What must we improve on, to reach the Final Four & win the national championship?

[TopCatCal]

I'm thinking 1st, 2nd & 3rd on the list has got to be defense. Louisville had so many open 3 pointers yesterday it was like they were taking target practice. Plus other times a smaller UofL player would take it to the basket & score over 7'0" Amari Williams because Williams had his hands down at his side. And also there were several times that a UofL player would back our defender under the basket & our defender would get no help from a teammate to double down on the UofL player. There was one time that a UofL player backed our player under the basket & Andrew Carr stood there not 5 feet away and didn't offer to double team, which resulted in an easy basket for UofL.

 

[Ky_Bred_Cat]

Teach Williams to take advantage of his height on defense. And to stick to passing and rebounding on offense.

 

[HerrosHeroes]

FT shooting

 

[Snackbar1130]

D-Fence!!!! And free throw practice.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

Obviously whatever Kentucky is trying to do on defense isn't working. The good news is the Cats have a coach who isn't determined to ride a particular defense down like the Titanic after it hit an iceberg.

I need to study the video from yesterday before making specific recommendations but Mark Pope is smarter about basketball than any of us and I hope the team has JUST ENOUGH athleticism that he can find a defense that works in most games. Defense IS mostly effort, but it is also playing the right style of matching up and switching to minimize your physical weaknesses.

 

[megablue]

I'm not sure we have the overall quickness to effectively guard the quicker teams, denying the three and/or preventing drives to the rim. That is what I see as our primary weakness. I feel certain that Pope and staff realize this, of course, and will be working hard to game defensive strategies (including zone) to camouflage this weakness. Secondarily, our physicality in the paint is also a concern. Lastly, I hope our ball-handling will not shaky against the kinds of man-to-man defense we'll soon be seeing in the conference, especially on the road. Butler and Oweh can handle on-ball pressure, but I'm not certain the others effectively can. Passing/cutting will be huge keys.

I know the pace of play that we want is designed to fatigue the opponent ... at least, I hope it does. Likewise, I hope the supreme effort we'll need on defense, especially in tough conference play, will not affect our offensive stamina in the same way ... especially 3-point shooting and at the free-throw line. It will be interesting to see how the season unfolds.

 

[CatEye2010]

Is it possible that some of these 4,5 year players can’t progress very much more? Don’t get me wrong, I love their experience but maybe some have simply hit their ceiling?

 

[BIG BLUE GURU]

I expect a sweet 16 to be this teams ceiling. Honestly with Pope only having 2 weeks to put this team together if they make the tournament and win a couple games i will be happy. I expect more in year 2 or 3

 

[Cats192]

The thing that drove me the craziest yesterday was rebounding.

We won the rebounding battle by 8. We should have won it by 15+.

It seemed like nearly every rebound: One of our guys would get to it, then the ball would bounce up off their hands. And then maybe we'd get it on the 2nd try. Or Louisville would get it.

We don't do a great job of boxing out, and that leads to some of these hustle/run in offensive boards. Louisville got one last night they had no business getting. Clemson got several that way.

With Amari, Carr, Jaxon, Oweh, we should be one of the better rebounding teams in the country. And it feels like we get TO the ball a lot. We just don't grab it.

 

[TheDude73]

Defense for sure. In particular guarding the three. We just lay back in fear of being burned on the drive.

Rebounding. The one thing I've gotten most agitated about in these last few games is our standing around waiting for the ball to just land in our hands rather than going after it or watching others go after it.

And free throws. There is no reason our best shooters should be missing free throws. We need to get to a consistent team 80%. These are easy to practice - just go shoot 100-200 per day in the gym.

 

[Cats192]

Is it possible that some of these 4,5 year players can’t progress very much more? Don’t get me wrong, I love their experience but maybe some have simply hit their ceiling?

We saw Butler's ceiling last night. Hepburn is supposed to be one of the best defensive guards in the country, and Butler took over that game.

I think physically/athletically, a lot of them are what they are. I think being exposed to new coaching and new environments can help anyone grow as a player. You learn to see things differently with a different perspective.

