Collin Chandler has 'earned the right' to be atop the opponent scouting report

Collin Chandler has developed into a high-level three-point shooter. But with that comes increased focus from the opponent defensive gameplan. He’s learned that the hard way in Kentucky’s last two games.

Chandler has gone a combined 1-8 from deep in his last two games, playing 34 minutes in one and 35 in the other, both ending in losses for the Wildcats. Prior to those matchups, he was nearly a coin-flip shooter (31-63; 49.2 percent) over his last 10 games since regaining control of his starting spot on Jan. 24. But after a 6-8 outside shooting performance against Vanderbilt, oppossing teams began to wise-up.

Chandler’s name quickly moved up the scouting report. Texas A&M held him to 1-5 from deep before Florida held him to 0-3 in back-to-back outings. Shots that were once wide-open were no longer available. Creating space turned into a challenge.

“It’s a process that everybody goes through,” Kentucky head coach Mark Pope said Tuesday. “You know, everybody goes through the process if you’re fortunate, if you play well, you go through the process of moving up the priorities on a scouting report, and it changes everything about your experience.”

Chandler is clearly a top-end jump shooter at the college level. He shows flashes of playmaking chops and is an elite athlete, one who can uncork highlight dunks at any moment. But his game is also limited in ways. 67.4 percent of his shots this season have been from the perimeter. His shooting efficiency dips significantly once he steps inside the arc.

Kentucky simply plays better when Chandler is hitting shots, though. In SEC play, the Wildcats are 7-3 when he scores 10 or more points, but just 3-5 when he goes under that mark. If oppossing teams are taking away his usual looks, it’s on him to be more aggressive hunting for shots, and also on the coaching staff for finding creative ways to make that happen.

“He’s earned the right to have his gravity increase massively,” Pope continued. “Then it changes the way you find opportunities, how you find opportunities, so you can approach it a lot of different ways. One is incorporating different skills and reads and how you attack actions. Two is schematically trying to come up with different ways to do it. Three is adding to your game where you can punish teams in different ways. Fourth is just the evolution of great shooters, is that you end up getting comfortable taking even harder shots sometimes, right?”

But at least for the remainder of this season, Kentucky doesn’t have much time to figure out all four of those steps. Pope needs Chandler to take and make as many three-pointers as possible in the postseason. That starts on Wednesday in Nashville against LSU, a team that Chandler shot 2-4 from deep against earlier in the season. Not only is his shooting a weapon for himself, but it also opens space for his teammates.

“It’s a growth process. Everybody goes through it, if you earn it,” Pope said. “You know, there’s not that many people that earn it, but he certainly earned the right to be one of the top guys on the scout and he’s proven that.”

Chandler can prove it even further with a hot shooting stretch this week.

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