Watch the Tape: Gonzaga Bulldogs

We have officially gone from bad to worse. The Kentucky Wildcats have lost three straight games at Rupp Arena for the first time ever. In Quad 1 games, the ‘Cats are just 2-5 following Saturday’s 89-85 loss to the Gonzaga Bulldogs. With eight regular season Southeastern Conference games left there is obviously a chance to turn things around, but there is also a chance for the wheels to fall off. Trips to Auburn, Starkville, and Knoxville, along with Alabama coming to Lexington, leaves the potential for several more losses. It is abundantly clear that Kentucky’s offense is good enough to beat anyone in the country, but the defense is bad enough to lose to anyone in the country.

There is plenty of toxicity within Big Blue Nation right now. Some of it is understandable. The losses are piling up and it has been years since we’ve experienced the level of success that is expected in Lexington. However, we also haven’t seen this team play a single game at full strength this season. Players are being asked to play a lot of minutes. Rotations have been thrown in flux due to different guys being out on a game-to-game basis. Excuses fall on deaf ears right now, understandably so, but there remains some context to the struggles. Admittedly though, that is getting harder and harder for even the most optimistic fans to stomach.

As always, we’ve been hard at work in the KSR Film Room following Kentucky’s most recent contest. Unfortunately, it is another one that isn’t so fun to break down. We are going to have to be critical once again. Remember, as Freddie Maggard would say, it isn’t personal, it’s personnel. These film breakdowns are written from the perspective of a former college basketball coach to try and peel the curtain back a little bit as to what a college film session would look like. Sometimes that means we have to be critical of what we see on the court. The defensive breakdowns were plentiful on Saturday evening and the ‘Cats got absolutely dominated on the glass. Let’s dive on in and take a closer look at Kentucky’s 89-85 loss to the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

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Defensive Breakdowns – 1st Half Edition

There were enough problems on the defensive end against the Gonzaga Bulldogs that we will need to break them up into two parts. First, we will look at where the ‘Cats struggled out of the gate. Inconsistency on ballscreen coverages, a lack of communication, and poorly timed interior double teams led to digging a 42-32 hole in the first 20 minutes. Defensive rebounding was a massive issue as well to the tune of Gonzaga getting nearly half of their own misses. Even after 23 games, Kentucky is still making the same mistakes they made to begin the season. That is very disheartening. Time is running out for the light bulb to come on with this group.

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Let’s begin by stating this appears to be a game planning issue, not a player execution issue. There are things that Adou Thiero brings to the table with his size, strength, and athleticism that no other Wildcat possesses. Therefore, why not just switch the ballscreens when he is involved? You could say it is to keep him on #22 Watson, but it would seem easier to go help in the post against a mismatch than try to keep #11 Hickman from getting off a clean jump shot. Kentucky needed to be more willing to switch on Saturday. They get scored on anyway, so just keep a guy on a guy and hope for the best.

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Clearly, Coach Calipari and company wanted to go bigger in order to matchup with the Gonzaga Bulldogs’ front court size. In a vacuum, that makes sense. However, if you are going to do that, then why double post-to-post like this? You have Justin Edwards in there for his perceived ability to matchup with #22 Watson. Therefore, why send a double when you have that matchup? Also, as we talk about a lot, if you are going to go if you have be aggressive. Coming from the low side makes that even more important. When you go trap you need to either steal the basketball or foul. Ugonna Onyenso was just a little too unsure of himself here.

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If you are going to play soft, drop coverage then you need to at least stay between the ball and the basket. The entire point of that style of ballscreen coverage is to corral the ball until the primary defender can get back to ball handler. However, Zvonimir Ivisic never provides any resistance whatsoever on the drive. Also, it didn’t end up really mattering here, but there has to be more urgency from Rob Dillingham to get himself back in the play.

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Kentucky didn’t have much success doubling the post in the first half. You simply cannot get split when you go double the post. Once #13 Ike is able to step through Ivisic and Edwards they have gained an advantage. Then, you get both Edwards and Dillingham flying by the shot attempt which takes them out of rebounding position. That is how the Gonzaga Bulldogs end up rebounding 48.6% of their own misses.

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It is almost impossible to rebound a missed three-point shot when you are standing inside of the restricted arc. This is where Kentucky has to do a better job of carving out space on the defensive glass. You can’t simply turn, stand, and jump for the ball. You will be sometimes required to physically move your man back away from the basket to put yourself in better rebounding position. Justin Edwards got himself caught too deep under the basket on this possession. Also, once again, the ‘Cats had a player take himself out of the play by standing and watching after a fly by closeout. It was Jordan Burks’ man who came up with the loose ball on the tip out. These are the type of plays that get you beat in close games.