And moreso than individual ceilings, the question is: Have we hit our ceiling as a team? Since most of these guys never played together, I think it's going to take most of the season to perfectly gel together.

 

[mcnicKY91]

I'm not sure we have the overall quickness to effectively guard the quicker teams, denying the three and/or preventing drives to the rim. That is what I see as our primary weakness. I feel certain that Pope and staff realize this, of course, and will be working hard to game defensive strategies (including zone) to camouflage this weakness. Secondarily, our physicality in the paint is also a concern. Lastly, I hope our ball-handling will not shaky against the kinds of man-to-man defense we'll soon be seeing in the conference, especially on the road. Butler and Oweh can handle on-ball pressure, but I'm not certain the others effectively can. Passing/cutting will be huge keys.

I know the pace of play that we want is designed to fatigue the opponent ... at least, I hope it does. Likewise, I hope the supreme effort we'll need on defense, especially in tough conference play, will not affect our offensive stamina in the same way ... especially 3-point shooting and at the free-throw line. It will be interesting to see how the season unfolds.

I agree with some of that...

However, as for not having the quickness to effectively guard the three against quicker teams, I cannot get on board with that.

The majority of midmajors UK has played have been able to get plenty of wide open looks against UK...they have just missed them.

Heck, just look most recently against Colgate. UK was the more athletic and quicker team, by far, and Colgate got open look after open look. It is unacceptable at this point.

Most of it seems like laziness and going under screens as opposed to fighting through, as well as a lack of communication on off ball screens. Opposing teams are just too wide open. Pope needs to prioritize this going into conference play.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

Recruit some more talented players to the roster. UK has never won a national title without NBA caliber players on the roster. 2012, 1998, 1996, 1978 all had some high end talent that went on to the pros.

I don't mean they have to be all stars or even starters n the NBA but all those teams had some dudes make the league and stay in it to some extent.

I'm trying to think back to our final fours and seems like all of them of late have had the same thing. 2014 had Randle, 2011 had knight and Jones, 1997 had Mercer and da and nazr and so on, 1993 had mashburn and a young delk, 1984 had skywalker, bowie and Turpin. I'd say 1992 comparison is the best I can do for this team but that team still had Jamal mashburn.

I know this post is gonna tick some people off and it doesn't mean we won't make a final four with right matchups and if we hit a lot of 3s but history says its not likely.

 

[rick64]

Defense the FT shooting.

 

[TheDude73]

Is it possible that some of these 4,5 year players can’t progress very much more? Don’t get me wrong, I love their experience but maybe some have simply hit their ceiling?

How would we explain the huge improvement for Butler? Every announcer talks about how he's greatly improved in several offensive areas, in particular the lane driving aspect. In fact, I think his improvement on offense has taken away a little of his defensive prowess. Last night he really didn't have a bunch of deflections or steals (granted the refs decided that he was fouling rather than stealing).

 

[Snackbar1130]

Recruit some more talented players to the roster. UK has never won a national title without NBA caliber players on the roster. 2012, 1998, 1996, 1978 all had some high end talent that went on to the pros.

I don't mean they have to be all stars or even starters n the NBA but all those teams had some dudes make the league and stay in it to some extent.

I'm trying to think back to our final fours and seems like all of them of late have had the same thing. 2014 had Randle, 2011 had knight and Jones, 1997 had Mercer and da and nazr and so on, 1993 had mashburn and a young delk, 1984 had skywalker, bowie and Turpin. I'd say 1992 comparison is the best I can do for this team but that team still had Jamal mashburn.

I know this post is gonna tick some people off and it doesn't mean we won't make a final four with right matchups and if we hit a lot of 3s but history says its not likely.

I think everyone agrees with what ya said, I just think he was asking about this years team not future teams.

 

[Catapult]

1. Rebounding (as previous coach who shall not be named preached, when the ball goes up, hit your man first then go after the ball).
2. FT shooting
3. Consider hard hedge on high ball screens.
4. Cut hard off the screeners hip.
5. To our bigs, DUNK THE DARN BALL!

