vs. North Carolina A&T 11/14/2023

Well, hello. Let’s all have a collective moment of silence for Isaac McKneely’s ankle and hope it finds a speedy recovery. Really, that’s the most important thing from games like this – health. Breath officially held. While it’s good that he didn’t brake it, sometimes brakes are easier to recover from than sprains, so it really depends. Hopefully we’ll know more about timeline soon and that it’s a short one. Hopefully he’ll also be able to return to the form he was in pre-injury whenever he does come back because, man, he was unlocking a lot of things.

With games like this the hardest part is to try to identify what is coming easily because of the level of competition (metrically NC A&T is one of the worst teams in college basketball) vs. what we can actually learn/take away from the contest. There are always things! Leon Bond might be able to feast on the interior vs. a team like this while struggling to make an impact vs. Florida – but, while that in and of itself can be informative, there are some options and ways to handle this. No spoilers! More on that to come, too.

I saw a little hand-wringing about the second half and getting outscored by a point. Don’t get me wrong, I would have loved a CTB team to score 100… but we were up 49-19 at the end of the first half. Taine Murray played all but 4 minutes of the second half which, no offense meant, and he certainly seems to have improved since the early part of last year, but is still well behind the other guards defensively. You obviously don’t want to see a drop off in quality or intensity when you go to your bench – but it’s unrealistic to anticipate otherwise and, given how the minutes shook out against Florida, that’s likely a sign that the disparity in quality is very real.

Alright, let’s get into it – starting with how important IMK’s health is to how we were playing.

Liked: Isaac McKneely Being on The Floor

Okay, so the headline is a little tongue-in-cheek and obvious, but having access to IMK offers so much to our upside, our spacing, and our ability to play with fluidity on offense. His defense has also been quality through the first 2.5 games as I highlighted during the Florida game. Given our three starters (Beekman, McKneely, and Rohde), Leon Bond’s ability to be suffocating on the perimeter (will discuss soon), and Dante Harris’s quick feet, he’s still the player our opposition is going to test most on the perimeter (of the players currently in the primary rotation). But he’s more than held his own, played very good on and off ball defense, and clearly is reacting intuitively and helpfully within the system, such that you don’t regularly need to consider weighing his defense vs. his offense, you can just be happy with his D and then benefit from the O. Here’s a couple more quick examples defensively:

In this first clip, McKneely is covering NC A&T’s best offensive player, the 6’2″ Landon Glasper (#7). Glasper had 32 points in the game prior (averaging almost 19 on the season) and basically had the green light to take whatever shot/opportunity that he wanted. So, again, like with Kugel, we’re not afraid to put McKneely on the highest volume guard. Glasper attempts to take him strong baseline but McKneely does an excellent job seeding ground while staying in proper defending position, not fouling, and actually blocking this shot. This is great defense on the ball from any perimeter player, let alone your 3-pt. sniper!

Here’s another look of him covering the 6’4″ Kyle Duke (#0), NC A&T’s second leading scorer at over 10ppg. I really like this clip because of the savvy recovery. He initially does a good job of helping to back up Minor on his hedge, allowing him to get back into the play when the ball goes to the high post. As he recovers back out to Duke, Duke actually shakes him by faking a back door cut, which McKneely over-reacts to and then finds himself scrambling to get back into a good defending position after going over the top of the screen to get Duke the ball on the wing. Freeze at 6 seconds into the clip and see the huge gap and how far he has to chase. But from there, he does a fantastic job of flattening out his route, so to speak, anticipating the Duke drive and beating him to the spot. It’s really a very impressive piece of recovery defense.

This last one is a very short and subtle look, but I like how it illustrated how plugged into the team defense IMK was and how his movements are all very intentional with very little wasted motion. Watch here as he’s on the near-side wing to Beekman’s on-ball defense. He does a great job of sagging into the elbow to help cut off the driving lane and as Duke picks up his drive, he’s very quick to start to head back out to his man, while getting his hand out in the passing lane to make that pass harder, and then continues on his recovery with that same hand in the passing lane to get up and deliver a hard and invasive contest (he also lands outside of the three-point line in the corner). Definitely playing within the defense and locked in mentally.

