"With their motion offense, it's tough to guard. Especially if they have five guards and they have Chris Clarke bringing the ball up. They are tough, they have people who can stretch the floor, they have good shooters. They have guys who can penetrate and kick. They are fundamentally sound. When they play together and they have 17 assists and nine turnovers, they are really tough to beat." - Lindy Waters
I've told others that aren't familiar with Tech hoops about how "small" we play. And we certainly do. Our primary "post" players are a stretch 4 (Holyfield) and a point forward (Clarke). But I think the "small" label is deceiving and only appropriate to describe our offensive style, which Lindy Waters admitted gave them serious problems. "Small" does not equal soft or short.
- Tech's the 15th best team in the country per Kenpom at preventing offensive rebounds.
- Iowa's HC said he was most worried about his team's ability to box Tech out, and Iowa has some huge post players.
- Tech's in the top 80th percentile on Synergy at defending post ups.
- Only 30 D1 teams generate a higher percentage of points from the free throw line.
- Only 11 D1 teams have had a fewer % of their 2-pt shots blocked.
- In Kenpom's definition of "average height," Tech is taller than 2 out of every 3 D1 teams (and taller than Baylor).
-Tech's in the top 25 among P5 teams on shots at the rim FG % (both offensively & defensively).
None of those are characteristics that you'd expect to see from a team w/ no post players on the roster.
The only thing "small" about Tech is how much we're starting to resemble the NBA's shift to 5-out, euro/FIBA style of offense.
A Few Baylor Quick Hits
- Scott Drew's MO at Baylor has been zone defense and offensive rebounding; he's been like the Jim Boehiem of the South. His 2018 team took, essentially, the fewest 3 pointers in the country. The next year, after an injury to their big guy, Drew changes his entire offense overnight into a more perimeter-oriented approach (with much success). Now Baylor plays man defense 90% of the time, instead of 75+% zone. Drew's easily the most underrated coach in the Big 12.
- This Baylor team still crashes the offensive glass, though. Freddie Gillespie & Mark Vital are elite at it and combined for 12 on Saturday, 3 more than all of UT's players. It'll be a team effort to box Gillespie & Vital out, probably the biggest focus of our game plan.
- Baylor is absolutely a jump-shooting team. Only 7 P5 teams shoot a lower % of shots at the rim. It's not an ideal match up for Tech, because (1) our defensive scheme focuses more on stopping (really, preventing) shots at the rim, and (2) a glaring weakness during noncon was Tech failing to find shooters with a "sense of urgency," as Beard would put it.
- One way to figure out who the "dude" is on the other team is looking at where the late-clock shot attempts are coming from. 23% of Baylor's shot attempts with <10 seconds on the shot clock were taken by Jared Butler, another 22% from MaCio Teague. Everyone else has taken at least 20 less of these shots than that duo.
Tech's a lot more balanced than Baylor (or last year's Tech team, which was exclusively Culver/Mooney in this spot). Shannon has taken the most (35), but that's only 14 more than the guy with the 6th most of these attempts (Morro). Playing "small" means defenses have no idea where shots are going to come from, or who's going to be taking them.
- Baylor's Defense has been stellar. 98th percentile per synergy & 8th in the country per Kenpom.
I've told others that aren't familiar with Tech hoops about how "small" we play. And we certainly do. Our primary "post" players are a stretch 4 (Holyfield) and a point forward (Clarke). But I think the "small" label is deceiving and only appropriate to describe our offensive style, which Lindy Waters admitted gave them serious problems. "Small" does not equal soft or short.
- Tech's the 15th best team in the country per Kenpom at preventing offensive rebounds.
- Iowa's HC said he was most worried about his team's ability to box Tech out, and Iowa has some huge post players.
- Tech's in the top 80th percentile on Synergy at defending post ups.
- Only 30 D1 teams generate a higher percentage of points from the free throw line.
- Only 11 D1 teams have had a fewer % of their 2-pt shots blocked.
- In Kenpom's definition of "average height," Tech is taller than 2 out of every 3 D1 teams (and taller than Baylor).
-Tech's in the top 25 among P5 teams on shots at the rim FG % (both offensively & defensively).
None of those are characteristics that you'd expect to see from a team w/ no post players on the roster.
The only thing "small" about Tech is how much we're starting to resemble the NBA's shift to 5-out, euro/FIBA style of offense.
A Few Baylor Quick Hits
- Scott Drew's MO at Baylor has been zone defense and offensive rebounding; he's been like the Jim Boehiem of the South. His 2018 team took, essentially, the fewest 3 pointers in the country. The next year, after an injury to their big guy, Drew changes his entire offense overnight into a more perimeter-oriented approach (with much success). Now Baylor plays man defense 90% of the time, instead of 75+% zone. Drew's easily the most underrated coach in the Big 12.
- This Baylor team still crashes the offensive glass, though. Freddie Gillespie & Mark Vital are elite at it and combined for 12 on Saturday, 3 more than all of UT's players. It'll be a team effort to box Gillespie & Vital out, probably the biggest focus of our game plan.
- Baylor is absolutely a jump-shooting team. Only 7 P5 teams shoot a lower % of shots at the rim. It's not an ideal match up for Tech, because (1) our defensive scheme focuses more on stopping (really, preventing) shots at the rim, and (2) a glaring weakness during noncon was Tech failing to find shooters with a "sense of urgency," as Beard would put it.
- One way to figure out who the "dude" is on the other team is looking at where the late-clock shot attempts are coming from. 23% of Baylor's shot attempts with <10 seconds on the shot clock were taken by Jared Butler, another 22% from MaCio Teague. Everyone else has taken at least 20 less of these shots than that duo.
Tech's a lot more balanced than Baylor (or last year's Tech team, which was exclusively Culver/Mooney in this spot). Shannon has taken the most (35), but that's only 14 more than the guy with the 6th most of these attempts (Morro). Playing "small" means defenses have no idea where shots are going to come from, or who's going to be taking them.
- Baylor's Defense has been stellar. 98th percentile per synergy & 8th in the country per Kenpom.
