Watch the Tape: Kansas Jayhawks

For anyone that still had questions about how good this Kentucky team was this season, you got your answer on Saturday. The Wildcats went into Allen Fieldhouse and blew out the Kansas Jayhawks in near wire-to-wire fashion. Kentucky built a 20-point halftime advantage and led by as many as 24 late in the second half on their way to an 80-62 victory. College basketball has been put on notice: the Kentucky Wildcats are for real.

Coach Calipari used an eight-man rotation and got contributions across the board. Keion Brooks Jr. led the way with 27 points. Oscar Tshiebwe put up 17 points and 14 rebounds. Kellan Grady hit four three-pointers for 12 points and Jacob Toppin didn’t miss a shot for 11 points off the bench. To win a game like this against Kansas with a 1/9 shooting performance from TyTy Washington just makes it that much more impressive. However, Washington and Sahvir Wheeler combined for 13 assists to just 4 turnovers to still dominate the game despite not scoring much.

Quite simply, a lot of things went right for the ‘Cats against the Kansas Jayhawks. The defensive intensity was there from the tip, their transition offense was firing on all cylinders, and Kentucky dominated the always important “middle-eight” segment. Let’s step inside the film room and look back on Saturday’s exciting victory.

Kentucky’s Success in Transition

When the Wildcats are able to get out and run their offense can be nearly unstoppable. A lot of that has to do with the health of both Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington as well. When both guards are healthy and able to play their normal 30 or more minutes it just adds a whole other dimension to Kentucky’s offense. This team’s success in transition starts with getting stops on the defensive end, but once the ball is in the hands of Wheeler or Washington you know they are off to the races. Here are some of the best transition scoring opportunities from Saturday’s win over the Jayhawks.

The Kentucky backcourt gets a lot of praise for their abilities in transition and rightfully so. However, Oscar Tshiebwe deserves as much credit as anyone for the Wildcats’ fast-paced offense. The big man is an elite rim runner that sprints the floor on every possession. His hustle on this play led to an easy two points as Tshiebwe beat his man down the floor.

There probably isn’t a more exciting play for the Wildcats this season than a Kellan Grady transition three-point attempt. Against the Kansas Jayhawks, the sharp-shooter was able to knock in a couple as his teammates did a great job of setting him up on the break. Playing through the middle of the floor as a ball handler in transition can really open things up and Wheeler’s move across the midline gets Grady a shot here. You can see this play developing from the moment Wheeler crosses half court. Great recognition by the backcourt tandem to make this play and Grady knocks in the shot.

When Sahvir Wheeler can push the ball deep into the paint in transition it puts a ton of pressure on the defense. Heads will turn to watch the ball which gives offensive players the opportunity to relocate to an open area. Wheeler attracts the attention of a couple of extra defenders on this play leaving Brooks wide open for an 18-foot jumper. Just five seconds into the shot clock and the Wildcats get a great look.

Winning the “Middle-Eight”

You’ll hear our football experts like Freddie Maggard and Adam Luckett talk about the “middle eight” a lot and the importance of winning that segment. However, it is equally true on the basketball floor as well. That period between the last media timeout of the first half and the first media timeout of the second half can determine the outcome of a game. Kentucky outscored the Kansas Jayhawks by nine points in the “middle eight” on Saturday.

Keion Brooks got the Wildcats started off right in the middle eight with this little 12-foot jumper. Sahvir Wheeler does a great job of attacking the middle of the floor and Brooks recognizes an opportunity to get a shot. His movement towards the free throw line on the Wheeler drive got him in a position to get the pass and knock in the jump shot. Brooks was extremely active on Saturday and it showed up in the stat sheet with a game-high 27 points.

This is such a big-time shot. When you have a guy that can make this there simply isn’t much the defense can do. It isn’t hyperbole to say that Kellan Grady did his best J.J. Redick or Doug McDermott impersonation when knocking in this three-pointer. Kentucky went to their circle action and ended up with Grady near the right corner before bringing him back off a baseline pin down. This is an excellent screen by Oscar Tshiebwe and great footwork by Grady. Not much the Kansas Jayhawks could do to stop this shot.

The Wildcats took a 20-point lead at the halftime break in emphatic fashion. It all starts with the amount of attention that Kellan Grady attracts on the perimeter. Kansas jumps the handoff which leaves Sahvir Wheeler wide open at the top of the key since his defender left. Wheeler is able to attack in a straight line downhill which gets Keion Brooks’ defender to step up to help. That triggers the lob from Wheeler and Brooks slams it home with authority. Beautiful basketball by Kentucky to enter the half.

Just as he opened up the middle eight with a jumper, Keion Brooks knocked in another one towards the close of the important stretch. This is an excellent play from Kellan Grady that the Wildcats need to continue to get more of out of him. He is good enough off the dribble to attack the middle of the floor and become more of a playmaker down the stretch this season. On this play, Grady finds Brooks in his patented 15-18 foot range for a jumper. Mid-range jumpers may be out of style, but making shots never gets old. This is a high percentage shot for Brooks.

Defensive Intensity From the Tip

The Kansas Jayhawks got loose for a couple of early three-pointers, but for the most part, it was a 40-minute defensive clinic by the Wildcats. Kentucky was able to hold one of the best offenses in college basketball to back-to-back 31 point halves. Let’s take a look at how they did it.

Oscar Tshiebwe is going to play as many minutes as possible for the rest of the season. That is undeniable. However, Lance Ware has developed into a serviceable backup recently and really raises the Wildcats level defensively. He is so active and has a great grasp of team defensive concepts. In this clip, Ware perfectly shadows a ballscreen, recovers with a short closeouts, perfectly shadows a handoff, and then gets himself into rebounding position.

Kellan Grady did a pretty darn good job on Ochai Agbaji, holding the Jayhawks National Player of the Year candidate to 13 points on 4/14 shooting. This isn’t perfect defense as Agbaji gets by Grady a little bit, but forcing him to drive it left and finish back into the defense with his right hand gets him to miss the off-balance layup. When we do the scouting report, we don’t just make this stuff up. Even at the highest level, guys like Agbaji aren’t as good driving it left as they are going right. Little things like that can lead to misses and keep points off the board.

We have grown accustomed to seeing Sahvir Wheeler make a play like this. If Kentucky can now get steals like this from TyTy Washington it just makes the defense that much more dangerous. After a made basket, Washington stays in the backcourt to pressure the inbounds pass. He ends up picking off a lazy throw in to steal, no pun intended, an extra possession for the ‘Cats.

We talk about it a lot, but sometimes effort beats defensive execution. There is nothing wrong with this clip for Kellan Grady defensively, but the way he moves his feet to stay right with Ochai Agbaji on the drive forces him into a tough, running layup. Grady was able to tire Agbaji out throughout the game and it led to the All-American leaving shots like this short.