Freeze Frame: The Ceiling for Kentucky’s Elite Defense
Posted by Brian Joyce on November 19th, 2014The Big Blue Nation doesn’t forget. None of the players on the court during last night’s Kentucky-Kansas game were alive way back in 1989 — with the possible exception of Perry Ellis, who looks like he ran out of college eligibility during the Clinton administration — but the fans remember their school’s basketball history like it was yesterday. And they hold a grudge. Two decades on, Kentucky fans have been known to purchase “I still hate [Christian] Laettner” t-shirts and have never forgiven the Duke star for his infamous foot stomp and turnaround jumper back in 1992. They can’t help but wonder “what if Nazr Mohammed had made just a couple free throws” in the 1997 title game against Arizona. They remember exactly where they were when Dwyane Wade exploded on the scene for Marquette in 2003. The 2011 Cats could have — scratch that, should have — won a backdoor national title if they hadn’t gone completely blank against UConn. All of that and more. But there is another loss — a regular season one, no less — that ranks near the top of a long list of defeats that Kentucky fans haven’t let go.
Rick Pitino during Kentucky’s 150-95 loss to Kansas in 1989 (photo courtesy of KUsports.com).
The date was December 9, 1989, and the score was 150-95. For Kentucky, that season signified just how far the mighty had fallen. Not a lot was expected from the decimated Wildcats in Rick Pitino’s first year on probation, but that didn’t mean fans took it lightly when the tables were turned. Coming into last night’s game in Indianapolis, Kentucky was 5-3 against Kansas since that demoralizing night, but the margin of victory never approached the beatdown that Roy Williams put on the Wildcats even if the scale of importance was elevated. Tubby Smith’s group knocked the Jayhawks out of the NCAA Tournament in 1999; and there was a certain National Championship game in 2012 that went the Wildcats’ way too. But Kentucky hadn’t gotten revenge for the embarrassing 55-point drubbing it endured in Allen Fieldhouse. Until last night.
Kentucky’s defense was outstanding, and it stood out in three distinct ways: effort; rim protection; and defensive rotations. In this edition of Freeze Frame, we look at Kentucky’s dominating defensive performance against Kansas, and the potential for this year’s team to be among the best interior defensive teams of all-time.
Just how good was the Wildcats’ defense against a high-quality opponent? Kentucky’s performance against Kansas was one of the five most efficient performances for the Wildcats since John Calipari arrived in Lexington. This performance is especially noteworthy considering it didn’t come against the likes of Eastern Michigan or Radford, but the #5 team in the country.
Kentucky’s 72-40 win over Kansas was one of the top five most efficient defensive efforts in the John Calipari era at Kentucky.
Effort
Kentucky’s defensive dominance wasn’t due to raw ability and incredible size alone. At one point in the second half, Dakari Johnson scored on the offensive end before falling down on the baseline. Last season, Johnson probably would have laid there for a few seconds in protest of the lack of a foul call, before jogging down to the other end only to realize the other team had already taken advantage. Not this season. Johnson sprinted back into defensive position, ensuring Kansas couldn’t attack in a five-on-four situation. Here is Johnson lying on the floor just after scoring a basket on the offensive end.
Dakari Johnson would have likely stayed in this position for the duration of the next defensive play last season.
But look how quickly he gets back and runs the length of the court.
Look at the big fella go.
He quickly gets into defensive position between his man and the basket. Note that the shot clock is at 31 seconds, so he didn’t waste any time.
Hustle is one of the biggest improvements in Kentucky’s defense. Johnson displays effort in getting back on this play.
Johnson’s hustle was just one example of this from last night, as several other players got back to prevent easy transition baskets. The Wildcats’ team effort on the defensive end prevented Kansas from getting anything easy, and it was a noticeable difference from the team’s general defensive intensity a year ago.
Defensive Rotations
Last year, Kentucky did not always rotate well on the perimeter, leaving its defensive hopes resting solely on shot-blocking ability to erase mistakes. Kentucky’s shot-blocking prowess can bail them out of many problems again this year, but it appears that the Cats’ perimeter defense is much improved and that can be seen in how quickly players rotate and switch while guarding the ball. You have to watch it in real time to truly appreciate it. Watch for the quickness in switching at all five positions in pick-and-roll situations. Look at how quickly the Kentucky defenders recover. Kansas has trouble finding an open look, and when they do, Kentucky’s shot-blocking and defensive rebounding abilities swoop in to the rescue.
Rim Protection
Finally, we look at the interior. Kentucky’s length and athleticism inside make it almost impossible to score near the rim. You will see in the following frames that the Wildcats did not solely rely on one excellent shot-blocker, but they swarmed the Kansas bigs every time they touched the ball. Here all five Kentucky defenders swarm the offensive player with the ball inside.
Kentucky swarms the offensive player.
Here they do it again.
Good luck getting that shot off over two Kentucky bigs.
You can see on the close-up of this block of Kansas’ Cliff Alexander that it’s not just Marcus Lee and Karl Anthony-Towns going for the swat, but Devin Booker is stealthily waiting to steal the ball too if Alexander attempts to spin or dribble out.
Triple teamed in the post.
This was one game in a long season, and it’s still really early. However, if Kentucky continues this defensive trend we could end up talking about its place in history. Can the Wildcats go undefeated? No. Can they beat an NBA team? Definitely not. But this team is scary defensively — big, athletic, and committed enough to be among the all-time best. Calipari’s 2012 team notched an NCAA Division I best 344 blocked shots over the course of the season, and this year’s team has the potential to outpace that mark by a considerable margin. By March, we might not be talking about Kentucky in terms of how great its defense is this season, but rather on how this version compares to the all-time great defensive teams of basketball past. Revenge was oh-so-sweet for Kentucky fans hoping to return the favor for the nightmare of that 55-point beating a quarter-century ago, but last night’s win and the signal it harbors could make Kentucky fans forget all about 1989 by the time this group is done.
Brian Joyce is an advanced metrics enthusiast, college hoops junkie, and writer for the SEC basketball microsite for Rush the Court.
