Watch the Tape: Kentucky 74 Tennessee 71

Winning is so much fun. Picking up big, Quad 1 wins is always a great feeling. However, there is nothing quite like sweeping the Tennessee Volunteers. Admittedly that sweep did not come easily. These two rivals have played 80 minutes of basketball against one another this season. Tennessee has led for over 73 of those minutes. Kentucky has led for barely five minutes. The Wildcats have two wins though which is ultimately all that matters. With Saturday’s win the ‘Cats moved into sole possession of second place in the Southeastern Conference. With just seven games left to play they will get a prolonged week to prepare before traveling to Gainesville to play the Florida Gators for first place. None of this was imaginable a month ago, but that is the beauty of college basketball.

This season hasn’t been the easiest on anyone in or around the Kentucky Basketball program. Big Blue Nation has suffered through some embarrassing losses and inexcusable blowouts. The team has had their chemistry and toughness questioned. Coach Pope and the staff were sitting on a very hot seat just one month ago. However, the Wildcats have found a way to rattle off eight wins in their last nine games. The sample size is no longer small. You can no longer point to a softer spot in the SEC schedule. This is simply a good basketball team starting to play to their potential. With the denim uniforms, the 1996 National Championship team reunion, and more everyone deserved a fun day in Lexington Saturday. The way the game delivered couldn’t have been scripted much better.

As always, we’ve been hard at work in the KSR Film Room breaking down Kentucky’s latest contest. In recent games we’ve seen significant halftime adjustments that have helped lead to comeback victories. However, those typically came on the offensive end. On Saturday it was two big defensive adjustments that helped spark a big second half comeback. We will obviously highlight those adjustments in this film breakdown. Additionally, Kentucky was able to beat Tennessee at their own game around the rim. Smart game planning and scheme helped open up the paint more than it normally would be against the Volunteers’ defense. Let’s dive on in and take a closer look at Kentucky’s exciting 74-71 win over the rival Tennessee Volunteers.

First Half Defensive Breakdowns Led to Tennessee’s Lead

Kentucky had turned in back-to-back strong defensive performances against dynamic backcourts. They were especially good out of the gate guarding Acuff Jr. and Thomas for Arkansas as well as Brown and Pack for Oklahoma. However, the Wildcats simply didn’t show up with the same concentration and urgency against the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday night. Tennessee’s two stars scored a combined 33 points in the first half which was as many as the Wildcats had as a team. #0 Gillespie and #10 Ament were 8-14 from beyond the arc. Obviously those two are excellent players and deserve credit for an impressive shot-making display, but it all came down to a lack of concentration and urgency on defense. The film was even uglier than watching it unfold live.

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This was already #0 Gillespie’s second three-point shot of the game. His first three came in transition after Denzel Aberdeen gambled going for a steal and Malachi Moreno failed to step up enough to take him away from three-point range. Brandon Garrison made a similar mistake here. Typically Garrison is pretty trustworthy when switched onto a guard. However, he simply never got close enough to Gillespie to break his rhythm. As a big man you really have to get up to them, use your length, and ultimately force the guard to drive to the basket. Look at this clip and notice how far Garrison’s feet are from Gillespie as he picks up his dribble. That can’t happen.

Where is Otega Oweh going? This clip makes it look like Oweh thought some sort of a diagonal backscreen was coming. As Oweh jumped back towards the SEC logo #10 Ament, a superstar freshman, cut to the top of the key for a wide open three. Oweh needed to stay TIGHT and CHASE Ament here. You can’t get caught cheating the play and end up so removed from Ament on the perimeter.

#10 Ament was responsible for a quick 8-0 run, all by himself, for the Volunteers in the first half. However, that didn’t keep Otega Oweh from being completely asleep at the wheel while guarding the future Top 10 pick in the NBA Draft pick. Watch Oweh in this clip. Look at how lazily he swiped at the ball on the drive, turned his back on Ament to watch the play unfold, and then didn’t closeout with urgency. Oweh does a lot to allow this Kentucky basketball team to win, but his lack of defensive awareness continues to be an issue at times.

At this point in the half you should be scared to death of #10 Ament score. That level of urgency never seems to make its way to Otega Oweh. What is #3 Boswell going to do with the ball on the perimeter if he isn’t in a position to catch-and-shoot? There is simply no reason to be so far in the gap off of Ament. This is the lack of awareness and concentration that continues to plague Oweh as an off-ball defender.

Outstanding Defensive Adjustments Led to Excellent Second Half

The most obvious halftime adjustment, one that Coach Pope discussed in his post game press conference, was switching the matchups on #0 Gillespie and #10 Ament. Kentucky moved Collin Chandler over to guard Ament while Otega Oweh took over the defensive duties on Gillespie. After those two put up 33 combined points on 8-14 shooting from three-point range there was really no where to go but up. The move worked to perfect. Oweh was so much more engaged guarding on the ball. He held Gillespie to just one point on 0-6 shooting in the second half. Meanwhile, Ament did not even attempt another three-point shot while adding 10 points to his total. Kentucky also improved their pick-and-roll defense by taking better angles, not stepping up, and limiting Tennessee’s high-low action.

