Watch the Tape: Gonzaga Bulldogs

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After a promising opening week to the season, it was a tough second week for the Kentucky Wildcats.

On Tuesday night, the ‘Cats lost a heartbreaker in double overtime to Michigan State 86-77. Then, following a blowout victory over South Carolina State on Thursday, it was time to head to the pacific northwest. From the opening tip, the Gonzaga Bulldogs punched the Wildcats in the mouth. A 16-point first-half deficit proved to be too much of a hole to climb out of. Kentucky fell for the second time in five days, 88-72, to the ‘Zags.

Once again, finger-pointing was common among Big Blue Nation after the disappointing loss. Head coach John Calipari certainly was on the receiving end of much blame following the second loss to the young season. However, the film room showed a lack of on-court execution to be as big of an issue as anything else. There certainly are some problems that need to be fixed going forward. Kentucky simply hasn’t been up to par against their two marquee opponents. Fans aren’t happy with stacking up wins against the Howards or North Floridas of the world. ‘Cats fans expect to beat the best of the best. That, quite simply, has not been happening enough in recent seasons.

As we do after each game, it is time to take a seat in the KSR Film Room. Instead of hot takes and playing the blame game, we analyze the tape and come to some more (hopefully) well-informed opinions. The tape confirmed some embarrassing effort and lack of energy from the opening tip. However, it also showed some excellent teachable moments that will help the Wildcats going forward. Let’s dive on into the breakdown of what happened against the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Lack of Execution Blew Up Offensive Opportunities

It’s easy to look at the box score and decide that Kentucky struggled offensively. 39.1% from the field, 6-25 from beyond the arc, and just 72 points in 76 possessions. However, it takes a little more nuance to actually break down what went wrong. While Coach Calipari and “archaic” offensive schematics might be the primary talking points, those fail to take into account players not executing what they are told to do. Basketball players aren’t puppets. Unfortunately, the coaching staff can’t control them to do exactly what they want them to do. This isn’t to say the staff doesn’t need to look in the mirror too, but the problems are well beyond just running a different offense.

Kentucky’s first possession was indicative of what was to come for the next 40 minutes. Lack of execution, laziness, and poor decision-making. This “1-up” action is probably what Coach Calipari calls the most. What you think of the play itself is a different discussion. However, the Wildcats didn’t execute it well at all throughout the first half on Sunday night against the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Oscar Tshiebwe doesn’t cleanly handle the ball to execute the handoff with Cason Wallace. That causes the play to essentially blow up because the timing was thrown completely off. At that point, Wallace needs to just back the ball out and call for a high ballscreen. That should be AUTOMATIC when the shot clock hits 10 seconds.

One additional wrinkle to this play would be to start the possession with Sahvir Wheeler handing off to CJ Fredrick. Then, if Fredrick enters the ball to Tshiebwe, Wheeler could flare in for Wheeler as the ball is driven off of the handoff.

When you are the reigning National Player of the Year, you earn the right to improvise offensively a little bit. However, that doesn’t mean that you are above criticism when you don’t execute. This is the same “1-up” action from the previous clip. Wallace is set to come off the downscreen into a handoff once again. Tshiebwe breaks the play off though to attempt a right-hand drive from the top of the key. He quickly gets cut off and is forced to throw the ball out to Sahvir Wheeler who launches a three-point attempt with 22 seconds on the shot clock. A play was called, the players did not run the play, and it resulted in a very bad, and quick, shot.

This is laziness and lack of awareness from Chris Livingston that likely cost Kentucky two points. The ‘Cats went to a little “ghost” screen action as Tshiebwe rolls to the rim and Toppin lifts up behind the play. Tshiebwe has his man sealed up the lane and Toppin is ready to enter the ball.

However, Livingston’s man is standing right there because he didn’t cut hard enough to get out of the way. This isn’t even good defense, it is just Livingston dragging his defender into the path of what the Wildcats are trying to do. Toppin had even waved Livingston through to the other side, but the freshman came back anyway. Still, if he had sprinted to the corner his man wouldn’t have been in the way of the entry pass.

Defensive Breakdowns Dug Kentucky a Deep Hole

A lot of time has been spent talking about Kentucky’s offensive struggles. However, you aren’t going to win many games when you allow 88 points. The Gonzaga Bulldogs were able to operate very freely against the Wildcats’ defense. A lack of preparation and/or execution was evident from literally the first two defensive possessions.

It wasn’t clear on Sunday night who had the Gonzaga Bulldogs scouting report. Whoever it was, it would be very surprising if their plan was to go under ballscreens set for #45 Rasir Bolton. If that was what the scouting report said then it is very fair to question the Kentucky coaching staff. If not, then this is an egregious mistake by redshirt senior CJ Fredrick. As a shooter, he should know better than to ever go under a ballscreen or handoff when guarding another elite shooter. This happened on the Wildcats’ first defensive possession. The coaching staff should have been up on the sidelines screaming at him for that mistake.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs were gifted another three points due to poor defensive execution on the very next possession. When guarding #0 Julian Strawther you should not be going up through downscreens. Stay tight to him, chase off of screens, or switch if there is too much space. Lazy decision-making by Cason Wallace to float underneath that screen gave up a wide-open attempt to an excellent shooter. That is two possessions, six points, and zero defensive execution (or really bad preparation).

In the KSR Scouting Report prior to the game, we talked about needing to be doing SOMETHING anytime Drew Timme got the ball in the post. If you chose to be aggressive and make him give the ball up that would be fine. If you chose to stay home, especially when guarding a shooter, and take away the three-point attempt that would be fine too. However, in this clip, Cason Wallace is stuck in no man’s land. He isn’t helping on the post and he obviously isn’t taking away the three from Bolton.

Wildcats Simply Missed Too Many Good Shots

Kentucky isn’t going to win a lot of ball games when CJ Fredrick and Antonio Reeves combine to shoot 5-22 from the field and 3-13 from beyond the arc. That is not a recipe for success. The duo of elite shooters got multiple good looks on Sunday night but simply couldn’t get the ball to go in the basket. It is frustrating, but sometimes that happens. These clips should also dispel the myth that Coach Calipari doesn’t run plays for his shooters. Just because the shot doesn’t go in doesn’t mean the play didn’t occur.

Early in the game, Coach Calipari went to a beautifully designed play to get CJ Fredrick loose for a three-pointer. Lance Ware, Kentucky’s best screener by a mile, flared Fredrick’s defender in and got the sharpshooter open in the corner. However, Fredrick air-balled the attempt. Not much Coach Cal or anybody can do about that.

This is excellent action to get to in transition. CJ Fredrick off of the drag ballscreen set by Oscar Tshiebwe with Antonio Reeves replacing up to the wing. There isn’t an offensive scheme or play call that can get you a much better shot than a clean three-pointer from Reeves. He just happens to miss this one. Reeves is still 16-35 on the season. There is no reason to panic about his shooting ability.

Kentucky had back-to-back possessions in the second half where they could have cut the Gonzaga Bulldogs lead to three points. On those possessions, they got a wide-open look from CJ Fredrick and another clean attempt by Antonio Reeves. However, their two best shooters simply missed the shots. Again, there is no Motion offense or set play that is going to get you something better than we see in these two clips. It was just an untimely off night for two excellent three-point shooters.