After appearing in Kentucky’s first 10 contests of the season, Andrija Jelavić found himself on the bench in the Wildcats’ following two games.
Those were important matchups for Kentucky, too. UK needed to beat Indiana and St. John’s in the worst way. The ‘Cats picked up wins in both, but with Jelavić watching from the bench for the first time all season. The 6-foot-11 sophomore returned to action against Bellarmine to close non-conference play, logging just two points and one rebound in seven minutes. Those seven minutes marked a season low for someone who had been averaging 15.5 minutes per outing through the opening 10 games of the schedule.
As Kentucky begins to establish an identity of being a tough, physical, defensive-minded group, Jelavić has found himself as the odd man out. At the same time, head coach Mark Pope is navigating through the waters of having a fully healthy roster for the first time all season. Pope is incorporating a future NBA lottery pick, Jayden Quaintaince, a 6-foot-10 monster of a human who takes up the same space on the floor as Jelavić, into the rotation.
But there is still a long way to go this season. SEC play begins on Saturday on the road against Alabama. There are 18 more games left in the regular season. Jelavić might not have been a factor in the last few games, but there will come a time when Pope needs the Croatian forward to step in and make plays.
“He’s been working really hard,” Pope said of Jelavić on Tuesday. “I think there’s space for him to really help us. At the four — as he gets more and more comfortable with the pace of the game, I think there’s space for him to really help us shoot the ball. I do. I think he’s a pretty good playmaker. He has had some impact in the post offensively.”
At least in Pope’s own words, it doesn’t sound like the offensive side of the ball is what’s keeping Jelavić from receiving extended minutes. He’s averaging a respectable 5.6 points and four rebounds per game in his limited playing time, shooting 70 percent on his two-pointers, although he does need to see a few more drop in from deep (6-27 on the season). In general, Jelavić has been an effective rebounder on both sides of the ball and has been a threat in transition.
It’s the defensive connectivity that needs improvement before Pope feels confident in feeding Jelavić extra clock, especially with Quaintance now in the fold.
“Him becoming more verbal and communicative on defense is going to be really important for him because so much of where the game is going now is taxing you to make decisive communication happen in real time on the court,” Pope added. “And so that’s a space where he’s growing. But he’s a good player and there’s definitely room for him to help us.”
Pope now has 12 players on the roster who can see the floor. It’s not possible to give them all the same amount of playing time. That’s going to push a few players down the depth chart. As of late, Jelavić has been in that group, but he could easily jump out of it as the season goes along.