Kentucky’s Andrija Jelavić was essentially benched for a five-game span in between non-conference and conference play, but he responded in a loud way once his moment finally arrived.
After playing at least 10 minutes in each of the Wildcats’ first 10 games, the 6-foot-11 sophomore did not take the floor in wins over Indiana and St. John’s. He then received seven minutes of playing time against Bellarmine before being moved back to the bench for UK’s first two SEC games — both losses. But his head coach never fully quit on him.
Mark Pope rolled out Jelavić for 17 minutes in last Saturday’s 24-point win over Mississippi State. The Croatian big man only posted three points and five rebounds, but it was enough for Pope to feel confident enough about giving him more run. That came in the form of Jelavić receiving his first college start during Wednesday night’s 18-point comeback road win against LSU.
“I thought he was good,” Pope said of Jelavić’s performance. “He made a couple shots for us, which was important. Conceptually, I thought he was pretty solid.”
In what was easily his best showing yet as a ‘Cat, Jelavić finished his night with a stat line of 11 points (tying his season-high), five rebounds, one block, and one steal in 21 minutes, his most since UK’s loss to North Carolina back on Dec. 2. He shot 4-7 from the field, including a 2-4 mark from deep. In what was a disastrous first half for Kentucky, Jelavić was actually the only reason the deficit didn’t balloon even higher than it already was. Through the first eight minutes of the game, he had all four of his team’s points.
“I actually think he’s got better basketball in front of him,” Pope said. “I was proud of him tonight. He got thrown in the starting lineup and in a really complicated energy first half. And like Yela is, kind of just kept coming and coming and coming. And I thought he gave us a great effort.”
Pope went on to praise Jelavić’s ability to keep opposing players in front of him when he’s playing defense. Knocking down a pair of triples helped keep Kentucky’s offense spread out and LSU defenders on their toes. Pope says Jelavić is continuing to improve as a rebounder and communicator, which bodes well for his spot in the rotation moving forward.
“I thought he had a couple of switches in the second half where we were switching every ball screen, where he kind of saved us a little bit of time in a possession,” Pope said. “He gave us good minutes tonight.”
Due to injuries and other various factors, Pope’s lineups have constantly shifted throughout the season. But now that we’re four games into SEC play, it feels like he’s getting a better idea of who he wants on the floor. Jelavić has earned his spot; now he just has to hold onto it.