Kentucky Wildcats: Three Thoughts on Destruction of UCLA
By Daniel Tran
1. If this Kentucky Wildcats team faced the 1968 UCLA Bruins team today, they would have allowed the same amount of points.
Just when you thought Kentucky Wildcats stopped playing defense by giving up 70 points to UNC, they go and have a game like this…AND TOTALLY REDEEM THEMSELVES. If hoop-heads wanted to watch a defensive clinic, they would not have to look further than the dismantling that Kentucky handed UCLA.
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In the first half, the Wildcats held UCLA to seven points. Not seven points in the first 10 minutes; seven points for TWENTY minutes. They are beginning to establish themselves as one of the greatest defenses all-time in college basketball.
UCLA was held to 25.4 percent shooting from the field for the game. The Wildcats held the Bruins scoreless for the first seven minutes and forty-eight seconds of the game. By the time UCLA scored, the Wildcats had already put 24 points on the board.
The Kentucky Wildcats also forced UCLA into 14 turnovers for the game. UCLA’s first four possessions at the beginning of the game resulted in three takeaways for the Wildcats.
Kentucky currently ranks number one in nation in terms of defensive rating, points allowed per game, and field goal percentage allowed. As the season progresses, watch this team continue to take their defense to another level.
2. The Kentucky Wildcats can really turn defense into offense.
Remember those turnovers that were mentioned before? The Wildcats know how to get out and turn those takeaways into easy baskets on the other end.
In the first half, the Kentucky Wildcats turned eight UCLA turnovers into 10 points with most of them coming on the fast break. Kentucky would end the first half with 16 points in transition and ran the Bruins into submission before the halftime buzzer sounded. Those easy baskets helped the Wildcats finish the game with a 50 percent field goal percentage.
This platoon system that Kentucky head coach John Calipari is running has kept his players fresh and the Wildcats a constantly threat to get out on the fast break and effectively run the opposition into defeat.
3. The Kentucky Wildcats are going to go wire to wire, and finish the season as undefeated national champions.
Not since 1976 when Bob Knight was ranting and raving at Indiana has there been a team that has run the table and won the national championship. There has to be a perfect mixture of talent, coaching, and a little bit of luck to pull it off. Kentucky has two of those elements down pat, which will be enough for them to go undefeated in the regular season and then dominate the NCAA Tournament to win the national championship. This unbelievable performance confirmed that potential.
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There is no infighting like you would see on talented teams. Everyone on this team plays for one another and no player looks to “get his” while sacrificing for the good of the team. Sure, Aaron Harrison scored 15 points and Devin Booker scored 19 point today, but those shots were wide open and a result of the offense that Calipari runs.
Calipari deserves a lot of credit for how this team is playing and is the perfect coach for this team. It is not about X’s and O’s when it comes to Calipari’s genius, and it is not about his incredible recruiting ability. He somehow gets these talented players that could get 15-20 shots a game elsewhere to buy in and play unselfishly.
Aside from Willie Cauley-Stein, no one on the Kentucky team averages double digits in scoring. However, their margin of victory based on the teams’ averages is 28.2 points, which is staggering to say the least.
The Kentucky Wildcats ran into some bad luck with the loss of Alex Poythress, but their depth and Calipari’s ability to manage this team flawlessly has them in a position to make their own luck, so to speak, and become the first undefeated team in 38 years.