Watch the Tape: Kansas Jayhawks

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watch-the-tape-kansas-jayhawks-3 — Photo: Dr. Michael Huang | KSR

Breaking down the losses definitely isn’t as fun as breaking down the wins. Tuesday night’s loss at the Champions Classic to the Kansas Jayhawks was about as encouraging as a loss can be. However, it still stings just the same. Kentucky is not a program that is interested in moral victories. The Wildcats expect to beat the best teams not just compete with them. A 1-6 mark in the last seven Champions Classic events is hard to swallow for a lot of Big Blue Nation. That doesn’t mean though that we can’t glean some positives from an otherwise frustrating night. It took some excellent individual performances from the Jayhawks to comeback and defeat the Wildcats 89-84. Along the way, Kentucky showed several flashes of what their young team can become.

The two minute span in the first half that saw Rob Dillingham make four three-pointers and assist on a fifth was the most exciting Kentucky Basketball has been in years. The ‘Cats went from four points down to six points up in the blink of an eye as Dillingham cemented himself on a national stage as one of the most electric players in college basketball. That run would continue with a couple of highlight-reel putback dunks by Adou Thiero as the first half lead peaked at 48-36. Ultimately, after a buzzer-beating three by Hunter Dickinson, #17 Kentucky lead #1 Kansas 48-41 at the break. In the second half the Wildcats led by as many as 14 points, but that would dwindle to a tie by the 12-minute mark. Ultimately, the ‘Cats let it slip away late.

KSR’s Film Room has been buzzing of late. The start of the season coincided with a couple of commitments during signing week which led to a lot of breakdowns to be had. Highlighting Travis Perry and Jayden Quaintance might have been more fun, but there is a lot to learn for the young ‘Cats from this loss. Let’s dive on in and breakdown Tuesday night’s loss to the number one ranked Kansas Jayhawks.

Shot Selection Worries Continue

In our Watch the Tape article from last Friday’s contest against Texas A&M-Commerce we discussed Kentucky’s questionable shot selection. Obviously in that game it didn’t matter as the Wildcats went on to win by 20 points. However, that is why film study can be so valuable regardless of the outcome. What started as a small, fixable concern in a 20-point win on Friday turned into a full-fledged problem in Tuesday’s defeat. There are some legitimate concerns at this point with shot selection and it potentially cost Kentucky a win against the #1 Kansas Jayhawks at the United Center.

DJ Wagner is going to be a great player for the Kentucky Wildcats and long term there is no reason for alarm bells to go off. However, in the short term, his shot selection has to be addressed. We discussed it after the Texas A&M-Commerce game and it was a problem once again against the Kansas Jayhawks. His shot selection was directly correlated to shooting 1-12 on Tuesday night. These left-handed “layups” that are outside of the paint and contested with a defender between him and the basket happen far too often. Wagner needs to jump stop, pivot, kick out, and live to fight another day. Still 15 seconds on the shot clock.

“You don’t have to make them all, you just can’t miss them all” is a famous Coach Calipari saying. Well, DJ Wagner is 1-9 from three-point range so far this season. That obviously is a small sample size, but nobody necessarily considered him an elite shooter coming out of high school. He will make some open ones, but shooting deep threes behind the ballscreen with 24 seconds on the shot clock probably isn’t something he should make a habit of. Antonio Reeves, Reed Sheppard, and Rob Dillingham can shoot this shot if they are feeling it. However, this isn’t a good shot for Wagner.

There is a time and a place for aggressiveness and confidence. This is one of those admittedly unfair situations where if you are Justin Edwards you better make this shot if you are going to take it. He is not one that should be shooting many transition threes with 25 seconds remaining on the shot clock.

Sometimes you are open for a reason. Hunter Dickinson was put on Adou Thiero because Coach Bill Self felt like the Jayhawks didn’t really need to guard him. Admittedly, Thiero played an excellent game. He scored in a variety of ways and did a great job on the glass finishing with 16 points and 13 rebounds. However, taking shots like this essentially equates to a turnover. Three-point attempts in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock are no good for him. Two very costly air-balls by two different Wildcats in the span of under two minutes.

