Kentucky has as much talent as any team in the country. This statement can be made every single year and it’s true again this season. The Wildcats have eight five-star recruits on the roster, and that’s not counting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a highly touted four-star point guard who might be their best player right now.
Kentucky basketball’s recruiting philosophy under John Calipari is the Wildcats’ biggest problem
Kentucky’s pieces don’t fit and it’s making John Calipari’s team vulnerable.
Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Point is, Kentucky is loaded. Kentucky is always loaded. But for this Kentucky team in particular, it’s fair to wonder if the pieces fit together.
That’s the question the Wildcats are left with after a 76-68 loss at South Carolina, a game which saw them blow a 14-point lead in the second half.
It’s fair to note Kentucky was without starting point guard Quade Green in this one, who remains out with a back injury. It’s hard for any team to win a conference road game without its floor general. But Kentucky’s problems on Tuesday night go beyond the absence of Green.
Kentucky just doesn’t have any shooting
Kentucky shot 1-of-11 from three against South Carolina. That’s 9.1 percent.
It’s a common theme for the Wildcats this season: If they’re not hitting shots from the outside, they’re highly vulnerable to an upset. Here’s how Kentucky shot the ball from deep in their three other losses this season:
- Nov. 14 vs. Kansas: 3-of-13 from three (23.1 percent)
- Dec. 23 vs. UCLA: 6-of-21 from three (28.6 percent)
- Jan. 6 at Tennessee: 7-of-19 from three (36.8 percent)
The problem isn’t necessarily accuracy, but volume
Kentucky is hitting 35 percent of its threes on the season. In a vacuum, that sounds perfectly acceptable. It’s identical (34.9 percent) to the percentage John Calipari’s historic 2015 team shot when they started the season 38-0 and reached the Final Four.
The issue here is volume. Only 24.8 percent of Kentucky’s field goal attempts come from three-point range, per KenPom. That ranks No. 347 in the country.
There are only four teams in DI taking threes less frequently than UK: Rutgers, Pacific, New Orleans and Morgan St. That’s not company you want to keep.
Kentucky’s top shooters are actually connecting from deep better than expected.
- Wenyen Gabriel, second on the team in three-point attempts, is hitting 40 percent from deep as a sophomore after hitting only 31 percent as a freshman.
- Green is hitting exactly 40 percent from deep on three attempts per game.
- Gilgeous-Alexander is hitting 45.5 percent from deep.
- Even Hamidou Diallo — known as a freak athlete and shaky shooter — is knocking down a highly respectable 35.7 percent of his shots from three so far.
The problem is that, aside from Green, none of these players are natural shooters. They aren’t going to be hoisting shots off the dribble. They need to be wide open in catch-and-shoot situations, which explains the low volume.
The one player on Kentucky who is getting a healthy volume of shots up from three is Kevin Knox, but he’s cooled down considerably, now only hitting 30 percent of the 4.4 threes per game he’s attempting.
This is a symptom of how John Calipari recruits
Calipari wants the biggest, fastest player at every position. That’s been the Kentucky coach’s recruiting strategy for years, but it’s never been more transparent than it is this year.
Just look at the size in Kentucky’s starting lineup on Tuesday.
Kentucky starters
Position | Name | Height | Wingspan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Point guard | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | 6'6 | 7-foot |
| Shooting guard | Hamidou Diallo | 6'7 | 7-foot |
| Small forward | Kevin Knox | 6'9 | 7-foot |
| Power forward | P.J. Washington | 6'9 | 7'2.5 |
| Center | Nick Richards | 6'11 | 7'4 |
Every starter has a 7-foot wingspan (we’re rounding up for Kevin Knox on 6’11.5). Every starter is an elite athlete. This is just about the longest and most athletic lineup you can build in college basketball.
And yet Kentucky is no safe bet to even win the SEC this season. It’s because Calipari has essentially recruited an entire team of centers and power forwards.
Kentucky’s point guards are as long as most team’s centers. Kentucky’s wings should really be in the front court. Each of these players has similar strengths (length, athleticism) and a similar weakness (outside shooting).
Together, the pieces don’t really fit.
It’s time for Calipari to change his recruiting philosophy
Maybe he’s already started.
Kentucky has three commits for next year. One is former Wisconsin commit Tyler Herro, a two guard who lacks elite athleticism but can fill it up from deep. Another is Keldon Johnson, a strong athlete who looked to make major strides as a shooter during October’s USA Basketball junior minicamp.
Then there’s Immanuel Quickley, a classic long, athletic Calipari point guard with great size.
Length and athleticism are great, but they can really only be leveraged at the college level with proper spacing and shooting. The exception is when you have a superstar like Anthony Davis or Karl-Anthony Towns. That’s how Calipari’s two best teams at Kentucky have won. This group has a bunch of a really good players, but no true studs. When you factor in the lack of fit, that’s why this Kentucky teams feels so beatable.
Maybe it won’t matter and Kentucky will be able to feast on offensive rebounds, inside scoring and stout defense come March. But if this team falls short, it’s probably because the pieces never really fit.
More on Kentucky hoops
Check out SB Nation’s Kentucky site
See More:
