Kentucky Basketball: Isaiah Briscoe must find his jump shot

By Mike Knapp | Oct 26, 2016

Mar 19, 2016; Des Moines, IA, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Isaiah Briscoe (13) looses control of the ball in the first half against Indiana Hoosiers forward Max Bielfeldt (0) during the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports /

Kentucky basketball’s Isaiah Briscoe will continue our “Comeback Season” series.

Over the next few weeks, Busting Brackets will be breaking down players who are set to rebound following a disappointing 2015-16 campaign.

Related Story: Calipari believes the Wildcats will be elite defensively

Our “Comeback Season” series will highlight top players across the country who are set to positively re-emerge in the national spotlight.

On the surface, it looks like Isaiah Briscoe had a successful first college basketball season. He started as a freshman for Kentucky and played over 30 minutes a game for the eventual SEC tournament champions.

Dig a little deeper, however, and you willsee just how much Briscoe struggled last year.

Briscoe had an offensive rating of 99.6, which put him seventh out of the eight Kentucky players who logged at least 10 minutes per game last year, and his defensive rating was over 100. He was one of only two rotation players to have a negative net rating with the other being Charles Matthews, who played only 370 minutes compared to Briscoe’s 1,094.

Briscoe struggled so much offensively last season because he is too one-dimensional. The one thing that he does well is go to the basket, whether it is with the ball in his hands or cutting off the ball. Briscoe is really good at finishing at the rim and is also good at making plays for others off of his drives.

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In a clip from an early season win against Duke, Briscoe rejects teammate Skal Labissiere’s screen, drives to the basket and then finds Labissiere rolling on a great pass right in front of the hoop. Labissiere wasn’t strong enough to get the shot up, but the play did result in free throws for the Wildcats.

In another clip from later in the same game, Briscoe catches Duke All-American Grayson Allen off balance, makes a nice tight crossover, and is able to finish through contact after Allen recovers. At 6’3″ and over 200 pounds, Briscoe has a strong, compact frame and isn’t afraid to use it on drives to the rim.

Although he was able to benefit from a weak closeout from Allen on this play, Briscoe struggled to show off his elite penetrating ability consistently last season because defenders would lay off of him so much. Briscoe only hit five threes the entire season.

While Kentucky did survive Briscoe’s perimeter struggles (All-SEC guards Jamal Murray and Tyler Ulis combined to hit almost five threes a game), it did present problems, as the freshman’s shooting woes extended to the free throw line.

Briscoe was third to last in the SEC in free throw percentage (46 percent), among players who took at least 50. One of Briscoe’s biggest strengths, driving to the basket, became a glaring weakness. The fact that he shot well below 50 percent on free throws made his drives much less efficient than they should be.

Next: In depth Big East preview

Briscoe will have a lot more responsibility for the Wildcats this season with Murray and Ulis gone. He will be expected to lead a young team that features five five-star recruits. Kentucky is undoubtedly the best team in the SEC, but for them to compete with the nations elite, Briscoe has to be better in 2016-17.

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