In basketball, much like in other big sports, it seems like everyone’s an expert.
Even the most casual fans won’t hesitate to throw in their two cents about what a team is doing wrong or how it can improve. So in the spirit of the armchair coach, here are a few tips for the Massachusetts men’s basketball team to get back on the winning track tonight against Boston University.
1. POWER INSIDE – The players all say the same thing: UMass must play inside-out basketball to win. But even when the Minutemen get the ball into the hands of paint monsters Kitwana Rhymer and Micah Brand, they usually go up too soft and are either blocked or fouled. Instead of dunk-and-ones, the Minutemen end up shooting free throws that they too often miss.
Attack the hoop, gentlemen. Forget the fadeways and hooks; hold the ball up high and go strong to the rim. Instead of making pivots like Ohio State’s Ken Johnson and Connecticut’s Justin Brown look like All-Pros, you’ll get the opposition in foul trouble and score easy, spirit-lifting buckets. Happy hammering.
2. USE YOUR SCREENS – With all apologies to Monty Mack, the opposition has seen enough film to know that UMass runs essentially one play – a circular stagger-screen to Mack, usually at the left elbow. UConn used a simple double-team rotation to shut the off-guard down completely, which should prove once and for all that it’s time to rethink the attack.
How about coming off those screens and using the dribble to attack the lane and draw the defense? Instead of just looking for a window to chuck through, Mack could blow by his first man and lay it down for his big guys underneath.
A few easy hoops like that would then open things back up for outside shots, giving Mack and fellow guard Shannon Crooks an opportunity to capitalize on their range.
That goes for Jonathan DePina as well. Instead of backing up off picks like you usually do (and allowing your defender to catch up to you) how about slicing off them into the lane? You’re fast enough, and a good enough passer, that you should be able to draw defenders and find the open man once you get free.
Otherwise, you’re doing no good, just dribbling back-and-forth across the top of the key.
3. GET MORE CREATIVE – This is sort of a continuation of No. 2. Why not diagram a few more plays that get people other than Mack a designed shot? OSU coach Jim O’Brien noted after his team’s win over UMass that even though forward Winston Smith is a capable scorer, he gets little attention defensively because the Minutemen don’t run any plays to him.
Setting up shots for Mack’s supporting cast would effectively spread the opposing defense, making the UMass attack more multi-dimensional and allowing Mack some better looks and less double-teams.
Great coaches are known for maximizing the talent of their entire roster. By getting Smith, Crooks and freshman Willie Jenkins some planned shots, UMass coach James “Bruiser” Flint could prove his roundball mastery even as he makes his team more dangerous on the offensive end.
4. PRESS, FOR GOD’S SAKE – The team has enough young, well-conditioned bodies that it should be pressing constantly, not just when it’s down by double-digits late. Sure it’ll take a lot more substitutions, but it worked wonders against the Huskies in garbage time Tuesday night and seems perfectly suited for the quick hands and feet of guys like Crooks, DePina, Jenkins and Jackie Rogers. Even Brand can run the floor surprisingly well for a big man.
Yes, it will take a lot of work in regards to substitutions and foul management. But guys like Ronell Blizzard and Dwayne Early are doing no good whatsoever rotting away on the UMass pine, and both possess the athleticism to lend a big helping hand defensively.
The problem is that in order to press, you’ve got to score. There’s no substitute for just plain putting the ball in the hoop, and there isn’t much of a secret to that.
Adam White is a Collegian columnist.
