*Photo by Regina Rickert
Jarrod Polson only scored three points against Belmont today, but I thought he was the player of the game and deserves more minutes. Andrew Harrison is a great player, but struggled all day, but Polson came in and saved the day. Polson played 21 minutes had 3 points, 1 assist and 0 turnovers.
Andrew struggled today with foul trouble, and probably had his worst game a Wildcat. Harrison finished the game with 7 points, 2 turnovers, and 4 fouls. For Kentucky to be the team they want to be, Harrison is going to have to step up and be a leader for this team. You can’t have your point guard committing more turnovers than assists if you want to win big games. I like Andrew, he is a great kid who is struggling after coming to Kentucky with so much hype. He has the ability to be a special player, its just going to take time. If you remember all of Cal’s point guards have struggled to start the season. Andrew will get things right and be the player we all thought he would be.
Getting back to Polson, without him and his efforts today Kentucky probably would have lost this game. When he entered the game you could see a big difference in the team. They played with more confidence and a lot more energy. Polson isn’t a five-star talent guy with all the hype the other guys are getting, but he is a guy with a five-star heart who knows what being a Kentucky basketball player is all about.
I have said all season Polson needs to be in the floor. I’m not saying he needs to be playing 25 minutes a game, but he should at least be playing 10-12 minutes, because he brings leadership and toughness to the team that nobody else seems to bring.
Coach Cal had this to say about Polson.
I was really proud of Jarrod (Polson), and you say, ‘What did Jarrod add to the game?’ All you Basketball Bennies, I love asking you questions because you look at each other and you really don’t know. What did he add to the game? Energy. Energy. Nothing else. So now you understand what energy does for our team, and if you’re sitting there and you’re not one of the guys playing, you’re saying ‘Man, I’ve got to play with energy.’
Polson said he likes to bring energy to the team and was happy to get minutes today.
On what it felt like to have the crowd behind him …
“The crowd always likes when I do well. Having that behind me was a really good feeling. I think it got our team going a little bit too.”On his role with the team …
“Mainly, in practice I play the backup point guard. Being able to play today with the team and getting a lot of minutes like I did was really fun for me. I try and bring energy. That’s the biggest thing I try to do.”On what he specifically adds to the team …
“Energy. I’ll probably say that a lot. I think we were down 10 or 11 when I got in. The crowd was dead and (Belmont) was hitting shots. I tried to push the ball. That’s what Coach Cal wanted me to do. I felt like I did pretty good with that.”
Polson has played in just 8 of Kentucky’s 12 games this season while averaging 0.4 points on the season. Actually today was the first points Jarrod has scored all year when he hit a three pointer in the first half. I would imagine Polson will be playing a lot more as the season progresses.
BBN, what do you think, was Polson the MVP today?
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