Among Kentucky players, only walk-ons Zan Payne, Brennan Canada and Kareem Watkins have played fewer minutes than Lance Ware this season.
Ware acknowledged that his potential minutes are severely limited by the eye-popping play of Oscar Tshiebwe.
“It’s kind of the cards I was dealt,” Ware said Tuesday. “Oscar is really good, and the way he’s playing right now is just unbelievable. . . .
“This is the role I was given. So, I have to make the best of it. Like, I could pout (and) not want to play. But I’m just going to make the most of my opportunity.”
UK assistant coach Ron “Chin” Coleman saluted Ware’s attitude.
“He’s always in the gym,” Coleman said. “He’s always a selfless guy. He’s the biggest cheerleader.
“I talked to Lance. I told him his time will come. He could have folded. He could have gone in the tank and pouted and listened to the clutter. . . . He’s doing an unbelievable job.”
When asked to define his role on the team, Ware said, “I try to bring as much energy as possible.”
Practicing against Tshiebwe is a “blessing,” Ware said.
Ware also acknowledged that Tshiebwe’s absence from the court if for no other reason than foul trouble is seen as diminishing Kentucky’s team.
“I just know what my role was going to be,” he said. “As the season went on, and we started playing more games, I understood what I had to do.”
Warning Wheeler
To re-emphasize the need to protect Sahvir Wheeler, UK Coach John Calipari has said that all players must warn the point guard of a possible back screen being set. This alert system will include Coleman, Calipari said before adding that he’d rather the assistant coach come onto the floor and get a technical foul rather than Wheeler run blindly into another back screen.
Coleman confirmed that he has this responsibility “because I have a loud voice and I wear glasses. So I can identify a back screen or ‘smack opportunity’ about to happen to Sahvir.”
Coleman said he will yell a warning from the bench. Then he added, “but that’s everybody’s job.”
Aiding Pippen
Vanderbilt Coach Jerry Stackhouse saw significance in Rodney Chatman’s return from injury last weekend. Chatman, who had missed the last five games because of hamstring and knee injuries, played 12 minutes in Vandy’s 85-77 victory over Georgia. He scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds.
“(Chatman) does such great things for us on the floor,” Stackhouse said after the game. “I think he’s a common force for everybody. . . . He just allows everyone to relax.”
Among teammates that benefit from Chatman’s presence is Scotty Pippen Jr., Stackhouse said. Pippen is the SEC’s second-leading scorer (18.6 ppg) and has scored 1,213 points in his college career.
“The beauty of it in having Rodney back is he allows the game to open up for Scotty,” the Vandy coach said. “Instead of a quicker point guard on him, now it’s more of a two-guard who may have a little more size, but won’t have the foot speed to really handle him and his playmaking.
“Shooting guards aren’t really used to guarding point guards.”
‘Big’ missing
Liam Robbins, a 7-footer who transferred from Minnesota to Vanderbilt, has not yet played this season because of a stress reaction in a foot. He led the Big Ten in blocks last season (2.7 per game).
Robbins worked out Sunday, Stackhouse said. A return to playing is expected sometime in early February. When he returns, Robbins’ playing time will be limited, Stackhouse said.
“So, it’s not like he’s going to come back full bore. But it’s definitely good to have that big body out there.”
UK big man Oscar Tshiebwe scored a career-high 30 points in the victory at Vanderbilt on Jan. 11. His 13 rebounds helped Kentucky enjoy a 42-26 advantage on the boards.
“Obviously, we want to try to contain him and control him,” Stackhouse said of Tshiebwe. “He’s unique. He really is unique.”
TyTy on list
TyTy Washington was among 10 players named to an updated watch list for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year award as given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Other players on the list include former UK player Johnny Juzang of UCLA and Ochai Agbaji of Kansas.
SEC vs. Big Ten
Coleman’s move from the staff at Illinois to Kentucky prompted a request that he compare the basketball played in the SEC to the Big Ten. He said the leagues had different styles of play.
“The Big Ten is brutal, more physical . . . ,” he said. “Every team has two or three 7-footers.”
Of SEC basketball, he said, “this is a faster, more athletic-paced league.”
Etc.
Mike Morgan and Jon Sundvold will call the game for the SEC Network.
The Kentucky Wildcats basketball player who is proving a lot of skeptics wrong