Shoot 'em all, Kellan Grady!

Kellan Grady is finally doing what Kentucky fans have been begging of him since they first saw him play in a Wildcat uniform: shooting anything and everything.

The graduate student from Davidson is on a heater that would make any high-rolling gambler jealous. Friday afternoon saw him hit the jackpot time and time again. During Kentucky’s 92-48 New Year’s Eve win over High Point following Tubby Smith’s jersey retirement, Grady was hitting shots that left his defenders helpless.

The second half, in particular, saw Grady go supernova. Every time he touched the ball, a shot was going up and the Rupp Arena crowd knew exactly what was about to happen next. He got hotter as the game went along, canning five of his triples in the second-half along.

Grady knew exactly how hot he was, too. The opportunity to make 20,000 fans blow the roof off an arena was too much for him to pass up. His heat check shot (a corner fadeaway that just clanked off the side of the rim) would have abruptly ended the entire game.

“Honestly I’m more grateful for the anticipation. Which essentially tells me that 20,000 people trust me to make it or are excited for me to make that shot,” Grady said after the win. “The last couple of games here at Rupp, that’s become an amazing feeling and I’m grateful to be able to play in front of such a loyal base that really has faith in me to make shots.”

Grady finished with 23 points, tying his season-high, on a 7-10 mark from beyond the arc. Seven made triples ties his career-high, which he’s done three other times as a college player. In fact, as a fun side note, Grady hit seven 3s in his very first college game for Davidson back in 2017. Nearly five years later, he’s still pouring in shots from deep.

I don't care if Kellan Grady is standing backward at halfcourt, SHOOT EVERY SINGLE TIME.

— Zack Geoghegan (@ZGeogheganKSR) December 31, 2021

As the season has progressed, Grady has been harboring his confidence, just waiting to let it all explode. The thing is, he didn’t seem to know all that confidence was brewing inside of him. It wasn’t until head coach John Calipari told him that if he doesn’t shoot the ball, he’s sitting on the bench, that he began to let it fly.

Over the last four games, Grady is averaging 18 pts and 3.5 rebs per outing on 64.5 percent shooting from 3 (20-31). He’s only taken 4 shots that weren’t 3s in that span, totaling scoring numbers of 23, 18, 8 and 23. Of those 31 triples, not a single one would have been considered a bad shot. In terms of offensive rating, he’s the second-best player in the entire country at 151.4, per KenPom. His effective field goal percentage of 70.6 is arguably more impressive.

Grady is curling around screens and firing before the ball can even touch his fingertips. He’s not hesitating when gifted even an inch of space anymore; he doesn’t need much more to get off a clean look.

Against High Point, Calipari was letting Grady run wild. The sharpshooter was working two-man games with one of Keion Brooks Jr. or Oscar Tshiebwe that the Panthers had no chance of stopping, even though they knew it was coming. Calipari told Grady just prior to tipoff that they would be running plays specifically designed for him to score.

“I had a friend of mine–a Basketball Benny that is a friend of mine–said, ‘you got anything to create some shots for (Grady)?'” Calipari said postgame. “So I talked to him prior to the game, I said here are some things we’re gonna do for you to get shots off. Because the last game he didn’t get as many off but he was open, they just threw it to another guy.”

It didn’t matter how contested the looks were either; Grady was determined, for the first time all season, to disregard his teammates and play selfishly. No one in the entire gym was going to argue against him either, especially not his head coach.

Grady hitting 3s does more than help him individually. With each made shot, defenses are forced to focus more and more on him. He’s creating a “gravity” that draws defenders closer to him and frees open the paint. Oscar Tshiebwe slammed a wide-open fastbreak dunk in the second half not long after Grady’s hot streak because High Point was searching for him running to the corner. His shooting ability is only going to make others better.

Shoot ’em all, Kellan Grady.