Kentucky WBB needs more on offense from its paint players

Kentucky’s guards have found their footing. Kentucky’s bigs can barely pull themselves off the ground.

In the Wildcats’ 81-75 win over Florida on Sunday, it was the UK bigs that struggled to score. Nyah Leveretter recorded zero points. Ajae Petty squeezed out a single bucket. Adebola Adeyeye lit up the box score with a whopping six points. That trio produced eight points spread across 47 minutes.

NO QUIT. ♨️

Kentucky tied its largest comeback win in an SEC game after its 16 point deficit in the second quarter.

Now THAT is fight. 😼 pic.twitter.com/8lDlqH2aB0

— Kentucky Women’s Basketball (@KentuckyWBB) January 15, 2023

Belief in the bigs

Despite the team’s lack of offense from inside the paint, head coach Kyra Elzy still believes in their potential.

“We are a work in progress. But, what [Adeyeye], Nyah and even Ajae Petty brought us defensively. Yes, maybe they didn’t score a lot, but tonight what we needed them to do is step up in the post, be able to bang, box out and give us some rebounds,” Elzy said during the postgame press conference.

Kentucky’s trio of bigs did have a solid performance on defense. Adeyeye grabbed a team-high eight boards, Leveretter swiped a steal and Petty played physical, yet disciplined defense. Elzy says it’s exactly what the team needed from them.

“Obviously, we continue to need an inside presence, but in those type of games, when the guards are scoring, [the post players’] job is to rebound and defend,” Elzy said after the win.

Kentucky’s paint-scoring problem

While Elzy has a point, the backcourt of Maddie Scherr, Robyn Benton and Jada Walker won’t combine for 66 points every night. When Kentucky can’t find a basket, the bigs must be able to carry their load. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case during conference play.

Through six SEC games, Kentucky’s three post presences are averaging a combined 7.6 points per game. Yes, you read that correctly. Worse, the UK trio is averaging a combined 48.1 minutes per outing during conference play.

Generally speaking, the bigs’ troubles don’t stem from the inability to put the ball in the basket. Adeyeye and Petty are both shooting 55% from the field. Instead, the forwards’ issues come back to turnovers. Despite handling the ball far less, Petty and Leveretter have only two fewer turnovers than Blair Green and Benton this season.

The bigs’ loose handle has led to Kentucky relying heavily on perimeter play. However, if the ‘Cats can fix this small issue, they could find massive success. UK will have a week to work on their post play before they take on Mississippi State at 1 p.m. on Jan. 22.