Now that he’s part of the program De’Aaron Fox admits it’s not easy being a point guard at Kentucky.
“It’s been extremely tough,” Fox said. “(Coach John Calipari has) been on me a lot. Sometimes I don’t put guys in the right positions and he lets me know. But I’m still learning. He’s helped me a lot. I mean, it’s still early on. We’ve only played four games so I feel like I’m continuing to get better.”
In those four games, Fox is averaging 15.3 points per game and 8.6 assists per outing, tops in the Southeastern Conference. In addition to his scoring and assists, Fox made the first 21 free throws of career and is 26-for-29 on the season. He has committed just nine turnovers and has dished out 27 assists, including 12 in a season-opening win over Stephen F. Austin earlier this month.
“He’s made great strides,” Calipari said. “He’s playing way faster. Sometimes decision making – running faster than he’s ever ran in his life, which means his mind is moving fast at times. But there are things that he does that I can’t teach. He’s special. He is.”
Although he’s averaging double figures and third on the team in scoring behind Isaiah Briscoe and Malik Monk. Fox, who said he’s utilizing his speed and firing up the pull-up jumper more, said his biggest concern is his outside shooting. Fox has made just one 3-pointer in nine tries this season and is shooting 38 percent from the field.
“I feel like I’ve run the team pretty well,” he said. “My assist numbers are up. I haven’t turned the ball over too much. One thing I know I haven’t done well is shooting the ball. My percentage is pretty bad. I’ve shot free throws well, but I’m not shooting the ball from the field well. Just something to work on.”
Even though Fox hasn’t been pleased with his shooting percentages, Calipari isn’t worried about the slow start recalled the struggles Tyler Ulis endured early last season. As the season progressed, Ulis became more of a 3-point threat.
“If you remember last year Tyler Ulis was shooting 22 percent from the 3-point line,” Calipari said. “He wasn’t making any shots. I don’t worry about guys like him. You have to get in the gym. Part of it is, you got to take game shots. You can’t take tip toe shots. You can’t take casual shots. He’s the least of our worries.”
In addition to his scoring, Calipari said Fox gives the Wildcats a presence on defense that’s unmatched by the previous point guards he’s coached at Kentucky, Memphis and Massachusetts.
“How he plays on the ball, how he plays in pick-and-roll defense, I mean, wow. It’s not like we have taught that a whole lot — he just gets after it,” the Kentucky coach said. “He’s long. A big guard.”
Another steady part of his game is his ability to lead the offense and manage the team. Fox admitted his still learning how to be a leader and is gleaning from veterans Dominique Hawkins, Briscoe and Derek Willis.
“It’s getting better,” Fox said of his leadership skills. “I mean, honestly, it’s hard to talk while playing just because you’re using a breath and you might get tired quicker. It’s just one thing to be in shape. Just talking sometimes when you’re tired you just don’t think straight, you’ don’t know what to say so some people just stay quiet. It’s a learning curve for me and I’m still getting better at it.”
Willis has been mostly impressed with Fox’s quickness and ability to lead the team.
“He’s doing pretty good (and) doing a lot of stuff,” Willis said. “He’s so fast. He gets up and down the court great and he’s been rebounding well. He’s been one of our guards that’s rebounded well. He’s been doing his job fine. There’s always stuff we can work on, but I think as the season comes along he’ll kind of start recognizing that stuff and he’ll start to play into it.”
Fox changed his hair style prior to Kentucky’s game against Duquesne last week and received mixed reviews. Fox said he “kind of expected” the attention he received for the switch following the contest.
“A lot of people always say they like my hair how it was,” he said. “Some people actually liked it the way I had it last game. I see people talk about it, but it’s not that big of a deal, at least to me.”
Gametracker: Cleveland State at Kentucky, 1 p.m., Wednesday. TV/Radio: SEC Network, 98.1 FM WBUL. The series: UK leads, 2-0. Last meeting: UK 68, Cleveland State 61, Nov. 25, 2013.
Keith Taylor is a senior sports writer for KyForward, where he primarily covers University of Kentucky sports. Reach him at keith.taylor@kyforward.com or @keithtaylor21 on Twitter