There are no moral victories when you are a Kentucky Basketball fan. The old saying that close only counts in hand grenades in horseshoes is the gospel truth. So when Kentucky fell short to Alabama 102-97 there wasn't a lot of solace to be found in Big Blue Nation.

But on the other hand, this was the battle I have had circled on my schedule for months. It was the first game I couldn't wait to see more than Duke, Gonzaga, or any other SEC school. If you are a strategic nerd like me then watching Mark Pope and Nate Oats at work in the same arena is like soaking in two masters of their craft do their thing.

The back and forth moves and counter-moves were worth the price of admission, and it is even better when the rosters are cut out to execute the plans.

I decided to take eight possessions, four from each team, that stuck out to me from Saturday's game. These may not be some of the same ones you thought you would see, but they were perfect fits to me within the flow of this high scoring game.

Alabama

I love to see the reads. Kentucky does the same thing on the fly. I'm sure players from both teams are taught what to do when the ball is in a certain spot on the floor, or after a specific action. This was not a set play, but it was orchestration as the possession unfolded.

There are similarities between the two offenses. Grant Nelson comes to get the ball at the top of the key. Kentucky does it with their bigs such as Amari Williams, and Andrew Carr. Then both teams go to Zoom on the opposite side. Nelson hands it off, re-screens, and rolls.

On the right side of the floor watch Aden Holloway look at Mouhamed Dioubate and wave him to come get the ball on the opposite elbow. The Nelson roll cleared the lane for the Dioubate cut right behind it. Travis Perry is defending Holloway in help position in the middle. When Dioubate catches, Holloway cuts behind him to the other side for the pitch and three. Dioubate screens Perry right after the pitch.

One of the first things that intrigued me about the Nate Oats offense was how the fills were to unusual spots on the floor. For example if the ball was driven in the baseline the center would be in the opposite block or dunker spot. That's the norm in modern day basketball. But that big man would cut to the front of the rim instead of staying opposite. It was his responsibility to be there. If the ball handler threw it to that spot and it resulted in a turnover the blame would be on the post player for not being where he was supposed to be.

The same thing goes for the wings when the ball is driven from the top. I've watched Mark Sears make more last second passes from under the basket than I can count. He doesn't have to look. He knows whoever is on the wing is going to fill the vacated spot where he was at.

Sears throws the ball in and gets the handoff. This forces the switch and puts Amari Williams on the point guard. Alabama goes four out with the dunker spot filled. Sears attacks Williams. He's probably got the layup, but it is in amongst the trees. Once he gets up in the air and doesn't shoot it looks like he is dead. It also looks like blind running luck that he finds Philon at the last second. But Philon gets to the spot that Sears left, and Sears knows he is going to be there.

Why not stay on the wing? Watch Otega Oweh. He stays in the passing lane for any pass to the right wing going out. He is noticeably surprised when the ball goes to the top.

Kentucky ran more zone against Alabama than we have seen them do this year with just a few exceptions. Alabama's stuff works against man or zone, so it's a huge advantage when they don't have to go to a totally different offensive look. They love the slot ball-screen. The slot is straight up the floor from the elbow or the perimeter of the lane line. It is in the middle, but it creates a help side. It also allows the screener to roll down the lane which can cause a lot of bad stuff to happen.

Mouhamed Dioubate sets that ball-screen. Butler goes over the top, so Garrison has to help. He is in a soft hedge to high drop position above the elbow. Keep in mind that we saw Sears drive in isolation in the last clip from the very same spot on the floor. This is why these two clips work well together. If there is a double on the ball, Oweh has to tag the roll from the opposite. side. If he passes it off for Ansley Almonor to do it from the opposite corner then Dioubate will just kick it out to Grant Nelson for the corner three. It is purely a game of cat and mouse. Sears reads Oweh's help and skips across the top to Aden Holloway for the three.

Once again Alabama drives from the left slot. That is something to keep in mind the next time these two teams play. They do a lot more initially from the left side of the floor. This obviously has a lot to do with Mark Sears being left handed. However, Labaron Philon initiates things here from the left slot thanks to a ballscreen from Clifford Omoruyi. Philon gets deep, but he is cut off by a much bigger Brandon Garrison. He doesn't want to try this one that close to the rim. He passes out to Sears who gets downhill from the same place. It's almost like a weave. Sears attacks and draws quite a bit of help. That leaves Omoruyi opened on the other side of the rim for the easy lob.