 

[know1]

Defense and maintaining intensity for 40 minutes.

 

[CatEye2010]

Defense the FT shooting.

Yes, this. The Vulcan Mind Meld works!

 

[CatEye2010]

How would we explain the huge improvement for Butler? Every announcer talks about how he's greatly improved in several offensive areas, in particular the lane driving aspect. In fact, I think his improvement on offense has taken away a little of his defensive prowess. Last night he really didn't have a bunch of deflections or steals (granted the refs decided that he was fouling rather than stealing).

I did say “some” of the players. Butler has improved for sure.

 

[CatEye2010]

1. Rebounding (as previous coach who shall not be named preached, when the ball goes up, hit your man first then go after the ball).
2. FT shooting
3. Consider hard hedge on high ball screens.
4. Cut hard off the screeners hip.
5. To our bigs, DUNK THE DARN BALL!

#5! Great pass from Perry inside to Williams and instead of going up strong, he pump fakes, misses shot and as I recall misses the ft’s

 

[megablue]

The thing that drove me the craziest yesterday was rebounding.

We won the rebounding battle by 8. We should have won it by 15+.

It seemed like nearly every rebound: One of our guys would get to it, then the ball would bounce up off their hands. And then maybe we'd get it on the 2nd try. Or Louisville would get it.

We don't do a great job of boxing out, and that leads to some of these hustle/run in offensive boards. Louisville got one last night they had no business getting. Clemson got several that way.

With Amari, Carr, Jaxon, Oweh, we should be one of the better rebounding teams in the country. And it feels like we get TO the ball a lot. We just don't grab it.

I've noticed that many people on the boards, especially during games, have been particularly hard on Amari Williams. I'm not going to pretend that he does not deserve criticism at times, but it's important to realize how effective he's been statistically, especially rebounding. He is averaging almost a double-double at 10.18 ppg and 9.09 rpg, while only playing 20.73 minutes per game. I realize his offensive rebounding probably should be a little stronger, but his PER 40 numbers are pretty damn impressive, so far, anyway. He needs to be more physical and stand his ground a little better, though, no question.

They are 19.6 points, 17.5 rebounds, while shooting 56.9% from the field ... not too shabby.

62.5% from the line could certainly be a little better, of course, and he has committed 24 turnovers, which is the most on the team, by far. He definitely needs to be more careful with the ball. I am hoping he can keep his double-double numbers up against the tough SEC opponents. If so, I think it unfair to complain too much about him. He's got to do it, though, as he's not regularly played against that type of competition. We will be depending on him in conference play. So, we'll see ...

You can look at his PER 40 numbers here, along with Oscar's for comparison.
There is a search block to find other players, fwiw:

Amari Williams College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Amari Williams - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more

www.sports-reference.com

Oscar Tshiebwe College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Oscar Tshiebwe - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more

www.sports-reference.com

 

[Bkocats]

All in all we have a solid, if not great team. While we started far better than I expected..or even hoped for..we do have a ceiling. I don’t think it’s more than Sweet 16. And that’s okay, given the circumstances.
This is not a knock on CMP in any way, or on any of our players. It’s understanding our limitations for this season. I also believe we will never see them give up..
I love our beginning and I believe the future is bright.

 

[megablue]

#5! Great pass from Perry inside to Williams and instead of going up strong, he pump fakes, misses shot and as I recall misses the ft’s

He needs practice sessions to work on that exact situation. That was tailor-made for an IMMEDIATE dunk !!
If no pressure, immediately dunk it. If a bit of pressure, only one pump fake !! He's been too damn hesitant and over-faking ...

 

[megablue]

I agree with some of that...

However, as for not having the quickness to effectively guard the three against quicker teams, I cannot get on board with that.

The majority of midmajors UK has played have been able to get plenty of wide open looks against UK...they have just missed them.

