Watch the Tape: Kentucky State Thorobreds

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There simply isn’t much you can glean from Thursday night’s blowout victory against the Kentucky State Thorobreds. The Kentucky Wildcats did whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted from the opening tip. There was little to no defensive resistance on the way to a 111-53 victory.

After Sunday’s ugly 56-38 victory over Missouri Western State, the offensive explosion was very much welcomed. However, competition level and style of play had much more to do with the difference in scoring output than anything the Wildcats did. That isn’t to say that shooting 12-26 from 3-point range isn’t encouraging or you don’t love to see 26 points off of turnovers. It just is hard to make sweeping judgments of offensive “improvement” when the game looked more like a Big Blue Madness scrimmage than a regular season basketball game.

Kentucky’s two exhibition games against Division II opponents are now in the rearview mirror. The games really start to matter once Monday, November 7th gets here. The ‘Cats will get a pair of tuneup games in week one still with Howard and Duquesne coming to Rupp Arena. However, a date with Michigan State in Indianapolis on November 15th looms on the calendar. With the status of Sahvir Wheeler and Oscar Tshiebwe still up in the air, the ‘Cats don’t have long before the difficult non-conference schedule is staring them in the face.

This will be a short and sweet edition of Watch the Tape. The Kentucky State Thorobreds gave the Wildcats very little to work with in the film department. Therefore, it is more valuable to start preparing for the Howard Bison than looking back at too much of this exhibition footage. There were some clear adjustments made by head coach John Calipari and his staff between Sunday and Thursday. We got to see a little more of what Kentucky may look like scheme-wise offensively. Let’s step inside the film room and take a look at some of the most encouraging clips from Kentucky’s second and final exhibition matchup.

Aggressive Cason Wallace

A lot of the offseason focus has been on what Kentucky brings back from last season. Returning National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe and Bob Cousy Award finalist Sahvir Wheeler gave the Wildcats two elite building blocks. However, for this team to be really good it will need Cason Wallace to be really good. The former five-star guard was widely considered one of the best two-way prospects in the class and has already shown flashes of that skill level. After a so-so performance in the first exhibition game, Wallace really turned things on Thursday night. He was significantly more aggressive and it paid off offensively.

It is very encouraging to see direct and immediate improvement between the two exhibition games. On Sunday, Cason Wallace picked up his dribble in a similar drag ballscreen situation. He eventually passed it to Lance Ware, got it back, then hit Ware on the roll for a 15-foot jump shot. Kentucky needs the ball in Wallace’s hands, not Ware’s. In Monday’s edition of Watch the Tape we actually broke that play down. This time, against the Kentucky State Thorobreds, Wallace did exactly what we discussed in that write-up.

In the clip above, Wallace answered our wishes by rejecting the ballscreen and attacking the rim downhill off of the dribble. With his size at 6’4″, this should be a play he is looking to make every chance he gets.

Cason Wallace is likely to always be a better driver than a shooter. However, if he can just be dangerous enough to make defenses go over ballscreens and handoffs it will go a long way for his game offensively. Against Kentucky State, he looked like a guy you would need to go over on. By an unofficial counting while watching the film, Wallace was three for four on jump shots when his defender went under a ballscreen or handoff. Love to see his aggressiveness in consistently taking shots like this.

Antonio Reeves as a Primary Scoring Option

A lot of Kentucky fans didn’t fully know what they were getting in Illinois State transfer Antonio Reeves. However, it didn’t take him long to get on the good side of Big Blue Nation. Reeves was the MVP of the Bahamas trip and the annual Blue-White scrimmage. After a lackluster performance in the first exhibition, Reeves bounced back by dropping 23 points against Kentucky State. His 3-point shooting and all-around playmaking skills were on full display.

This is beautiful basketball. Cason Wallace comes off a side ballscreen by Ugonna Onyenso while Antonio Reeves shallow cuts to the wing. Reeves’ defender is occupied in help on the ballscreen so he completely loses track of his man on the shallow cut. Wallace hits Reeves for a wide-open three.

It seems safe to say that this will be a go-to action for the Wildcats this season. Similar to the previous clip, this play is effective because Reeves’ defender has to help on the back screen which creates a tougher closeout when he pops to the perimeter. Having to close out an extended distance against a shooter like Reeves left the driving lane wide open.

A quick first step and nice move to the basket by the Illinois State transfer.

Variety of Playmaking Options

Last season, if the ball wasn’t in the hands of Sahvir Wheeler, TyTy Washington, or Oscar Tshiebwe then not much was going to happen offensively. This season, two of those three guys are back and the other was replaced with a new five-star guard. However, it is the depth of playmaking options that really makes this version of the Wildcats dangerous offensively. Namely, CJ Fredrick and Antonio Reeves are looking like excellent secondary playmakers.

Any time you can create offense without a point guard being involved in the play you know you have a potentially potent offense. This side two-man game involving Reeves and Fredrick is particularly hard to guard. Fredrick plays with a such good pace at all times. He changes speeds as he gets into — and comes out of — the handoff. Then, he drags his defender for an extra dribble to extend the closeout on Reeves. He finishes the play off with a pinpoint pass to Reeves for three. Fredrick finished with six assists against Kentucky State while Reeves knocked in five threes.