So, yeah, that’s all very encouraging! A defense is only as good as its weakest link even if it plays good team defense and can help compensate. Last year, our opponents targeted Kihei, Gardner, and BVP (or both if both were playing) as places they saw as an opportunity to attack/get points. This year, our opponents are definitely attacking Groves, but when Buchanan is on the floor with the starters, where do they go as the primary point of attack? IMK… they guess? Certainly, they’ll try to run an offense and can go against anyone, but if/when McKneely is your most vulnerable defender and he’s playing like that… it’s a very different story than we’ve been dealing with in recent years.

And, lest we try to forget, IMK has reminded us every game what he’s bringing to the offensive side of the table…. That shot is fluid and quick and deep – and it came out of a possession that was really lulling/stalling.

And here’s another one that didn’t seem like it was going anywhere at first, but McKneely’s range/release at the end is just a bail out/punisher.

That first shot, above, uncorked our three-point flurry. Florida AGGRESSIVELY helped on and contested McKneely’s outside shots all game. He’s certainly a multi-faceted player, but the layer of just being able to save a possession that’s going nowhere and having players have to chase you with an eagle eye well beyond the three-point line, makes the offense zing. There are a lot of good shooters on this team, but none pose the terrifying threat that IMK does….

So, yes. Really 99% of the takeaway from this game should be the hope that he’s back on the floor soon and that he’s able to perform in the same way he was prior. He’s probably our 3rd or 4th most important player on the roster, given its composition, this year. I’m not expecting him to take the floor on Thursday – but here’s hoping we’ll have him in the starting 5 vs. Wisconsin!

Liked: Ryan Dunn – Everything Except Trying Some 3s

I would have liked Dunn to hunt at least a couple of threes in this one to help build up that confidence in his shot, and he did pass up a couple of looks that seemed open, but virtually everything else about his game was on point. Last week I called out his overthinking and seeming reluctance to take the ball to the hoop when he had size mismatches. That changed in this one both in the post with this nice little drop step that drew a foul (MUCH better than his fadeaway to the free throw line vs. Florida):

And then, out of the Inside Triangle, he took an opportunity to drive baseline out of his wing position to also draw the foul (5-6 from the FT line was a nice improvement, too). He often played this position in this offense last season but rarely did we see him try to create off of the dribble out of it; he was mostly relegated to the role of passer.

Most of the rest of his offense were lobs or cleaning up the glass against the inferior team, so that may translate sometimes but not so easily. What did excite me, though, was this play in transition:

This isn’t off of a steal or a pick-6, so to speak. Yes, it’s an airball – but it’s a rebound to Rohde and Dunn just beats NC A&T back in transition for the thunderous dunk.

Quick aside, here, I love this outlet from Rohde. I’ve mentioned it a few times prior, but his passing in this early season has been on point. Whenever he gets the ball he’s keeping his head up and not just looking for the near pass, but scanning the full court for the pass that will put the most pressure on the defense. Loved this play from beginning to end.

Defensively, Dunn was dominant in this game just as he was the last, this time nabbing a double/double with 11 rebounds to accompany his 13 points. I would expect him to be able to clear the class against the Aggies, though. But his rotations and presence really is special – so we need to look at a few more in all of their glory.

Here’s one where he actually comes down from the opposite wing to get in front of the roll of a screener. I think it actually surprised Rohde, who probably was in the more logical position to pick this up (and he rotated up to contest the shot), but they adjusted quickly and Dunn’s ability to get there so quickly was ideal because then he was there to secure the board on the missed jumper from outside, as well. His activity here allows him to get himself into a play that, otherwise, he probably could have just stayed home and shifted down to help cover the wing as Beekman shaded Rohde’s man in the corner. The alertness/responsiveness puts him in a much better position to positively impact the play.

