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Men's Basketball

Kentucky Basketball Shoots Too Many Mid-Range Shots and Too Little Threes, and the Stats Prove It

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Photos by Chet White | UK Athletics

Note: All stats are as of 12/5/21

My biggest frustration with John Calipari in recent years has been his stubbornness against shooting more three-point shots and to keep shooting mid-range shots. In the past, Calipari could rely on his lack of “three-point makers” as an excuse, but that is not the case this season.

Good at Making Threes, Not So Good at Shooting Them

Seven games in, Davion Mintz, Kellen Grady, and TyTy Washington are shooting over 40% from three. This doesn’t even include a struggling Dontaie Allen, that will almost certainly find his shot. As a team, Kentucky is in the top 60 and shooting their best percentage from three since the 2012 championship season at 33%, compared to their 38%.

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You would have to go back over two decades to the 1996-97 team to find a Kentucky team with three players that played meaningful minutes and shot 40% from three. Not to mention, that 1996-97 team (19.4 attempts per game) shot nearly the same amount of threes as we do now (19.0 attempts per game), twenty-five years later.

With that being said, Kentucky is still ranked in the bottom twenty (339th to be exact) of the country in three-point attempt rate and 284th in attempts per game at 19.0. Whereas, the top 5 teams in the country are shooting an average of 24.3 attempts per game.

Ideally, this team needs to be shooting 22-23 threes per game.

Finishing at the Rim, but Not Enough Free Throws

Knowing that one would assume that the Cats should be getting to the rim and getting a lot of free attempts, right?

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Kentucky is slightly above average at getting to the rim, ranking 126th, but sit behind six other top ten teams. Yet, they are taking advantage of their chances at the rim with a 67.2% conversion rate around the rim, good enough for 12th in the country.

On the contrary, their free throw rate doesn’t look too good, as they are sitting at 338 of 358 teams in that area and in the bottom 100 in total attempts.

The Least Effecient Shot in Basketball

So what does that leave? The dreadful and least efficient shot in basketball, the mid-range shot.

Nothing has aggravated me more in recent years, than a player shooting a shot just inside the three-point arc or shooting a forced and difficult 15 footer.

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With 33.56 shots per 100 possessions, Kentucky shoots the fourth most mid-range shots in the country (note: UCLA is second). To make it even worst, they are not shooting effectively with these shots, averaging in the bottom half of the country in mid-range percentage.

This team is smaller and less athletic than we have become accustomed to under Cal, but they can shoot and convert at the rim better than we are accustomed to. Why not change your offense around this team’s strengths and stop shooting mid range shots?

This team is 6-1 (even with a subpar schedule) and ranked top-10 in the country, so this team is very talented. John Calipari is a hall of fame coach, and I am just a blogger that used to play basketball. However, this team is still not quite playing modern basketball and that worries me when looking at the other top teams in the country.

As the season goes on, I hope Cal can tweak his offense a bit more to the way basketball has been played for nearly the last decade.

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Men's Basketball

Otega Oweh Declares for NBA Draft, Maintains College Eligibility

Arguably the centerpiece of last year’s team, Otega Oweh has declared for the NBA Draft… but that doesn’t mean he’s officially gone.

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Otega Oweh declares for the NBA Draft whilst maintaining his college eligibility.
Chet White | UK Athletics

Few players have taken the Big Blue Nation by storm like Otega Oweh did with his arrival this past season. A lot was new in Lexington last year, but #00 stuck out for a number of reasons; namely, his infectious energy on the court and the high odds that he was going to put an opponent on a poster on any given night.

Now, Oweh has declared for the NBA Draft. He made the announcement on social media, calling Kentucky fans the “best fans in the world.”

While this may seem dire for folks keeping tabs on next year’s roster, that last line in Oweh’s announcement is crucial: “…while maintaining my NCAA eligibility.” Essentially, Otega’s time in Lexington is far from over, at least for the time being.

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Whether or not “Tegatron” returns to Rupp will likely depend on what he hears during the draft process, and where exactly he wants to land. In the modern college basketball landscape, it’s become common practice for players to “test the waters” in the draft, just to get an idea as to where they stand with the league, before returning to college for another year of development.

Take, for example, Jaxson Robinson just last season. Before his eventual transfer to Kentucky, Robinson declared for the draft out of BYU, maintaining his eligibility, before pulling from the process in order to spend his senior year at Kentucky. It happens all the time.

While that doesn’t necessarily set Oweh’s return in stone, it at least gives the Big Blue Nation to take a breather and keep calm, as his departure is far from official. Either way, #00 is a Lexington legend whose first go-around in Kentucky blue was as memorable as anyone’s could be. The “Oweh, Oweh, Oweh” chants will go on regardless.

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Men's Basketball

Four Star Forward Visiting Kentucky Amidst Recruitment Rumors

Mark Pope is looking to close out a strong sophomore effort in the transfer portal, and this freshman guard may be the final piece.

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Four star guard Braydon Hawthorne is on a visit to Kentucky.
Braydon Hawthorne | WVU Athletics

As the transfer portal trucks on (and the NCAA races to find ways to regulate it), Mark Pope is looking to tie a bow on his already highly-ranked 2025-26′ roster. The latest potential addition becomes in the form of a freshman who, after pulling his commitment from West Virginia, will be on an official visit to Kentucky today, Wednesday, April 16.

Braydon Hawthorne, the 6’8″ forward at hand, is a lengthy, scoring wing with high upside on the offensive end. His 7’3″ wingspan opens opportunities for development on the defensive end, too – he’s an investment opportunity of the highest order. On3 currently has him at 48th on their ranking of 2025 recruits.

In addition to Kentucky and West Virginia (where Hawthorne is from), schools such as Virginia Tech, Arizona State, Marquette, Dayton, Old Dominion, Mount St. Mary’s, and more have thrown their hats into the ring, although the general consensus seems to be that Kentucky has the strongest pull/interest in the prospect for the time being.

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Whether or not that actually means he’ll be in blue and white is unfortunately unsure – as that’s how the transfer portal operates – but an in-person visit is a good indicator of mutual interest. Plus, with Kentucky “losing out” on Lamar Wilkerson, who committed to Indiana, a scoring spot in the back court remains open… and Hawthorne is a compelling candidate to fill it.

While Wildcats fans wait patiently for a potential commitment, all eyes are on Coach Cody Fueger’s X account for a trademark “boom” post.

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Men's Basketball

Brandon Garrison Announces Return To Kentucky For The 2025-26 Season

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Chet White | UK Athletics

Brandon Garrison isn’t going anywhere. 

The 6-foot-10 forward will be returning to the Kentucky Wildcats for his junior season in the 2025-26 campaign. 

Garrison took to social media first, posting a story on his personal Instagram that showed a simple graphic reading the words “I’m back.”

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Speculation and rumors have swirled around the Oklahoma native all offseason, and with the addition of Andrija Jelavic, Big Blue Nation worried that Garrison would be hitting the portal sooner than later. 

Now, with his returning announcement public, Garrison will look to assert himself in the offseason as a dominant force that deserves the starting role.

Last season, he backed up Amari Williams, coming off of the bench and averaging 5.9 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per game in just 17.3 minutes a night. 

It’s unclear if he’s guaranteed anything in regards to a starting spot. However, having played a year already in Mark Pope’s system, Garrison may get a nod for the role over one of the transfer pickups. 

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Pope and the coaching staff have been publicly confident in the development of “BG” and see him as a vocal leader on and off the court. 

With a full offseason ahead where he’ll be harnessing his skill set and bettering his game in any way possible, Kentucky fans will be glad that Garrison chose to stick around another year. 

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