Watch the Tape: Georgia Bulldogs

Despite missing starting point guard Sahvir Wheeler, Kentucky defeated the Georgia Bulldogs 92-77 at Rupp Arena on Saturday night. It was the fourth time the Wildcats scored over 90 points in their last six games. Oscar Tshiebwe played like an All-American, TyTy Washington broke the Kentucky single-game assist record while filling it at point guard, and Davion Mintz found his shooting stroke off the bench. Overall it was a good win as the ‘Cats moved to 12-3, 2-1 in the SEC.

There was some online chatter, especially during the game, about Kentucky’s defense performance. Obviously giving up 77 points to the Georgia Bulldogs isn’t exactly ideal. However, when you score 92 points it really doesn’t matter. The Wildcats offense is looking like a well-oiled machine and will become that much more potent when Sahvir Wheeler returns. His on-ball pressure will help the cause defensively as well.

In this edition of watch the tape, we will be focusing on what made Kentucky so good offensively on Saturday night. Pounding the ball inside to Oscar Tshiebwe and TyTy Washington’s playmaking off of the ballscreen were primarily what worked for the ‘Cats. Let’s step on in the film room and see what led to the beatdown of the Bulldogs.

Establishing a Post Presence

Oscar Tshiebwe’s offensive ability has been a pleasant surprise so far this season. His soft touch around the basket, rim-running ability, and obvious offensive rebounding have allowed him to average 16.1 points per game for the ‘Cats. He still is far from polished with his back to the basket, but he seemingly gets better every game. Against Georgia, Coach Calipari made a point to go to Tshiebwe early and often. That decision clearly paid dividends as the big man scored a career-high 29 points.

One thing Oscar Tshiebwe does at a very high level is establish deep post position. His strength and wide base allow him to bury his defender under the rim and get deep catches with two feet in the paint. When he catches the ball this deep he doesn’t really need to be able to make post moves, he can just turn and score.

On the possession above, Georgia brings an extra defender on the catch leaving Davion Mintz wide open on the wing. Tshiebwe kicks it out to Mintz who is able to attack the closeout and finish with a little floater. If Tshiebwe can continue to become a better passer out of the post, which is still a weakness at this point, he will just be that much harder to stop.

As an aside, this clip showcases one of the benefits of having Keion Brooks in the game over Jacob Toppin. Brooks is still significantly more skilled with the ball than Toppin is. This post entry, especially with the left hand, is a play that Toppin simply cannot make. Great post feed by Brooks.

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This is for the “Coach Calipari doesn’t run out of bounds plays” crowd. If you want to see some more clips of Kentucky’s OB Under execution from last night, check out David Sisk’s Twitter feed.

Tshiebwe comes off an excellent diagonal backscreen set by Davion Mintz to get open on the block. TyTy Washington reads the play perfectly and delivers an on-target entry pass. Tshiebwe gets the catch, drop steps, and slams it home. This was a great call by Coach Calipari and great execution from the Wildcats.

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As stated earlier, Oscar Tshiebwe continues to get better on a game-to-game basis. The big man has just 14 assists to 25 turnovers this season but had two productive kick-outs to Davion Mintz against the Georgia Bulldogs. He also played 39 minutes without turning it over. On this play, the Bulldogs bring a double team once again and Tshiebwe kicks it out to a cutting Mintz for a floater. Passing the ball out of the post more often will force defenses to not double as much.

TyTy Washington Playmaking

Oscar Tshiebwe may have scored a career-high 29 points to go along with 17 rebounds, but it was TyTy Washington who stole the headlines on Saturday night. In his first start at point guard filling in for the injured Sahvir Wheeler, the freshman broke a Kentucky school record with 17 assists. His playmaking ability, especially off of the ballscreen, is truly special. Let’s take a look at some of the best plays that he made against the Georgia Bulldogs.

The sign of a great playmaker is that you make difficult plays appear easy. In this clip, TyTy Washington comes off of the ballscreen which Georgia is going over and “shadowing.” This is probably the best way to guard the ballscreen, but with players as good as Washington and Oscar Tshiebwe there isn’t really a great answer. Washington comes off and sees the Bulldogs defender just a step too high which triggers the pass to Tshiebwe on the roll. With no time to recover, Tshiebwe’s defender is left in the dust as the big man throws it down on the roll.

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After getting an easy one on the roll it was time to show the pick-and-pop ability. The greatness of this play is in the details. When TyTy Washington comes off of the ballscreen he is able to turn the corner and get downhill. However, there is obviously still a defender between him and the basket as Oscar Tshiebwe’s man “shadows” the ballscreen.

Right at the three-pointer line, Washington uses the hesitation dribble to freeze both his defender and Tshiebwe’s defender for a split second. He then bursts for one more dribble downhill making #23 Bridges step up to stop him. That leaves Tshiebwe wide open for a 15-foot jumper. That change of pace with the ball created the shot. It may seem like a small detail and not that impressive of a play, but execution like this is what has NBA scouts falling in love with the freshman guard.

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Most young guards, even the really good ones, get by with elite athleticism and quickness. However, TyTy Washington excels with pace and patience. That is what makes him so fun to evaluate. He truly already plays the game like an NBA veteran.

Here he calls for the ballscreen and can immediately see that there is no opportunity to turn the corner. Instead of just putting his head down and trying to create something out of nothing, he drags the defense with him for an extra dribble. This creates a longer recovery to Oscar Tshiebwe, forcing Keion Brooks’ man to come help. Washington looks off the help defender and spots Brooks wide open at the rim for a slam. This is an extremely high-level play that takes a lot of patience and basketball IQ not normally found in a freshman guard.

TyTy Washington Scoring Off the Ballscreen

We’ve shown how TyTy Washington collected his program-record 17 assists with his playmaking ability off of the ballscreen. Now, let’s take a look at his scoring and shot-making prowess. Once again, it is the pace and patience with which he plays that separates Washington from many of the other freshman guards in the country.

One of the special abilities that TyTy Washington has is surveying the defense and making good decisions while moving at full speed. As he comes off of the handoff from Oscar Tshiebwe he sees that the defender is still playing well off him in the paint. That allows Washington to take a second rhythm dribble before pulling up into his jump shot. His athleticism and balance allow him to stay stacked and fire an under-control shot. Big-time shot-making ability was on display against the Georgia Bulldogs.

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It has been a theme while talking about TyTy Washington, but it deserves mention once again. The pace he plays with is what makes him so effective in ballscreen situations. Here he uses the hesitation, inside-out dribble with the left hand to freeze the defense and turn the corner to the rim. That small, subtle move gets the Georgia defender guarding Oscar Tshiebwe to return to his man before Washington’s defender has fully recovered. This is what has him moving up NBA Draft boards.

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One thing that has stood out all season, and certainly was true against the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday night, is the amount of ground TyTy Washington covers off of the ballscreen. Look at where he catches the ball at the top of the key and then where he ends up taking the shot. He covered all of that ground with just one dribble. Most young guards dribble too much. However, Washington’s pace and patience with the ball allow him to create more while dribbling less. He is a special player.