Whether as fans, members of the media, or in our own time, we hear it all the time in sports: enforce the fundamentals. Do the ordinary things well and the rest will fall into place.
Mark Pope said this in an interesting way about Ortega Ovie earlier this season when Ovie looked to be struggling and not at the level we saw last season. During the Tennessee game three weeks ago, ESPN’s Dan Shulman said on the broadcast that Pope told Ovie, “You can’t focus on icing on the cake. You have to bake the cake.”
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Clearly, this resonated with Oweh. The result is a cake that keeps adding layers, eight to be exact. Ove scored 20 or more points in eight games in SEC play. Over the past two games, Ovi has scored 24 points.
“He’s a bad guy,” assistant coach Jason Hart said. “You know, Ortega Owe is a very good basketball player. He’s consistent, he’s our leader. You know, sometimes I kind of look at him in awe. He’s been playing at a high level and that’s why he’s the preseason SEC Player of the Year.”
Ove scored 20+ points only twice in non-conference games. In SEC play, he’s a completely different player. He shot 49.3% from the field, 37.2% from three-point range, had four games with five or more rebounds, and had 19 steals.
“He’s our first choice, always has been,” Andrea Jelavic said. “When he scores over 20 points, it’s not a big deal. It’s just something we count on him to do and it’s something he does every game and the most important thing is that he scores at all three levels.
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“It’s not just him scoring in the paint or outside, he’s able to force threes, mid-range shots, good rebounds. He’s a great scorer, and yeah, that’s very important to us, and when he’s on the court, he’s our leader. He’s the oldest player, the most experienced player, and we’re going to take care of him.”
Kentucky’s best player is playing like this team’s best player. It raises the ceiling for a Kentucky team that has won seven of eight games since an 0-2 start in SEC play and 11 of 14 since taking on Gonzaga. Since then, Ove has scored more than 20 points in 10 games.
“Ortega is just an elite player,” Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser said. “He can shoot, he gets you into real ball-screen decision-making mode because he can turn the ball around on you, and now he can make really good passing decisions. He’s becoming a complete player. He’s very strong defensively.”
Ovie has defeated the Sooners in three games since transferring to Kentucky from Oklahoma State. He scored at least 24 points in each category. Ove scored the game-winning goals in both games against the Sooners last season. He didn’t have to use his dramatic talents Wednesday night. He took over the game in the second half and led Kentucky to close Wednesday night’s game and his former team’s season.
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The cake Oweh is baking already has many layers and seems ready to add more. If Oweh continues to perform at this level, the final level will be higher and higher. Finally…four? When Ove plays like this, everything seems possible. He is concentrating on baking a cake. The rest, like nearly everything in Kentucky’s last eight games, is working itself out.