Watch the Tape: South Carolina Gamecocks

How do you respond when you get punched in the mouth? For 40 minutes on Tuesday night, the South Carolina Gamecocks (16-3, 4-2) dictated the pace and physicality while knocking the #6 Kentucky Wildcats (14-4, 4-2) back on their heels. The Cats were held to just 62 points, 28 below their season average, and the game was played at a season-low 63 possessions.

We knew this one would be a battle of contrasting styles and the home team certainly set the tone from the opening tip. South Carolina benefited from some hot three-point shooting as well. They shot 11-24 from deep compared to Kentucky’s 4-13 mark. It is nearly impossible to overcome an eight-shot deficit from three-point range on the road.

Obviously, what happened in Columbia was not what Big Blue Nation had planned. Even the most pessimistic of fans wouldn’t have expected this team that averaged 90 points per game would put up a 62-point clunker. Defensive concerns certainly loom large, but now we’ve seen what it looks like when the ‘Cats can’t score. It isn’t pretty. However, the most important thing will be how the team responds to facing some adversity. Instead of hearing about how good they are, the Wildcats will get a few days of negativity from their own fans and media. Can they respond by going on the road and beating Arkansas at Bud Walton Arena? That isn’t an easy way to get back up off of the mat.

Two things can be true at the same time. Kentucky is too good to get beat like that by South Carolina. All due credit to Coach Lamont Paris and the Gamecocks, but the talent gap is certainly in the Cats’ favor. However, as we’ve learned in college basketball this season more than ever before, that doesn’t always matter. Everyone is good. Winning in your league on the road is really hard. Purdue lost by 16 at Nebraska. Houston lost back-to-back road games in the Big 12. UConn lost by 15 at Seton Hall. Arizona lost by 18 at Stanford. Kansas lost at UCF and West Virginia. Nearly every team in the country has at least one head-scratching conference loss. It is becoming the norm. That doesn’t make Tuesday night’s loss easier to swallow, but it does provide context.

As always, we’ve been hard at work inside of the KSR Film Room breaking down Kentucky’s latest contest. Quite frankly, this one wasn’t fun to watch. That was true in real-time and even worse on the rewatch. The Wildcats got dominated on Tuesday night at the Colonial Life Arena. Offense became stagnant and there was uncharacteristically bad spacing. Furthermore, no meaningful adjustments were made as the game got away from the ‘Cats in the second half. Then, on the defensive end, the same breakdowns we’ve watched all season were magnified as the offense wasn’t there to mask the problem. It is gut check time in Lexington and maybe that will turn out to be a good thing. Let’s dive on in and take a closer look at what went wrong against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Spacing Issues – No Adjustment to South Carolina’s Game Plan

Credit to Coach Lamont Paris and the South Carolina Gamecocks. They came in with a great game plan and executed it to perfection. On the flip side, Kentucky failed to make the necessary in-game adjustments to counter what the Gamecocks were doing defensively. Their physicality, perimeter pressure, and clogging of the lane inside put the Wildcats on their heels from the opening tip. There were far too many non-paint, contested two-point shots taken in this game. That is what South Carolina was willing to give up and the Cats played right into their hands for the majority of the 40 minutes on Tuesday night. Other teams will likely attempt to replicate that strategy, so adjustments will need to be made going forward.

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South Carolina was daring Kentucky’s ball handlers to give it up at the rim. They were selling out on the drive making it hard to finish at the rim and giving up the pass to the roll or the dunker’s spot. Quite frankly, the Gamecocks didn’t think those guys could beat them. This led to a lot of the non-paint, contested two-point shots that proved to be low percentages for the Cats. When Aaron Bradshaw is in the game, Tre Mitchell should probably pop off of every ballscreen. He would have been open here and on a lot of possessions Tuesday night. Also, why is DJ Wagner trying to finish this with his right hand? Happened twice where he got blocked shooting with his right hand on the left side. He is left-hand dominant anyway. Bad spacing.

