Notre Dame’s strategy on defending UK’s Sahvir Wheeler? ‘He can’t shoot.’
With a possession-by-possession game on the line, the nation’s leader in assists was not on the court to help Kentucky try to win Saturday night.
This served as testament to the effectiveness of Notre Dame’s defensive strategy against Sahvir Wheeler. In so many words, the strategy was to concede the UK point guard open outside shots while making containing his drives to the basket as the vital priority.
After his team defeated UK 66-62, Notre Dame guard Blake Wesley said watching how other teams played Wheeler convinced him that it was the right strategy.
“The teams were playing him up,” said Wesley, meaning closely guarding Wheeler on the perimeter. “I was, like, he can’t shoot. So, I might as well stay in the paint.”
Wheeler missed all five of the shots he took, including two three-pointers. That made him 1-for-13 on shots from beyond the arc in UK’s last seven games. For the season, he has made less than a quarter of the three-point shots he’s taken (four of 18).
After facetiously alerting the media that try to learn from watching games played earlier, UK Coach John Calipari said he expected future opponents to play Wheeler for the drive like Notre Dame did.
“We’ve got to figure out now, if this is how he gets played, what’s our answer?” Calipari said.
Wheeler came into the game averaging 8.4 assists, which was more than any other player in Division I.
When asked how Wheeler felt about sitting on the bench during the decisive final minutes of the game, Calipari said, “He’s probably mad, I guess. I haven’t talked to him. But I’m going to have a conversation with him.”
Calipari pointed out that the coach alone is not responsible for how a player performs. “They’re responsible for themselves,” the UK coach said.
Three-pointers aside, Calipari recalled shots from near the free-throw line that Wheeler missed against Notre Dame.
“All he had to do is make two of those elbow jumpers,” which would have made a key difference for Kentucky, Calipari said before seeming to speak directly to Wheeler, “You’re going to have to figure out how you make them, kid.”
1,000th
Kentucky’s home game against High Point on Dec. 31 could be notable for more than one reason.
UK will honor former coach Tubby Smith, who now leads the High Point program, by giving him a presence in the Rupp Arena rafters.
The game will also be the 1,000th in Smith’s college coaching career.
Calipari is on schedule to coach the 1,000th game of his college coaching career when Kentucky plays at Arkansas on Feb. 26.
Winningest coaches
The Kentucky-Notre Dame game featured two of the winningest active college coaches.
Going into the season, Calipari was the fifth-winningest with 742 college coaching victories. Notre Dame Coach Mike Brey ranked 21st with 547 victories.
Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski ranked first with 1,170 victories going into this season. Jim Boeheim of Syracuse was second with 982.
Selection Sunday
With an 11-15 record last season, Notre Dame did not play in the NCAA Tournament. That marked the fourth straight year the Irish did not receive a bid.
When last season ended, Brey had the team gather to watch the bracket announcement on Selection Sunday.
“I just felt I wanted us to watch this and know what we’re shooting for,” Brey said. “It’s painful to watch it when you don’t show up (in the bracket). There’s no question about it.
“But I thought it was a reference point.”
Brey said he had seniors Cormac Ryan, Nate Laszewski and Dane Goodwin in mind. None have played in an NCAA Tournament.
Winning by degrees
Seven Notre Dame players are expected to graduate with degrees in the spring of 2022. Robby Carmody, Dane Goodwin, Prentiss Hubb, Nate Laszewski, Cormac Ryan and Trey Wertz are on schedule to receive undergraduate degrees.
Paul Atkinson Jr., a transfer from Yale, will receive a graduate degree.
“A Notre Dame degree and being part of March (Madness), that’s a pretty good year for those seven guys,” Brey said earlier in the week. “So, that’s what we’re chasing.”
Ex-teammates compete
UK’s Kellan Grady and Notre Dame’s Nate Laszewski were high school teammates on the basketball team at Northfield Mount Herman School in Massachusetts.
“We’ve remained friends,” Grady said Friday. “We’re not in contact that frequently. We were pretty good friends in high school.”
Etc.
Notre Dame committed a turnover on its information sheet distributed to the media. It said that Sahvir Wheeler’s first name is pronounced “Sav-VEER.”
It is pronounced SAH-veer, the first syllable rhyming with how the doctor tells the patient to open wide and say, AAH.
This story was originally published December 11, 2021 at 10:11 PM.
