Kansas thrashed Kentucky 89-69 in the Champions Classic in Chicago, Illinois, on Tuesday night. Bill Self coached an amazing game, in all honesty. Kansas executed their sets to a tee, they were disciplined in their defense (forced 16 turnovers for 22 points), and outside of the first few minutes, had complete control of this game.

I wanna start with the defense. Kansas came in and had 24 assists on 32 made shots. They made a season-high 10 three-pointers. They had 12 offensive rebounds, 13 second-chance points, and won the rebound battle overall despite being undersized at every position. They scored 38 points in the paint and had 11 fast-break points. They had 22 points off 15 Kentucky turnovers. They took 10 more shots, four more free throws, and made 15 to our 11. They won by 20 and statistically won every single category as well. Kentucky led for just six minutes in this game.

I made a separate post on X with a couple of Tyran Stokes’ clips, but I couldn’t believe the lack of defensive aggression from the Wildcats. The defensive scheme leaves a lot to be desired with this much length and athleticism. But far too often, they’re letting the opposing offense do exactly what they plan. Kansas beat them over and over with the horns backcut. On every one of Stokes’ four made three-pointers, the defense was under the three-point line, going under screens, etc. Same with Tre White (4). Milan, Ousmane, and Justin all really struggled to guard the perimeter, and their lack of foot speed and sometimes just defensive IQ led to them getting beat multiple times on backcuts. The speed of opposing wings is gonna be an issue for Milan.

The offense was incredibly stagnant. Zoom Diallo saved this team from being even more thoroughly embarrassed. As great as he played, you can tell some of the shots he was taking, especially the jumpers, were okay with Kansas and what they schemed. I don’t know how successful UK will be if Zoom is the leading shot-taker.

As much as I wanted to believe in Ousmane N’Diaye, he’s just not giving you anything on the court as of now. He passed up mismatches in the post with the ball in his hands, he was lost defensively, missed his free throws, and of course, the mental lapse early vs. Taylen Kinney.

With Milan Momcilovic obviously struggling with faster perimeter players on defense, and how he’s being guarded offensively by opposing wings, it may be time to move him to the 4 spot and start Braydon Hawthorne. BH only logging 13 minutes is very questionable to me. He has the highest long-term potential of any UK player, and in my opinion, you need to get him going now and let him work through the good and bad so you can get the very best of him later. I think he can make an immediate impact when he’s given more opportunities. He’s gonna give you the best two-way ability at the SF spot with Kam Williams rotating in with him.

We really need Alex Wilkins to find his footing. He cannot keep up the volume of turnovers he had last year despite the severe decrease in on-ball usage. We know about his scoring ability and what he’ll bring this season in that aspect, but we NEED him to step up as a playmaker for his team on nights like this. Zoom + Alex had one assist to seven turnovers. That cannot happen!

Too many half-court possessions where you’d only see screens/slips and no other movement. Then they’re either getting into isolations or simple pick-and-rolls. It’s absolutely nothing like that first season and the spacing they created with their ability to screen, cut, and shoot. I know Malachi Moreno can make some reads and passes in an open offense, but he’s nothing like Amari Williams was. We’re just not seeing the same execution and natural passing ability he brought to this team.

I think Moreno would be more successful getting posted up more and making reads out of the post than at the top. They’ve absolutely got to scheme up better offensive sets to get Milan Momcilovic open on the perimeter, but they need to talk with him about the IQ of CUTTING! I counted at least three possessions where he could’ve had an easy layup had he made the cut instead of coming up for the DHO. Just have to make those reads better! I think he’d also benefit from more 3/4 post-ups and the ability to turn and face. Sticking him in the corner and running simple screens is not the way. You can open him up so much more.

I want to close with this: It is just Game 3. As disappointing as that result was, and as pessimistic as I know most of us are given last season especially, as a fan I have to believe this team has the ability, the personnel, and the type of players to take this result, lay it all out in the film room, and then start to fix the issues.

But it’s gonna start with the coaching. They’ve gotta make the necessary adjustments so that this result doesn’t happen again. We’ve all been reading the tweets about Pope’s double-digit losses, and it just cannot continue to be such a habit of performance.

This is just my opinion, but I think you go Zoom, Alex, Braydon, Milan, and Moreno to start. Mason, Kam, Justin, and Ousmane/Franck should be the rotation.

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