Watch the Tape: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

That was not the outcome Big Blue Nation had in mind. Saturday evening in South Bend, the Kentucky Wildcats fell to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 66-62. A 2/19 perforce from beyond the arc gave the ‘Cats very little margin for error as the scales would eventually tip towards the home team down the stretch. Kentucky hasn’t won a road non-conference game since defeating Louisville on December 29th of 2018.

At no point was this game patricianly pretty. However, the Wildcats led nearly the entire way until a Paul Atkinson Jr. bucket with 6:12 to play gave the Fighting Irish an advantage. Despite retaking the lead with Kellan Grady three with 1:50 left, the ‘Cats couldn’t score down the stretch and it cost them the game.

It is really hard to win college basketball games when you play in the 60s. Scoring 62 on the road against a power conference team will get you beat every single time. Kentucky appeared to be much better offensively during their seven game winning steak. However, now there are once again some valid concerns about just how good this team really is.

Hot takes and grand pronouncements after an emotional loss typically end up not being worth very much. That is why we watch the film. After breaking the game down you get a much clearer perspective of what actually went wrong Saturday night at the Joyce Center. Let’s talk about what happened in Kentucky’s loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

What Was Working Offensively

Before getting into the critiques of what went wrong against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, let’s set a baseline of what was working early in the game. These are some of the offensive actions that we could have seen more of down the stretch to break up the stagnant half-court sets. TyTy Washington was cooking early on, Kellan Grady showed his ability to score as a driver, and Oscar Tshiebwe was dominant.

Kellen Grady has been as good as advertised as a shooter for the Wildcats this season. He is 18/45 through nine games which puts him on a very short list of shooters in the Coach Calipari era to average two makes per game at a 40% clip. However, his lack of production outside of just the catch-and-shoot has been disappointing. This early possession is an example of what Kentucky needs to draw out of Grady more often.

He is hard to guard off of the dribble handoff because defenses have to chase over the top to take away his ability to shoot the three. That gives him a more clear path to turn the corner and get downhill. This is a play that he is certainly good enough to make consistently. The Wildcats should look to get him in more handoff actions, but Grady also needs to be more aggressive off the bounce when the opportunity presents itself. He still seems timid on the offensive end at times.

TyTy Washington looked like a lottery pick early in Saturday’s game. However, he kind of disappeared after his hot start. Washington scored his final basket of the game at the 10:17 mark in the first half. It is going to be really hard for Kentucky to win basketball games when Washington is scoreless for 30 minutes.

Especially with the way Notre Dame was guarding Sahvir Wheeler, it would have been nice to see Washington used as an offense initiator more often. These high middle ballscreens are probably Kentucky’s best offense this season. It forces good spacing and puts the defense in a position where they have to make tough decisions. Do they contain Washington off of the dribble, take away Tshiebwe on the roll, or stay with a shooter like Kellan Grady on the perimeter? The Fighting Irish are very out of position defensively here and Washington makes an explosive push with one dribble to reject the ballscreen and knock in the 15-foot pull-up jumper.

Things operate a lot smoother offensively when you have good shooters on the floor. The best versions of this Kentucky basketball team will always involve Sahvir Wheeler, but there are some things that open up when he is out. With Washington at point guard, and Mintz, Grady, and Brooks spaced on the perimeter, there is a ton of room to feed the post. Tshiebwe is open for the catch and gets to play one-on-one in the post due to defenders staying with shooters. Unfortunately, the three best shooters on the team combined for a 2/12 night from deep.

Two Game-Changing Mistakes

Both of these clips involve mistakes by Keion Brooks. While he will get a negative light in this watch the tape segment, he was far from the biggest problem Saturday night. These two mistakes just happened to come at very inopportune times that magnified the issue.

Kentucky had built a 53-48 advantage with under eight minutes left to play and were arguably one stop away from putting serious game pressure on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. However, a costly miscue led to a three-pointer to get the Irish right back in it. After TyTy Washington and Oscar Tshiebwe switch the high ballscreen, Washington was on Atkinson inside. It technically is a mismatch, but anybody can guard anybody for a possession. Atkinson isn’t really a scorer and Washington can fight in front and be just fine. With the ball still in the scoring area on the left wing you simply cannot switch back. Brooks tries to send Washington out to the perimeter while he comes down to cover Atkinson. This leads to the two running into each other and allows Wertz an open look from three. As a junior, Keion Brooks needs to know better.

After the costly defensive error, Brooks also contributed to a wasted offensive possession in a critical situation. Understanding time and score is very important. Especially as a junior, you expect better decision making from Brooks. However, with Notre Dame on a 9-1 run, he takes an ill-advised 20-footer with 20 seconds on the shot clock. This is a critical possession where you have to get a good shot. Brooks can take this 20-footer at any time on any possession. In this situation you have to at least change sides of the floor or get a post touch before shooting. This is a quick, bad shot that essentially is a turnover. In fairness to Keion Brooks, his teammates had a four possession stretch in the first half of equally as bad of shots as well.

Lack of Defensive Concentration

Winning road games against solid competition isn’t supposed to be easy. The margin for error is typically going to be very thin. Especially when you are struggling offensively, it really magnifies the importance of each possession. Down the stretch, it was so difficult for Kentucky to score while the Fighting Irish were gifted a few easy baskets. In a game that was tied with under a minute to go, any one of these next three clips could have flipped the result. Shell Drill will be Coach Calipari’s favorite this week.

One benefit of having an older team this season should be that the Wildcats make fewer mistakes like this. Lake of concentration plays happen to freshman as they transition to the college game. However, to see your starting point guard as a junior just space out in such a big spot is pretty disheartening. After a great defensive possession that didn’t end with a rebound, Notre Dame gets the ball out of bounds with a fresh 20 second shot clock. Sahvir Wheeler is caught staring at the action while his man back cuts the baseline for a dunk. You can’t be not helping and also not guarding your man.

At this point in the game Kentucky had scored just six points in the last six minutes. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are on a 9-1 run that took them from down five to up three. Needless to say, the Wildcats were in desperate need of a stop. Cormac Ryan drives it towards the baseline with Kellan Grady pretty much having him contained. In the scouting report we talked about how the deeper Ryan drives it the more he is driving to pass. Still, TyTy Washington gets caught flat-footed looking around while Dane Goodwin cuts the rim for a layup. Notre Dame is now up five after an 11-1 run.

This happens to freshman sometimes. You can live with Washington making this mistake if you didn’t have veterans taking bad shots and getting lost defensively throughout the game as well. However, the margin for error on the road is very thin. You don’t have to be perfect, but you can’t make as many mistakes as Kentucky did Saturday.

After the previous clip, Kentucky answered with an Oscar Tshiebwe bucket. However, on the defensive end, they give up another easy one for Notre Dame. The Irish were not forced to execute down the stretch. Far too many possessions were more or less given to them.

Kellan Grady does some good things off of the ball were he seems to have a good understanding of what to do. However, on the ball, he leaves a lot to be desired. Notre Dame is going to set their staggered double ballscreen and Grady’s feet jump like he is going to “ICE” it. He does this a lot. Keeping defenders on a side or “ICING” ballscreens isn’t something Kentucky does. The mistake leads to a straight line drive and foul. With very little work the Irish were right back up by five. The Wildcat’s simply need Kellan Grady to play better. He likely will, but mistakes like this just cannot happen from your fifth year senior.