Watch the Tape: #1 Auburn Tigers Dominate the 'Cats

by:Brandon Ramsey•about 20 hours•

BRamseyKSR

watch-the-tape-1-auburn-tigers-dominate-the-cats — Dr. Michael Huang | Kentucky Sports Radio

Big Blue Nation will never be okay with losing at Rupp Arena. Getting beat by 16 points at home makes it feel even worse. Playing the #1 team in the country and not having Jaxson Robinson or Kerr Kriisa are not “excuses” that Kentucky Basketball fans want to hear. However, the Wildcats are just the latest in a long list of opponents to be made to look very average by the Auburn Tigers. Auburn is now 8-0 on the road in Southeastern Conference play with a trip to College Station pending on Tuesday. The Tigers have one of the most impressive regular season resumes we have ever seen in college basketball. Not being on the same level as Auburn isn’t something to be ashamed of this season, but for Big Blue Nation, that will never help a home loss feel any better.

There is a lot about Saturday’s game that Coach Pope would have signed up for prior to tip-off. Kentucky made 28 free throws. Koby Brea scored 21 points on 4-7 shooting from deep while Andrew Carr added 20 points. Amari Williams finished with 13 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists. Meanwhile, National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome scored just 9 points on 3-9 shooting and had only one assist. The Wildcats also held Auburn to a season low 16.1% offensive rebounding percentage. However, there is a much darker side to that same coin. Miles Kelly went off for 30 points on 9-14 shooting from deep for the Tigers. They shot 12-26 from deep as a team. Also, Kentucky turned the ball over a season-high 18 times. In the end, it all added up to a 94-78 Auburn victory.

As always, we’ve been hard at work inside the KSR Film Room breaking down Kentucky’s latest contest. The Auburn Tigers proved on Saturday afternoon in Lexington why they are the best team in college basketball. When the potential National Player of the Year had an off night a teammate stepped up and had a career-best performance. Chad Baker-Mazara and Tahaad Pettiford stepped up to combine for 43 points as well. We will highlight some of Miles Kelly’s three-point shots in this film breakdown. Also, we have to discuss the turnovers. The Wildcats have a playmaking problem that simply isn’t going to change at this point in the season. Teams like Auburn really accentuate those weaknesses. Finally, Kentucky had some typical defense breakdowns that we will address. Let’s dive on in and take a closer look at Saturday’s 94-78 loss to the #1 Auburn Tigers.

Miles Kelly’s Career-Best Shooting Performance

Miles Kelly is an elite three-point shooter. What he did at Rupp Arena on Saturday afternoon was not some sort of complete statistically anomaly. In his sophomore and junior seasons at Georgia Tech he connected on five or more three-point shots eight times. Including the first game of this season, Kelly has made seven three-point shots in a game four times. However, going 9-14 from deep was something he hadn’t done in his first 120 college basketball games. He even banked in back-to-back threes early in the game to showcase just how incredibly hot he was. For the most part, the Wildcats did a good job of contesting the Auburn Tigers’ best shooter. He was just the better player in this matchup. Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you.

Out of all nine three-point shots hit by Miles Kelly his very first one was the most frustrating from a defensive perspective. Obviously it is hard to know exactly what was being communicated on the floor. However, there has to be a greater sense of urgency when it comes to taking away shooters like #13 Kelly. Andrew Carr is in a perfect position to see the flare being set. He should be able to alert Otega Oweh so that he is in a better position to chase over the top of the flare. In fairness, Oweh didn’t do too bad of a job here and it is probably an illegal screen set by #44 Caldwell. With Carr seeing it coming though he should have jumped out and switched it once Oweh got screened. That is where the urgency comes into play. You should be SCARED of giving up threes!

This was the second of two banked in three-point shots from #13 Kelly. The Auburn Tigers are hard to beat no matter what. However, when shots like this are falling, there simply isn’t much you can do. Kelly pulled up in transition from several feet beyond the arc and Collin Chandler was even there to give it a solid contest. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap.

There have been a lot of times in these film breakdowns where Otega Oweh gets singled out for getting lost in off-ball screening action. However, that is not the case in this clip. He did as good of a job as possible on #13 Kelly here. Oweh was into his body and chased him hard off of two screens. Kelly just came off and hit a really tough shot while Oweh’s momentum caused him to foul. There simply isn’t much you can do when guys are hitting shots like this.

This is a really good offensive action to get #13 Kelly a three-point shot. Kentucky should probably steal this and run it for Koby Brea. The initial cut by #31 Johnson makes it looks as if he is going to flare in for Kelly. However, he curls around to the other side as it essentially turns into a zoom action. Collin Chandler was chasing and Amari Williams stepped up to contest, but there was nothing anyone could do. Excellent play design and another tough shot made by Kelly.

