Versatility the Name of the Game for the Cats

The 2017-18 Kentucky Wildcats are racing up and down the court in a game of pickup, working up a full sweat. Someone misses a shot and a 6-foot-9 “forward” grabs the rebound and races down the other end of the floor at full speed and slams it in.
 
No outlet. No need to find a guard to bring it down.
 
“I see it every pickup game,” said freshman Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, one of those guards who would be bringing the ball down the floor on a normal team. “… I think that’s going to make us really special. A lot of teams don’t have that.”
 
Kentucky enters the season, its ninth under the guidance of head coach John Calipari, as positionless and versatile, a potential nightmare for opponents. From Jarred Vanderbilt, to Kevin Knox, Wenyen Gabriel, PJ Washington and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Wildcats have as many interchangeable pieces as perhaps they’ve ever had.
 
Vanderbilt, a 6-foot-9 forward, was voted Kentucky’s most versatile player by his teammates. On Friday, Sept. 29, one day before UK could begin official practices, Vanderbilt went down with an injury to his left foot and will miss the first three months of the season. Prior to that, he was turning heads as people saw a muscular wing bring the ball down the floor like a point guard, make great passes and look as comfortable outside the arc as he did inside the paint.
 
“Like, what the hell is he?” Calipari asked a group of reporters in August. “He’s 6-9 and everybody loves him. You talk to anybody that evaluates us they’re all like, Wow.”
 
It’s not that the Wildcats haven’t been positionless before – they have – but after back-to-back years of two and many times three point guards on the floor at almost all times, UK will have a different look during the upcoming season.
 
In 2015-16, point guards Tyler Ulis, Jamal Murray and Isaiah Briscoe all played at least 32 minutes per game. Last season, Briscoe and De’Aaron Fox both played at least 29 minutes per game, with Dominique Hawkins coming off the bench and logging 19.2 minutes per game.
 
“Now, you’re going to have either one or none that are like true point guards,” Coach Cal said. That’s going to be the biggest change. You may have a team of where it seems basketball is going to: No point guard, no center, just players. So, now it’s kind of like, OK, that’s different than what we’ve had. For the last few years it’s been three guards, literally, three point guards.”
 
Quade Green appears to be the frontrunner to handle point-guard duties for the Cats heading into the season. The 6-0 freshman out of Philadelphia is a true point guard who loves to lead and get his teammates involved, but even he offers Kentucky a few options as another versatile piece.
 
“I think he’s really versatile in that he can play well in the half-court but also can get out and push on the break and hit guys on the wing and stuff,” sophomore forward Sacha Killeya-Jones said. “He’ll be exactly what we need this year.”
 
Then there’s Gilgeous-Alexander, who stands a half-foot taller than Green. At 6-6, he has great length for a guard, can see over defenses and is adept at getting into the lane and giving the UK offense another weapon.
 
With the Wildcats’ length and versatility, the pick-and-roll figures to be an offensive tool that is deployed often. With so many tall, big options for UK to set picks, including the 6-11 Nick Richards who is blessed with great quickness, bounce and athleticism, plus how many players can handle the ball, Kentucky can run a pick-and-roll or pick-and-pop with almost every player on the roster.
 
“I feel like there are so many guys on this team that can come off a pick-and-roll and set a screen on a pick-and-roll,” Washington said. “I just feel like we have mismatch nightmares if we do that. It’s going to be hard for people to guard Quade off a pick-and-roll, especially switching off of Nick and put a little guy on him because he’s just going to dominate. I just feel like he’s great. I just can’t wait to see all that happen.”
 
What the UK offense will face most frequently is a zone. At least, that’s what Coach Cal and the Wildcats are expecting. Though they appear to be a lock to be ranked in the top 10 when the preseason polls come out, many question how well the Cats can shoot the ball. Pair that with UK’s great size and it’s fair to think teams won’t want to spread UK out and play man-to-man.
 
Though he doesn’t like to play a zone, Calipari will be employing one from the get-go. His logic is that if his offense can play against its own zone, it most likely can score against anybody else’s zone as well.
 
“They gotta play aggressive and they gotta play a little bit of zone because we’re going to be hard to guard anywhere,” Green said. “Everybody can handle the ball, even Nick, so it’s going to be hard.”
 
“I think (our versatility is) going to let us play in a lot of different situations,” Killeya-Jones said. “I think it’s going to be hard for teams to pigeon-hole us into, ‘Oh, all you gotta do is make ’em play half court,’ or ‘All you gotta do is speed ’em up.’ I think we’re going to be able to adjust really well to how the other team plays.”
 
In August, Calipari said the 6-9 Knox may be one of UK’s best shooters alongside guard Jemarl Baker. Washington has been described by his teammates as “little Charles Barkley.” He showed in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup that he can both handle the ball, grab rebounds and bang in the post. Though he played a limited role last season as a freshman, Killeya-Jones said he can affect the game in many different ways as well, from blocking shots to hitting jumpers and running the floor.
 
Gabriel, another 6-9 forward, dropped weight, added muscle and rebuilt his confidence over the summer. He comes back for a sophomore campaign after knocking down more than 31 percent of his 3-point tries as a rookie.
 
So, what will Coach Cal do with all this versatility? How will he mix and match all these interchangeable pieces? He admits he doesn’t know yet and it’ll be a season-long process.
 
He and the fans aren’t the only ones excited to see it unfold. The players are too.
 
“I don’t understand how he doesn’t win Coach of the Year every year,” Jonny David said. “Every year it’s a brand new group of guys and he makes them play together, play the same ways. I’m sure he has something up his sleeve as far as to utilize the height.”