Tide's chance to slow Meeks, UK

TUSCALOOSA — Mark Gottfried won’t have to devote any time to motivation for today’s 2 p.m. tipoff against Kentucky.
His players already know about the Wildcats and SEC scoring leader Jodie Meeks.

“It’s going to be a very tough matchup,” point guard Mikhail Torrance said. “Jodie Meeks is a great player. It’s going to have to be a team effort. We’ll have to come out and play help-side defense and try to make it tough (for him).”

“He’s a great player,” Alonzo Gee said of Meeks, who comes into the game averaging 26 points per game — and 32 points in UK’s four SEC games. “We’ve just got to contain him. I don’t think we can stop him, but we’ve got to contain him.”

Ask Tennessee about what happens when Meeks isn’t “contained.” He torched the Vols for 54 points in Knoxville last week.

The Wildcats’ other star, inside player Patrick Patterson, scored 21 points and grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds in Kentucky’s win at Auburn Wednesday night. Patterson is playing with a severely jammed middle finger on his right hand that requires heavy taping to protect it from aggravation. He is shooting 66.8 percent from the field.

“We have to guard him by committee,” Gottfried said. “The first thing that jumps off the page is his shooting percentage. He’s a very effective player. Another thing he’s good at is going to the offensive glass. He’s one of those players you have to put a body on every time the ball is in the air.”

But it’s Kentucky’s “other guys” who benefit from the attention that Meeks and Patterson command.

“I think they’re playing within Billy Gillispie’s system extremely well,” Gottfried said. “(Ramon) Harris, Michael Porter, Perry Stevenson … I think they’re great complementary guys that are very, very good players.”

Gillispie, in his second year at Kentucky (15-4, 4-0 SEC), likes Alabama’s physical attributes.

“Alabama is one of the most athletic teams I’ve seen anywhere,” the coach said. “They have really good size, they have really good strength, they have exceptional quickness and we haven’t fared that well against quickness so far as taking care of the basketball.”
He remembered facing a short-handed Alabama team last year at Rupp Arena.

“We had to play our best last year,” Gillispie said. “They didn’t have their center (Richard Hendrix), he was sick, and we barely beat them at our place. We know we’re in for a big battle. We have to try and match their intensity and understand it’s going to be a very difficult game for us.”

Alabama (12-6, 2-2 SEC) has unveiled a weapon in its last three games. Torrance, at 6-foot-5, has scored 68 points and has taken over the point guard spot vacated by Ron Steele, who left the team.

Gottfried likened the change at point guard to a football team losing its quarterback.

“Your receivers have to get used to someone else throwing them the ball, their timing,” Gottfried said. “It’s the same thing in basketball. The guys have to get used to playing with Mikhail Torrance. Obviously, he plays a little bit different. Any time you have an adjustment like that, it takes a little time.”

“I think I’m getting more confident game-by-game,” the junior said. “Coach Gottfried told me to stay aggressive. I just try to get better each day. In practice I try to go hard as much as I can. I try to add something to my game every day we’re at practice. I don’t want to waste a day.”