Gillispie, Cats look to get back to basics

It’s back to the drawing board for Coach G.

Going into last week, the Cats were sitting pretty in a newfound seat, ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press poll. Even more promising was UK’s next two games were against Mississippi and South Carolina — teams against which UK held a combined all-time record of 136-18.

So much for that.

One week and a Devan Downey pull-up jumper later, the Cats (16-6, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) don’t seem to be sitting so pretty anymore, and UK head coach Billy Gillispie is moving back to basics to rectify the situation.

“Some of the most important things we need to improve upon are the basic fundamentals, like making hard passes instead of soft ones. Most of our turnovers have been of the careless nature,” Gillispie said of the Cats, whose 18.0 turnovers per game rank 321st out of 330 Division I teams. “We need to do a much better job of understanding how important possession of the basketball is.”

Turnovers have plagued the Cats all season, and Saturday’s 21-turnover showing against South Carolina proved that giving the ball away so often is a true team effort: Seven different UK players turned the ball over at least twice.

Of the players on Saturday that didn’t commit two or more turnovers, junior Kevin Galloway saw the most floor time — just six minutes.

Gillispie also noted his team’s recent woes on the glass, citing that the Gamecocks grabbed more offensive rebounds, 18, than defensive ones, 17, in their 78-77 victory.

“When we do get defensive stops in the league, we have to grab the rebound,” he said. “We can’t give teams more than one shot per possession, and we’ve been doing that the last few games.”

UK is struggling on the boards just as Mississippi State’s big man Jarvis Varnado is heading to Rupp Arena. Varnado is the league’s second-best rebounder.

However, Varnado hasn’t made his name pulling down rebounds. Instead, Varnado is widely considered to be the nation’s most feared shot blocker. The junior leads the country with 4.7 rejections per game.

Varnado dove into the national scene last year when he notched a triple-double on ESPN. That night, the Bulldogs were playing UK.

“Going into each game, he now has that bull’s-eye on his chest,” Mississippi State head coach Rick Stansbury said.

Thanks to Varnado’s prowess, the Bulldogs rank as the nation’s top shot-blocking team despite starting four guards alongside Varnado. Gillispie said the unusual configuration allows the Bulldogs to gain a unique leverage on their opponents — something Gillispie will have to prepare his team for.

“We don’t play four-guard lineups very often. They have very good athleticism, and Coach Stansbury does a great job of spreading them out,” Gillispie said.

At risk of losing their third straight game, the Cats are headed back to the drawing board to re-focus on some of the game’s fundamental skills. According to Gillispie, you can’t win ‘em all.

“While we didn’t do well enough — we didn’t guard well enough or rebound — we’re not having any adversity,” he said. “Just because you lose doesn’t mean you’re having adversity. You don’t want to lose any time.”