Watch the Tape: Louisville Cardinals

Never take winning for granted. Some will call it cliche or “coach speak,” but it is something that we don’t do enough in Big Blue Nation. Winning is the expectation for Kentucky fans which often leaves little room for joy aside from cutting down the nets in early April. It can be easy to meet wins with relief and losses with extreme disappointment and anger. That was even more true when playing the rival Louisville Cardinals in their current state of affairs. Thursday night’s contest offered a near no-win scenario for the ‘Cats. Winning big was the expectation, but even a close win, let alone a loss, would have been worrisome for fans. It can be hard to play in those sort of games, especially leading into Christmas break.

Despite some of the external factors that made the trip to the KFC Yum! Center a potential trap game, the Wildcats responded from a slow start to dominate the Cardinals 95-76. Number nine ranked Kentucky led by 20 at the half and extended their advantage to as many as 26 before coasting to the final buzzer. Antonio Reeves poured in 30 points to lead five ‘Cats in double-figures. Tre Mitchell (18 points, 12 rebounds) and Reed Sheppard (11 points, 11 assists) each added double-doubles. As a team, Kentucky shot 12-25 from three-point range on their way to breaking 90 points for their fifth time in 11 games. Coach Calipari officially has one of the best offenses in all of college basketball. Meanwhile, the defense continues to show flashes.

As always, we’ve been hard at work inside the KSR Film Room breaking down Kentucky’s most recent contest. The offensive execution remains high-level, the ‘Cats can strike in a hurry in transition, and the defense is getting better on a game-to-game basis. Let’s dive on in and take a closer look at the film from Kentucky’s 95-76 win over the rival Louisville Cardinals.

Kentucky’s Offense Executing at a “Best-in-Country” Level

Kentucky just might have the best offense in college basketball. They play fast, play without turning it over, and absolutely shoot the lights out from three-point range. On Thursday night against the Louisville Cardinals they put up 95 points while dicing up half-court man-to-man defense, full court pressure, and a 2-3 Zone. That is when you know you are hitting on all cylinders. Whether the ‘Cats are running in transition, playing “random” 5-Out Motion, or executing a set play you can rest assured they are going to get to something good offensively right now. It is truly fun to watch. Let’s take a closer look at some of the best execution from this most recent win.

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The Louisville Cardinals did a good job of speeding Kentucky up a bit to start the game. They hard-hedged a couple of ballscreens and made DJ Wagner pick up his dribble. There were early turnovers, forced shots, and that led to the Cardinals jumping out to a quick 5-0 advantage. However, Rob Dillingham flipped the script when he was inserted into the game. His ability to create off of the dribble and so seamlessly get into a second move was exactly what the ‘Cats needed early in the game. This possession is also a good example of how Kentucky can maintain quality spacing while playing Tre Mitchell and Aaron Bradshaw together in the front court.

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Tre Mitchell is a calming presence within Kentucky’s offense. Good things happen when he has the ball and the game slows down around him. The Wildcats needed that in the opening minutes of Thursday’s contest. His poise and pace is how he has produced 38 assists and only 15 turnovers through 11 games. In this clip you see Rob Dillingham and Tre Mitchell in a side ballscreen action which leads to Mitchell getting it on the pop. However, instead of shooting it, this time Mitchell drives it to his left against the closeout and then turns that drive into a post move. His pace and the little shot fake at the midline allows him to finish the left-handed hook shot around his defender. Excellent execution by Mitchell.

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Kentucky executed offensively versus man-to-man, extended full court pressure, and 2-3 Zone defense against the Louisville Cardinals. No matter what Coach Kenny Payne threw at the ‘Cats they had an answer. When they mixed in the 2-3 Zone Coach Calipari didn’t have to call timeout and run a set play. Instead, the Wildcats remained poised, got organized, and played through Tre Mitchell in the high post. It is really, really hard to zone this team.

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Execution from sideline out-of-bounds, and out-of-bounds under has been off the charts for Kentucky this season. This quick zoom action they get to is really hard to guard. Rob Dillingham comes racing off of the downscreen and forces Louisville to switch the handoff. Then, Aaron Bradshaw rolls to the basket getting a piece of #55 Clark on the roll. #22 White is forced to stay and tag the roll leaving Justin Edwards wide open for a three-pointer. If he can just make these wide open attempts it’ll be huge for Kentucky’s offense.

