Kyle Guy Shoots Daggers
Posted on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019, 11:17 pm
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The Cavaliers’ Kyle Guy lines up a first-half three-point shot.
By Jerry Ratcliffe
At last glance, Kyle Guy was leaning against the concrete wall in the jammed hallway outside of Virginia’s locker room at the Dean Dome. Guy and his teammates were basking in a rare victorious glow in a building where the Cavaliers had won only five times in 29 tries.
It was Guy who had launched back-to-back daggers into the Tar Heels’ midsection within a minute and sealed North Carolina’s fate. When Guy, a former Indiana “Mr. Basketball,” is on his game, Virginia is never really out of it.
This time, UNC had used a 17-3 run to shift momentum and build a six-point lead as Carolina’s “Blue Heaven” was quickly turning hellish for the visiting Cavaliers. It was a complete team effort as determined Virginia regained control and Guy delivered the coup de gras for a 69-61 win.
The junior guard hunted his shot in typical predator style. UVA coach Tony Bennett’s offense has a number of ways to free up the most accurate 3-point shooter in program history for an opportunity, from vintage curl screens to more elaborate schemes.
“Kyle did a great job of setting [his UNC defender] up and came off the other side to get a clean look,” Tony Bennett said of the second of the 3’s. “We were trying to get him those shots for sure and he delivered.”
Backcourt mate Ty Jerome was confident Guy was going to get the job done in the clutch.
“The first [3-pointer] we ran a little ‘L’ (elevator door screen) for [Guy] and got him the ball,” Jerome said. “The second time, they covered it and Coach called a counter to it and it worked again.”
Virginia has some simple to elaborate ways to free up its 3-point shooters, Guy in particular, who only needs a sliver of daylight to launch. The elevator is a favorite play used by the Golden State Warriors get 3-point looks for Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
Some of Guy’s ability to find shots is because he works so hard on the court without the ball, running and running, darting around screens, waiting for just the right moment. And, it really requires only a moment.
“Kyle just needs a little bit of space,” Bennett said. “He’s always one shot away from getting it going.”
Why is it that every time Guy lets go of a shot from the arc we are all expecting a swish?
Heading into Saturday’s home game against Notre Dame, the Virginia sharpshooter ranks first at UVA and fifth in ACC history in career 3-point shooting accuracy at 43 percent. The ACC record if 44 percent by Miami’s Jack McClinton.
Guy works relentlessly on his game. He practices with his feet set, his feet facing toward the baseline, twisting his body and launching off-balance, so that he’s prepared regardless of the situation.
When Guy was 5-for-6 from the arc in a game against Florida State last month, Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton couldn’t help but chuckle when he reflected upon the UVA guard’s performance.
Hamilton said that while scouting Virginia on film that he and his assistants stopped the video at times and commented to one another that at times it appeared that Guy would sometimes launch without even looking at the basket.
“Well, he knows where [the basket] is,” chuckled ESPN analyst Jay Bilas. “He’s a great shooter. He’s not a catch-and-shoot guy, he does it on the move and gets into his shot about as quickly as anybody coming off the screen. He basically turns right into it and gets it up really quickly.
“So, [Guy] is really hard to guard,” Bilas added. “He’s in great condition. He can run all days. He’s a game. He really competes.”
All kidding aside, for Guy to be able to fire a 3-pointer without looking at the basket isn’t natural. It is an acquired skill from countless hours of practice.
“Yeah, I can do that,” Guy smiled sheepishly. “But I would prefer to get a look at the basket. You can get away with that once in a while.”
Bilas calls it uncommon, extraordinary.
“A lot of guys play golf, but a lot of guys don’t hit it like Tiger,” Bilas said.
Just how rare is Guy’s 3-point shooting touch? It doesn’t come along that often, even in a conference that attracts as much talent as the ACC.
In fact, after the first Virginia encounter with Duke this season, Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski paid Guy one hell of a compliment.
“Guy is the closest that I’ve seen to JJ [Redick] in the league,” Coach K said. “Not saying he’s JJ, but he’s close. A lot of people can shoot turning, but he can hit turning.”
Redick is the ACC’s all-time leader in career 3-point field goals made (457 … UVA’s Curtis Staples had 413), but connected on 40.6 percent of his 1,126 attempts from 2003-06. That percentage is not among the top 25 in league history.
“Kyle’s not as strong as JJ was,” said Seth Greenberg, another ESPN analyst who coached against Redick before moving into television. “I like Guy as a ball player. To be a 3-point shooter you have to be able to use screens, you have to be able to get open, you’ve got to be able to get behind the ball ‘shot ready.’
“Guy’s ability to elevate is impressive,” Greenberg continued. “He does a really good job of changing speeds and does a good job of reading those screens. To think about what he’s doing within the style that they play and everyone knowing what he’s going to be doing is pretty phenomenal.”
To Greenberg’s point, the final 3 at the Dean Dome was a product of everything the analyst mentioned.
UNC’s Garrison Brooks talked about the confusion in attempting to thwart Guy at game’s end.
“When Guy hit the [final 3-pointer, and was fouled], I had bad communication,” Brooks said. “Me and K-Will (Kenny Williams) got in his way on that three in the corner, then he hit the three and got fouled. It’s just bad communication. It’s just bad on our part.”
Or maybe just good on Guy and his teammates’ part in recognizing and exploiting the situation into a major road win in one of the most challenging venues in the country.
Jerome put it simply.
“That’s what he does, man, that’s what he does … that’s who he is,” Jerome said.
Guy, who ranks first in the ACC in 3-pointers (3.0 per game), has come a long way since middle school when he was shooting with two hands until a guidance counselor took him aside and showed him a better shooting method.
“I’ve been blessed with good touch and a good feel when I’m shooting the ball,” Guy said. “It started in middle school when I learned I could shoot off balance. As things progressed, I thought, OK, I could make a living like this.”
Until then, the rest of the ACC will just have to deal with it.
