UK’s 3-point defense no laughing matter
November 19th, 2009 | 
Author: By LARRY VAUGHT
John Calipari tried to start his postgame press conference with a joke.
“I have just called the rules committee to see if they would move the (3-point) line back,” said the Kentucky coach.
However, UK’s 3-point defense was no laughing matter — again.
After allowing Miami to hit 15 3-pointers Monday, Calipari’s team watched Sam Houston State go 19-for-29 from long range. So even though UK won 102-92 here Thursday, there was plenty of cause for alarm in Big Blue Land.
“This may be, at this point, the worst defensive team I have had since 1988,” Calipari said. “At the end of the day to be what everything we can be, we have to be one of the best defensive teams in the country.”
And Kentucky is not that. Not even close.
“We gave them a lot of open looks. We didn’t get back on defense and then we left men open,” UK sophomore Darius Miller said.
“We didn’t do what he (Calipari) said. We were not listening to him or talking on the court,” UK freshman John Wall said. “We were too worried about ourselves. We’ve got to help each other more on defense. We do good in practice, but not in games. He (Calipari) is very upset, and should be.
“We were not talking. As a leader, I was not talking and telling guys what to do on defense. If we don’t start doing that, we are going to struggle.”
But how hard is it to figure out that Corey Allmond, one of the nation’s top 15 3-point shooters last year, was hot? He was 8-for-10 from 3-point range in the first half and finished 11-for-16 to break the Rupp Arena record of nine 3-pointers set by Tony Delk in 1996.
Allmond was 4-for-14 in Sam Houston State’s first two games. Against Kentucky, he was uncanny. He hit some contested shots, but most of the time he had time to set his feet, look at the basket and make a shot.
“They have no sense of urgency defensively,” Calipari said. “There is not enough time in the day to teach all the habits these guys need. I am going to try like heck. I was so mad by head almost popped off. Guys just are not communicating.”
Wait. There’s more.
“This may be the worst rebounding guard group I have had,” the UK coach said.
Wait.
“Twelve turnovers between two point guards and most were just sloppy. We were up 17 and threw an underhanded pass off the shot clock. We were up 15 and a big guy tried to grab a rebound with one hand,” Calipari said.
So how did Kentucky win against a team that made 18 3-pointers when the Wildcats also had 23 turnovers?
Simple. When the Cats didn’t turn the ball over, they score. And they forced a pass that gave them 83 possessions.
“They play so fast,” losing coach Bob Marlin said.
Kentucky’s five starters all had at least 15 points. Freshman DeMarcus Cousins was unstoppable inside with 27 points and 18 rebounds. He had a double-double in the first half. Patrick Patterson had 20 points and nine rebounds. Wall had 21 points, six assists and two steals. Eric Bledsoe, who is not known for his shooting, was 5-for-8 from 3-point range and had 19 points. Darius Miller ended his slump with 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting overall and 3-for-6 from 3-point range.
However, that balance might also be UK’s problem. Calipari thinks his players believe they can rely on offense to outscore anyone much like they did in high school.
“If we are thinking that, we are wrong,” Wall said. “This is college, not high school. Everybody can play or they wouldn’t be here.”
Calipari warned everyone all summer that UK would need time to develop. But he meant offensively, not defensively. The Cats were 36-for-60 (60 percent) from the field and had 21 assists.
But the defense was almost non-existent from 3-point range.
“You don’t beat them going inside,” Marlin said. “They have length and tremendous closing speed. They had 12 blocked shots. Cousins was super and Patterson is a great player. Those two guys make you want to shoot from the perimeter.”
So Sam Houston did shoot from the outside and kept shooting from 3-point range much like Miami did.
“It is who we are. I am not embarrassed. I love my team. We have a chance at being good . We also have a chance of being bad if we don’t change,” Calipari said.
The coach said his players might believe they can score 100 points every game, but they will need to do that to win if the defense doesn’t improve dramatically starting with Saturday’s game against Rider.