Here’s not as much a rotation, but is a good look at how futile this attempt to back him down was. We’ve seen him hold up to players like Kyle Filipowski attempting the same things in the past, so we know it translates across competition.

This is just… this play will never show up in a box score or in most highlight reels. The Aggies get the ball back, but it prevents a potential clean look at a bucket. Pause the clip at 7 seconds and Dunn sitting there waiting to diagram the play and pounce is so confidence inducing. He’s very close to the elbow to be able to help with no threat of conceding the three because of his ability to recover. And, in fact, he does have to step up to the high post as Buchanan recovers from the hedge. The ball goes back out to his man on the wing, and he gets there well in time to prevent a shot. His man then attempts to take him off of the dribble, and Buchanan slides down to help, but Dunn’s reaction time and length deflect the attempt to pass back to Buchanan’s man well out of bounds.

And I don’t think I can overstate how special this play is below. The hedge is SO quick, as is the recovery. He cuts off the dribble and is back, and when his man attempts to pin him for a lob pass, Dunn just elevates and tractor beams the ball into his body. The floor coverage here is really incredible.

We’ve had some great ones over the years – but I truly believe that if all stays on this trajectory, we’ll look back at this season as a special one for Ryan Dunn at that defensive athletic 4 slot. It’s the reach/bounce, yes… but it’s that elite mobility that really sets him apart.

Liked: Buchanan Continues to Show

Blake Buchanan was needed on Friday, as his size was a key element to combatting that of the Gators. He was rewarded with a start against the Aggies as a result (may he do so moving forward), but his presence wasn’t needed in the same way – as all of our frontcourt players had advantages against our under-sized opponent. And, perhaps, players like Leon Bond and Jacob Groves are better at helping us punish smaller teams. That being said, two plays by Buchanan grabbed me in this one that illustrated his two most valuable traits for our team this season.

This first clip is on the offensive end with him setting a ball screen for Beekman out of Flow and then rolling to the hoop. The pass catches him where the bounce gets on him fast and he catches it with his back fully to the basket at the ACC logo. Without dribbling and all in one fluid motion, he catches the ball, spin pivots, and goes up and dunks it. That’s the kind of footwork combined with eye-hand coordination and explosiveness that is exciting to see. Often big men catch passes like this, take a slow dribble, come to a jump stop, collect themselves, and then go up; letting other players get back into the play for the contest or to swipe at the ball when it’s low. This type of ball skill and spatial awareness bodes well.

You probably know what to expect for the second clip. And, honestly, we saw how good Buchanan’s volleyball spike was in the offseason. Perhaps he was practicing for this moment. This is a good set where we see Rohde refusing to cede ground to his man at the foul line and then hedge/switch on the ball screen with Harris. Harris seems a little slow to recognize that the switch has taken place, and can’t get back to Rohde’s man for the drive. This kind of communication cross-up between the two is to be expected on occasion early in the season, which is why you need a player like Buchanan to be able to crash down and protect the rim. Fantastic to be able to see him get to that ball so convincingly (he almost could have palmed/caught it!).

This wasn’t a huge Buchanan game. He only played 15 minutes as we focused on getting Minor and Bond some run, Groves was shooting well, and we were having no trouble securing the paint on either end of the floor. But this was a great glimpse that he’s already doing the things we’ll need him to do very well.

Disliked: Minor Seemed Timid

I’m going to be straightforward; this does not look like the player who I previewed this offseason. At Merrimack, Minor’s strengths offensively were aggression. He was great at catching the ball while moving and wasting little motion while finishing. He was very strong with the ball. He may not have had the same size/reach, but he played with the same level of fluidity that we’re seeing from Buchanan now. The biggest concern was: how would that translate against bigger competition and how would he transition from zone to man-to-man defense?

