Watch the Tape: Ole Miss Rebels

That was more like it. Big Blue Nation entered Rupp Arena in uncharted territory. Never before had the Kentucky Wildcats lost three straight games in that building. With the Ole Miss Rebels coming to town on Tuesday night the possibility of a fourth straight defeat was very real. However, the ‘Cats got themselves back in the win column taking down the Rebels 75-63.

Admittedly, it wasn’t the prettiest performance of the season. Kentucky turned the ball over an uncharacteristic 15 times and connected on just six three-point shots for the second straight game. It was a relatively sloppy game, but notching the win was all that mattered and the Wildcats accomplished that goal.

Antonio Reeves led four scorers in double-figures with 15 points. Reed Sheppard added 13 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals off of the bench. Meanwhile, Justin Edwards and Rob Dillingham finished with 12 and 10 points respectively. Ugonna Onyenso deserves a special shoutout as well as he posted an incredible 10 blocked shots in 24 minutes of play. Speaking of his dominance at the rim, it was Kentucky’s defense that was the notable standout in this matchup. They held a potent Ole Miss offense to just 0.88 points per possession which was their third lowest mark of the season. Additionally, their 5-22 shooting performance from beyond the arc resulted in their second worst three-point shooting percentage of the season. Kentucky’s defense absolutely stepped up and flashed some baby steps in the right direction.

As always, we’ve been hard at work in the KSR Film Room since the clock hit zero in Kentucky’s latest contest. The Wildcats turned in arguably their best defensive performance of the season to improve to 17-7 overall and 7-4 in Southeastern Conference play. Additionally, we will highlight how they attacked the Rebels’ switch-heavy defensive style and found a lot of success hitting the roll man in pick-and-roll situations. Finally, we will address some continued defensive breakdowns that popped up to showcase how the ‘Cats can take further baby steps forward down in Auburn on Saturday. Let’s dive on in and take a closer look at Kentucky’s win over the Ole Miss Rebels.

Effort & Urgency Cover up Defensive Flaws

To be fair, it wasn’t just effort that led to a much improved defensive performance. The Kentucky Wildcats were more aggressive on the ball, more willing to switch, and generally in better position to guard the Ole Miss Rebels. That is how you hold them to 63 points on 37.5%/22.7%/55.6% shooting splits. However, even when the ‘Cats had some defensive breakdowns, they covered it up with a high level of effort and urgency. That isn’t to say that this team doesn’t typically play hard, that isn’t the case, but it was clear that the urgency was higher on Tuesday night than we’ve seen for most of this season on the defensive end of the floor.

---

Kentucky’s defense isn’t going to all of the sudden go from bad to good. However, it doesn’t need to be that drastic of change. Coach Calipari has talked about being 10% better. It might not even take that much. Just one or two stops, even one or two defensive rebounds, would likely have flipped the outcome of three games already this season. Anyway, this is a good example of a small improvement the Wildcats made defensively on Tuesday night against the Ole Miss Rebels. It is far from perfect, but the ‘Cats had the right idea and some urgency ultimately made it a positive defensive possession. Tre Mitchell and Justin Edwards should always switch ballscreens when they are involved together. Mitchell is a step late recognizing it, but it is good they switched. Then, Ugonna Onyenso is there at the rim to make a great play on the ball.

---

Often wrong, but never in doubt would be a good way to describe Reed Sheppard defensively. While that comes off a bit negative, it actually can be used to his advantage at times. Yes, he gets lost far too often off of the ball. However, it is his aggressiveness that leads to him getting five steals like he did last night. On this possession he doesn’t come up with the steal, but he absolutely saves two points. You could argue that Sheppard shouldn’t have made this play. Leaving an elite shooter like #11 Murrell is generally a losing proposition. If you are going to tag on the roll though, at least do so aggressively and try to make a play. Here you see him knock the ball away for 7’5″ Jamarion Sharp on the roll. That is effort and urgency covering up what may be a “bad” decision.

---

This is probably the single best clip from Tuesday night’s game to showcase Kentucky’s baby steps towards a “good enough” defense. Again, the execution isn’t perfect. Justin Edwards and Tre Mitchell end up guarding the same guy and there is still a bit too much chasing the ball. However, effort and urgency are really high on this possession. First of all, you get some great on-ball pressure by Rob Dillingham. Then, you get maybe the first well-executed three-way switch/X-out of the season. Ugonna Onyenso takes the ball handler, Justin Edwards cracks down on the roll man, Dillingham goes out to the weak side taking Edwards’ man. A lack of communication between Edwards and Mitchell stills puts the ‘Cats in a scramble situation, but they are flying around. Overall, this is better.

