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Watch the Tape: Georgia Bulldogs Take Down Kentucky 82-69

Brandon Ramseyby:Brandon Ramseyabout 21 hours

BRamseyKSR

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Dale Zanine | Imagn Images

Life comes at you fast in the Southeastern Conference. Kentucky played their A-game on Saturday while handing Florida their first loss of the season. That win gave the Wildcats three victories over the AP Top 10 and moved them up to #6 in the polls. However, there was nothing from that performance that carried over to Tuesday night’s contest in Athens. The ‘Cats were physically dominated by the Georgia Bulldogs, shot just 6-25 from three-point range, and turned the ball over a season-high 14 times on their way to an 82-69 loss. It would be hard to find many similarities between the team that beat the Gators at Rupp Arena and the team that lost to the Bulldogs at Stegeman Coliseum. The silver lining though is that they are, in fact, the same basketball team.

Containing dribble penetration, protecting the rim, and ending possessions with a defensive rebound remain legitimate concerns. In losses, three-point shooting and a lack of sharing the basketball have been issues as well. This Kentucky team has proven they can beat anyone in the country. Three of the best wins in college basketball prove that. However, they’ve also shown significant vulnerability against a specific style. Teams that are able to slow the game down, get physical with the ‘Cats, and dominate the paint have exposed the recipe for winning. Competing towards the top of the SEC as opposed to a frustrating back-and-forth season in the middle of the pack will be determined by how often the Wildcats can impose their style on their opponents as opposed to the opposite occurring.

As always, we’ve been hard at work in the KSR Film Room breaking down Kentucky’s latest contest. The euphoria following Saturday’s victory was quickly erased on Tuesday night. That is life in the Southeastern Conference. Now, the Wildcats will have to respond and head to Starkville for another Quad 1 road test on Saturday. In order to beat the Bulldogs there will have to be several improvements. Ballscreen defense and defensive rebounding are the two obvious concerns. However, executing offensively and sticking to the game plan on that end is important as well. We will get into the weeds, critique some things, and offer up ways to improve during this film breakdown. Let’s dive on in and take a closer look at Kentucky’s loss to the Georgia Bulldogs.

Lack of Physicality, Positioning on the Defensive Glass

Five of the Top 13 and eight of the Top 50 offensive rebounding teams, per KenPom’s offensive rebounding percentage, are in the Southeastern Conference. Kentucky has been whipped on the glass in three consecutive games now. Brown offensive rebounded 33.3% of their misses. Florida retrieved 41.7% of their misses. Finally, the Georgia Bulldogs pulled down 37.1% on the offensive glass. A lack of physicality and poor positioning are the primary issues for the Wildcats when it comes to rebounding. Opponents routinely make the first contact and are able to close space towards the rim. Kentucky must carve out space in order to be in a better position to defensive rebound.


A picture is worth 1,000 words. Some people may see four blue jerseys around one white jersey and think Kentucky should have gotten this rebound. However, those four blue jerseys are all standing inside of the restricted arc. They are simply too close to the basket to actually get a rebound unless it falls directly off of the rim. The Wildcats need to go find a man, make contact, and then carve out space in order to improve on the glass. Having this much runway between them and Georgia is how you give up so many offensive rebounds. The Bulldogs just have too much freedom of movement.


Keeping a guy like #6 Cyril off of the offensive glass can feel like a full-time job. He is going to start tracking the ball as soon as it goes up. You have to be very physical at the point of attack to stop his momentum. Here you see Brandon Garrison simply using his arms to try and keep Cyril from crashing. That isn’t going to work. You have to get the full weight of your body into him and move him away from the basket. There were far too many times on Tuesday night where he dictated the physicality versus it being the other way around.


Obviously part of the problem here Brandon Garrison getting pulled away from the basket due to Koby Brea running directly into the ballscreen. However, once again, you see #6 Cyril whipping the Wildcats inside on the offensive glass. Take a look at Andrew Carr’s “attempt” to box him out. The first contact is a straight arm “push” that barely makes contact with Cyril. Carr is quickly discarded to the side by Cyril who then finishes an And-1 through what was eventually ruled a flagrant foul.


Unfortunately, we will be watching this clip more than once in this breakdown. It is that bad. For now though let’s focus on the lack of rebounding. This is probably the most embarrassing clip from Kentucky’s loss to the Georgia Bulldogs. Watch Amari Williams when the shot goes up. He is standing and watching. Take a look at where Ansley Almonor ends up when the shot hits the rim as well. He is quite literally only going to get the ball if it goes through the net. Jaxson Robinson quickly joins Almonor directly under the rim. This was an all systems failure that acutely displays Kentucky’s issues on the defensive glass.

