UK’s press could be thorn in side of opponents

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By Josh Ellis

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Two guards, one 5-foot-9 and the other 6-foot-3, standing at the elbows might not look as intimidating as most opponents would think. But when the ball is in-bounded and they swarm the opponent with such quickness and tenacity, the next thing opponents know is UK has the ball right back and is scoring off an easy layup.

UK’s 2-2-1 full-court press will be the thorn in the side of opponents this year. The Cats showed relentless ball pressure in Friday’s exhibition against Kentucky State, causing a total of 17 turnovers, 11 of those coming in the first half.

“The press that we’re running is against a team that doesn’t want to pick up play. (Kentucky State) wanted to go. So with a team like that you don’t need to press as much, because they’ll run anyway,” John Calipari said. “But we’re working on our conditioning, we’re working on the press. What they did was they gave me some stuff to look at to make us better.”

Tyler Ulis and Isaiah Briscoe are the first wave of Cats opponents must face before accomplishing the not-so-simple task of crossing half-court. The small but pesky defenders fly to the ball and look to trap before the opponent can get off a clean pass.

Manning the half-court stations are Jamal Murray and either Skal Labissiere or Marcus Lee, who are also interchangeable as the last line of defense. Alex Poythress, Charles Matthews and Derek Willis can also be thrown into that mix, whether it be at half-court or the last man back.

As the suffocating press makes life easier for UK defenders, it’s easy to see why so many players thrive in the scheme.

“I like it actually. That’s how we should play, honestly,” said Willis. “We are all long and athletic. I just think we need to pick up on it more and we will be fine.”

As it is already a daunting task for opponents just to get the ball past their own free throw line, it’s just as difficult to get into an offensive flow. The few times Kentucky State did break the UK press and it seemed as if a player had an easy layup, Poythress swatted their shot into the bleachers or pinned it up against the backboard.

UK held Kentucky State to just 29 percent from the field (20-for-68) and 6-for-22 from three-point range. The Cats also blocked 10 shots.

Calipari’s goal isn’t necessarily to get a steal every time the team presses, because teams UK will face in the regular season will be more disciplined and won’t have much trouble getting the ball past half court. His goal is however to chew up the clock.

“If we’re being attacked, maybe that’s not the press we use. If it’s a team that wants to hold the ball a little bit, I know it’s a good press to use. But they kind of put us in bad spots and our guys, we didn’t scheme right. But in this game we learned about our press,” Calipari said.

With the new 30 second shot clock this season, opponents won’t have the chance to start an offensive-set until there’s about 23 or 24 seconds left on the shot clock. This strategy plays right into the hands of the Cats.

UK plays one speed— fast. If opponents are able to get the ball past mid-court against the Cats’ press, they’re likely to rush into their offense causing a miscommunication or settle for bad shot after bad shot. With the personnel the Cats possess, UK’s speed and quickness make its press even more of a threat to teams across the nation.

Dictating the pace of play is exactly what Calipari and UK needs to do this season if they want to make it to another Final Four. If the team can consistently keep up the pressure on a night-in and night-out basis, they’ll be a scary bunch to watch come March.