“The problem is you can’t defend this way and win. Any championship team in any sport at any level does it with defense,” Calipari said. “They don’t accept it. They don’t understand. ‘Haven’t you seen me play?’ It is a good group of guys that has to get together and do this.
“I got on them today. There is no sense of urgency. I have never seen stuff like this.”
And probably never wants to again.
Posted in UK Basketball
17 Responses to “UK’s 3-point defense no laughing matter”
Leave a Reply
Haven’t watch the game yet, bummer, however I did check out the stats. From a woman’s point of view who does not know that much about basketball I have these thoughts. If you want to beat Kentucky, hope they make a lot of turnovers, you shoot the three every chance you get because they can’t defend it. Keep them out of the paint and you can win the game. And just hope Kentucky does not end up with 5 players in the double digits for points scored. That was an extra I threw in. I’m not worried, the boys will get it together and come time when it counts they will be there. You gotta admit, it sure is a lot more fun than the pass 4-5 years. Love those Cats! Go Big Blue!
I am trying to be patient, like Cal wants, but this is pretty basic stuff. Communicating and getting out on the 3 point shooters is something grade school kids know how to do. How many times should he have to tell them these things. Once should have been enough. There were many many times when the defender would just run away from his man, like a switch was supposed to happen. The problem was that no one picked up the shooter and there was another 3 on the board. I never thought I would see 3 point defense as bad as last years, but this is 10 times worse. They had an excuse last year, with the talent level being down. There is no excuse this year, which makes it even harder to watch. The other problem is the handling of the ball in the lane. I have never seen a team get stripped of the ball as often as this team does in the lane. Overall, I am happy that we won and I enjoyed watching the team on offense, but even that isn’t going to work as well against the top level teams. You won’t simply outscore a UNC or UConn. Defense will be key. Here’s hoping that they get this worked out sooner rather than later. When the schedule was released, I didn’t expect to feel anxious going into any game until December, but that has changed. If this team doesn’t get it together, they are in for a bad loss to a team which has no business beating them. I know it is early and I shouldn’t feel this way, but I am a little disappointed in some of the things I have seen so far. I know they are young, but defense is defense. They may be new to the DDMO, but they are not new to the basics of guarding a shooter.
Oh, and Cal’s comment about some of the guys thinking they can just outscore everybody: He needs to point out to them that they were actually outscored in the second half by SHS. They CAN be outscored in both halves, by one of these teams, if they don’t get it together.
Good comments here. I just try to remember Cats are 3-0 and it is Nov. 19 with a young team. And forgive me, but the games have at least been fun. Last year, that wasn’t true. So maybe that is why I a little more forgiving and not ready to panic yet
SHS was obviously not a cupcake team. I think that this game, also the Cats playing so many games over the next week will help get them ready for the Carolina/UCONN tandem upcoming. The lack of bench scoring was a disappointment, Cal needs to be able to go deeper with confidence. On the other hand, at one point we had 4 freshmen and Perry Stevenson on the floor. I think we’ll be OK as the year progresses…and what about big Cuz!
Larry,
I’m not worried at all. The bottom line is this…teams get up for Kentucky. It is their moment to shine, 40 minutes of fame so to speak. Even teams like North Carolina will not come into Rupp Arena and hit that many threes, what we have seen is a couple of teams getting hot at the right time and creating what I think is some really early exciting basketball. Our team is 3-0 and we are doing great. What about BIG CUZ tonight? He is finally finding his groove and that is good for UK. Bledsoe is showing that he belongs here, Patterson is in full stride as usual, our fans need to be positive, and just enjoy it. Our defense is a work in progress but sometimes teams only play to level of competition they are facing, I will guarantee that by the time the Heels come in here to Rupp, we will be ready and look alot different, UK is not the only team struggling early, look at Villanova, Kansas, MSU, and North Carolina, all have had close calls already this year, things will work out and we will be there on the first weekend in April. GO CATS!!!
