Why there is hope for Kellan Grady to break out in time to help Kentucky in March Madness

LEXINGTON – Reset has become the buzzword for Kentucky basketball as it prepares for the NCAA Tournament this week.

It has now been more than a month since the Wildcats last looked at top form, with a fully healthy roster and a dominant performance. While the second-half comeback that fell short against Tennessee lessened some of the sting of the SEC Tournament disappointment, the first half of that game still represented one of Kentucky’s worst 20-minute segments of the season. John Calipari’s team remains a popular pick to reach the Final Four, but it can hardly be described as entering March Madness on a wave of momentum.

The chance to reset this week might be most important for super senior 3-point specialist Kellan Grady.

“I didn’t play well,” Grady said of his SEC Tournament performance after the NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed Sunday. “I’m not running from any accountability of that yesterday. Beyond just going 1 for 8, I didn’t have an impact on the game.

“It was an opportunity for our team to reset. I’ll be looking to do the same and trust that I’ll be better come Thursday.”

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Grady missed 7 of 8 shots and all five of his 3-point attempts against Tennessee. After leading the Southeastern Conference in 3-point percentage for much of the season, Grady converted just 5 of 23 3-point attempts (21.7%) in the last six games.

That slump came after a 10-game stretch in which Grady averaged 39 minutes per game as Calipari was forced to move to a shorter rotation following injuries to normal starting guards TyTy Washington and Sahvir Wheeler. Three times in that stretch Grady played at least 40 minutes, including a season-high 43 in an overtime win over Mississippi State.

Citing his 35.8 minutes-per-game average across four seasons at Davidson before transferring to Kentucky, Grady declined to use the heavy workload as an excuse for his recent form. While Grady’s teammates jokingly refer to him a grandad, he has proven capable of playing heavy minutes throughout his career.

“The bottom line is I shot like crap and didn’t play well yesterday,” Grady said. “There’s nothing else I’m going to attribute that to other than my own failures.”

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Still, Grady acknowledged part of the reset was the chance for another few days of rest following the early SEC Tournament exit.

Grady’s heavy workload also coincided with a change in role. With Washington and Wheeler out, he split duties as the team’s primary ball-handler with Davion Mintz.

Those changes appeared to add confidence in a mid-range floater to Grady’s game, but since Washington and Wheeler returned, he has not regained his normal lethal consistency as a 3-point specialist.

The slump has not changed the confidence of Grady’s teammates or coaches in him though. With Kentucky trailing by four in the final minute against Tennessee, Calipari designed a play specifically to get Grady a 3-point look.

“Even when he is playing that way, I believe in him,” Calipari said. “I told him, why do you think I did that? ‘Because you believe in me.’ Sometimes more than you're believing in yourself. You miss two, and you think I'm going to miss 10. Davion does the same thing.”

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The good news for Grady and Kentucky is it would be hardly unprecedented for a normally strong shooter to enter the tournament on a slump then regain his form when the games matter most.

In 2011, Brandon Knight made just 4 of 19 3-point attempts (21.1%) in three SEC Tournament games then 4 of 15 (26.7%) in Kentucky’s first three NCAA Tournament games but still hit the game winner in the Sweet 16 versus Ohio State and made 5 of 11 3s in the Elite Eight win over North Carolina. In 2012, Doron Lamb hit 5 of 18 3s (27.8%) in the four games preceding the NCAA Tournament then made 12 of 23 (52.2%) in the six-game run to the national championship.

Calipari planned to hold individual meetings with each of his players early this week to reiterate their expected roles for the NCAA Tournament. His conversation with Grady will certainly include a reminder of everyone’s confidence in the former Davidson transfer.

Grady needs only to look back on his own season to be reminded of why a turnaround can happen so quickly. In a four-game stretch in early January, Grady made just 7 of 26 3s (26.9%) then broke out for his most successful run of the season, hitting 33 of 68 (48.5%) over the next nine games.

“It’s a reality check,” Grady said of the Tennessee game. “It was humbling for me. Here’s an opportunity to reset and hopefully make some shots and shoot with confidence going forward.”

Email Jon Hale at jahale@courier-journal.com; Follow him on Twitter at @JonHale_CJ.