March Madness: Kentucky Basketball's 5 Keys to success

Kentucky Basketball has hit a skid in the road lately. Poor rebounding, lack of hustle, and turnovers have given the Big Blue Nation some doubt in their team.

John Calipari, in his eighth season as the head coach has taken Kentucky Basketball to a new level. Multiple top ranked recruiting classes, and a slew of NBA Draft picks have made Lexington a hot-bed for high school basketball stars. With great young talent, Coach Cal has the job of developing a great team out of those players.

The 2016/2017 Wildcats have a record of 19-5. The Big Blue Nation demands more of their beloved Cats. After dropping three of the last five contests, John Calipari and company have their work cut out for them with this squad. In the meat of the conference schedule, Kentucky hasn’t performed very well as a team. Inconsistent play from the frontcourt and careless turnovers have been the demise of these young Cats.

A Rich History and A Hopeful Future

In order for Kentucky to bring home NCAA Championship No. 9 this season, a few things need to happen. At Kentucky, the Final Four is expected year in and year out. In his previous seasons, John Calipari has reached the Final Four in four out of seven seasons. The entire state of Kentucky basketball hopes that 2017 will bring yet another banner to hang in Rupp Arena. This young Cats team needs to address these problems quickly.

Jan 21, 2017; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Derek Willis (35) takes the ball to the basket against South Carolina Gamecocks guard Hassani Gravett (2) in the second half at Rupp Arena. Kentucky defeated South Carolina 85-69. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Kentucky Basketball’s sixth man, Derek Willis is known for his sweet shot. This season, the senior from Mt. Washington, Kentucky hasn’t seen the ball go through the rim enough.

John Calipari’s starting lineup includes four freshman and sophomore. This trend isn’t anything new with the teams that Calipari has managed to put together. Kentucky teams usually find themselves ranked near the bottom of the barrel when it comes to overall team experience. One thing is for certain, Kentucky’s bench is filled with experience, but hasn’t been able to contribute much when called upon.

Derek Willis is a guy that came on strong last season. The six foot nine forward had an improved shot and was automatic from beyond the arc for most of the 2015/2016 season. This season the Senior has watched his production fall.

Invisible Subs

Bam Adebayo is the force down low playing the five spot. Unfortunately he tends to get into foul trouble way too often. Isaac Humphries is the first off of the bench for Bam. The young seven footer from Australia has yet to show us anything in terms of contributions to the point column. Humphries needs to step up and put the ball in the basket more often in relief of Adebayo or the Cats will have some problems.

Sacha Killeya-Jones was highly rated coming out of high school but the young freshman hasn’t seen much playing time. If these Cats are going to make any noise in the post-season, someone else from the bench is going to have to stand up and help the team.

Michael Mulder and Dominique Hawkins have given valuable minutes in the guard spots in relief of Briscoe, Fox and Monk. Mulder is a threat to put it in from anywhere being the arc, but limited minutes leads fans to believe he is a liability on defense. Hawkins puts in great time on the floor, but again the same old story. The Richmond, Kentucky native doesn’t make a difference on the scoreboard consistently.

Nov 13, 2016; Lexington, KY, USA; Canisius Golden Griffins forward Jermaine Crumpton (2) and Kentucky Wildcats forward Edrice Bam Adebayo (3) fight for a rebound in the first half at Rupp Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

The Kentucky Wildcats have been struggling to out rebound opponents. This is a trend that has to come to an abrupt halt in order for the Cats to be successful.

Kentucky’s 22 point defeat in Gainesville on Feb. 4, blew a hole into the armor of the Wildcats. John Calipari’s team was out rebounded and out hustled on all aspects of the game. In their loss to the Gators, the Wildcats were defeated on the boards 54-29. Rebounding woes and giving teams second and third chance points will be the downfall of this Kentucky team in the postseason if things don’t begin to change.

Kentucky also lost the rebound battle against UCLA, Louisville, and Tennessee. The only loss in which the Cats did not get beat on the boards was in their contest with Kansas as Rupp Arena. The Cats out rebounded the Jayhawks by one.

Frontcourt Rebounding

Bam Adebayo and Wenyen Gabriel are supposed to be the paint protectors of this team. Bam comes in to this weekend’s matchup with Alabama averaging 6.9 rebounds per game. Gabriel is averaging slightly less than Adebayo with 6.1 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard, Isaiah Briscoe is third on the team with 5.2 RPG. A guard should not be averaging one rebound less than both of your starting post players. More effort needs to be applied to the glass in order for Kentucky to see themselves past the Sweet Sixteen.