Defensive Breakdowns – 2nd Half Edition

Kentucky won the first seven minutes and 30 seconds of the second half by 16 points. From down 42-32 at the half, to up 57-51 the Wildcats, absolutely dominated the Gonzaga Bulldogs. However, from that point on, the ‘Cats got just four defensive stops. Yes, you read that correctly. There were only four possessions in the final 12:30 were Gonzaga failed to put the ball in the basket. To add insult to injury, the Bulldogs seemingly scored on the same simple high ballscreen and roll action on the majority of those possessions. Let’s take a closer look at Kentucky’s continued defensive woes in the second half.

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It was equal opportunity between any and all combinations of Kentucky players in terms of poor ballscreen defense on Saturday. Here you see Rob Dillingham hop underneath the screen which generally would make sense set that high for #0 Nembhard. However, Ugonna Onyenso almost hard hedges this one despite Dillingham going under and not really needing any help at all. Again, it is the inconsistency in ballscreen coverage and lack of communication that lead to so many of these breakdowns.

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The Gonzaga Bulldogs deserve a lot of credit for how hard they played. That is especially true on the offensive glass. They absolutely whipped Kentucky consistently when it came to toughness and effort. Look at where #33 Gregg came from to eventually get this rebound and draw the foul. He shot it in the left corner and eventually rebounded it near the right block. Meanwhile, watch Thiero and Dillingham stood and watched. That is not what you want to see on film.

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You can’t really say that Kentucky did a good job of limiting Gonzaga from three, because they were just shooting layups instead. However, the Bulldogs made just six three-point shots on Saturday night. This one was a result of poor ballscreen coverage from Zvonimir Ivisic once again. He is in position to “ice” the ballscreen, but Dillingham doesn’t influence the ball handler in that direction. Due to the inconsistencies it is hard to know who is truly even at fault here. The ‘Cats weren’t really icing the ballscreens on Saturday though so it would seem that Ivisic is out of position. That forced Thiero to come down and help at the rim which left #22 Watson wide open for a three. He is a 45.7% three-point shooter.

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It wasn’t pretty watching the Wildcats try to guard #13 Ike inside. He is a very good player, but to watch him dominate all three of Kentucky’s 7-footers was discouraging. At some point you have to get around in front and try to keep him from getting the ball, because playing behind clearly wasn’t working. Bradshaw got completely turned around to the point that he was guarding Ike with his back. The Wildcats never fully seemed to grasp the fact that he was left-handed.

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There comes a point where effort and pride have to trump execution and ability. The Gonzaga Bulldogs had the ball out of bounds with 1.3 seconds remaining not he shot clock. Kentucky simply has to come up with one defensive rebound to have a chance to either tie or take the lead. However, they cannot come up with the loose ball off of #11 Hickman’s missed shot. Admittedly, it looks like Adou Thiero got pushed in the back in this clip. It is a physical game though and there is a lot of traffic in there. Kentucky probably would have been well served to push some people in the back more often on Saturday night. Most notably in this clip, look at where Ugonna Onyenso and Justin Edwards are standing. Every Gonzaga player is closer to the rim. That’s not good.

Three More Plays to Discuss

In a game like we witnessed on Saturday, you could dissect every single possession. We’ve already highlighted many of Kentucky’s defensive breakdowns and issues on the glass from their loss to the Gonzaga Bulldogs. However, there are three more specific clips worth discussing. Let’s end this not-so-fun film session with a look at those three clips.

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There are two separate issues that standout when breaking down this clip. First, this is simply not a good pass from Reed Sheppard. There was way too much air underneath this one and it led to a turnover. The offense wasn’t the issue against Gonzaga, but Sheppard’s four turnovers were uncharacteristic. Then, in transition defense, you have to sprint back. Take a look at DJ Wagner here. That simply isn’t enough urgency. He jogged for about four steps and then turned to start back pedaling. #22 Watson had him beat before he ever even caught the basketball. Kentucky’s two point deficit quickly ballooned to 10 points at the half.

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It is hard to imagine a scenario where arguably the most talented basketball player on the team plays just 18 minutes and 18 seconds. Reed Sheppard and Antonio Reeves need to be in the game as much as possible too, but that means you have to play three guards. Thiero and Edwards can split time at the “4” and Onyenso, Bradshaw, Ivisic can rotate at the “5.” Regardless of what his plus-minus says, Dillingham needs to be in the game. He was 2-3 from three and had three assists during his time on the floor. Also, he certainly isn’t any worse than the rest of the Wildcats defensively. It sure seems like Kentucky could have used more of what we see in the above 28-second clip.

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We can argue the play call if we want, but it is a set that Kentucky is comfortable running. It has mostly netted positive results not just this season, but in year’s past as well. However, running it this late gets everyone a little too sped up. Typically you would want the cross screen for Ugonna Onyenso to happen before Adou Thiero curls the backscreen. Onyenso has to clear out, and hopefully pull his defender with him, so that you have a clear lob to Thiero. Reed Sheppard is likely reading Thiero’s man here and sees him get completely hung up on Antonio Reeves’ backscreen. That triggered in his mind to throw the lob. Unfortunately, Onyenso’s man was still right there. You can’t throw the lob unless you are 100% sure, but it is understandable why he expected it to be open upon reviewing the film.

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