Perimeter shooting will make or break this year’s UK basketball team
By Drew Koch
The three-point jump shot and the ability to defend it will make or break this year’s UK basketball team.
Three-point shooting is all the rage in basketball these days. Savannah State is leading the nation, averaging 39.2 three-pointers per game. Believe it or not, that is down from their 40.2 attempt average last season. The UK basketball team is at the other end of the spectrum. The Wildcats are attempting 14.2 shots from downtown per game this season. Only 7 teams in college basketball attempt fewer perimeter shots so far this season. Last year the Cats averaged almost 20 attempts per game from deep.
Shooting the three
John Calipari’s teams have never led college basketball in three-point attempts. In fact, other than the 2010-11 season, they’ve never cracked the top 50. However, even if this year’s UK basketball team makes it to the National Championship game, it is unlikely to crack 560 attempts. Just to put it into perspective, last year’s Kentucky team took 757 three-point attempts.
Let me be clear, I do not disagree with Calipari’s strategy of limiting the number of perimeter shots his team takes. Malik Monk, Jamal Murray and Devin Booker are not part of this year’s UK basketball team. Quade Green may be Kentucky’s best shooter. He’s knocking down 40.5% of his shots from beyond the arc.
The key to Kentucky’s success is not the number of attempts that they take, but the number of perimeter shots they actually make. I know that sounds like a given, but it’s true. With their propensity to get to the foul line, this year’s UK basketball team can afford to take 20 or less from deep provided they knock down 6 to 8 of those shots.
Defending the three
Maybe more important than making their own three-pointers, this year’s UK basketball team needs to defend the opponent’s three-point shooters. Kentucky has great length and a lot of agility and should be a great defensive team this year. Big Blue Nation has already seen Calipari veer away from his typical man-to-man defense at times this season. So long as the defense keeps the opposing offense from knocking down three-point shots, the Cats should be OK.
The Wildcats have gone 3-1 in their last 4 games. The Cats held opponents to 15-of-68 (22%) in their 3 wins. UCLA knocked down 12-of-30 (40%) in Kentucky’s lone loss during the last 4 games.
Needless to say the three-point shot has radically changed the game of basketball. This year for the Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team it could mean the difference between an early exit or a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.