Ballscreen Coverage, Perimeter Defense Remains an Issue

We just spent some time discussing Kentucky’s issues on the defensive glass. Physicality and positioning certainly are the glaring problems on that front. However, constantly being put in rotations due to poor perimeter defense does not help the cause. Per Synergy, the Wildcats allowed the Georgia Bulldogs to score 15 points from the pick-and-roll ball handler on the Tuesday night. That was a glaring issue in the loss to Ohio State as well. There are other breakdowns in concentration and urgency on the perimeter too that lead to easy buckets. Kentucky cannot continue to allow such consistent dribble penetration or it could be a tough season in the Southeastern Conference.


There is just so little resistance in Kentucky’s drop coverage. Brandon Garrison is stuck in no-man’s land where he isn’t doing anything to deter throwing it to the roll but he isn’t putting any pressure on the ball either. With the Wildcats’ issues with dribble penetration and rim protection they could be better served being more aggressive when guarding the ballscreens. Unleashing Garrison to hard hedge some on the perimeter would be an interesting wrinkle.


Kentucky’s problems defensively were not just in ballscreen situations. Here is an example of Jaxson Robinson falling asleep on the perimeter. The way he jumps out and turns is back to the screen makes you think that Robinson wants to keep #0 Cain from coming off the Zoom Action. However, if that were the case, then it becomes even more egregious to get back cut. Robinson’s defensive stance essentially tells you that he wanted to force Cain to reject the screen. This was a big possession as well after the ‘Cats cut the deficit to single digits, but the Georgia Bulldogs were able to get an easy two points.


There are too many times when watching this Wildcats’ team defend that it isn’t abundantly clear what their plan actually is when it comes to ballscreen coverage. This could be a communication issue as well. Otega Oweh moves his feet like he is going to “weak” the screen, meaning he is going to force #7 Lawrence to reject it. That isn’t the best idea to “force” him to his strong hand, but it is an accepted ballscreen coverage at least. However, Andrew Carr never gets himself in position on the far side of the screen to corral the ball. Either Oweh or Carr is out of position, but the inconsistency on that end of the floor makes it hard to know who actually messed it up.


It is time to watch this clip again. Earlier we discussed the nonexistent effort on the defensive glass. Now we will turn our attention to what happened at the point of attack. Jaxson Robinson clearly jump out like his is going ice this ballscreen. However, he still allowed #0 Cain to attack right off of his hip, turn the corner, and get to the rim. If you are going to ice the ballscreen you simply cannot let the ball handler beat you over the top. The entire point of the coverage is to keep Georgia on a side and force him to reject the ballscreen. If Robinson had done a better job maybe the ‘Cats would have never been put in a precarious situation on the glass.

Missed Opportunities Offensively

Kentucky was just 10-18 on layups in their loss to the Georgia Bulldogs. However, that doesn’t include the number of opportunities that they either passed up or failed to get even get an attempt. When you miss chances to convert what should be easy points it makes it increasingly difficult to beat good teams on the road. The Wildcats simply left too many points on the board on Tuesday night. That is how what should be a Top 5 offense ends up scoring just 69 points.


Lamont Butler opened the game with an incredibly tough finish at the rim. However, for whatever reason, he passed up a layup attempt there. After a great defensive play by Otega Oweh the ‘Cats got into the half court where Butler penetrated and had a look at the rim with both Georgia forwards out on the perimeter. Instead of taking the layup though he kicked it out to Jaxson Robinson who missed the three-point attempt. Inside-out three-point shots are great looks, but you have to convert the two points when they are there.


This one is pretty simple. Andrew Carr has to convert this basket for Kentucky. Amari Williams delivered a perfect high-low pass and Carr got separation, but he couldn’t get the ball in the basket. #14 Newell made a great play, but there is no reason why this ball wasn’t dunked home for two points.


What starts as a 3-2 break turns into a pretty embarrassing, disjointed possession. #5 Demary Jr. makes a good play to tip the ball away from Lamont Butler. However, things start to quickly unravel when Brandon Garrison retrieved the ball. Once his initial drive to the rim got stopped he needed to be thinking about giving the ball up. Butler was wide open circling back to the corner, even Ansley Almonor was point at Butler to try and get Garrison to throw it to him, but the play resulted in a turnover. Wasted trips down the floor like that will get you beat by good teams on the road.

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2025-01-08