On Tuesday, I saw a player who looked fine and pretty mobile sliding on defense but who looked like he had very little confidence on the offensive end of the floor. Playing a team, similar to how he used to at Merrimack, that was conceding size to him, he was hesitating, bobbling the ball and, ultimately, travelling rather than just going straight up and finishing:

He was tentative on his drives, keeping the ball low and letting it get stripped away rather than powering up with a shot:

And he was kind of passive, waiting on the ball to come to him while the defender attacked it to keep it from getting to him. The Minor I watched would have sprung at this ball, snatched it, and exploded toward the rim – either forcing a foul or a good defensive play against him. It’s almost like he’s playing like he can’t fully extend his arms in these clips, which is quite strange to see.

When I time stamp clips to pull, I normally write a little note by each so that I can identify which to pull into each of these sections. The clips don’t come back-to-back normally and area spread out over a game – for each of these three clips, I independently wrote the word “tentative” when describing them to my future self. I don’t have line of sight into why this is the case, and it’s bizarre considering the film on Minor is a lot of things but tentative isn’t one of them. And we saw in the same game that he has flashes, like this much better finish off of the pick and roll:

And then later in the game he’s not in great offensive rebounding position on this shot, but uses his considerable strength to walk his way into proper positioning, secure the board, give a couple of fakes, and then go up and draw the foul.

He looks stronger; maybe a little slower than at Merrimack. It’s just odd. With BVP, Harris, Rohde, and Groves, we’ve more or less gotten, give or take, the same player we saw on tape at their previous destination. Minor doesn’t look that way. Perhaps he’s far enough down the depth chart now and our frontcourt rotation has the pieces to function in most games that it’ll be unfortunate but won’t really change our trajectory… but I do feel like we’re going to want another player who can bang down low, clear the glass, create some bruises, etc., at some point during the season, and I hope he shakes off enough of the rust to be able to provide that at least situationally.

Disliked: Murray’s Defense

I’m not going to spend a ton of time here because he does not appear to be threatening the rotation and it has gotten better than for most of last season and the season before but, as I mentioned earlier, Taine is still the farthest behind of our guards on defense, and still becomes statuesque with his feet at times. It’s a significant difference. There were quite a few examples during the game, but this is the one I thought “well, that’s not good.” You’re always told, “never is there a moment where you stop playing defense and start taking a charge.” As the backline defender against the post slip screen (ostensibly someone he should be quicker than), Murray breaks down, gets his feet really wide with his arms straight up in the air, becoming stationary. It’s like he anticipated that the man would just run into him, but in assuming that position, he prevents himself from being able to react with any quickness as the post player just dribbles around him. He’s slow to react and compounds the problem by fouling on the made bucket. In trying to anticipate the play, he basically takes himself out of the play despite being in good position initially.

I didn’t call it out after the Tarleton St. game because there are more urgent things and it would seem that he’s not currently threatening the rotation; but Murray is making quite a few physical and mental mistakes on the defensive end. Worth calling out in case anyone wonders why he isn’t playing in meaningful games or thinks he should be playing more. I’d argue for a multitude of other uses of the minutes, should it come to that. For example…

Liked: Bermuda Bond

There’s a lot to say about Leon Bond in this game and as someone whose role on this roster is still most unclear right now.

In the game against Tarleton St. I charted most of our possessions and we were almost 2 Sides for every 1 Flow with a very small percentage of Inside Triangle mixed in there. On Tuesday night, I charted the first half as those possessions seemed more pertinent to do so, and we ran 40% Flow, 33% Sides, and 27% Inside Triangle. So, a couple of things: Flow became our most frequently used offense, which is good to see, but we also saw a significant uptick of Inside Triangle. Interestingly, most of those possessions included Leon Bond on the floor, some of which were his first possessions at Small Forward on the season (playing with Groves and Buchanan some and Groves and Minor others).

