Did anyone notice how MST played Davis .

Question

They really seemed to get Davis out of the middle quite a bit . They would take his man and not post him just to draw him out side so the other guys would have easier driving lanes . I know other teams have tried this in the past but MST was really working the game plan well the first half. I could see other teams focusing more on keeping Davis out of the middle the rest of the season .

Originally posted on Rupp Rafters by TAZWELL35.

Answer 1

Problem is that will only work with teams that have a center that is truely a threat from out there. Sydney made that first three so davis had to honor it
the rest of the game

Originally posted on Rupp Rafters by Timelord.

Answer 2

This. The strategy's been used against us a number of times, but we remain fairly disciplined. The first half defensive effort stunk all-around. Cal pegged it: we weren't competing. Not an effective strategy for teams, but not much else is, either.

Originally posted on Rupp Rafters by dudes-a-plenty.

Answer 3

That is why MSU was a good challenge for us.
They had personnel to cause us trouble and we met it.
Bost as a pg, Moultrie and Sydney on the inside to body up with our interior, and their good shooting role players...

If teams like MSU could play half as good as they do against us, they'd be dangerous. they have talent, but lack the heart.

Back to the original point, not many teams have the parts to match up to us.

Originally posted on Rupp Rafters by 9FFrodo.

Answer 4

Yeah, not a lot of 6'10," 290 lb (at least) centers that can step out and shoot threes like Sidney... Or punch people in the face, for that matter.

It would be interesting to see how we'd play a team like Mizzou that basically plays 4 guards and a small forward; I'm sure we'd wear them out on offense but they could do the same thing.

Originally posted on Rupp Rafters by ukbowl2006.

Answer 5

Then they completely went away from it in the second half. What a coach, that Stansbury.

Originally posted on Rupp Rafters by Blueblood22.

Answer 6

I kept thinking that Cal would switch Davis to Moultrie and Jones to Sidney to get him back to the basket or have them switch off so Davis could guard whoever was posting up but we won so it's irrelevant .

Originally posted on Rupp Rafters by Xception.

Answer 7

Natural talent and size wise, there aren't as many good teams out there as MSU. Sidney is a beast whenever he chooses to be (rare, but the threat is there) and Moultrie is one of the 5 best big men in college right now who's doing 17 and 11 (1 point and 1 rebound behind Mr. "POY" Robinson). We also played them AT HOME. If our guys could handle that, the only team who'd be an upgrade in difficulty from this point on would be Syracuse. I mostly noticed how they constantly shoved Davis in the back under the basket for rebounds and it was RARELY called.

Originally posted on Rupp Rafters by Catzman.

Answer 8

UNC and Syracuse might be the only teams that can drag Davis out of the post and still have players with the size and skill to work offensive damage against Jones, MKG, and Miller. Still, Sydney might be the only legit center in college with enough girth and height to make it difficult for Davis to work near the basket. His huge @ss caused Davis some problem last night. Caused himself some problems too.

Originally posted on Rupp Rafters by KopiKat.

Answer 9

Agreed, especially with that last line. Sidney hit that first three and then he laid an egg and sucked a lot of wind while taking minutes from others. He had 3 points, 4 fouls, shot 1-6 from the field, and 0-2 on critical free throws in the 2nd half. He's good for about 2 or 3 trips up and down the floor, then he's too winded to be effective.

But the thing he did do was push Davis around enough to keep him from really getting comfortable. And his perimeter shooting is good enough to make Davis come out.

But here's the question: how many teams have 2 starting big men who can shoot the three consistently? Davis ends up defending the guy who stays nearest to the basket. Jones takes the guy who goes out to the perimeter, and they will even switch at times to keep Davis in the lane.

This is a "possible" approach to attack UK, but it takes the right personnel and flawless execution to make it work. And it can be countered with relative ease as well. The first half of that game wasn't just about Miss St's offense, either. UK had several busts on defense, back door cuts for dunks and lobs for dunks, that don't usually happen.

The bottom line, though, is this: Miss St played their best on their home floor in front of a raucous crowd, but UK still won. There you go.

Originally posted on Rupp Rafters by IL Wildcat.