UK in the NBA: Wall gets the better of former Cats

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By Cody Daniel | @KyKernelSports

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The star of the show for week 19 of UK in the NBA was former UK standout John Wall, who night, after night, put on one dominating performance after another.

Wall and his Washington Wizards started the week on the road to face off against a young and feisty Cleveland Cavaliers team. Wall put on a show with 27 points on 7-of-15 shooting; adding 14 assist to compliment his performance.

Caleveland proved to be to much, though, as they defeated Wall and the Wizards, 95-90, through a complete team performance with six Cavalier players scoring double digits.

After the game, Brian Dulik of NBA.com asked Wall about the tough loss.

“We just got swept for the season by the Cavaliers and Detroit, who are good teams and everything, but we felt like we were better than them,” Wall said. “Instead, we went 0-7 combined, which is tough to swallow.”

Less then 24 hours later Wall and the Wizards would have a chance for redemption when the Milwaukee Bucks visited the Verizon Center.

Wall racked up 23 points along with 10 assist and six rebounds in a 106-93 win over the Bucks.

Benjamin Standig of NBA.com later asked Wall about his recent increase in performance over the past few games. “Just being more aggressive and taking better shots than what I was taking,” Wall said.

Friday pitted Wall and the Wizards against former Cats Anthony Davis and Darius Miller of the New Orleans Hornets.

The veteran got the best of the rookies in this case as Wall exploded for a season high 29 points on 12-of-15 shooting and dropping nine assists. Anthony Davis put up 16 points along with seven rebounds but it wasn’t enough as Wall led the Wizards to a 96-87 win.

When asked by Carla Peay of NBA.com about Wall’s shot selection, Wizards head coach Randy Wittman said, “there’s a good way to miss a shot and there’s a bad way. His misses have been really good misses.”

Peay later asked Wall about his performance in the victory. “I just got into a good rhythm. The last couple of games I’ve been feeling pretty good and able to knock down my shot,” Wall said, “You make your first couple, you get in a rhythm and you get confidence.”

Wall carried that performance into the next game against the Phoenix Suns where he put up 17 points and 11 assists in a dominating 127-105 win over the Phoenix Suns.

This marked Wall tallying his third double-double in the last four games.

Monday night’s match up left Wall and the Wizards squared off against another former Cat Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s Charlotte Bobcats. Wall led himself to another standout performance with 25 points and five assists as the Bobcats outlasted the Wizards in a high scoring 119-114 game. Kidd-Gilchrist had 11 points and snagged seven rebounds in Charlotte’s victory

From a great weekly performance from one former Cat, to a milestone achievement in the great career of another, Tayshawn Prince reached the 10,000 career point mark . Prince passed the milestone in a 96-85 win over the explosive Los Angeles Clippers and former UK point guard Eric Bledsoe. Prince led the Grizzlies with 18 points and six rebounds in the win.

Week 20 T.V. Schedule

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Brooklyn Nets (Keith Bogans) @ Dallas Mavericks 8:00 p.m. on ESPN

Monday, March 25, 2013

L.A. Lakers (Jodie Meeks) @ Golden State Warriors 10:30 p.m. on ESPN