I closely watched the USC/Illinois game and came away with some thoughts about tonight’s matchup against USC.
*Illinois’ offense was a mess without Jakucionis. Lots of players trying to do too much: non-shooters attempting quick 3s, non-skilled guys trying to drive etc. Also, their normally dominant offensive rebounding simply wasn’t there and they only played their 7’1 Ivisic 17 minutes despite no foul trouble.
*I expect Iowa to have a much more directed, logical offensive plan on most of our possessions.
*USC has had mostly a 7 man rotation since Matt Knowling and Terrance Williams both got injured and that was shortened to 6 against Illinois. Josh Cohen, their 6’10 center, only played 2 minutes against Illinois as 6’8 Rashaun Agee seems to have pulled ahead in that playing time battle.
*Illinois used drop coverage against USC high ball screens and it was very ineffective - they didn’t have success contesting Claude and Yates around the basket and also allowed Agee to hit a trio of three point shots (on five attempts).
*Claude/Yates also had great success in plain-old iso 1-on-1 situations as well and that was pretty much the story of the game - those two guys getting to the basket and scoring. Both Claude and Yates really impressed me with how unflappable they were in traffic around the basket, they were on balance, crafty, took their time and scored. It was reminiscent of how Jay Wright’s guards would play.
*Simply put, they are going to pose a big problem for Brock Harding because they have size (6’4-6’5) and use it well and USC doesn’t really have a short guard for Harding to match-up against. We are going to have to help him and Freeman/Dembele are going to have to do a much better job altering shots than Illinois’ Ivisic and Johnson were able to do.
*I have advocated parking Freeman in front of the rim when we are defending ball screens but I’m not sure how well that would work vs USC. It lets Claude/Yates get in close which seems to be their comfort zone and you might also give up pick-and-pop 3s for Agee (although he’s only attempted 13 on the season so he’s far from proven out there). Illinois tried this very approach last game...and got creamed.
*USC's centers aren't that big so Payton Sandfort and Seydou Traore won’t be as outsized as they normally are when they try to pick up the other team’s center rolling to the basket.
*Freeman had better be ready to eat tonight when we have the ball because he will have a size advantage (but maybe not his usual quickness advantage) - I can imagine him having a huge night and leading us to victory. If Freeman doesn’t get going, it could be tough sledding for us offensively. USC has the athletic wings to defend both Dix and Payton Sandfort - and their three point shooting defense has generally been quite good.
Go Hawks!
*Illinois’ offense was a mess without Jakucionis. Lots of players trying to do too much: non-shooters attempting quick 3s, non-skilled guys trying to drive etc. Also, their normally dominant offensive rebounding simply wasn’t there and they only played their 7’1 Ivisic 17 minutes despite no foul trouble.
*I expect Iowa to have a much more directed, logical offensive plan on most of our possessions.
*USC has had mostly a 7 man rotation since Matt Knowling and Terrance Williams both got injured and that was shortened to 6 against Illinois. Josh Cohen, their 6’10 center, only played 2 minutes against Illinois as 6’8 Rashaun Agee seems to have pulled ahead in that playing time battle.
*Illinois used drop coverage against USC high ball screens and it was very ineffective - they didn’t have success contesting Claude and Yates around the basket and also allowed Agee to hit a trio of three point shots (on five attempts).
*Claude/Yates also had great success in plain-old iso 1-on-1 situations as well and that was pretty much the story of the game - those two guys getting to the basket and scoring. Both Claude and Yates really impressed me with how unflappable they were in traffic around the basket, they were on balance, crafty, took their time and scored. It was reminiscent of how Jay Wright’s guards would play.
*Simply put, they are going to pose a big problem for Brock Harding because they have size (6’4-6’5) and use it well and USC doesn’t really have a short guard for Harding to match-up against. We are going to have to help him and Freeman/Dembele are going to have to do a much better job altering shots than Illinois’ Ivisic and Johnson were able to do.
*I have advocated parking Freeman in front of the rim when we are defending ball screens but I’m not sure how well that would work vs USC. It lets Claude/Yates get in close which seems to be their comfort zone and you might also give up pick-and-pop 3s for Agee (although he’s only attempted 13 on the season so he’s far from proven out there). Illinois tried this very approach last game...and got creamed.
*USC's centers aren't that big so Payton Sandfort and Seydou Traore won’t be as outsized as they normally are when they try to pick up the other team’s center rolling to the basket.
*Freeman had better be ready to eat tonight when we have the ball because he will have a size advantage (but maybe not his usual quickness advantage) - I can imagine him having a huge night and leading us to victory. If Freeman doesn’t get going, it could be tough sledding for us offensively. USC has the athletic wings to defend both Dix and Payton Sandfort - and their three point shooting defense has generally been quite good.
Go Hawks!