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This is exactly why Coach Paris came in with the game plan that he did. Kentucky’s guards simply aren’t very good at getting the ball to the big men around the basket. Also, the big men aren’t very good at finishing when they receive the ball. #2 Mack completely sells out on the Rob Dillingham drive leaving Ugonna Onyenso wide open at the basket. Dillingham has turned it over in this manner numerous times this season. This has to either be a shot attempt that can go in or be offensive rebounded, or it has to be a lob to Onyenso. The lob is very much open. However, he tries to wrap a pass around the secondary defender. Onyenso will catch that pass maybe 10% of the time. Turnover in a key spot.

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If this is the ballscreen that gets set then you might as well space the floor and play one-on-one. No advantage was gained because Ugonna Onyenso doesn’t hold his screen long enough to make contact. Also, DJ Wagner is starting his drive from what is essentially a stationary position. Need to begin the possession with movement. However, once again, you see the South Carolina Gamecocks focusing all attention on the ball handler. Wagner’s defender is able to wall him off outside of the paint as well. Typically, Wagner wants to finish everything with his left hand. On Tuesday night though he shot it at least twice with his right hand on the left side and was blocked both times. Poor execution.

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Driving it off of a cut as opposed to a ballscreen worked a couple of times early for Kentucky. Then, as the game went on, they seemed to go away from it. With South Carolina’s physicality on the perimeter bringing the secondary defender to the ball seemed counterproductive as opposed to simply beating the Gamecocks one-on-one. DJ Wagner’s cut off of the butt of Rob Dillingham as he cut through forced a switch and gave Wagner the half step he needed to get a clearer look at the rim. That is actually a really hard action to guard. Probably needed more of that in the second half.

On-Ball Defensive Breakdowns + Flashes of What Can Work

It is hard to decide whether Kentucky’s on-ball or off-ball defense is worse. Unfortunately, we will be breaking them both down in the segments ahead. There is still no discernible plan on the ballscreens. During the course of a game, you’ll see countless different coverages, and missed coverages, which makes it hard to pin down what exactly the mistakes are or who is causing them. That certainly remained true in the South Carolina Gamecocks’ 79-62 win on Tuesday night. The Wildcats couldn’t control the point of attack and it let South Carolina’s guards get to wherever they wanted to go.

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Based on where Aaron Bradshaw is, it would appear that Kentucky wanted to “weak” this ballscreen. That would mean forcing #5 Johnson to drive it left. However, Antonio Reeves never influences the ball to that side which leaves Bradshaw out of position. Again, it is hard to know for sure which player is in the wrong because there is no consistency. Getting caught this out of position completely negates the rim protection that Bradshaw would bring if he were able to stay between the ball and the basket.

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This is what it is supposed to look like when the ball properly gets influenced to a side. Also, this is why it seems as if Antonio Reeves was at fault in the previous clip, not Aaron Bradshaw. Kentucky does in fact “weak” this ballscreen and Bradshaw does a good job of applying some pressure on #55 Cooper as well. We talked about it in the Scouting Report prior to the game, but it would have been nice to see more of this against the South Carolina Gamecocks. That ball screen coverage set the tone for a very good early defensive possession. Keeping Aaron Bradshaw at the rim caused two misses as well.

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The word “embarrassing” gets thrown around too often after losses like this. A lot of things that people think are embarrassing really aren’t, or at least shouldn’t be. More Top 10 teams in the country than not have a loss in the same vein as Kentucky’s at South Carolina. However, defensive possessions like this certainly can be categorized as embarrassing. #5 Johnson is a very good player. He should not though be able to drive straight to the rim with zero resistance without so much as a single pass. Johnson literally dribbled down the floor and drove to the rim for a layup. DJ Wagner opens the gate. Zvonimir Ivisic doesn’t corral the ball or provide any rim protection. Antonio Reeves has his back turned to the ball guarding a guy who is behind the backboard. All-systems failure.

