Doron Lamb (Sun photo by Bo Morris) |
LEXINGTON — Doron Lamb doesn’t know it all and is still learning.
Although one of the team’s most-experienced players, Lamb and the rest of his Kentucky teammates learned a lesson following a 97-53 victory over Transylvania Wednesday night in the first of two exhibition games for the Wildcats Wednesday night at Rupp¿Arena.
Although playing a Division III opponent, Lamb and the Wildcats started slow and fell behind 11-4 in the first five minutes. Kentucky recovered from the cold start and outscored the Pioneers 60-30 in the second half for the final margin.
The tense five-minute stretch was enough to convince the Cats not to take the Pioneers lightly.
“We have to take everything serious,” Lamb said afterward. “Everyone is trying to go hard on us because we’re one of the best teams in the country, so we have to go hard out there and adjust.”
Lamb added that Kentucky did take Transy serious enough, but realized it would take more than just showing up to run away from the Division III¿opponent.
“Everyone expected for us to blow them out, so we kind of came out there nonchalant,” he said. “We came out there in the second half, got on a little run and that’s what did it.”
As expected, Lamb produced a solid performance and finished as Kentucky’s second-leading scorer against the Pioneers with 19 points, behind classmate Terrence Jones, who tallied 22 points and 12 rebounds. Lamb made eight shots on 11 attempts, including three shots from long range, collected two steals and dished out one assist.
Lamb said the unofficial opener was a “great playing someone different other than ourselves.”
“We started out slow a little bit, because it was our first time (playing against an outside opponent),” he said. “We picked it up in the second half and we got the (win).”
Lamb admitted Kentucky coach John Calipari wasn’t pleased with the performance, but at the same time, realized his team has plenty of room to grow.
“He was upset a little bit, but he knows it’s our first game, so he can’t go that hard on us,” he said. “We have to keep working in practice, keep getting better as we did today and you’ll see improvement.”
Lamb was impressed by the performance of freshmen Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Davis paced the defensive effort with eight blocks, while Kidd-Gilchrist came off the bench and scored 19 points and dished out five assists.
Lamb knows what it’s like to get a shot blocked by Davis and has had a few of his shots swatted down by the freshman forward in practice. Lamb added that Davis “has a lot of length and faster than a lot of big men,” resulting in his ability to dominate in the post.
“I’m used to that,” Lamb said of Davis’ blocked shots. “You see it at practice all of the time. That’s what he does is rebound and block shots.That’s what we expect.”
As a unit, Lamb sees the team coming together as the regular season draws closer.
“First all you have to listen to coach (Calipari) and we have fast learners,” he said. “We are working hard in practice and we’re getting better and better every day. We’ve got to keep working hard on defense and working hard on offense.”
Like Calipari, Lamb said the Cats have a “long way to go” as a team and individually.
“We have a young team,” he said. “I just have to keep getting better, rebound more and get my teammates involved (on offense). “(Coach Cal) always tells us to play hard and as a team
“We have to keep doing it, working hard in practice. If we do it in practice it will carry over into the games.”
Although one of the team’s most-experienced players, Lamb and the rest of his Kentucky teammates learned a lesson following a 97-53 victory over Transylvania Wednesday night in the first of two exhibition games for the Wildcats Wednesday night at Rupp¿Arena.
Although playing a Division III opponent, Lamb and the Wildcats started slow and fell behind 11-4 in the first five minutes. Kentucky recovered from the cold start and outscored the Pioneers 60-30 in the second half for the final margin.
The tense five-minute stretch was enough to convince the Cats not to take the Pioneers lightly.
“We have to take everything serious,” Lamb said afterward. “Everyone is trying to go hard on us because we’re one of the best teams in the country, so we have to go hard out there and adjust.”
Lamb added that Kentucky did take Transy serious enough, but realized it would take more than just showing up to run away from the Division III¿opponent.
“Everyone expected for us to blow them out, so we kind of came out there nonchalant,” he said. “We came out there in the second half, got on a little run and that’s what did it.”
As expected, Lamb produced a solid performance and finished as Kentucky’s second-leading scorer against the Pioneers with 19 points, behind classmate Terrence Jones, who tallied 22 points and 12 rebounds. Lamb made eight shots on 11 attempts, including three shots from long range, collected two steals and dished out one assist.
Lamb said the unofficial opener was a “great playing someone different other than ourselves.”
“We started out slow a little bit, because it was our first time (playing against an outside opponent),” he said. “We picked it up in the second half and we got the (win).”
Lamb admitted Kentucky coach John Calipari wasn’t pleased with the performance, but at the same time, realized his team has plenty of room to grow.
“He was upset a little bit, but he knows it’s our first game, so he can’t go that hard on us,” he said. “We have to keep working in practice, keep getting better as we did today and you’ll see improvement.”
Lamb was impressed by the performance of freshmen Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Davis paced the defensive effort with eight blocks, while Kidd-Gilchrist came off the bench and scored 19 points and dished out five assists.
Lamb knows what it’s like to get a shot blocked by Davis and has had a few of his shots swatted down by the freshman forward in practice. Lamb added that Davis “has a lot of length and faster than a lot of big men,” resulting in his ability to dominate in the post.
“I’m used to that,” Lamb said of Davis’ blocked shots. “You see it at practice all of the time. That’s what he does is rebound and block shots.That’s what we expect.”
As a unit, Lamb sees the team coming together as the regular season draws closer.
“First all you have to listen to coach (Calipari) and we have fast learners,” he said. “We are working hard in practice and we’re getting better and better every day. We’ve got to keep working hard on defense and working hard on offense.”
Like Calipari, Lamb said the Cats have a “long way to go” as a team and individually.
“We have a young team,” he said. “I just have to keep getting better, rebound more and get my teammates involved (on offense). “(Coach Cal) always tells us to play hard and as a team
“We have to keep doing it, working hard in practice. If we do it in practice it will carry over into the games.”
