I've watched the Rebs play 3 times this year (a 80-78 neutral site loss vs. Purdue, an 86-63 win @ Louisville, and an 87-70 loss @ Memphis) . I'm not an expert but these are my observations and expectations for Saturday. Would love others input as well-
The Rebs still run the Chris Beard patented "no-middle" defense. It often times ends up looking like a sort of 2-3 match up zone, but the goal is to take away drives through the middle of the lane and easy entry passes to the low/high post. The way to beat it may seem obvious, but you have to get into the paint and either score at the rim, or kick out to open shooters on the wing. They typically play really good help-side defense and can recover if the ball does get to the middle and kicked back out to an open perimeter player. Against good forwards/post players they'll send help-side traps to try and force the ball back to the perimeter or get a steal. I expect Asa and RJ will see those traps. They have to be ready to make a quick move to score, or pass out to the open wing before the trap arrives. I hope the staff shows game film from their Purdue game. Kaufman-Ren of Purdue absolutely killed them. Either by scoring quickly in the post or making a smart and quick pass out to the wing. Open 3's will be available, we just have to hit them.
While the system is good, this Rebs team is not built like a vintage Chris Beard team and thus aren't as effective on defense as most of his past teams. They are still good, but not elite. They don't have much size or rim protection, and aren't quite as athletic as some of his past Texas Tech teams. Their leading shot blocker is 6'6" Dre Davis at 1.1 per game. The Dawgs need to, and should be able to, score around the rim. Ole Miss does force a lot of steals and has shown some full court press this year. Pressing helped them get back into the Purdue game, and Purdue's guards are definitely better with the ball than ours. I don't think they will start the game pressing, but if the game is close in the second half I think we will see it and our guards have to be able to handle it.
Their offense is pretty free flowing. They play through their guards and shoot a lot of 3's. Everyone on their team has at least a respectable 3 point shot. Pedulla and Murray are the snipers. Our guards have size and athleticism advantages over those guys, so hopefully we can run them off the line and keep them out of rhythm. Would like to see Tyrin and Silas match up with those guys to start. They rely on forcing turnovers and scoring on the fastbreak to supplement their lack of a true post scoring presence. They are really good on the fastbreak.
Dawgs advantages will be rebounding, size, and athleticism. Areas of emphasis should be limiting turnovers, not allowing Rebs clean looks from 3, and getting to the paint via drive or clean passes into the post. I think this will be a really competitive game and a good intro test to see how the Dawgs stack up in the league.
The Rebs still run the Chris Beard patented "no-middle" defense. It often times ends up looking like a sort of 2-3 match up zone, but the goal is to take away drives through the middle of the lane and easy entry passes to the low/high post. The way to beat it may seem obvious, but you have to get into the paint and either score at the rim, or kick out to open shooters on the wing. They typically play really good help-side defense and can recover if the ball does get to the middle and kicked back out to an open perimeter player. Against good forwards/post players they'll send help-side traps to try and force the ball back to the perimeter or get a steal. I expect Asa and RJ will see those traps. They have to be ready to make a quick move to score, or pass out to the open wing before the trap arrives. I hope the staff shows game film from their Purdue game. Kaufman-Ren of Purdue absolutely killed them. Either by scoring quickly in the post or making a smart and quick pass out to the wing. Open 3's will be available, we just have to hit them.
While the system is good, this Rebs team is not built like a vintage Chris Beard team and thus aren't as effective on defense as most of his past teams. They are still good, but not elite. They don't have much size or rim protection, and aren't quite as athletic as some of his past Texas Tech teams. Their leading shot blocker is 6'6" Dre Davis at 1.1 per game. The Dawgs need to, and should be able to, score around the rim. Ole Miss does force a lot of steals and has shown some full court press this year. Pressing helped them get back into the Purdue game, and Purdue's guards are definitely better with the ball than ours. I don't think they will start the game pressing, but if the game is close in the second half I think we will see it and our guards have to be able to handle it.
Their offense is pretty free flowing. They play through their guards and shoot a lot of 3's. Everyone on their team has at least a respectable 3 point shot. Pedulla and Murray are the snipers. Our guards have size and athleticism advantages over those guys, so hopefully we can run them off the line and keep them out of rhythm. Would like to see Tyrin and Silas match up with those guys to start. They rely on forcing turnovers and scoring on the fastbreak to supplement their lack of a true post scoring presence. They are really good on the fastbreak.
Dawgs advantages will be rebounding, size, and athleticism. Areas of emphasis should be limiting turnovers, not allowing Rebs clean looks from 3, and getting to the paint via drive or clean passes into the post. I think this will be a really competitive game and a good intro test to see how the Dawgs stack up in the league.