Kentucky

Now on the Kentucky side we start with a Lamont Butler made three early in the second half. This is a dissertation in how to manipulate the ball-screen to gain an advantage. Butler wants Mark Sears to go under so he can shoot the three. Sears isn't willing to do that. Here is how Butler go it anyway.

Butler passes to Amari Williams at the top of the key. He comes and gets the handoff behind it. He pulls up as Sears runs into Williams. The patience is tremendous. He just stands there and waits until Sears fights through it. As he wrestles with Williams, Butler pivots and goes back to the right side. He acts like he is going to turn it up, and he actually jabs Sears off of him. Now Sears is underneath, and has a bad angle. He can't go over the top or his team will get killed on the pick and roll. He has to go under once Butler uses the screen again. He steps back, and has space for the three-pointer.

I used the Jay Bilas breakdown instead of the live action, because the latter one broke away from the action and didn't come back until the first cut was already made. He is spot on how he describes this. There is a baseline screen that allows Otega Oweh to cut from the corner to the wing. This action has to be switched. You can't go over it. The switch means Labaron Philon has to take Otega Oweh who roots out a spot directly in front of the rim. This is a big advantage for Oweh, and it is a set and matchup that Pope intentionally drew up out of the timeout. Both players are 6-foot-4, but Oweh is listed at 215 pounds. Oweh is 178. That is a 37 pound advantage for the Kentucky guard. Philon can't bang with him down there.

Also notice where Amari Williams is located with the ball. The flex is usually spread out more up front, and is a slot to slot pass. Williams is directly in the middle of the floor on the help line. This gives him a great passing angle out of the high-low type. The ball's location also flattens out the defense, and eliminates any help side defense.

If you asked me how Kentucky's offense is different than Kentucky's I would tell you there are probably more actions off the ball for catch and shoot three's. Alabama uses more isolation. Right now they have guards who can create their own shot. Kentucky's looks are created more through the system. Patience, reads, and ball and player movement are essential.

Kentucky makes a couple of passes then gets into Zoom. Aden Holloway overplays Koby Brea in the corner which was their gameplan, so he back cuts. Lamont Butler was the screener, but now he comes to get the handoff instead. Bama goes over and drops the big. Butler is able to get deep into the lane, but can't go up over the interior defenders. Brea has changed corners, and he gets the pass. Both Alabama perimeter defenders on that side go to him. He makes the extra pass to Otega Oweh.

Now we see the patience. Oweh was open, but he didn't feel comfortable taking the shot. He waits on the bigger Grant Nelson to close out then he attacks. He gets by pretty easily, and now he has options. He has shooters on the other wing, and he has Brandon Garrison underneath. Jarin Stevenson leaves Nelson to go get a shooter. Clifford Omoruyi stops the ball, and Garrison is all alone for the catch and dunk.

I understand this is a pretty basic look, and I wondered whether to feature it or not. But some of the other options were quick rolls. They worked for the same reason, and these type of plays were important in regards to how they were being defended. That is why I'm showing it.

Nate Oats strategy was to run the Kentucky guards off the three-point line, and it worked for much of the game. The Cats shot 11 three's in the first half compared to 16 in the second. They shot 40.7% overall from deep, so they did a good job. However, I wouldn't be surprised if Oats' analytic strategy wasn't to get more three-pointers up. There will be a lot of possessions. If his team can have more three-point attempts than Kentucky then the percentages say they should score more points. They took 34 trifectas and made 13. So they were plus-six in points even though Kentucky shot it better from three.

Koby Brea only got three attempts which is too low of a number, and Oats was glowing when he brought that up in the post-game presser.

So Alabama's defense is stretched. Kentucky can attack from the middle of the floor with the help eliminated. They had a couple of nice quick dunks off an easy pick and roll from the middle third of the floor. Here we see that there was little resistance to a basic give and go. Butler passes to Garrison at the top. The defender is expecting him to come get the ball in a handoff. Butler fakes left and jukes right. Garrison hits him with the pass for the dunk.

The elimination of help is what makes this play work. Brea and Oweh are both face guarded with no help provided. Oweh is in the corner and Brea is cutting through the lane. Butler cuts right behind Aden Holloway who doesn't see any of it. The help side tag man is also pulled way outside the lane with Almonor in the corner.