5 Rushed Reactions – Kentucky at LSU

3. Pick and roll defense…again

I’ve said this previously, but John Calipari’s teams have really struggled the last couple years in defending the pick and roll. Nick Richards certainly can’t guard the high ball-screen and Sacha Killeya-Jones struggles sometimes as well. SEC opponents, at least the well-coached ones, will continue to put UK’s bigs in ball-screen situations. If Kentucky’s bigs can’t contain the dribble off the screen, then the Cats will continue to struggle. Will Calipari try to tweak this? Switching screens won’t work, because the bigs won’t be able to guard the drive. Can the Cats try to trap ball-screens? Can the Cats try to go under the screens and live with long jumper shots? Something has to change in order for Kentucky to get more defensive stops.