I like this years roster. There are 4 or 5 highly skilled players with 4 or 5 years of college experience. Kentucky is a legitimate contender
with no gaping holes or obvious flaws other than perhaps Cal's ability to manage close games against good teams during the last 5 minutes of the game.
Down the stretch, good coaches have a very strict set of rules that the players must adhere to their ass hits the pine.
Cal, likes to take the air out of the ball which only results in bad shot selection. He also needs to improve his players
shot selection in general and especially in tight games down the stretch.
My down the stretch rules would be:
1.) No stalling, the shot clock has eliminated the advantages that burning the clock used to provide.
the team gets the ball down the floor as quickly as possible and begins running the set the coach calls with absolute precision.
2.) The team has three sets that have proven to be their most effective sets over the course of the season.
They run nothing but these sets down the stretch.
3.) The best player gets a touch out of the called set in the location on the floor from which he is most effective.
No one takes a shot other than a layup until the best player has touched the ball.
4.) There is one exception to rule number 3. If during that specific game, a player other than the best player has successfully
established a huge matchup up advantage, the ball goes to that player until he is fails to score out of the matchup at which
rule number 3 is reestablished.
5.) Every good coach has at least 3 set plays designed to score off inbounds plays underneath their own basket.
that are practiced in excruciating detail every day. He will always run these plays down the stretch.
Cal for some reason, does not run plays to score in this particular situation. He almost always throws
the ball over the defense to the point guard who of course is open because he is near the center line because
he wants to set up and initiate a half court set.
IMO this is a dumb move on Cal's behalf.
Think about it, there is no reason to execute a half court set to get the ball inside.
The referee hands the ball off to the in bounder who is positioned three feet down the baseline from the backboard in an
ideal location to run a paly for an easy basket. Smart coaches put the ball in the hands of their best passer, who is basically unguarded,
the defender cannot get any closer than the baseline and the defender cannot touch the ball. The offensive player can back off the baseline up
to 3 feet to receive the ball providing excellent spacing and passing lanes. The four guys out on the floor have 5 seconds to make cuts and set screens to
to create a good passing lane to a high effeiciency scoring location on the floor.
Out of bounds underneath your own basket should result in getting a great shot about 90% of the time. It is the most difficult play in the game to defend.
Cal, needs to gain an understanding of this basketball fact.
6) A good coach will also have 3 plays for inbounding the ball at half court and from underneath the opposition's basket when there is one second on the clock, 3 to 5 seconds on the clock, more than 5 seconds on the clock.
These plays will be practiced every day with extreme emphasis on perfect screening, cutting, passing and positioning of every player a clock running and a horn sounding.
About 70 percent of game winning shots as time expires are made on second attempts. Therefore in these late game situations, you are not only running plays to get your best shooter the ball in his favorite location but also to position
your best rebounders in good rebounding position. This requires good screening, hard cutting and strong positioning.
7) Passing. Not just down the stretch but in general Cal needs to spend more time teaching how to pass the ball. The quality of the pass to a shooter plays a huge role in how effectively he shoots the ball.
8) Outside Shooting in general, I have come to believe that 5 of the reasons that Kentucky has regularly been a poor outside shooting team under Cal are:
1) The floor position of the passer making the pass to the shooter, inside out passes to the corners, 45 degree line from the basket and to the 3 line are the most effective.
2) Floor position of the shooter when he receives the ball, An emphasis should be getting the shooter the ball in his most efficient shooting locations on the floor.
3) The quality of the pass received by the shooter, the ball should be passed directly into the shooting pocket, which allows the shooter to immediately step into his shooting motion.
4) The quality of the set plays Cal runs to get a shooter free, there seems to be a lack of understanding especially by the perimeter players, on how to set and hold a screen.
5) Cal tends to get too deep into the shot clock to initiate plays to free 3 shooters resulting in rushed shots.
6) Cal needs to limit who is free to shoot 3's. Only guys that shoot over 35% should be allowed to attempt 3's. Especially late in the game.
This year's roster has the best combination of talent, depth and experience that Kentucky has had under Cal. They are very good, but there are 3 or 4 other extremely good teams. It is a strong year for college basketball.
The strongest since 2015 when there were 3 or 4 excellent teams.
Kentucky can win number 9, but to do so, the late game management on behalf of our coach must be better than it has been in the past.
They will be an exciting group to watch. I look forward to it.