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Maybe the most interesting tidbit from yesterday’s Mizzou basketball press conference was the split in duties between offense and defense. I joked on the Big Show yesterday that it was like Cuonzo Martin was announcing his offensive and defensive coordinator.
It’s a big reason Martin, who was hired March 15 as the 19th full-time men’s basketball coach in Tigers’ history, tapped former UMKC assistant coach Chris Hollender and former Oakland assistant Cornell Mann for his new staff.
Both have sterling reputations for offense.
“Those guys’ job is to specifically focus on (offensive) things, because when I get focused on the defensive side those things slip,” Martin said. “I want to have those guys lock in on it.”
So it’s Mann and Hollender on offense and Martin and Michael Porter Sr. on defense.
Mann referenced his time with former Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg as particularly influential when crafting his offensive style. In the comment threads yesterday, our Oscar Gamble dug up this piece on the Fred Hoiberg offense:
The key terms here to me: motion weave and spacing. You definitely notice the space. (You also notice a good amount of 3-point shooting. We'll see if Mizzou has the shooters.)
Now for the stats:
Hoiberg inherited an offense from Greg McDermott that had never ranked in the KenPom top 100, and after improving to 77th in his first year, the Cyclones ranked 24th, eighth, 10th, and 12th the next four years.
ISU took a lot of 3s but was only solid, not amazing, at shooting them. They were fantastic inside the arc, though, with the outside game theoretically setting up the inside game. That made their overall eFG% tremendous (top 25 last three years). Offensive rebounding was fine when the Cyclones had the pieces but wasn't very good his last couple of years. They also didn't get to the line a ton. But they were freeing up decent looks from 3-point range and, when the defense got overextended, layups.
Iowa State average offensive rankings, Hoiberg’s last three years:
- Offense: 10.0
- Tempo: 15.3 (Avg. Possession Length: 7.3)
- eFG%: 19.3 (2PT% 16.0, 3PT% 73.0, FT% 138.3)
- TO%: 38.7
- Off. Reb. %: 207.0
- Free Throw Rate: 237.0
- 3PA/FGA: 59.0
- Assist Rate: 44.3
Not going to lie, the thought of Terrence Phillips and Michael Porter Jr. combining on some of this weave action is pretty exciting. Mann referenced trying to create mismatches, and it probably won’t take long to do that when you’re basically weaving a 6’0 veteran and basically a 6’10 shooting guard.
More Basketball Links:
- The mixture of youth and veterans on next year’s team is pretty intriguing.
- Evidently Mizzou gave Kevin Knox a lot to think about. He had originally planned on committing in the next week or so, but now he’s giving himself till the end of the month.
- Dave Matter talked to new Mizzou commit Blake Harris, who re-emphasized just how much of a role community enthusiasm played in his committing earlier than he expected. The Trib talked to him, too. “It was ridiculous. It was the best fanbase I’ve ever seen.”
- It appears Mizzou has approached Cleveland State transfer Rob Edwards. The 6’4, 200-pound guard averaged 16.5 points per game this past season.
- We’ll focus more on 2018 recruits when the 2017 cycle finally ends, but Mizzou is sending offers out.
Prospects' 6'10 JR PF KJ Hymes receives another offer, this one from the Missouri Tigers.
— Las Vegas Prospects (@LVProspects) April 11, 2017
The Tradition Continues... pic.twitter.com/W9MYrDTfqU
More Links:
- Mizzou Baseball opens a six-game homestand with a two-game set against UAPB starting tonight, and while the Golden Lions have been decent in recent past ... it doesn’t appear they are this year. Sweep ‘em.
- And while we’re calling for sweeps ... Mizzou Softball vs. WIU today starting at 4pm CT. Sweep ‘em.
- Want to run a mile in the name of community and inclusion?