Watch the Tape: South Carolina Gamecocks

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The Kentucky Wildcats just keep on rolling. Tuesday night’s 86-76 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks was the second straight “roadkill” game for the ‘Cats and third over its last four. Kentucky now sits at 20-4 overall and 9-2 in the Southeastern Conference entering Saturday’s game against Florida.

As is typically the case in Columbia, it wasn’t always pretty last night. Some sloppy play towards the end of both halves allowed the Gamecocks to hang around a little longer than they should have. The Wildcats turned the ball over 16 times, allowed 22 offensive rebounds, and shot just 12-19 from the free throw line. That is pretty hard to overcome on the road in conference play. However, winning is all that matters and Kentucky did that for the fifth straight time.

In today’s edition of Watch The Tape we are going to focus on Kentucky’s offensive execution; Oscar Tshiebwe continues to stand out as the best rim-runner in the country and we will explore how that opens up everything in transition; and, as Jimmy Dykes kept pointing out, the empty side ballscreen between Sahvir Wheeler and Tshiebwe really stood out as a successful half-court action. However, we will also have to address the defensive rebounding concerns. Let’s step inside the film room and breakdown Tuesday’s win against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Oscar Tshiebwe Rim-Running

If you are a frequent reader of these Watch The Tape articles you’ve seen us talk about Oscar Tshiebwe’s rim-running a lot. Getting your big man to sprint the middle of the floor to the front of the rim truly opens everything up for your transition offense. In these clips we will see Oscar score for himself on the rim-run, get Kellan Grady open for a 3, and open up an alley-oop for Keion Brooks.

This clip is impressive because Oscar Tshiebwe literally starts off from the floor. He had been knocked down on the rebound attempt which is why he is late getting down the court. However, he still is sprinting the floor right to the front of the rim. He ends up getting a catch with two feet in the paint and is able to turn over his left shoulder without dribbling.

Just look at how hard Oscar Tshiebwe ran the whole length of the floor. He beats every player for the South Carolina Gamecocks down the floor and lays it in. Great coordination from the big man as well to catch this pass and lay it in without dribbling.

There are actually some real benefits to Kentucky’s transition offense when Oscar Tshiebwe does NOT get the rebound. It allows him to get out on the rim-run quicker which opens things up. Sahvir Wheeler is coming up the floor as fast as possible with Tshiebwe ahead of him and open at the front of the rim. That pulls the South Carolina defender down to protect the rim which leaves Kellan Grady wide open in the corner. Wheeler finds him and Grady buries it.

As a side note, this is why you can’t ever tell Sahvir Wheeler to slow down. He makes a between-the-legs move near half-court moving at full speed and delivers a perfect pass on the run. His ability to create offense for others is truly special and sometimes turnovers will come along with that.

Here is another all-out sprint by Oscar Tshiebwe that makes a Gamecocks defender help which opens up the alley-oop for Keion Brooks. This is so beautiful to watch.

The rim-runs are just too good to not show them all. Here is another where Oscar Tshiebwe is rewarded for his effort with a dunk. That is five total baskets over the course of the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks that were DIRECTLY linked to a rim-run by the big man.

Tshiebwe “Empty” Side Ballscreen

Jimmy Dykes got really excited talking about the Oscar Tshiebwe “empty” side ballscreen last night during the telecast. The great thing about emptying the side is that it allows the ability to reject the ballscreen and play along the baseline. It also takes away the easier help on the roll. Both TyTy Washington and Sahvir Wheeler had success in the ballscreen last night. Let’s take a look at why it was so effective.

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Especially when it is set as a drag ballscreen, the empty side ballscreen can be really effective. This is a tough angle for defenses to guard. There is nobody in the corner to drop down and help on the roll and it allows TyTy Washington to throw an alley-oop up to Oscar Tshiebwe.

Here is another alley-oop to Oscar Tshiebwe, but this time thrown by Sahvir Wheeler. There is nobody there to come down to take the roll which triggers the lob every time for the ‘Cats.

He turned it over too much last night, but Sahvir Wheeler absolutely sliced up the South Carolina Gamecocks defense. Emptying the side gives the guard the ability to reject the ballscreen and drive baseline. That is the biggest advantage of clearing out the corner. Here, Wheeler attacks to his left and kicks it out to Davion Mintz for a wide open 3-pointer.

Addressing the Rebounding Issues

First off, let’s all agree that rebounding isn’t exactly a consistent issue for this team. Kentucky is still one of the better defensive rebounding teams in the country. The Southeastern Conference has many of the best offensive rebounding teams, including the South Carolina Gamecocks, so it is a test on the glass every night. However, there are some issues that need to be addressed and cleaned up moving forward.

When talking about rebounding, there are “hit and stick” guys and “hit and get” guys. If you are “hit and stick” your job is to make contact with your man and not let him get the rebound. If you are “hit and get” your job is to make contact with your man and then go get the ball. Notice, both duties begin with “hit.” This is where Kentucky must improve. They have to go FIND someone and make contact. You can’t just stand at the rim and look for the ball. Jacob Toppin was in a good position to begin with. He was facing #24 Bryant, but just completely whiffed on boxing him out. Just one good hit to his chest would have knocked him back and allowed Toppin to go get the board. Keyshawn Bryant just played harder than everyone else last night.

Rebounding is a physical event. You have to make contact and create space away from the rim. At the college level, especially against the best offensive rebounding teams like the South Carolina Gamecocks, you have to FACE your man to box them out. That is why you have to go find them, hit them, and then go get the ball. Lance Ware is probably a “hit and stick” type of guy so he should just be fighting with #15 Leveque making sure he doesn’t get the ball. Also, at some point, it is okay to be so physical that they call a foul.

If you pause the clip right when the ball hits the rim you will see four Kentucky players with their feet inside the charge arc. There simply aren’t many rebounds that fall that close to the basket. The ‘Cats have to be physical enough to move the Gamecocks away from the basket.