Rehashing where things currently stand with Bond – long term both for his own prospects and in maximizing his physical ability for our team, most (including yours truly) believe that Bond’s ideal role is to play the Small Forward position; however his offensive game and skillset are better suited as a frontcourt player at this point. He’s explosive around the rim, has a really good midrange jump shot, and a bag of neat moves in the post (which we’ll see some of soon). We were only able to play him for 4 minutes in the game against Florida, though, because the size he conceded at the position was so significant, that he was blocked terribly on one shot and didn’t really look for his offense after that. Hook shots and fadeaway jump shots are effective against larger players, but conceding 5-6 inches is still a tall order for any of that. On the perimeter, however, he still seems reluctant to both shoot from beyond the arc and to initiate offense off of the bounce. He’s been working to improve in those areas but isn’t natural yet, certainly not in the way he is on the interior. So, while he can play really suffocating defense at the 3 (which we’ll see later as well) and crash the glass better from that position, CTB has been, to this point, unwilling to use him there likely due to his offensive skillset not being well-refined for the role compared to our other guard options. He’d basically been exclusively a small ball 4 through the first two games.

Enter NC A&T and our Inside Triangle offense. In general, NC A&T was giving up enough size and switching enough on screen actions that Bond could thrive inside; but what became apparent while watching is how he could use the nature of that offense to create similar looks/mismatches more easily against other small forwards who might be matched up with him, and who he’ll have a significant advantage over even against most major conference opponents. Imagine, for example, last year playing Miami and forcing Jordan Miller to have to guard Bond in the post. This year, Texas A&M would probably have to try to answer with Hayden Hefner or Jace Carter… Duke doesn’t even really have a great answer this year unless they slid Mark Mitchell to the 3 and played Ryan Young, in which case you’re getting Ryan Young on the court more and either Groves is less pressured on D or Dunn can just roam wherever he wants. Basically, it’s an option that’s primed to create mismatches and force the other team to react to what you’re doing, while bolstering your own defense in the process.

The Inside Triangle places to players on each wing and has three play off of each other through a series of screens on the interior. These actions are designed to eventually either create driving lanes or wide-open players near the basket if the opposition doesn’t defend the screens properly. However, it is also a very effective offense at both creating switches and getting the ball into the post. If Leon Bond plays the 4 in general, he’s typically going to have a much larger player covering him. If he plays the 3 in either Sides or Flow, he’s normally going to end up with the ball on the perimeter and will be either exploiting open looks from outside or will be required to attack off of the bounce. But in the Inside Triangle, he can play the 3 while simultaneously spending his time attacking the interior on offense, either directly posting his man, creating advantage for others through quality screening, or forcing a switch through said screening and then getting the ball in the post.

Okay, let’s first start with some of what’s in his bag, in general. This is a siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilky little jumper on the move that he gets into really quickly. It’s also not likely a shot he can take against Samuel on Friday night – but is absolutely one he could take against almost any current ACC PF. This one’s with him at the PF out of Sides.

The same is true for this nice little baby hook shot. Super potent against most SFs, probably not so much against your standard 6’10” player. This is the same issue Jayden Gardner used to run into where he would absolutely destroy the right matchups but there became a length barrier where his efficacy would become greatly reduced. This IS Inside Triangle, but still with him at the 4 spot.

This one’s out of Flow and ends up being a pretty sick turnaround that maybe he could get off vs. just about anyone, but you also don’t want to be regularly living off of these kinds of shots vs. hard contests as opposed to this situation where he had the mismatch.

Okay, so, his skill in this range of the court is real! How can we force the issue? Now check this set out. Groves (who sometimes plays inside) is on the near wing with Harris at the top. Buchanan, McKneely, and Bond are the triangle, and you can see that NC A&T is defending both Groves and Buchanan with their two largest players. That’s the 6’4″ Kyle Duke (#0) guarding Bond and… welp. No switch is needed here and see how the offense is spread such that when Buchanan leaves the lane to take the pass on the perimeter, there’s no help at all for Duke. If the other clips were easier sledding than Bond would have against most major conference 4s, this is that same comparative difference against 3s. He just made that look like he wasn’t being defended at all on the dive and then explosion to the bucket.