Heck, just look most recently against Colgate. UK was the more athletic and quicker team, by far, and Colgate got open look after open look. It is unacceptable at this point.

Most of it seems like laziness and going under screens as opposed to fighting through, as well as a lack of communication on off ball screens. Opposing teams are just too wide open. Pope needs to prioritize this going into conference play.

I understand your point, but if we try to really belly-up and deny the three, we can easily be taken off the dribble by quicker players. That's what I see ...

 

[anonymous_2011]

It's almost time for Camp Cal isn't it?

 

[UKBlueBlood]

1. FT shooting on the whole. Honestly, as good as it they typically are with the rest of the offense, they probably only need to be modestly better at the FT line. If they get a lot better, that’s just gravy.

2. Williams being more aggressive overall, and more selective about his attempts to go one and one starting at the 3 point line. I’m not sure I remember a single attempt of this maneuver being successful this season.

3. One more “X-factor” developing as a weapon… maybe Chandler becomes reliable for 6-8 PPG off the bench, or Noah. Either way, one more tool in the arsenal to throw at opponents in particular situations.

 

[catben]

I'm not sure we have the overall quickness to effectively guard the quicker teams, denying the three and/or preventing drives to the rim. That is what I see as our primary weakness. I feel certain that Pope and staff realize this, of course, and will be working hard to game defensive strategies (including zone) to camouflage this weakness. Secondarily, our physicality in the paint is also a concern. Lastly, I hope our ball-handling will not shaky against the kinds of man-to-man defense we'll soon be seeing in the conference, especially on the road. Butler and Oweh can handle on-ball pressure, but I'm not certain the others effectively can. Passing/cutting will be huge keys.

I know the pace of play that we want is designed to fatigue the opponent ... at least, I hope it does. Likewise, I hope the supreme effort we'll need on defense, especially in tough conference play, will not affect our offensive stamina in the same way ... especially 3-point shooting and at the free-throw line. It will be interesting to see how the season unfolds.

I agree with some of that...

However, as for not having the quickness to effectively guard the three against quicker teams, I cannot get on board with that.

The majority of midmajors UK has played have been able to get plenty of wide open looks against UK...they have just missed them.

Heck, just look most recently against Colgate. UK was the more athletic and quicker team, by far, and Colgate got open look after open look. It is unacceptable at this point.

Most of it seems like laziness and going under screens as opposed to fighting through, as well as a lack of communication on off ball screens. Opposing teams are just too wide open. Pope needs to prioritize this going into conference play.

I agree with both of you but would add that we have been going under screens instead of fighting through them for some reason. And both Colgate and the Cards made enough 3 pt’ers to keep it close. It may be because our Bigs are not great at hedging and getting back, but it has looked intentional. It drove me crazy yesterday!!

 

[CatEye2010]

It's almost time for Camp Cal isn't it?

Only 2 games in the next 3 weeks so plenty of time for a smart coach to fix things. And guess what- we got a smart coach!😊

 

[Aike]

I don’t think our defense was terrible yesterday. UL only assisted on 8 of 31 made baskets. If we held opponents to that mark every game, we would be leading the country.

Arguably we could have forced them off the line a little harder, but many of their threes were contested. Their offense is designed to get threes, so forcing them off the line may only lead to a better assisted three later in the shot clock.

I’d like to see us generate more turnovers. If we’re not going to do that, I’d like to see us become truly elite at rebounding the ball.

And I’d like to see us hit the deck going after more loose balls. I don’t think we have the top end talent to survive getting out-hustled, especially as we get into the heat of the SEC schedule.

I would also like to see the bigs do a better job of finding open three point shooters after a pass into the post.

 

[MegaBlue05]

I am just happy we’re discussing final fours and championships in year 1. We had a lot of folks expecting NIT or worse in April.

For this team to reach its goals, we need to improve:
1. Perimeter defense
2. Defensive rebounding
3. Interior defense
4. Free throw shooting

 

[brian5562]

Defense
Rebounding
Execution in the half court
Stay healthy

 

[kywildcats8]

Teach Williams to take advantage of his height on defense. And to stick to passing and rebounding on offense.

