@KentuckyMBB
Sitting out of all contact practices since early October and the first nine games of the season in Kentucky, with a complicated calf injury, second-year striker Keion Brooks Jr. has 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 managed to win the 76-58 explosion and move on to 3-0 in the conference game.
After several months of uncertainty and training limitations, the head coach of Great Britain, John Calipari, was delighted to have a “constant force” again in the Kentucky range.
“The only thing he couldn’t do with us was contact. He practiced, conditioned and I said: “Better, because we will know something in the next few days. You better stay. “And he was,” Calipari said. “He is just a disciplined, conscientious player. I’m glad I have a constant strength. … It was very good. “
The impressive debut performance comes after an exciting week for the second-year striker, one in which he expected news of another delayed return from the team’s doctors.
“I told this team, when he talked to the doctors, he seemed scared to death, he thought it would go better. His hands were shaking. He came to see me, they wiped him, and he and I got excited and hugged him. “
According to the news, Brooks was not worried about where he would rotate or how many minutes he would receive immediately. 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 slide you.’ He said: “Coach, I trust you, you do what you think is best for this team.” I told the team that “, said Calipari. “I said, ‘Think of some. You are replaced, and some of you are like, “Why did you obey me ?!” I’m thinking of you. Think about how he responded to that. He is a leader by example. He’s not a confrontational guy, he’s not who he is. “
In terms of field presence, Brooks built his impressive end-of-year performance in Gainesville last March, behaving with balance and confidence. You could see a slight rust, but Brooks made the right scoring, passing, and defensive decisions most often.
“You saw the kind of athlete he is,” Calipari said. “You see, he is much stronger physically than he was. He is much more patient, the game has slowed down for him. It’s a big deal. I played without him, I mean, come on. “
Calipari matched Brooks with a field coach, praising the second striker for guidance and leadership in his season debut.
“He can calm them down on the pitch, so he takes our staff,” said the UK head coach. “It simply came to our notice then in Mississippi, how we managed to do this without him. How we did it and how they stayed together. He is a great young man, a great human being, an excellent teammate and a skilled basketball player. Very talented.”
Preparing with Brooks for the first time in his career, graduating transfer keeper Davion Mintz struggled to come up with words to describe the striker’s 6-foot-7 play in his debut. Simply put, he changed the game.
“You watched the game, you saw it,” Mintz said. “He gave us a completely different element to the game. Keion was amazing today. It was super fun. I am speechless, indeed. Was awesome.”
Strangely, Mintz felt that an impressive day was coming for Brooks after speaking to him during the warm-up before the game. There were no nerves, zero pressure.
Brooks was just grateful he was back on the floor.
“Keion had good practices. Relax. But not to discredit his practices, it was nothing like the game. He just turned a different switch, it was amazing, “Mintz said. “I tested it, seeing what it can do. … I knew he would play well, but I didn’t know he would come in and make an impact. This is just a credit for his work and rehabilitation, the guys who helped him.
“He has no pressure on him. He told me before the game: “I will just go there and have fun, I have nothing to lose. I’m just blessed to be playing now. “Once I saw that he had this attitude, I knew, ‘OK, good day to Keion.’ And he did. “
As for Brooks, he was confident in his ability to produce on his debut, acknowledging Kentucky strength coach Rob Harris for keeping him in shape while playing with the calf injury. kept him out of the competition.
“I always believed in my ability to come back and play well. We work constantly, staying in great shape, ”Brooks said. “A huge shout out to coach Rob Harris, our strength coach. I don’t even like to call it that, it’s so much more than that. Not only did he do a great job keeping me in great shape, but I spent a lot of time with him, so he was always in my ear to stay positive. The conversations I had really helped me get through what I was going through. “
Above all, beyond production, Brooks was just happy to serve as a leader for a team that has been desperate for one since the start of the season. He wanted to bring a positive and contagious attitude to the floor, and this affected his colleagues.
“You hit the nail on the head, my leadership. I’m just trying to bring energy, and hopefully my energy is infectious to my teammates, ”Brooks said. “They also did an excellent job of staying with me all the time when I was injured. I didn’t want to go out there and disappoint them, without playing to their standard, not being as engaged as they were, not having as much energy as they would have. That works both ways.
“My leadership was really dependent on them and the fact that they allowed me to be a leader. It went well tonight. ”