Same offense below, this time with Minor and Groves in. This time NC A&T is having to resort to putting Glasper on Bond which is, somehow, even more of a mismatch than Duke. Bond simply calls for the ball in the post and then hits the Nowitzki-style fadeaway.

I talked after the Florida game about how Dante Harris brings a different element of offense to the team which aligns differently with what we’re normally trying to do. I believe that this – playing Bond at Small Forward but getting him in the post regularly against smaller players via the Inside Triangle offense – is another one of these alternative angles and one that has the potential to be incredibly effective. He’s a style of player that these other Small Forwards don’t have to defend as much in a game that’s increasingly perimeter based. Few are going to have the size, athleticism, and experience for the cover, and now you’re going to be able to start making guys work, pick up more fouls than usual, etc.

The other benefit is now you get his defense on the perimeter… which is also exciting. Two quick looks at that – check out this first where he starts the possession by getting full-on in the driving lane to shut down the threat of dribble-penetration after the ball screen. Beekman and Minor continue with the prolonged double-team of the ball handler (Minor not rotating back soon enough) and Bond tries to anticipate/bait the pass to the high post for the steal, but instead it goes to his man on the wing. He gets back and shuts down the drive with a small show from Harris as well. The pass goes into the corner to Harris’s man, who takes a couple of dribbles baseline, forcing our rotations (which, we over-rotate again and send three men at the dribbler) and he throws a cross-court pass. Beekman rotates out to contest that intended recipient, who kicks it over to Beekman’s man. Bond does a very good job of rotating off of his to use his length to throw a super intrusive contest into the face of the shooter – forcing a miss. Now, revisit some of the Dunn rotations along with Buchanan’s mobility at the 5, and add Bond into that mix, along with Beekman at the point. You can play virtually anyone at the 2 with that lineup (likely McKneely for the shooting or Rohde for even more offensive oppression) and that is a LOCK DOWN defensive team. Seriously. Beekman, Rohde, Bond, Dunn, Buchanan. How are you attacking that? You’re probably trying through Rohde with someone giving up 3 inches to him.

Okay, I’ll stop fantasizing for a moment to start salivating over this complete lock down job on Glasper at the end of the half. He’s paired with Minor and Groves here, so they have the flexibility to put him on NC A&T’s most potent perimeter player. Bond fights over the screen and is close enough on the catch that Glasper thinks better of going up with it immediately. Glasper tries to dribble away from Bond, ends up picking up his dribble and trying multiple pivots to free himself for a look, but Leon just absolutely smothers him and straight up blocks the jump shot. I’ve been talking about liking the defensive job that both IMK and Rohde are doing on the perimeter – but this is a much different level that transcends from positive to completely oppressive.

If McKneely does rest this upcoming game vs. Texas Southern, I fully expect us to start with Dante Harris in the starting lineup. But what I’d really love to see us do is play Rohde at the 2 and put Bond in the starting lineup. Let’s see how that defense looks (should be one of the better potential defensive lineups we have) and let’s see how our offense looks if we run the Inside Triangle, too.

*Bonus content – you’d have Rohde against opposing shooting guards, which is closer to the kind of matchups he was able to exploit when he played 1-2 at St. Thomas. There could be more looks like this (which is basically the exact same mismatch logic out of the Inside Triangle as we have for Bond – Bond just being a much more accomplished post player, but Rohde still being very good at exploiting size advantages):

Mismatches galore!

In Conclusion

Get healthy IMK!

Are we starting to unlock some of the more versatile options within this team in addition to the already effective way we can play a more spread game? It feels like we’re pretty close to having a quality Plan A, B, and C for how to attack opposing teams on any given night.

These early games are exciting to see how we’re sussing all of that out – with tomorrow offering more opportunities for exploring ideas, and then the game against Wisconsin on Monday pointing to how seriously we’re taking those ideas.