I disagree, I don’t think Patterson is playing comfortably. He’s an awesome player and you see flashes of that, but I still saw him hesitate when he had some good looks from the outside, I’m not a coach, but I’m not sure I get it. He only really looks good when he’s got his back to the post. Bledsoe and Wall looked a LOT more in sync with each other today. Cousins had more hustle today, I think he will still get a LOT better, I think that guy will be key, especially if he can hit that jumper.
I’m definitely enjoying that we won two games we would have lost last season, but at the end of the SHS game the guys looked disappointed and worn out, I think they are frustrated.
Martin, Pat is still learning but he had 20 and 9. That’s pretty darn good. If he is UK’s only worry, then the Cats will be national champions. I didn’t see that frustrated look myself.
Fred, I agree that these games are good for UK. In years past, UK would play the 7th-place team from the Southland Conference, not the conference favorite. Need tough games before Carolina and UConn
Cal is 100% correct. The defense stinks — defense against the 3 is practically nonexistent. Guys are playing matador defense, not moving their feet, just waving as the opponent goes by and depending upon their athletic ability to block shots. I’ve watched UNC’s first 3 games and if UK’s defense doesn’t get dramatically better they will not only get beaten they will get blown out. There won’t be any talent level or size difference they can count on. Same with UConn and UofL. Despite what some may think Rider is no piece of cake — they beat Miss. St. in Starkville and have played well in NCAA’s in past years. Hopefully the guys will start listening to Coach and realize that championships are won with defense. You can look at any sport: if you want to win titles you have to play great defense.
It’s early, yes, and I’m thrilled that UK is 3-0 but there’s too much careless play (on the offensive end as well) against inferior opponents, even given that the team is young. Got to get that corrected and soon or the emotional fragility that exists with young players will be shaken with losses and Cal will have to deal with that as well.
I agree with the statement that Martin made. We have won two games that we would have lost last year. I remember that the best Pitino recruit outside of Mashburn, Ron Mercer, really didn’t start playing top-notch ball until the end of his freshman year. Joe Hall always said that the best thing about freshmen was that they became sophomores. By the end of the season, they will no longer be freshmen.
It’s early. My wife hasn’t even bought the turkey yet.
At least this team can score. When was the last time UK had all 5 starters hitting 15 or more points? When expectations are so high, it easy to be disappointed. But you have to admit, UK basketball is fun to watch again!
Great point about the offense. Heck, the game was entertaining and fun. Remember the days when it wasn’t like that. These guys will get better. Too talented to think that will not happen. My guess is Cal is loving all of this to hammer away at his guys
Defensive players are not recruited and high school stars don’t play defense. Cal is trying to teach two new languages-we basketball and defense.
Larry, Patterson’s stat-line is great. But I see him improving a lot, no one strives for perfection like he does, I am not criticizing him for being a bad player, I think what you say is correct, he’s getting used to a new system.
Same with Cousins, his stat line was fantastic, I don’t think he played as well as he can, I also think he’ll get better, that guy looks hungry to me.
I think Wall’s post-game comments reflected some of that frustration however. In the end, I like what Cal’s doing and this group of players is really special, and they’re working hard.
Good point Chris about not recruiting defensive stars. Very well put.
And I agree Martin. I think Pat and Cousins will both get better. Wall was frustrated at himself maybe, but not the team. These seem to be really good kids and when they can win and not be happy, then that is how you get a team to grow. Agree with you on that
Guys just pick up a Man in transition and stay with him, Stayout high on the two man game out high..Our bigs are not switching and staying switched..If you will…I think we will be ok By March, but If we don’t Improve In the 3 point “d” we will see alot of this,Question is can everyone hit the 3 like that…I don’t have a problem with the Makes..My problem is the attempts..and 40% of those have been clear looks…We have to pick up early, Not worry about big on small and small on big..Make them put it on the floor..But not picking up the shooters in transition is killing us….Not time to panic, but it is time for concern.. On the flip side I am happy so far with our looks from 3, If you notice most of our 3’s are clear looks..This ddmo will continue to provide that clear look..shoot ours well, bring the opponents att. down we will be o.k. GO BIG BLUE!!!