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In hindsight the second half matchups certainly made more sense. Collin Chandler is better at chasing guys around off of the ball while Otega Oweh is much better on the ball. Very quickly into the second half Chandler forced a turnover due to his urgency chasing #10 Ament off of a downscreen. You can see in this clip the he bothered the catch enough to poke the ball free, collect the loose ball in stride, and deliver a perfect pass to a cutting Andrija Jelavic for a dunk.

Kentucky was far too aggressive in the first half when stepping up to help on the short roll. The Tennessee Volunteers are excellent when operating their high-low looks and the Wildcats simply gave them too any opportunities in the first half. Andrija Jelavic did a great job in this clip of closing out very short to #6 Brown. Instead of letting him attack a closeout Jelavic was there waiting for Brown to drive it to him. When there is no real threat of their big men shooting there is no reason to go out there and guard them. This was a much more subtle change, but it took away some of the Volunteers’ clean looks at the rim.

This was really good defense late in the shot clock by Kentucky. When they show little signs of aggressiveness good things tend to happen. Usually you want to switch all of the ballscreens late in the shot clock, and Malachi Moreno did that, but Otega Oweh kept coming to which essentially create a trap on #10 Ament. That got him to give up the ball with four seconds left on the clock. He wouldn’t get it back.

As we discussed in the previous clip, Mo Dioubate remained disciplined and didn’t step up to take #6 Brown on the short roll. Instead, Moreno recovered between him and the basket with Dioubate stayed home to take away the lob over the top that the Vols got so often early in the game. Jasper Johnson cracking down on the ball helped throw off the shot attempt as well. Moreno ended the possession with a great defensive rebound.

Earlier this season the talk was all about how Malachi Moreno was a decent rim protector but not much of a shot blocker. He played without fouling, got vertical very well, was pretty good at getting guys to miss. Moreno has since developed into a consistent shot-block threat. The freshman center averages 1.7 blocks per game and checks in at 42nd nationally in individual block percentage per KenPom.

Offensive Game Planning Helped Manufacture Driving Lanes

We spent a lot of time leading up to Saturday night’s game talking about the Tennessee Volunteers’ defensive identity. They help very aggressively on dribble penetration with two hands and two feet. That philosophy, which is a staple of Coach Rick Barnes’ elite defenses in Knoxville, cuts off penetration but does allow for open drive-and-kick three-point shots. It is why Kentucky was able to shoot 11-24 from three-point range and comeback to win at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Wildcats were able to get far more paint touches on Saturday than expected, but it wasn’t necessarily just through sheer force. Coach Pope and his staff deserve a lot of credit for coming up with a game plan and scheme that would get Kentucky paint touches without using the traditional dribble drive.

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Coach Pope and the staff are starting to execute at a really high level on first plays and after timeout sets. Everything you see in this clip is designed. Denzel Aberdeen comes off of the first staggered double not to score, but just to get a catch. That sets up Otega Oweh with space to curl the second staggered double. This was such a smart way to manufacture the spacing necessary to get a paint touch. Oweh converted the layup, but missed the And-1 free throw. Excellent play design and excellent execution.

This clip is to prove that the Tennessee Volunteers do, in fact, help with two hands and two feet. It wasn’t that Coach Barnes drastically changed their defensively philosophy. Instead, the credit goes to Coach Pope, the staff, and the Wildcats on the floor for finding creative ways to exploit the Volunteers defensively. As you see here when Denzel Aberdeen tried to attack off of the dribble he drove into a crowd, fell down, and turned the ball over.

We always talk about how good things happen when Otega Oweh can play along the baseline. That wass especially true against the Tennessee Volunteers. There isn’t anywhere for the defense to help from when you play along the baseline. This was smart recognition by Oweh and strong, physical drive that he finished right through #3 Boswell’s chest.

Again, on traditional dribble drives the Volunteers were collapsing with two hands and two feet. It was hard for the Wildcats to get paint touches. By the time Collin Chandler got to the paint there were three defenders on him. The over penetration led to him throwing up a wild, off-balance shot. If Chandler had come to a jump stop and played off of two feet there probably would have been a kick-out available. Luckily, Kentucky was able to keep mistakes like this to a minimum.

Being able to operate out of the short roll was always going to be a major key for beating Tennessee. Brandon Garrison received praise from Coach Pope on his effectiveness in the short roll against Oklahoma. He was poised and under control in this clip as well. Earlier in the season this play would not have been made. Kentucky had a standing problem. Mo Dioubate wouldn’t have made this cut and Brandon Garrison probably would have missed a shot or turned it over. From Otega Oweh to Garrison to Dioubate the ball only touched the ground for one dribble.

Post touches are a good way to simulate penetration. Dribble penetration doesn’t come easily against the Volunteers, but throwing the ball into the post wasn’t met with much resistance. As Tennessee switched the ballscreens more and more late in the game the interior opportunities became even more attractive. The Vols brought a lot more attention to Malachi Moreno on this catch while being guarded by #3 Boswell. Nobody was paying attention to Otega Oweh who smartly slid along the baseline for a dunk. Great pass by Moreno.

If this play looks familiar it is because it should. Kentucky went back to the very first play of the game and it worked once again. Getting the ball into the paint via a cut was much easier than via the dribble drive. Per Synergy, the Wildcats shot 6-6 and scored 12 points off of cuts. That is the most they’ve scored in a game since playing Mississippi State. The game plan was very effective and well executed on Saturday night.