Watch the Tape: Vanderbilt Commodores Take Down Kentucky 74-69

There would have been a time where Kentucky losing at Memorial Gymnasium was an utter embarrassment. A portion of Big Blue Nation still thinks that way, but the truth is this is a different Vanderbilt Commodores team. This is a Quad 1 opponent that will almost assuredly break into the Top 25, maybe even the Top 20, in the next AP Poll. Coach Mark Byington has wasted no time since arriving in Nashville. After winning 32 games and reaching the Round of 32 at James Madison last season, Coach Byington will be doing dancing in year one at Vanderbilt. The Commodores are 16-4 overall and 4-3 in the Southeastern Conference after knocking off Top 10 opponents on back-to-back Saturdays.

The good news in the Southeastern Conference this season is that there are very few, if any, “bad” losses. However, the bad news is that it can be really difficult to find victories. The Wildcats are now staring three straight losses, and a below .500 conference record, right in the face as they travel to Knoxville on Tuesday to face the Tennessee Volunteers. Quad 1 road losses don’t necessarily hurt your resume, but when essentially all of the games are Quad 1 opportunities you do have to win some of them. Kentucky is still tied for the third most Quad 1 wins in the country. Overreactions are bound to happen after any loss, but big picture context is always important. The ‘Cats will need to right the ship and there is evidence to suggest that they will do so.

As always, we’ve been hard at work in the KSR Film Room breaking down Kentucky’s latest contest. The Wildcats struggled to contain Vanderbilt’s Jason Edwards early on, turned the ball over an uncharacteristic 17 times, and simply failed to execute in key moments. Despite trailing 41-27 at the half, the ‘Cats came roaring back and led 58-51 with 8:39 to play. However, the Commodores came up with a couple of timely three-point shots and turnovers doomed Kentucky down the stretch. Ultimately, Vandy came away with a 74-69 victory. In this film breakdown we will focus on missed opportunities offensively, missed assignments defensively, and highlight the Wildcats’ lack of execution in key moments. Let’s dive on in and take a closer look at Kentucky’s loss on Saturday to the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Kentucky Continues to Miss Opportunities Offensively

For as good as Kentucky’s offense is, it is still ranked fifth in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency, the Wildcats do leave a lot of points on the board. Whether it is missed layups, poor decision-making, or a lack of playmaking ability there are to many missed opportunities. This flaw has reared its ugly head in several of the Wildcats’ losses. A lot of time is spent bemoaning the defense, but Kentucky has failed to score 70 points in four of their five losses. If this top five offense consistently played at a top five level it is very likely the ‘Cats would only have one or two losses on the season. Here are some of the missed opportunities from Saturday’s loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores.

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Amari Williams is listed at 7’0″ and 262 pounds. Someone needs to remind him of that. Especially against the Vanderbilt Commodores, there was nobody on the floor like him physically. Then, when you consider his athleticism at that size, it becomes even more frustrating to watch clips like this. Williams needs to be the aggressor. When he drives to the basket the defender should be thinking about getting dunked on. Instead, Williams often goes up like he is a 6’0″ point guard. He shouldn’t need to shot fake when driving downhill in a straight line to his strong hand. Go up and dunk the basketball! He ended up getting fouled and making one of two free throws, but Kentucky needs two points on this play. More times than not you will still get fouled as well.

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Brandon Garrison struggled with ball security on Saturday afternoon. However, on the season the sophomore has still been excellent as a playmaker. 42 assists compared to 20 turnovers from your backup five-man is incredibly impressive. This is an example though of the ball sticking with him. Both Williams and Garrison need to understand that shots this far from the rim are not good shots. If they get deep post catches they should try to score the basketball. When they are out at the SEC logo they need to be playmakers. Vanderbilt had a defender on an island trying to split between Koby Brea and Jaxson Robinson on the back side. The ball needed to be kicked to one of them. Instead, Garrison shoots a low-percentage hook shot with 14 seconds on the shot clock.

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It is hard to get on Lamont Butler too much. He has undoubtedly been Kentucky’s most valuable player to this point in the season. However, he simply did not look like himself at Vanderbilt. Whether he was playing through an injury, didn’t feel well, or simply had a bad game it was clear that something was off. There were four different times on Saturday that he got to the rim and failed to convert layups. He appears to be far too worried about drawing contact as opposed to just going up to finish. Especially as a sub-70% free throw shooter, Butler needs to focus on simply converting layups. This one came in a big spot after the Commodores had just stopped the bleeding and cut Kentucky’s seven point lead to four.