Play Through Tre Mitchell MORE

Much was made of Coach Calipari’s “tweak” on opening night against New Mexico State. The Wildcats came out of the halftime break with the plan to run more offense through Tre Mitchell. That plan ultimately resulted in a blowout 40-point victory. More “tweak” could have been beneficial on Tuesday evening against the Kansas Jayhawks as well. Three times in the first half the ‘Cats knocked in a three as a direct result of playing through Mitchell in the post. However, it only happened once in the second half. Playing through Tre Mitchell should have been a big part of Kentucky’s endgame strategy.

Just as it is hard to double Hunter Dickinson because of his passing ability, it is equally difficult to double team Tre Mitchell. He sees this coming from a mile away and delivers a perfect pass to Adou Thiero. Then, Thiero throws the one-more pass to Reed Sheppard in the corner for a three. Mitchell deserves all the credit for creating this open shot. Good things happen when he gets a touch.

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There is so much to like about this offensive possession. In the pregame scouting report we talked about how the Kansas Jayhawks “layer” a lot of their possessions with multiple actions. Kentucky does the same here in this clip. The possession starts with an early staggered ballscreen. Then, the ball changes sides of the floor. Finally, it gets entered into Tre Mitchell in the post. He once again reads the double, retreats one dribble, and finds the cutting Jordan Burks inside. Burks turns and hits a wide open Rob Dillingham for a three. Beautiful offensive execution.

For the third time in a four minute period the Wildcats found Tre Mitchell inside and it led to a triple. You see great interior footwork by Mitchell on this possession. He makes a quick spin to the baseline and then flips back around to the middle of the floor as he finds Burks once again. Similar to the previous clip, Dillingham is the beneficiary who knows down the corner three-point shot.

Winning Plays vs. Losing Plays

In a high-level matchup between two really good teams that goes down to the wire there will be a few plays you can point to that either won or lost the game. For Kentucky, they made some winning plays early in the game that led to a sizable second half advantage. However, the Kansas Jayhawks came roaring back for the winning due to some losing plays down the stretch. Let’s compare and contrast some plays that built the Wildcats lead opposed to those that saw it evaporate.

For as incredible as the four three-pointers were that Rob Dillingham made seemingly in a row, his most impressive play was this fifth shot that he turned down. Not even Coach Calipari would have questioned Dillingham if he had pulled up for a heat check here. Instead, he made the unselfish play to throw the ball crosscourt to a wide open Antonio Reeves who buried a trip of his own. That was a very encouraging play by Dillingham to not get wrapped up in the moment.

Later in the game Kentucky reverted to one-on-one basketball and it got them beat. The Kansas Jayhawks are too good of a team defensively to just them with hero ball. That is why ball movement like you see on this possession is what works. Even this isn’t perfect. The ball never fully changes sides of the floor playing almost exclusively on the left side. However, there is enough player movement, passing, and cutting that it worked out for Kentucky. Kansas was a bit too low on the switch at the top of the key and Antonio Reeves shot it in. This is good offense from the Wildcats and something we needed to see more of down the stretch when the going got tough.

Of all the “negative” clips you could take from Kentucky’s loss to the Kansas Jayhawks, this is the most unacceptable of the bunch. There is no excuse for not being more locked in and focused to rebound a free throw. First of all, DJ Wagner is the “hawk” in this situation. He should have his foot right up on the arc ready to get involved on a long rebound. Instead, he is tucking in his jersey and backing away from the action. Additionally, Antonio Reeves steps into the play but doesn’t even come close to actually boxing out the shooter. This lack of attention to detail is disappointing.

Reed Sheppard did a lot of good on Tuesday night. He knocked down three massive three-points, had an athletic drive to the rim, and sunk both of his free throws. The freshman guard also came up with four steals. However, both of his turnovers were very costly. This one came in a big spot down the stretch and led directly to two points for Kansas. Sheppard needs to be able to jump out of bounds and throw this to Reeves with his left hand. He is open. Most importantly, you can’t allow this to be a live ball turnover. Instead of throwing it up the floor were the Jayhawks can get a run out he needs to just throw it out of bounds.