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Especially early in the game Kentucky actually showed some more flashes on the defensive end of the floor. They forced five turnovers in the first eight minutes which is something they desperately need to get back to doing more of. Their turnover rate has been plummeting over the last month or so of the season. We know it isn’t going to be great, but Kentucky’s defense is at its best when it is decisive and aggressive. That is what you see here. Great hands by Reed Sheppard and a good, aggressive play by Rob Dillingham to jump the passing lane. You don’t want to take this away from Dillingham, but there are too many times when he is caught running around without coming up with a steal. He still has to figure out the right balance defensively.

Obsessed With the Ball – Getting Lost for No Reason

Not to be overly dramatic, but there are times when watching Kentucky play defense is like watching a young group of basketball players at the local YMCA. That is meant very tongue-in-cheek, but their obsession with chasing the ball around is where the similarity comes into play. There are generally 10 eyes fixated on the ball and generally multiple defenders leaving their man to run at the ball. This is the crux of so many of Kentucky’s defensive problems. There is no discipline, concentration, or recognition of personnel when guarding off of the ball. It is a complete and utter fixation on the basketball. As the calendar nears February it is time that this is fixed in the film room.

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#5 Johnson curls the downscreen with DJ Wagner chasing him, Aaron Bradshaw helping, and Ugonna Onyenso parked at the front of the rim. Kentucky is in pretty good defensive position here. Wagner gets back in front of his man which should trigger Bradshaw to recover to #4 Clark on the roll. Instead, the ‘Cats end up triple-teaming the basketball for no reason. Especially because Bradshaw stays with Wagner to guard Johnson, why does Justin Edwards feel the need to crack down from the top? That is an instance where you better either steal or foul if you go to the ball. Then, instead of closing out, Edwards point-switches with Wagner who is several steps further from the ball. This is undisciplined basketball.

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Rob Dillingham going rogue defensively is becoming a common issue. His feet are generally out of control and he takes himself completely out of position far too often. Then, to compound the issue, he stops and watches once he is out of the play. Look at him on this possession. He gets back cut at the point of the screen and then comes flying at the ball like he is going to block the shot completely taking himself out of the play. If he had simply hustled down and put his chest against #55 Cooper maybe he could have gotten him to miss. The “happy feet” is a real problem.

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It is very much equal opportunity when it comes to staring at the basketball. This defensive possession starts out pretty good for Kentucky. Eventually, the South Carolina Gamecocks enter the ball to their 6’7″ forward with 7’2″ Zvonimir Ivisic guarding him. There is really no reason to be overly worried about that matchup. However, Antonio Reeves is fixated on the ball while standing in no man’s land. He certainly isn’t influencing the post-up from there and he obviously isn’t taking away the three-point shot either. You need to be doing SOMETHING when you are off the ball. Reeves got caught doing nothing.

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What is Tre Mitchell doing? Guarding #2 Mack was always going to be a pain point in this game. However, the worry was about guys like Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso having to guard him. Mitchell should be able to do better. Again, the ‘Cats are in no man’s land staring at the ball. Not actually helping on the ball, but also not taking their man away on the perimeter. What is Mitchell going to do from the right elbow when the ball is on the left block? #30 Murray-Boyles isn’t a scorer anyway. Stop worrying so much about the ball!!!

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#1 Wright hit a fourth three for good measuring to start to put Kentucky away in the second half. There is something to be said for tagging on the roll, but Ugonna Onyenso is at the front of the rim. What are we worried about the Gamecocks doing on the roll? Rob Dillingham is just running around with his own plan. Halfway swipes at the ball and gives up a wide-open corner three because he fully left his man. Again, you hate to handcuff his aggressiveness. However, there comes a point where you have to bring some reward with the risk. If you are going to go rogue you BETTER come up with the basketball.