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We have discussed before how the next evolution of Jaxson Robinson’s game will involve him becoming a better playmaker. This clip is a perfect example of that. The Vanderbilt Commodores have stopped the bleeding, but Kentucky still leads by two and has the ball. Coach Pope calls a set play for Jaxson Robinson to come off what is essentially an inverted Zoom. Amari Williams on the roll is the first read. Williams is open for a lob as both defenders step out aggressively on Robinson. However, he doesn’t have the confidence to make the pass. Instead, he settles for a contested long two. It will be hard for the ‘Cats to consistently play at their ceiling without being able to convert plays like this.

Lapses in Concentration Doom the Wildcats’ Defense

In many ways, Kentucky played one of their best games of the season defensively. The Vanderbilt Commodores scored 14 points off of turnovers which means only 60 points came against a traditional, set, half court defense. There were some breakdowns as always, but the ‘Cats were able to string together stops more frequently than usual. However, when you pair some lapses in concentration and a consistent lack of rim protection with the turnovers you end up with a losing recipe. These are the mistakes that need to continue to be cleaned up in the film room for Kentucky to reach their ceiling this season.

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Right out of the gate the ‘Cats showed that they weren’t really ready to play. You cannot go up through the staggered double when guarding #1 Edwards. Lamont Butler takes a bad route, runs directly into both screens, and gives one Vanderbilt’s two high-level shooters a wide open three-point shot to begin the game.

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Once #5 Nickel gave it up there was no reason for Brandon Garrison not to recover to #99 McGlockton. Kentucky isn’t a team that switches a lot of off-ball screening action and there really wasn’t even anything to with here. Garrison’s late, and lazy, point switch led to a wide open layup as the Vanderbilt Commodores extended their lead to 12 points.

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There had been some recent growth from Amari Williams as a rim protector in SEC play. However, on Saturday in Nashville there were too many times where he simply wasn’t involved defensively. There is no real reason for Williams to not be at the midline when #1 Edwards gets his catch. In a perfect world, Koby Brea would recognize the drive sooner and stay outside the restricted arc, but you would like to get some rim protection from your five-man as well. Williams never even made an attempt to slide over. Admittedly, part of that is due to the emphasis on rebounding, but it can’t always been a sacrifice of one thing for another.

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This clip is rather embarrassing. First of all, just get underneath the staggered double set for #11 Hoggard. That was discussed, and shown, at length in the KSR Scouting Report. Then, at the rim, Amari Williams doesn’t even attempt to contest Hoggard’s layup. He actually got out of the way as Hoggard went up. With Kentucky clinging to a one point lead they really needed their starting five-man to make it harder to score at the rim.

Poor Execution in “Winning Time”

Against Alabama, with the score tied 81-81, Kentucky failed to execute on both ends of the floor for a two minute stretch that led to a 9-0 run by the Crimson Tide. There was no coming back at that point. On Saturday against the Vanderbilt Commodores, the Wildcats’ collapse came even later. The ‘Cats led 69-68 following an Otega Oweh layup with 2:53 to play. However, that would be the last time they scored. In fact, they would only even attempt one more meaningful shot in the game. Let’s take a look at Kentucky’s final three offensive possessions.

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Kentucky wouldn’t have been in a position to beat the Vanderbilt Commodores without Otega Oweh. However, that doesn’t excuse what was a really bad shot in one of the biggest moments of the game. After having so much success getting to the basket there was simply no reason to settle for a contested pull-up three-point shot. Oweh was 8-11 from two-point range and shot seven free throws on Saturday. This shot was completely bailing the Commodores out defensively.

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Coach Pope had a set play dialed up as the ‘Cats tired to tie the game or take the lead. However, no set play is worth forcing it so much that you turn the ball over. These bounce passes are very risky at the college level. That is especially true against an aggressive defense like Vanderbilt. Could Amari Williams do a better job of going to get the ball? Maybe. Was he being fouled? Maybe. However, your point guard can’t make this mistake in this moment. The possession is far too valuable.

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There isn’t much you can really talk about here. Otega Oweh simply loses the basketball. After taking a 69-68 lead, Kentucky took a bad shot and then turned it over twice as the Vanderbilt Commodores climbed on top 74-69. That sort of late game execution will get you beat time and time again in the SEC.