Monk the man for Kentucky
John Calipari rattled off so many names, one reminder after another why Kentucky is a perennial Final Four favorite with a coach credited for creating the template for succeeding with one-and-done talent.
On Tuesday, Calipari was asked how guard Malik Monk ranked among Kentucky’s recent crop of star freshmen, and the coach named Anthony Davis and John Wall, DeMarcus Cousin and Eric Bledsoe, Jamal Murray and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Some of them are long gone, some could still be in school. And someday soon, Monk may be a part of that elite group.
Monk, who arrived in Lexington hyped as the Wildcats’ next great scorer, waited for the season’s first big audience before putting on his breakout performance, scoring a game-high 23 points on 7-of-11 3point shooting to lead No. 2 Kentucky to a 69-48 win over No. 13 Michigan State at Madison Square Garden.
“He is one of the most athletic kids that I’ve coached,” Calipari said. “Athletically, jumping speed, all those things, woo, he can defend, he’s tough, he’s got a curious mind, he’s got a quick mind, he reacts to stuff quick, there’s stuff I can’t teach.”
There’s so much the 18-year-old can still learn, obvious after the dramatic improvement in his shot from the first two games of the season.
Monk, who was shooting 36 percent from the field and 25 percent on 3-pointers entering the game, scored 14 of Kentucky’s first 26 points — matching Michigan State’s entire team — to give the Wildcats an early double-digit lead.
Malik, who also had six rebounds, was the only Kentucky player to hit a 3-pointer.
“Malik had heat,” said sophomore guard Isaiah Briscoe, who added 21 points. “He hasn’t been shooting the ball as well as I know he can and I knew he was due for a big game.”
It looks like Monk’s also due for a big season, getting open perimeter looks he’s unfamiliar with, surrounded with more talent than ever before.
If Monk’s label as a streaky shooter is accurate, nights like this will come again. If his dynamic backcourt mates — Briscoe and De’Aaron Fox, who combined with Monk for more than 81 percent of the team’s scoring — keep creating time and space, the future lottery pick could shed the label for good.