At Minnesota, we are blessed to have Nate Mason and Dupree McBrayer... I know that having Akeem Springs would be a huge key to a run in the tournament.. Just about every team I have seen that has won an NCAA championship has had good guard play.. Same is true in just about any other level of basketball.
I can remember what solidified this in my mind, 30 years ago.. I was at the state semifinals in Ohio watching a Cleveland St Joe HS team ranked 7th in the nation... Think about this for a front line in HS.. St Joe started 6-10 John Beauford(Ohio University) at center; 6-11 Eric Riley(University of Michigan) at one forward and 6-8 Treg Lee(State player of the year in Big school and Ohio State recruit) at SMALL forward... Lee was one of the top 20 players in the nation. They had 2 players off the bench that you might have heard of from a different sport, football, in Elvis Grbac and Desmond Howard(Howard won the Heisman at University of Michigan and Grbac was his QB in college as well as HS)..For the record, Grbac was a better basketball player than Howard.
Their opponent was Dayton Dunbar, who were led by Michigan recruit Kirk Taylor and Ohio State recruit Mark Baker as well as the coach's son, Mike Haley who played at Wright State. Haley was 6-7 and that was all the height they had against St Joe... But they went 12 deep and ran the whole game.. Did not lose anything when they went to their bench. Baker was 6-0 and quicker than light. Taylor was 6-3 and long..Much of their bench was the same... Dunbar would just attack you and force tempo the whole game. Their full court press was lethal. Not real disciplined, mind you, but fun to watch.
St Joe got the early lead with Beauford scoring inside but everything was contested.. No easy shots for the big guys.. When that ball went to the floor on the dribble or loose ball, someone from Dunbar was going after it, all the time. Watching this influenced my coaching..... Dunbar just sped to the rim, most of the time led by Baker and Taylor.. Did not matter how big St Joe was as they had 2 MORE 6-8 players off the bench. Completely dictated the pace of the game and beat St Joe 94-80.. Lots of points in a 32 minute HS game. St Joe's guards could not handle Dunbar's guards in the 2nd quarter of that game so that TOTALLY NEGATED the size advantage of St Joe... Guards dictated the game.
Years later, I saw a school from a small town, Holgate, in NW Ohio that played like the game was in the 1800s with a peach basket on the pole, as a goal...If they scored 40 points in a whole game, that was a scoring bonanza. Won state while their guards would dictate tempo and shoot free throws very well. Like watching Gene Hackman coach in the movie, Hoosiers..In Holgate's case, they wanted 8-10 passes in the half-court AT LEAST, in each possession.. Won the state championship and totally took a running team out of their game. Guards dictated the game.
The point is that this translates to college ball as well.... Our bigs need to rebound and play good defense but it will be our guard play that carries us.... Nate Mason has to make good decisions with the ball.. He has to be conscious of the score and the tempo of the moment.. He has to gauge the team and see where we have the advantage, on the floor... NCAA tourney teams all seem to play good defense so it becomes important that the PG and the coaching staff identify where we have the advantages and dictate tempo accordingly. Dupree needs to play loose and fast but be aware of what we need to do to win this game... If we have the main advantage at the the wing and Nate only scores 8-10 points in the game, so be it.. If its inside, there has to be an awareness and execution... The post entries need to be accurate and decisive..He has to be aware of who he is passing to and where on the floor as you dont want to pass the ball to Bakary, for instance, 20 feet from the basket while on the run. We can beat Middle Tennessee but I think that GUARD PLAY will be the determining factor of winning this game.
Middle Tennessee has a freshman PG though he is pretty good. We cant let the off guard do his thing as that opens up all kinds of other avenues. I love the prep for this stuff and I so wish I was in the practices. I truly feel that our guard play is what will get us past this game and even through the first weekend.
I can remember what solidified this in my mind, 30 years ago.. I was at the state semifinals in Ohio watching a Cleveland St Joe HS team ranked 7th in the nation... Think about this for a front line in HS.. St Joe started 6-10 John Beauford(Ohio University) at center; 6-11 Eric Riley(University of Michigan) at one forward and 6-8 Treg Lee(State player of the year in Big school and Ohio State recruit) at SMALL forward... Lee was one of the top 20 players in the nation. They had 2 players off the bench that you might have heard of from a different sport, football, in Elvis Grbac and Desmond Howard(Howard won the Heisman at University of Michigan and Grbac was his QB in college as well as HS)..For the record, Grbac was a better basketball player than Howard.
Their opponent was Dayton Dunbar, who were led by Michigan recruit Kirk Taylor and Ohio State recruit Mark Baker as well as the coach's son, Mike Haley who played at Wright State. Haley was 6-7 and that was all the height they had against St Joe... But they went 12 deep and ran the whole game.. Did not lose anything when they went to their bench. Baker was 6-0 and quicker than light. Taylor was 6-3 and long..Much of their bench was the same... Dunbar would just attack you and force tempo the whole game. Their full court press was lethal. Not real disciplined, mind you, but fun to watch.
St Joe got the early lead with Beauford scoring inside but everything was contested.. No easy shots for the big guys.. When that ball went to the floor on the dribble or loose ball, someone from Dunbar was going after it, all the time. Watching this influenced my coaching..... Dunbar just sped to the rim, most of the time led by Baker and Taylor.. Did not matter how big St Joe was as they had 2 MORE 6-8 players off the bench. Completely dictated the pace of the game and beat St Joe 94-80.. Lots of points in a 32 minute HS game. St Joe's guards could not handle Dunbar's guards in the 2nd quarter of that game so that TOTALLY NEGATED the size advantage of St Joe... Guards dictated the game.
Years later, I saw a school from a small town, Holgate, in NW Ohio that played like the game was in the 1800s with a peach basket on the pole, as a goal...If they scored 40 points in a whole game, that was a scoring bonanza. Won state while their guards would dictate tempo and shoot free throws very well. Like watching Gene Hackman coach in the movie, Hoosiers..In Holgate's case, they wanted 8-10 passes in the half-court AT LEAST, in each possession.. Won the state championship and totally took a running team out of their game. Guards dictated the game.
The point is that this translates to college ball as well.... Our bigs need to rebound and play good defense but it will be our guard play that carries us.... Nate Mason has to make good decisions with the ball.. He has to be conscious of the score and the tempo of the moment.. He has to gauge the team and see where we have the advantage, on the floor... NCAA tourney teams all seem to play good defense so it becomes important that the PG and the coaching staff identify where we have the advantages and dictate tempo accordingly. Dupree needs to play loose and fast but be aware of what we need to do to win this game... If we have the main advantage at the the wing and Nate only scores 8-10 points in the game, so be it.. If its inside, there has to be an awareness and execution... The post entries need to be accurate and decisive..He has to be aware of who he is passing to and where on the floor as you dont want to pass the ball to Bakary, for instance, 20 feet from the basket while on the run. We can beat Middle Tennessee but I think that GUARD PLAY will be the determining factor of winning this game.
Middle Tennessee has a freshman PG though he is pretty good. We cant let the off guard do his thing as that opens up all kinds of other avenues. I love the prep for this stuff and I so wish I was in the practices. I truly feel that our guard play is what will get us past this game and even through the first weekend.
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