Jan 21, 2017; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Edrice Bam Adebayo (3) dunks the ball against South Carolina Gamecocks guard Rakym Felder (4) and forward Chris Silva (30) in the second half at Rupp Arena. Kentucky defeated South Carolina 85-69. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Foul trouble has kept Kentucky big man, Bam Adebayo off of the floor, rendering the Wildcats’ inside presence virtually ineffective.

Bam Adebayo has a habit of fouling early in basketball games. The six-foot-nine freshman needs to start playing more minutes in the first half. It’s not too uncommon to find Adebayo sitting gone the bench with two fouls after just a few minutes from tip-off. Bam sitting on the bench does Kentucky no good. There is not enough depth at the position for the big man to waste minutes sitting next to Kenny Payne.

When Bam Adebayo is playing well, the Cats are hard to beat. Kentucky will not win its ninth NCAA National Championship unless he unleashes his true post potential. Bam should be averaging 18 PPG while grabbing 10 rebounds against a diluted SEC Conference. Instead, the North Carolina native finds himself averaging more “bench minutes” than points.

Feb 4, 2017; Gainesville, FL, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Isaiah Briscoe (13) reacts as he drives to the basket against the Florida Gators during the second half at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Florida Gators defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 88-66. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

John Calipari’s squad inlcudes four freshman and a sophomore in their starting lineup. Leadership is key when organizing the youth.

Isaiah Briscoe is the lone returning player in John Calipari’s lineup. Briscoe is the proud owner of just the third triple-double in program history. Beginning the season, fans got to see a brand new Isaiah. Improved free throw shooting, rebounding, layup efficiency and a mid-range jumper were some tools Briscoe entered the 2016-2017 season.

Kentucky lacks leadership no matter what combination of players are on the floor. Isaiah Briscoe finds himself on the floor more than any returning player from last season. To be a leader, you must practice what you preach. To be honest, it gets old watching Briscoe drive to the basket one-on-four, and throwing up a flair of a layup attempt that ends up a missed opportunity turnover. Isaiah is the leader of this team, like it or not. Malik Monk is the super star, and De’Aaron Fox is the floor general, but watch a game and see who is doing the talking during the in-game huddles. Hint, hint…its No. 13.

The Wildcats have been on a stretch of games in which they have dropped three out of five games. The common denominator in those three defeats is simple, there is no urgency.

The 2016-2017 version of Cal’s Cats started off with a bang. Fans were excited and nothing had changed from any other season. Big Blue Nation has reserved the right to be upset at the recent performances this this team. Just by watching the games, anyone can tell that in the three losses, and even late in the LSU game, lack of urgency is the reason for the crumbling season.

It’s not wise to give up on this team as there were a ton of great plays from the young team, mainly Wenyen Gabriel, that shows that there is some fight left in this team. In order to make a post-season run and take home an SEC Championship, the Wildcats have to play harder. Hustle is a word that is greatly overused in sports. It’s overused because it is important. The team diving on the floor after 50/50 balls will gain more possessions, which leads to more points. At this point in the season, Kentucky is not winning the battle of urgency.

Nov 25, 2016; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari reacts during the game against the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks in the second half at Rupp Arena. Kentucky defeated Tennessee-Martin 111-76. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

John Calipari has been to four Final Fours in his seven complete seasons as Kentucky Basketball’s Head Coach.

Winning at Kentucky is no option. There isn’t any way that a team who loses games, and especially loses games in chunks can avoid the fan backlash. It’s inevitable that fans are going to fling out the “Fire Calipari” slogans after just 5 losses. Im not 100 percent on this, but one could assume that there hasn’t been anyone trying to fire Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski. That’s even after the Grayson Allen debacle as well as their string of bad losses.

You don’t get rid of a coach like John Calipari. Whether or not you like the One-and-Done situation, its happening all over college basketball. Calipari just so happens to be the poster boy. This team may be John’s biggest challenge yet. With so many recruits and the talent level, this team has definitely under performed. In order for these Cats to turn this thing around, they must trust in the process. Coach Cal knows how to win with youth and this season shouldn’t be any different.