Kentucky Basketball: Three items on Cal’s Christmas wishlist
By Drew Koch
Three-point shooting
Kentucky was 6-of-21 from beyond the arc against the Bruins. If the Wildcats are going to shoot more than 20 shots from downtown they have to shoot better than 28%. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Hamidou Diallo, Quade Green and Kevin Knox were a combined 3-of-16 (19%) from three-point range. The only saving grace for the Cats was Wenyen Gabriel, who knocked down 3-of-4 from outside.
The Kentucky basketball team will not win many games if Gabriel is their leading three-point shooter. Calipari said a couple weeks ago that he wanted his team to shoot upwards of 18 to 20 three-pointers. However, if the outside shots are not falling, this team must attack the basket off the dribble. Knox, Diallo and PJ Washington need to be effective driving into the paint and if the ball gets kicked out, those on the perimeter must knock down the open shot. Opponents will continue to play zone until UK proves they can make threes.