Still Room to Grow on the Defensive End

We all know that Kentucky’s defense isn’t an overnight fix. They didn’t all of the sudden get it all figured out against the Ole Miss Rebels. However, we did see some flashes of baby steps in the right direction. If the Wildcats can do that on a game-by-game basis between now and March they will be “good enough” to make a run. There is still plenty of work to be done though. They still get beat on the glass far too often due to being out of position and a lack of physicality. Also, chasing the ball for no reason continues to be a problem even through 24 games. Let’s take a closer, critical look at some of the breakdowns that crept into Kentucky’s performance on Tuesday night.

---

Out of all of Kentucky’s struggles on the defensive end of the floor, they’ve actually been pretty good at not giving up baskets in transition. However, that was not the case on Tuesday night. The Ole Miss Rebels scored 17 points in transition which was tied for the third most given up by the Wildcats this season. Some of that definitely comes as a result of turning it over a season-high 15 points, but there were other structural breakdowns as well. In this clip, from very early in the game, you see Justin Edwards get sucked down to the block as opposed to matching up with #11 Murrell on the wing. Basket, ball, next most dangerous. Either Tre Mitchell or DJ Wagner should have taken the basket and the other should have declared on the ball. Then, Edwards would have known to stay out on Murrell.

---

Bad habits are tough to break. When this shot goes up check out Antonio Reeves. Now, he had seven defensive rebounds on Tuesday night to lead the team. That deserves to be commended. However, he also should be shown on film how he could have had at least eight. When the shot goes up he simply turned and walked towards the rim. That is how long rebounds end up going over your head. Then, Adou Thiero and DJ Wagner fail to communicate a switch which puts the ‘Cats into a scramble situation. It is pretty ugly from there watching Kentucky chase the ball around until #11 Murrell makes the three. A little more discipline on the defensive glass could have immediately removed three points from the scoreboard.

---

What is Adou Thiero doing here? This is what we mean when we talk about chasing the ball. He literally followed the ball to four different Ole Miss players on a single possession. That is not real defense. When you go rogue it leads to open shots and you saw that on this possession. Ultimately #1 Nunez knocked in the wide open three-point attempt.

Finding Success Hitting the Roll Man

It wasn’t a typical offensive game for the Kentucky Wildcats. They turned the ball over a season-high 15 times and connected on just six three-point attempts for the second straight contest. However, they were still able to score 75 points thanks to having a lot of success in the pick-and-roll. Namely, the ‘Cats had one of their best games of the season hitting the roll man. Antonio Reeves, even when he wasn’t directly involved in the play, contributed to many wide open baskets due to the attention he draws as a shooter. Let’s take a look at some of the best offensive clips from Tuesday’s win over the Ole Miss Rebels.

---

The Ole Miss Rebels were petrified of giving up three-point shots to Antonio Reeves. Obviously, that makes sense as he is one of the best shooters in all of college basketball. However, it results in the Wildcats having success finding the roll man in pick-and-roll situations. Here you see DJ Wagner drive it left, the Rebels crack down to tag on the Ugonna Onyenso’s roll, but then quickly recover to Reeves on the perimeter. That decision left Onyenso wide open for the dunk. Great vision by Wagner here to find his big man.

---

Ballscreen coverage is all about making difficult decisions. When you are facing a team as good as Kentucky there are no ideal scenarios. Instead, you have to decide what you are most willing to give up. On this possession, the Rebels came in a little more aggressively on Aaron Bradshaw’s roll to the basket. That probably was a result of the dunks they gave up in the first half. However, tagging more on the roll it left Reed Sheppard open for a three on the wing. That is exactly what makes the Wildcats so hard to guard.

---

This time Ole Miss was a little slower to leave Reed Sheppard and tag on Ugonna Onyenso’s roll. Also, they did so with 5’11” Jaylen Murray who can’t really make much impact on the 7’0″ Onyenso. Rob Dillingham read the defense and threw a perfect lob to the rolling big man for a dunk. These last two clips are essentially the exact same action but one resulted in an open three and the other resulted in an alley-oop dunk.

---

There is a legitimate gravitational pull that takes defenders towards Antonio Reeves. On the last possession of the first half Coach Calipari called for this fake ballscreen action out of a timeout. Ole Miss probably expected Tre Mitchell to go downscreen for Rob Dillingham based on film, but instead he went and sealed Dillingham’s man on the tag. As Dillingham lifted up towards the wing his defender recovered which left Mitchell wide open at the rim. The Rebels were so concerned with Reeves on the perimeter that they left Mitchell all alone inside. Great play design by the ‘Cats to take a 14-point halftime lead.

---

Kentucky knew that the Ole Miss Rebels were going to do a lot of switching defensively. They were clearly prepared to exploit some of the mismatches which included this possession with 5’11” Jaylen Murray battling with Tre Mitchell inside. Due to the mismatch in size, Mitchell attracted a ton of attention upon his catch. However, the Wildcats used that opportunity to run Antonio Reeves to the corner for a three. Just the extra split second that his defender was watching Mitchell allowed Reeves to shake loose. Reeves is an elite shot-maker and scorer.