@KentuckyMBB
Abandoned all contact practices since early October and the first nine games of the Kentucky season with a complicated calf injury, sophomore striker Keion Brooks Jr. returned with revenge.
Finishing with 12 points on 6-8 shots, six rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal in 24 minutes, Brooks was one of the key reasons Kentucky got the 76-58 victory and went 3-0 up. conference game.
After months of uncertainty and limitations in practice, UK coach John Calipari was delighted to have “constant strength” back in the Kentucky line-up.
“The only thing he couldn’t do with us was anything to do with the contact. He was practicing, conditioning, and I said, “It’s better, because we’ll know something in the next two days. Better condition. “And it has been,” said Calipari. “He is just a disciplined, conscious player. Very good to have a constant strength. … There was a lot of good.”
The impressive performance of the debut comes after an emotional week for the second-year striker, where he was waiting for the news of another delayed return of the team’s doctors.
“I told the team that when he talked to the doctors, he seemed scared to death, he thought he would go longer. His hands were shaking. He came to see me, they clarified it and he and I went. I got excited and I hugged him ”.
After the news, Brooks wasn’t worried about where he would fit in the rotation or how many minutes he would get right away. The veteran striker only cared about doing what was best for the team.
Given the team’s recent public and private turmoil, Calipari quickly used Brooks ’response and general message as a lesson for the team.
“I said, ‘I need to figure out how I can introduce you.'” He said, “Coach, I trust you, you do what you think is best for this team.” . “I said,‘ Think of some of you. Some of you say, “Why did you subdue me ?!” Think of you. Think about how he responded to that. He is a leader by example. He’s not a tough guy, he’s not who he is. “
In terms of presence on the track, Brooks won his impressive year-end performance in Gainesville last March, taking it easy and confidently. It looked like a slight rust, but Brooks made the right scoring, passing and defensive decisions more often.
“You’ve seen the kind of athlete he is,” Calipari said. “You see, he’s much stronger physically than he was. He is much more patient mentally, the game has slowed down. It’s a big deal. We’ve been playing without him, I mean, go.
Calipari compared Brooks to a track coach, praising the second striker for his guidance and leadership in his season debut.
“It can calm them down on the court, so it gets us off the staff,” the UK head coach said. “That’s what makes it amazing, in the state of Mississippi, how we got there without him. How we did it and how they stayed together. He’s a special young man, a great human being, a great teammate and an expert basketball player, very talented. “
Preparing alongside Brooks for the first time in his career, graduate transfer keeper Davion Mintz struggled to find words to describe the striker’s 6-foot, 7-yard play in his debut. Simply put, it changed the game.
“You saw the game, you saw it,” Mintz said. “It gave us a completely different element to the game. Keion has been amazing today. It was super fun. I’m speechless, really. It was amazing. “
Interestingly, Mintz felt that an awesome day was coming for Brooks after talking to him during the pre-match warm-ups. There were no nerves, no pressure.
Brooks was just grateful to be back on the ground.
“Keion has been having good practices. He has been relaxing. But not to discredit their practices, it has been nothing like gambling. I just turned a different switch, it was amazing, “Mintz said.” We were testing it, seeing what it could do. … We knew it would play well, but we didn’t know it would come in and impact. That’s just a merit for its work and rehabilitation, the guys who helped him.
“… He has no pressure on him. Before the game he told me: “I’m just going to have fun, I have nothing to lose. I’m happy to play right now. ” Once I saw he had that attitude, I knew, “Okay, good morning to Keion.” And he did. ”
As for Brooks, he relied on his ability to produce in his debut, crediting Kentucky strength coach Rob Harris for keeping him in shape while his stomach injury kept him out. the competition.
“I have always believed in my ability to come back and play well. I was constantly working, keeping fit, ”Brooks said. “A big shout out to Coach Rob Harris, our strength coach. I don’t even like to call him that, it’s so much more than that. Not only did he do a great job keeping me in good shape, but I spent a lot of time with him, so I was always on the lookout to keep me positive. The conversations we had, he really helped me get over what was going on. “
Above all, beyond production, Brooks was only happy to serve as the leader of a desperate team since the season began. He wanted to bring a positive and contagious attitude to the ground, which ended with his teammates.
“You hit me in the head, my leadership. I try to bring energy and I hope my energy is contagious to my teammates, ”said Brooks. “They also did a great job of staying with me the whole time I was injured. He didn’t want to go out and drop them, not play at their level, or be as committed as they are, or have as much energy as they would have. This works both ways.
“My leadership depended a lot on them and they allowed me to be a leader. It went well tonight. ”