coughed up the ball as the defense swarmed at him.

A moment later, he missed a layup. That miss caused a fan near me to take off his UK cap and throw it to the floor.

– Players can change a lot over an off-season. The prize for biggest change might go to junior guard Michael Porter. He looks noticably thicker and stronger.

– The most comical moment came late in the show when Meeks brought free on the fastbreak and missed a dunk. He then missed a contested follow layup before tipping in a third attempt. As he left the basket area, a grin crossed his face.