Bilas: Defense, not dribble-drive, will be UK key

ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said on Wednesday that the players’ adjustment to playing good defense rather than learing the dribble-drive offense will key Kentucky’s season.

“I think that biggest adjustment well be on defense,” Bilas said on a ESPN teleconference. “Cal’s teams won over the years not because of offense.”

None of UK Coach John Calipari’s last four teams at Memphis ranked among the nation’s top 100 in three-point accuracy. Memphis famously did not shoot a high percentage from the free-throw line.

“The reason Memphis won, and won at such a high level, was because they defended so well, collectively and individually,” Bilas said. “That’s where they laid a foundation.”

Calipari’s last four Memphis teams ranked second, 12th, 12th and first nationally in field-goal defense. Opponents made less than 40 percent of their shots in each of those four seasons.

Defense is “one of the hardest things to get freshmen to understand,” Bilas said. The difficulty lies in getting players to understand how hard they must play defensively and how the defense must be a collective effort, Bilas said.

Another ESPN analyst, Dick Vitale, agreed with Bilas and predicted Kentucky will play well defensively.

“Because Cal will not have it any other way,” Vitale said.