Andrija Jelavić becoming more comfortable with starting role: 'I don’t think he wants to go back to the bench'

Andrija Jelavić is beginning to find his groove on this Kentucky team.

A full-time starter for the last seven games — six of those coming as wins for the Wildcats — the sophomore big man has been knocking down shots and attacking the glass with regularity. During that stretch, Jelavić has averaged 6.3 points and 4.1 rebounds in 17 minutes per outing, shooting 53.1 percent from the field with a 7-14 clip from distance.

“He’s becoming more comfortable in his own skin,” Head coach Mark Pope said Friday. “He’s become more comfortable with what we do and how we do it and how it looks and how it feels.”

After sporadically showing flashes of his talent during the non-conference schedule, Jelavić was essentially removed from the rotation. The 6-foot-11 Croatian was averaging over 15 minutes per game through Kentucky’s first 10 contests of the season, only to find himself relegated to the bench in key games against Indiana and St. John’s. He again didn’t come off the pine in back-to-back losses against Alabama and Missouri to open SEC play.

But after knee swelling sidelined Jayden Quaintance, Pope gave Jelavić a chance to prove himself in what ended up being a blowout win over Mississippi State. He only scored three points against the Bulldogs, but grabbed five rebounds along the way. That was enough to move him into the starting lineup, and he responded with arguably his best game yet as a Wildcat in an 18-point comeback over LSU: 11 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes.

“He got a little down on himself early in the season, being from another country trying to come in and learn language and learn our coaching system,” Assistant coach Jason Hart said after Jelavić went for nine points, six rebounds, and three assists earlier this week in a win against Oklahoma.

“When he did sit, he had to sit and learn. Sometimes sitting on the bench does that to you, light a fire up in you. I don’t think he wants to go back to the bench. He’s coming out with a sense of urgency and he kind of knows what coach Pope wants and he knows what he can do. We need him to continue to play strong, shoot with no fear.”

The numbers support what we’re all seeing from him on the floor, too — Kentucky is a better team when Jelavić is in the game. Per CBB Analytics, Jelavić is a +35 when on the floor for the Wildcats during conference play, third-highest on the roster behind only Malachi Moreno (+65) and Denzel Aberdeeen (+56). But something that doesn’t show up on that stat sheet is his physicality, an area the coaching staff has seen real growth in for him.

“We’ve made him our guy to get the first hit,” Assistant coach Mikhail McLean said after the Oklahoma win. “So if you guys pay attention, every time he runs down the court to start the game, whoever he’s guarding, he’s just going to take a chunk at him. It’s legal, but he’s just setting the tone… He’s been doing an outstanding job of playing with physicality.”

When Jelavić plays, good things tend to happen for Kentucky. The Wildcats are 11-2 this season when he scores five or more points. During UK’s recent stretch of winning seven of its last eight games, the only loss came when Jelavić played his fewest minutes (11 against Vanderbilt). More Jelavić is proving to be a winning strategy for Pope and his staff.

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