Radford player information provided by college basketball freelance writer and researcher Nathan Giese
It's not as though Vanderbilt basketball must stop shooting 3-pointers. Shooters shoot, and in today's era of 3-pointer-or-layup basketball, the triple has an appropriately entrenched place in offensive strategy. If open threes aren't falling, there is not too much a coach can do.
However, coaches aren't completely powerless to change plans when shooters struggle... and neither are the shooters themselves. Basketball teams always walk a fine line between continuing to shoot certain kinds of (open perimeter) shots and needing to make adjustments when those shots don't fall. A team can't
avoid the long ball like the plague, but when a few threes don't drop on consecutive possessions, the best teams will either get to the rim or to the foul line. They will get an easy basket or a pair of free throws to stop a run, break the ice, and reset the energy of the game so that they don't get buried in an eight-minute scoring drought or a 25-2 scoring surge by the opposition.
This past week in Brooklyn, New York, Vanderbilt walked away with two losses. That's the bad news. The good news is that in a season which is still young, those painful experiences can give way to sharper, more efficient offense in the months ahead. It's up to Vanderbilt -- which obviously knows that a large number of losses don't necessarily stand in the way of an NCAA Tournament berth -- to make these losses as transformative as possible, instead of dead weight on a resume in March.
Judicious use of the three-point shot has to be a point of focus for this team heading into Tuesday night's game against the Radford Highlanders of the Big South Conference.
Vanderbilt attempted 42 threes in its two games against Virginia and Seton Hall.
The Commodores made only nine. On one hand, Virginia and Seton Hall are almost certain to make the NCAAs this season, very likely as teams which will wear white (as higher seeds) in the first round if not also the second. Losing to good teams is nothing to be ashamed about. Failing to get better after losing to good teams is worth being ashamed of. Vanderbilt can steer clear of that problem and guide the Commodores' ship to higher ground.
Being able to get to the foul line more often will help in the attempt to reduce this team's 3-point dependency. The Commodores could not generate 20 foul shots against either Virginia or Seton Hall. As a point of contrast, VU earned 28 foul shots against USC. The whistles might not be friendly away from Memorial Gym, so while basketball is basketball in any arena -- the dimensions of the court, the weight of the ball, and the height of the backboard are the same -- the feel of each contest can vary based on location. VU needs a point-scoring Plan B when the triples don't tickle the twine.
It is not an idle coincidence that against Seton Hall -- when only one Vanderbilt player, Jeff Roberson, scored in double figures -- foul shots affected the potency of the Dores. Roberson got to the line eight times. He scored 20. All of his teammates combined for 10 foul shots, and none finished in double figures. In both the SHU and Virginia games, only one Vanderbilt player scored in double figures. Against Virginia, no one scored more than 11 points and only one scored more than six. Virginia's boa constrictor defense ambushed Vanderbilt after the free-flowing game against USC. Seton Hall lost to Rhode Island and played with great commitment on Friday against Vanderbilt. Those things VU can live with, but not being able to adjust is of greater concern to Bryce Drew.
Here is the other part of the equation Vanderbilt must confront after a lousy week in Brooklyn: If offense is hard to come by, the defense has to compensate, at least some of the time. In each of Vanderbilt's last three games, the Dores have failed to force at least 10 turnovers. USC coughed up only six in a 45-minute (OT) game. Virginia turned the ball over just seven times, and Seton Hall nine. Vanderbilt has to create more turnovers, partly to accumulate more possessions, but mostly to get fast-break baskets and cheap points to fight against crippling scoring droughts.
Last week wasn't fun, but Vanderbilt has to make those losses mean something. The attempt to remake those losses into positive turning points begins Tuesday night against Radford:
The Highlanders, under coach Mike Jones, put up a good fight against Ohio State earlier this season before losing by 10 to a team expected to finish near the bottom of the Big Ten. The Highlanders then defeated a reeling East Carolina squad whose coach, Jeff Lebo, is almost certain to be fired in the coming months. A loss to Elon was followed by a one-point win over James Madison. Nothing this team has done suggests it is ready to beat Vanderbilt, but that shouldn't -- and can't -- lead the Dores to drift through this game and not take it seriously.
Eight different players have started games for Radford already this season. Since there hasn’t been a steady five-man unit for the Highlanders, here’s a look at the top players on the roster.
Ed Polite, Jr.: A starter in four of the team’s first five games, Polite is the top shot taker for Radford with 46 total shot attempts. He has yet to hit a 3 (10 attempts), so his offense has been relegated to areas inside the arc.
He excels in the transition game, scoring 14 points on 10 attempts in those situations. A majority of his attempts have come around the basket and he’s not a serious shooting threat. Ed hit just 21 percent of his 3-point attempts last season, averaging under one attempt per contest in 2016-17.
A solid defender, Polite is holding opponents to just 20 percent shooting this season and has come up with eight steals and blocked nine shots.
Donald Hicks: A starter in all five games, Hicks, like Polite, works well in transition with 17 points in 10 possessions. Those two make up the majority of Radford’s 14.4 points off turnovers per game. Hicks is 12-of-26 beyond the arc and almost all of his shots have come from jump shots. Of the data available,
he has just one shot around the basket and six free throw attempts.
Hicks is not the defender Polite is. Opponents have converted 50 percent of their shot attempts against him with the shots coming in a variety of play types.
Carlik Jones: Though he’s the sixth man with no starts, he’s one of the important players to watch for Radford. Jones leads the team in scoring, though his numbers have come in waves. He put up 19 points against Ohio State and 13 against James Madison but just 17 combined against East Carolina and Elon. He’s 9-of-17 beyond the arc and has 21 free throw attempts. Most of his shot attempts are jumpers.
Randy Phillips: A true forward, the 6-foot-8 Phillips doesn’t take his game outside of the paint much. The majority of his offense has come from post-ups and offensive rebounds. He’ll get into foul trouble, though he hasn’t fouled out yet. He’s also not one to command attention on offense. In his last three games,
Phillips has attempted just eight shots.
Defense also isn’t his specialty, which is a theme for the Highlanders. Part of Phillips’ limitation on that end is while he tends to stick to the paint for his offense, the players that he defends often take him out of the paint for jump shots. His opponents are hitting 45 percent of their jump-shot attempts.
Christian Bradford and Justin Cousin: Bradford and Cousin have started four and three games, respectively, this season, though it’s hard to separate the two from their impact on the court.
These two have combined for just 12 rebounds and 17 of 50 on their field goal attempts. Cousin is a threat beyond the arc, hitting eight of his 21 attempts. Bradford leads the team with 13 assists in 110 minutes.
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Getting to the foul line. Successfully attacking the paint. Establishing a drive-and-kick game. Creating turnovers and fast-break opportunities. These aren't the only tasks facing Vanderbilt Tuesday night, but they are certainly the main ones.