Watch the Tape: Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers

It is always easier to learn from playing against somebody in different uniforms. On Friday night, Kentucky defeated the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers 95-72 in their first scrimmage of the season. This gave head coach John Calipari and company some film to breakdown as the date with Duke approaches. There certainly are things to clean up, but it was a positive night overall.

The Wildcats placed five scorers in double figures, attempted 29 three-pointers, and did not turn the ball over in the second half. In terms of possessions, the game would have been the fastest pace Kentucky has played under Coach Cal. That leads to some sloppiness on both ends, but it also allows you to score 95 points.

Without diving too far into the weeds, let’s step inside the KSR Film Room to breakdown Kentucky’s scrimmage with the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers. For all of the clips from the game, check out my Twitter @BRamseyKSR where I broke things down Friday night and Saturday morning.

5-High Series-High Post Drive

For as impressive as Keion Brooks Jr. and TyTy Washington were Friday night, John Calipari was the MVP. Coming off of a 9-16 season, it is clear that he has embraced some change and is ready for this season. On the offensive end, a new action with several variations made its appearance.

Coach Cal called “5-High” for the first time around the 8:30 mark in the first half. Kentucky Wesleyan had recently gone on a small run to cut the score to 23-14. Sitting at 26-14, the ‘Cats dialed up their new favorite action to get a bucket.

Oscar Tshiebwe works his way up to the high post area to get a catch. Feeling his man on his outside shoulder, Tshiebwe just takes one hard dribble to his right and finishes at the rim. He is an effective driver in those short bursts to his right. This will be useful if and when teams double him in the post because you can’t really double this far from the rim. However, most importantly, this sets up the next several plays.

5-High Series-Downscreen/Handoff

Just a possession or two after Tshiebwe’s drive, Coach Calipari goes back to the same alignment. However, this time there is an added wrinkle. When Tshiebwe gets the catch he faces up as Keion Brooks downscreens for Kellan Grady coming out of the corner. Grady receives a handoff from the big man. Then, as Tshiebwe rolls and attracts the help defender, Brooks pops to the corner where he is wide open. A perfectly delivered pass results in a made three for the junior forward. This is great offense.

5-High Series-Curl to Handoff

Instead of 5-High this is really more 4-High with Keion Brooks in the high post. Once again, there is an additional wrinkle to the action out of the same alignment. Washington curls around Davion Mintz who then sets a downscreen to allow Washington to come off of the handoff. Brooks’ man has to help as the guard turns the corner which leaves him wide open popping back beyond the arc. Washington hits Brooks for yet another three-pointer.

These offensive actions are all pretty basic, but it is good to see the execution nonetheless. Last season, it was hard to go to anything offensively because the players simply weren’t good enough to execute. Now, there are multiple pieces that the defense has to account for on every play. Kentucky is going to be much harder to guard this year.

Drive and Kick 3

This is what better spacing and multiple shooting threats can get you offensively. One thing Davion Mintz is very good at offensively is catching the ball on the wing and driving it to his right. He has a quick first step and can consistently get to that SEC logo. Mintz does a great job of consistently playing off of two feet at the end of his drives, something he did well last season as well. However, instead of kicking to below average shooters, now he can pass the ball to a wide open TyTy Washington. Washington is going to make 60% of his wide-open attempts. This is just really good offense.

Wheeler From the Catch

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows against the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers. UK does have to touch on a few areas for improvement. Sahvir Wheeler made this same mistake on two possessions in the span of a couple minutes. For as good as he is off of the dribble, he struggles when going from the catch.

After receiving the pass from Davion Mintz, Wheeler has the whole middle of the floor open. Also, he is a much better driver to his left than his right anyway. However, Wheeler drives it to his right into all of the traffic in that area before coming back left. That is just a bad habit that must be broken.

Additionally, this is what I am calling a “Georgia shot” this season. Wheeler was allowed to, and even needed to, take this shot at times last year for a bad Georgia team. However, it isn’t necessary now that he is in Lexington. Just move the ball ahead and live to fight another day.

Lance Ware Poor Post Defense

It is no secret that Kentucky struggled to guard the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers around the basket. More specifically, the ‘Cats struggled to guard JoMel Boyd, but it was equal opportunity for the Panthers when Lance Ware was in the game. The sophomore big man got punished by 6’6″ Ben Sisson twice in the second half.

In this clip, just look at how much ground Ware gives up between where Sisson catches the ball and where he finishes. He simply has to be more physical. Also, Sisson wants to score everything over his left shoulder with his right hand and Ware lets him get right to his go-to move.

Additional Notes

• Upon watching the film, the defense wasn’t as big of an issue as most people are making it out to be. Kentucky held the Panthers to single digits until the 9:47 mark. It was 35-14 with 6:20 to play in the first half. It was 82-51 with 6:00 to play in the game. Most of Kentucky Wesleyan’s scoring game in the final six minutes of each half when the ‘Cats had built a big lead.
• Staying with the defense, when you play at a faster pace, you are going to give up more points. Kentucky scored 1.3 points per possessions while holding the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers to 0.99 points per possession.
• All that being said, the interior defense has to be cleaned up. Lots of people are talking about “when Tshiebwe isn’t in the game,” but he wasn’t great either. Out of position, away from the basket far too often. Slow to recover to the rim. Keion Brooks was bad around the rim. Lance Ware got dominated by a 6’6″ post player. It wasn’t pretty inside.
• Kentucky shot 29 three-pointers and made 37.9% of them. Let’s go ahead and sign up for that. If we are going to embrace playing faster, we have to learn what comes with that. It will mean more missed threes. There will be quick shots. It might lead to giving up more points as well. However, it also gives you the chance to score 95 and blow teams out. I’ll take that.
• Let’s all, myself included, take a deep breath and remember this is the first scrimmage. Yes, Duke is on the schedule for November 9th, but it takes time to figure everything out. There is no need to make pronouncements about the rotation or who should/shouldn’t play before the calendar even hits November.