Transition Offense Gets on You Quick

Per KenPom, Kentucky is playing at the 18th fastest offensive pace in the country. Playing so many guys who can dribble, pass, and shoot allows them to get out on the break quickly and find good shots early in the clock. They are able to deliver knockout blows in a hurry and are capable of exploding on a scoring run at anytime. That is exactly what happened on Thursday night against the Louisville Cardinals. Kentucky led by eight points with three minutes to play in the first half, but scored 14 points in the final minutes to take a 53-33 lead into the locker room. Quite simply, the Wildcats are one of the best transition teams in college basketball right now.

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There were plenty of transition clips that we could have shared here, but some of them also showcase excellent defensive plays that led to the transition buckets. Those will be outlined in the next segment. However, for now, let’s focus on these two transition opportunities that came late in the game and resulted in Tre Mitchell three-point shots from the trail spot. There are a few key components to this possession. First, Rob Dillingham pushes the pace and flattens out the defense. Secondly, you have Ugonna Onyenso rim-running which ultimately pulls two defenders with him. Then, Mitchell smartly stops at the trail spot as he sees Onyenso run by him. Having structure to your transition offense is important. This is nearly perfect here.

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These back-to-back trail spot three-pointers were the perfect example of the luxury that is having Tre Mitchell in your front court. Kentucky has been needing this level of shooting ability from the trail spot the last couple of seasons. Against the Louisville Cardinals you saw it unlocked as Mitchell buried triples on these two possessions to build a 25 point advantage. Reed Sheppard did a good job of slicing the floor and once again you had Ugonna Onyenso rim-running which got Mitchell the open shot attempt. Both of these last two three-pointers can be directly attributed to Onyenso’s effort on the rim-run.

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This clip doesn’t showcase transition offense in the traditional sense, but it essentially turns into that after breaking the press. The Louisville Cardinals simply had no answer for the ‘Cats. Whether they went full court press or zone nothing worked. Here you see Sheppard beat his man, draw the help, and find a wide open Antonio Reeves for three.

Making Real Strides Defensively

Coach Calipari is known for elite level defenses. For all of the star power he has coached in Lexington, his best teams have been excellent defensively. 2010, 2012, 2015, and 2017 all had Top 10 defenses per KenPom. However, this group simply is not going to be a Top 10 defense. What they can be though is “good enough” to compliment an elite offense. We have started to see flashes of that as the defense has improved game-to-game of late. A big part of that improvement is the addition of Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso into the lineup. Against the Louisville Cardinals, the ‘Cats forced 13 total turnovers, collected nine steals, and blocked eight shots. That is where they will hang their hat defensively. Creating turnovers and protecting the rim.

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As mentioned earlier, a lot of these defensives clips also feature Kentucky’s excellent transition offense on the backend. From a defensive stand point, this clip encapsulates exactly what this team is defensively right now. It wasn’t pretty at the point of the ballscreen. Both Reed Sheppard and Tre Mitchell are completely lost. However, elite rim protection and verticality from Adou Thiero leads to an impromptu double team in the corner and Justin Edwards ultimately comes away with a steal. Then, Kentucky is off to the races as Edwards finds Antonio Reeves for a transition three. They may not be sound from a traditional sense, but their ability to create “havoc” masks a lot of shortcomings.

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Justin Edwards is making progress. He finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds, including three offensive, against the Louisville Cardinals. Even more importantly, he showed some flashes on the defensive end as well. Clips like this are why he is still considered a high draft pick. Edwards hops underneath the handoff and cuts off the drive not once, but twice. Then, he fights over a ballscreen and sticks with #22 White off of the dribble once again. Finally, Tre Mitchell blocks the shot on the drive to force Louisville to shoot a rushed shot from the out-of-bounds under late in the clock. Kentucky’s defense is definitely trending in the right direction.

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Adou Thiero deserves to be mentioned among the list of Kentucky’s rim protectors at this point. Not only is he averaging one block per game, but he also forces a lot of wild missed shots with his verticality at the rim. Look at how he gets both hands in the air and jumps straight up at the end of this drive to force the miss. That is perfect execution of a scouting report, a great job of not fouling, and equally as valuable as a blocked shot. Once again, the defense leads to offense as Rob Dillingham drills the pull-up jumper at the other end.