Forget the dribble-drive, three-point shot or whatever type of offense you would like Kentucky to run. UK’s best offense these days appears to be the “take it to the rack” offense.With UK muddled in another dreadful perimeter shooting slump against Alabama and the Crimson Tide packed in, in a stifling zone, head coach John Calipari put the ball in his best players’ hands and let sheer talent take over.As Alabama out-toughed, out-rebounded and out-attacked the Cats in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament, Calipari had a succinct and simple message for his freshman guards at the half: take the ball to the hoop. “He said just take over because our big men weren’t playing to their potential,” freshman guard Eric Bledsoe said.Did they ever. UK rallied from 11 down Friday and did just enough to overcome a 45-33 rebounding deficit (more on that in a later post) and feisty Alabama team. The Cats defeated the Crimson Tide 73-67 in the first game of the day, setting up a semifinals rubber match Saturday versus Tennessee.”It wasn’t even the dribble-drive,” Bledsoe said. “It was just take your man off the dribble and pick and roll. We were just playing.”Wall led the second-half charge with an aggressive take it to the rack mentality. Wall scored seven straight points – all coming on driving layups – midway through the second half to ignite the UK rally. His “and one” layup with a 14:38 left in the second half gave UK its first lead since the opening minutes. The Cats would never relinquish it.”Basically, coach told me to make a couple of plays,” said Wall, who finished with a game-high 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting. “They told me the whole game to push it in transition, but I wasn’t getting there. I was trying to find my teammates. Second half, I found the gaps and got into the lane. Second half, (Calipari) let me run the pick and roll to the five man and let me make the play, and I was getting to the basket.”Although Alabama beat up UK inside on the boards, the Cats actually won the battle of points in the paint, 46-26, because of their emphasis on the drive. Mired in the season’s worst three-point shooting slump (1-of-13 for the game), Calipari placed the ball in the hands of his playmakers and told them to take their man to the basket.During the game’s key stretch, where UK took a 40-36 deficit and turned it into a 55-47 lead, the Cats scored 14 of their 19 points on either a dunk or a layup. The other five came on free throws getting fouled in the paint.It all started with Wall’s transition-slicing drives.”When I get it, I’m pushing it and I’m looking for my teammates,” Wall said. “It’s that one split second you see a lane and you just go.”At times, it looked like the dribble-drive was being utilized more than we’ve seen all season, but the players said it was a simple pick and roll they urged the coaching staff to let them use. “The coaches gave us an opportunity to run pick and roll with the five man in,” Wall said. “If you can take them off the dribble, go and get the basket and find your teammates. We did a great job of that.”As for that abysmal three-point shooting, it’s become quite clear that the poor perimeter shooting is more of a norm than it is an anomaly. Junior forward Patrick Patterson insisted the players haven’t lost confidence in their ability to hit the outside shot.”If I’m open, I’m going to shoot it,” Patterson said. “Same goes for my teammates. We’re going to shoot it even if we have a bad miss. We don’t put our heads down and say don’t shoot the ball. If it’s not falling, we try to drive the ball to the basket and look inside more.”As more and more bricks pile up, though, it looks as if UK will have to make a more concerted effort to drive the ball to the basket.”We don’t have a choice,” Bledsoe said.Dribble-drive offense? Three-point shooting? Forget it. This is the “take it to the rack” offense.