Kentucky Fine-Tuning its Offense

[UConnCat]

Mitchell brought in former WNBA asst Jeff House to help with the offense.

"We definitely got blown out by UConn last year because we couldn't execute our offense," senior forward Samarie Walker said of the 30-point throttling by the Huskies, who went on to win the NCAA Tournament.

"I don't think our offense was bad," Mitchell said recently. "We were really up-tempo and high-powered last year and scored a bunch of points. I just think it's those little, fine, little bitty things you can try to identify that can make the difference from an Elite Eight to a Final Four."

I don't know that the "little bitty things" are going to make up a 30-point deficit against UConn, but maybe the Committee won't put Kentucky in UConn's region again. The Kentucky half-court offense does need work and it would help if someone other than O'Neil can make a jump-shot.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/10/22/2888939/kentuckys-mitchell-cats-want-to.html#storylink=cpy​

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[UcMiami]

Agree with your evaluation - KY lived on transition basketball based on their pressure defense - when they were forced to play half court offense against a good defense they were in trouble.

 

[pap49cba]

Kentucky's half-court offense needs more than "fine tuning".

 

[RockyMTblue2]

If Mitchell believes that he does need someone else to try to fix it.

 

[pap49cba]

Mel Greenberg ‏@womhoopsguru 13h
@hoopfeed they need to fine tune avoiding UConn in the elite eight or sweet 16 which could happen again in Louisville.

 

[Wbbfan1]

IMHO the biggest problem KY has is with their Coaching Strategy during games against elite teams. Kentucky's tendency is to use mass substitutions in order to keep up their chaotic defensive pressure. This works against the non-elite teams that can't handle their pressure defense and they score plenty of baskets in transition. However, against the elite teams that can handle their defensive intensity, Kentucky's second unit can't score enough to keep up with teams like UConn. Also Ky's second unit is usually going up against UConn's starters and it ends up being a disaster. If Kentucky wants to win a National Championship against an elite team they have to shorten their bench and not rely on mass substitutions. If individual players need rest or are not performing up to expectations, then just substitute individual players. As long as the team they're playing has their starters in the game, Kentucky has to keep their best players on the floor as well.

Also, like Louisville and other teams, Kentucky has to recruit an above average post player that can score or dominate the middle in close games.

 

[Icebear]

Kentucky may well be one of the teams more negatively impacted by the new rules.

 

[Wonkster]

.
I'd like to see Kentucky in whatever NCAA bracket Tennessee falls into this season. I'd definitely watch that game.

 

[Forty_four]

Mitchell brought in former WNBA asst Jeff House to help with the offense.

"We definitely got blown out by UConn last year because we couldn't execute our offense," senior forward Samarie Walker said of the 30-point throttling by the Huskies, who went on to win the NCAA Tournament.

"I don't think our offense was bad," Mitchell said recently. "We were really up-tempo and high-powered last year and scored a bunch of points. I just think it's those little, fine, little bitty things you can try to identify that can make the difference from an Elite Eight to a Final Four."

I don't know that the "little bitty things" are going to make up a 30-point deficit against UConn, but maybe the Committee won't put Kentucky in UConn's region again. The Kentucky half-court offense does need work and it would help if someone other than O'Neil can make a jump-shot.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/10/22/2888939/kentuckys-mitchell-cats-want-to.html#storylink=cpy​

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You hit it right on the head with that observation!