You don’t need me to tell you that Kentucky is really, really good on the offensive side of the ball. John Calipari has fully embraced a floor-spreading system that emphasizes shots at the rim and three-pointers. According to KenPom, Kentucky ranks ninth in the nation in offensive efficiency (119.1), 12th in effective field goal percentage (57.4), eighth in three-point percentage (39.9), and fourth in lowest turnover rate (12.8).
A potentially special group is blossoming in Lexington.
Need even more proof? Try this one on for size: the sharpshooting trio of Antonio Reeves, Rob Dillingham, and Reed Sheppard is shooting the ball from deep better than any threesome in the history of Kentucky men’s basketball.
Our good friend Corey Price revealed Wednesday morning that Reeves, Dillingham, and Sheppard combine to shoot 45.9 percent from long range so far this season. That is the highest mark in school history by the Wildcats’ top three three-point shot takes in one season — and by a significant margin.
Price notes that Kentucky’s second-best three-point shooting trio played during the 2011-12 national championship season when Doron Lamb, Darius Miller, and Kyle Wiltjer combined to shoot 42.5 percent. Right behind that group is the Final Four team a year earlier in 2010-11 which saw Brandon Knight, Lamb, and Miller shoot a combined 42.4 percent from distance.
Kentucky’s fourth-highest outside shooting trio of Tony Delk, Anthony Epps, and Ron Mercer combined to shoot 41.5 percent during the 1995-96 season (which also resulted in a national championship). That group is followed by the three-man crew of Dale Brown, Travis Ford, and Jamal Mashburn, which shot a combined 41.3 percent from deep en route to a Final Four run.
What these stats are trying to say is this: when Kentucky has three really, really good three-point shooters at the same time, the outcome has historically resulted in — at worst — a Final Four run.
But can Reeves, Dillingham, and Sheppard hold this pace throughout the rest of the SEC schedule? It’s definitely possible, although the current clip does feel unsustainable. Particularly with Sheppard, who is hitting his outside shots at an elite 53.6 percent mark. That being said, Reeves (41.9 percent) and Dillingham (44.4) can certainly continue to hover in the 40s, so maybe it’s not far-fetched at all.
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