Taking Care of the Basketball Has Become a Problem

It is hard enough to beat the Auburn Tigers even when you play very well. However, it becomes nearly impossible when you turn the ball over 18 times. That was the most turnovers the Wildcats have had in a game in the last two seasons. There was a time this season where Kentucky was the best in the country, per KenPom’s turnover percentage, at taking care of the ball. The ‘Cats have since fallen to 46th nationally. Part of that comes from significant missed time from Lamont Butler, Kerr Kriisa, and Jaxson Robinson. However, now with Butler back, there is less of an excuse. There were several unforced errors on Saturday that made life far too easy for the Tigers.

Kentucky throws far too many bounces passes. Brandon Garrison is generally the worst offender. It is really hard to be effective as a college basketball player when throwing bounce passes. That is even more true when playing an aggressive, physical defense like the Auburn Tigers have. Kentucky was off to a solid start, but this pick-six turnover handed the Tigers two easy points. Even if the ball had gotten to Koby Brea a bounce pass would have taken too long for him to have gotten a shot off. Just pivot and throw the ball to Andrew Carr. Value the basketball!

This three-man game on a side involving Brandon Garrison, Koby Brea, and Otega Oweh should be really good offense for Kentucky. Brea is an elite shooter, Oweh is a productive driver and cutter, and Garrison is very talented on the roll. However, this where you really see Kentucky’s lack of raw talent and playmaking ability. Brea comes off and attracts the attention of two defenders. When that happens the ‘Cats have an advantage and need to capitalize. It would be nice if Brea could hit Garrison on the roll, but Oweh also did Brea no favors. He has to circle up and fill the wing as Garrison rolls. It was a fine read by Brea as #0 Pettiford tagged Garrison on the roll, but Oweh simply didn’t fill the correct position.

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Go back and look at some of the shots #13 Kelly was taking. Now watch this clip through the same sort of lens. Koby Brea simply has to shoot the basketball more aggressively. This play was ran for him and he was open. He is 75-170 (44.1%) from deep this season and yet he still turns multiple open looks down per game. Then, to add insult to injury, the ‘Cats end up turning the ball over. This turnover is as much on Brea as it is on Lamont Butler. SHOOT ‘EM ALL!!!

If you want to know why Kentucky only shot 17 three-point shots against the Auburn Tigers possessions like this start to tell the story. This was as open as Koby Brea had been all game long. However, Amari Williams fails to simply deliver him the basketball. Williams does a lot for the Wildcats and overall played a very good game, but these turnovers make it impossible to beat the best of the best teams.

Defensive Breakdowns Lead to Allowing 94 Points

The metrics indicate that Kentucky has improved relatively substantially over the last few weeks. Per Bart Torvik, the Wildcats rank 26th in adjusted defensive efficiency since February 8th. The ‘Cats are 4-3 during that time frame. However, while it has been good to see steps in the right direction, there are still several lingering issues on the defensive end. Attention to detail, awareness, concentration, and urgency are as big of issues as anything structural. Let’s highlight some of Saturday’s defensive breakdowns against the Auburn Tigers.

After a rough patch, the Wildcats got back within six points midway through the first half. However, they could never get over the hump. Giving the Auburn Tigers easy baskets like this was a big reason why. Kentucky “ices” or “downs” a lot of side ballscreen, but a recurring issue all season has been actually corralling the ball handler. Amari Williams is supposed to be in drop coverage, between the ball and the basket, until Koby Brea can recover and stop the ball. That never happened here though. Williams has to be more active and involved on the defensive end of the floor. Giving #2 Jones an uncontested floater from a step above the block is not what you want to see on one of the biggest defensive possessions of the game.

Lamont Butler did a great job of bothering Jeremiah Fears in Wednesday’s win at Oklahoma. He has the defensive ability to pressure the ball well beyond the arc while not getting smoked off of the dribble. That is why he has the green light to pressure the ball. However, if you are going to get smoked this easily to the ball handlers strong hand then you have to back up. This is on Amari Williams too though. Similar to the previous clip he has to get in drop coverage and corral the basketball. That is his job. He simply was not involved at all in this play. That happens far too often.

It doesn’t matter where the screen is being set, you can’t get caught going under and up through when guarding #0 Pettiford. Fighting through what could have been two illegal screens makes it harder, but from a film room standpoint the point is that Lamont Butler needed to stay tight, go over, and chase Pettiford off of this screening action.

The lack of awareness that Kentucky displays defensively at times is troubling. Why would you not switch a big-on-big screen? That should happen instinctually between two fifth year college basketball players. Auburn was so good all game long at not getting screened or simply switching the screens to keep a guy on a guy. Kentucky struggled with that on Saturday.