Teach Williams how to dunk- seems many times he lays it up soft around the basket

 

[TFCats11]

What defense? It was next to nonexistent, and UK’s 3 point defense was the worst I've ever seen!

If they play defense that badly against any SEC team, much less the top half teams, their offense and rebounding will have to be almost flawless!

Then there’s Williams, one game, he’s locking down Cooper Flagg on a critical play, and another game, he’s allowing a 5’10 point guard to score at will! UK needs Defensive Player of The Year Williams every game, if they want any shot at a FF.

 

[WildmanWilson]

Seems we miss a ton of shots one foot from the basket. Maybe it’s a focus problem.

 

[Digger-Cat]

Seems like you guys have it covered.

Our offense is elite, so we're good there, but we aren't going anywhere with this defense the way it is now.

There is no reason we can't guard the 3 better than what we are seeing. We are giving shooters way to much space by guarding below the 3 point line and teams are getting WIDE OPEN looks off simple actions.

Also, what is Amari's deal? Is he just lazy, or is he acting out? What's this crap where he won't put his hands up, rotate over to take away dimple layups by guards, or go after rebounds?

If Pope can fix those issues, this team has a shot to do big things. This roster is good enough, especially when compared to some of the teams that have made the FF recently. I can assure you, SDSU, NC State and FAU weren't as talented as this team is.

Rebounds and free throws need work too.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

I'm not sure we have the overall quickness to effectively guard the quicker teams, denying the three and/or preventing drives to the rim. That is what I see as our primary weakness. I feel certain that Pope and staff realize this, of course, and will be working hard to game defensive strategies (including zone) to camouflage this weakness. Secondarily, our physicality in the paint is also a concern. Lastly, I hope our ball-handling will not shaky against the kinds of man-to-man defense we'll soon be seeing in the conference, especially on the road. Butler and Oweh can handle on-ball pressure, but I'm not certain the others effectively can. Passing/cutting will be huge keys.

I know the pace of play that we want is designed to fatigue the opponent ... at least, I hope it does. Likewise, I hope the supreme effort we'll need on defense, especially in tough conference play, will not affect our offensive stamina in the same way ... especially 3-point shooting and at the free-throw line. It will be interesting to see how the season unfolds.

This!

We cannot guard the way we have been trying to guard. We can’t guard the dribble drive.

I think that’s why we have been staying off shooters. To prevent drives.

I would rather give up the drive and count on help that give open 3’s and hope they miss.

We do have a couple of guys that guard one on one. I would t be surprised to see Pope go to a triangle and two or something like that.

But the first thing to fix is defensive rebounding. That’s our weakest link.

And that leads to our having to guard more than we should.

Yesterday bothers me more that we didn’t match their intensity.

UL will probably not play that hard again until next year’s game.

They had 7 guys and 2 fouled out.

Butler and Oweh played hard. Carr always plays hard. But as a team we played more like we were afraid to make a mistake than just playing.

Most of it was just human nature. UK was the overwhelming favorite and playing at home. UL knew they had nothing to lose.

Our guys are just too experienced to have let that happen.

 

[katwest]

What still bothers me is that even after hitting several threes, we still didn’t make an effort to get out on them. They might have half way ran towards them, but we were not guarding the three point shot like we need to be doing. If we aren’t hitting we lose the game, our defense has to get better.

 

[USARMYWILDCAT]

We are in much need of a secondary ball handler. Someone has got to be able to give some solid minutes at the point when Butler is not in the game. It’s not a given that Kerr is going to be back to full strength this year. I see that being the biggest need as right now. The D is what it is, just stay around top 30ish and with our O we will be ok on that side.

 

[Digger-Cat]

There was only 1 way UL could beat us and that was hitting a ton of threes.
We allowed them to shoot 39 and quite a few of those were off offensive rebounds.
Most of those 39 threes were wide open looks, that's an issue and I'm not buying the "we are not quick enough" excuse, that's not true at all.