Kentucky's 3-guard lineup is much easier on the eyes

Without Sahvir Wheeler in the starting lineup, Kentucky head coach John Calipari decided to go tall in the opening moments against Georgia on Saturday night.

TyTy Washington and Kellan Grady now controlled the backcourt as they were joined by usual suspects Keion Brooks Jr. and Oscar Tshiebwe down low. The newest insertion at tipoff was junior forward Jacob Toppin, his first start of the season. It didn’t exactly pan out.

That lineup didn’t even last four minutes before Calipari pulled Toppin, as Kentucky found itself in a quick 7-2 hole against a bad Georgia squad. Enter Davion Mintz, who is on a serious heater scoring the ball over the last three games. The grad student wasted no time making his impact felt in the now smaller Wildcat lineup, immediately knocking down a jumper to get Kentucky’s offense into some sort of rhythm.

Granted, Kentucky typically starts with three guards when Wheeler isn’t injured, but he’s a non-shooter. The backcourt trio against Georgia featured three lethal outside shooters in Washington, Grady, and Mintz. It didn’t take Calipari long to figure out this was his best bet against the Bulldogs. Those three started the second half together as Kentucky began to run away with the win.

The fact of the matter is this: Kentucky just looks better and executes more efficiently when it plays with three guards as opposed to three forwards, particularly when the guards can all shoot. Heading into the game against Georgia, UK outscored its opponents by 35 points per 100 possessions when all three of Washington, Grady, and Mintz were on the court together, per HoopsInsight. That’s a fat number. It was even fatter in the win over Georgia.

That trio helped UK shoot 76 percent from the floor and 57 percent from distance across 38 total possessions against the Bulldogs. They posted a figure of 163.2 points per 100 possessions. Those three then led Kentucky in overall plus/minus.

Calipari messing with lineups

Keion Brooks Jr. and Jacob Toppin should ideally never play at the same time when Tshiebwe is on the court. Their games mirror each other and don’t allow for additional spacing. That pairing felt doomed from the start and wasn’t an attractive brand of basketball on the floor. If they are to play together, one should slide down to center in place of Tshiebwe while the other plays power forward.

But that’s a small-ball lineup Calipari hasn’t tried for more than a couple of minutes all season long. Perhaps, if the lineup features three shooters, it’s something he should look at more in case of Tshiebwe foul trouble?

“I thought after we got the guys in the right spots versus the zone, they were better,” Calipari said after Saturday night’s win. “I liked Jacob and Keion in together, but I’m not sure I want to start that lineup. I kind of like where we’ve gone with three guards. We’ll just see.”

If Wheeler is to miss more time, particularly Tuesday’s game against Vanderbilt, Calipari should roll with Washington, Grady, and Mintz for most of it. If they all have to play 35-plus minutes, so be it. They combined to play 104 of 120 possible minutes against Georgia. It’s clear that Dontaie Allen isn’t going to get his run at this point, so these are the only three viable guard options until Wheeler returns (I won’t open the Shaedon Sharpe can of worms).

But even when Wheeler returns, why not experiment with him and those three shooters, plus Tshiebwe? That lineup has played one whole possession together all season, per HoopsInsight. Kentucky could switch on nearly everything and let Tshiebwe inhale rebounds. Then it spreads the floor on offense, theoretically opening lanes for Wheeler or Tshiebwe with plentiful kick-out options at their disposal.

The modern game favors more shooters and Kentucky showed exactly why against Georgia. We’ll have to wait and see if this style is here to stay.