Game 7: vs. Northwestern St. (4-3)
The Demons come to Oxford after defeating Centenary for the 2nd time this season earlier this week. Before beating Centenary at home, the Demons beat them in Baton Rouge on a neutral floor. While in Baton Rouge, Northwestern St. also defeated Alcorn St. while losing badly to LSU and Troy. Northwestern St. opened the year losing at Indiana by 18. The Demons' other win came at home against East Texas Baptist. Coach Mike McConathy's team is trying to find some consistency which will hopefully lead them back to the NCAA Tournament for the 2nd time in 4 years.
Probable Starters
Michael McConathy, 5'9" 155 Jr. 9 pts. 4 ass. 31% FG, 36% 3PFG, 76% FT. Looks to push the ball and drive to the basket, doesn't wait around long to set up the offense. Quick release on his shot. Likes to try the runner when in the lane, even when jumping off the wrong foot. Tends to play out-of-control and winds up on the floor a lot, looks to flop defensively.
Damon Jones, 6'4" 195 Jr. 11 pts. 42% FG, 41% 3PFG, 100% FT. Good outside shooter, though mainly a catch and shoot guy off of dribble penetration. Will drive if given the chance, but needs room to do so.
Deividas Petravicius, 6'6" 220 Sr. 3 pts, 4 reb. 30% FG, 29% 3PFG. Wants to put the ball on the floor and drive. Gets caught dribbling too much. Likes to drive baseline specifically.
Devin White, 6'8" 215 So. 10 pts, 7 reb. 50% FG, 33% 3PFG, 61% FT. Does his damage on the offensive glass. Very long and can jump, so have to put a body on him and keep him off the boards. Can hit the turnaround fadeaway in the post and the foul line mid-range shot.
William Mosley, 6'7: 210 Fr. 6 pts, 7 reb. 72% FG, 44% FT. Another good offensive rebounder. Not much of an offensive post game.
Off the Bench
Dominic Knight, 6'3" 212 So. 5 pts, 3 reb. 50% FG, 74% FT. Will flash in the lane and score in the paint area, not much of an outside threat.
Logan McConathy, 6' 170 So. 1 pt, 3 ass. 19% FG, 67% FT. Plays the same way as his brother, aggressive and at times, out-of-control. Less of a threat to shoot from the outside. Not much of a scorer at all.
Keithan Hancock, 5'10" 175 Sr. 9 pts, 2 reb. 32% FG, 28% 3PFG, 77% FT. 5'10" is generous, more like 5'8" at the most. When he gets the ball, he's going to find a way to shoot the ball. Quick release from the outside, has decent form so he's capable of going on a hot streak. Best defender on the team, has really quick hands and has some of the quickest feet I've seen.
CJ Clark, 6'7" 195 Sr. 5 pts, 4 reb. 38% FG, 79% FT. Another long, good offensive player. Can spot up and hit the mid-range jumper.
Kalem Porterie, 6'6" 250 Sr. 4 pts, 3 reb. 41% FG, 46% FT. Big boy underneath. Doesn't move really well, looks to use his size to move defenders out of the way and finish at the basket.
The Demons aren't very organized offensively. They want to force turnovers and score in transition. Even after made free throws, the Demons will run their fast break, getting the ball to the corner and looking inside. If they have to play in the half-court, they will crash the offensive boards hard looking for 2nd chance opportunities. If they have to set up in the half-court, they will mainly run a very loose motion offense, which is just something to get people moving. They do have a couple of set plays, both designed to get the ball inside. First, after the ball is in the corner, the big men will screen for each other and run a little high-low action as the ball is being reversed to the high post, who will look down low. Second, both big men will start high and one will flash to the near side block. Look for a lot of high pick and roll where McConathy is looking to dish to big man rolling, or drive and kick to an open shooter (Jones). They do run a couple of nice out-of-bounds plays, including the picket fence (yes, that picket fence). They'll also diagonally screen for White or Clark, who'll come from the opposite elbow to the near block for a layup.
Defensively, the Demons aren't afraid to change defenses, even after missed shots. Northwestern St. will man press, diamond press (full and 3/4 court), and drop back into something that looks like a 2-3 zone. The Demons apply heavy ball pressure and are out in the passing lanes looking for quick steals. If you're not careful, anything weak in the paint will be swatted away as the Demons average 7 blocks per game. In order to keep up the pressure, the Demons will sub every 5 minutes, and will often sub for all 5 players.
Northwestern St. averages 73 points a game, but only shoots 40% from the field, 31% from 3. They also commit 22 turnovers a game as opposed to 14 assists, a bad assist/turnover ratio. The Demons want to push the pace, but they play recklessly, taking bad shots, getting caught in the air, trying to make impossible passes. If you were to look up efficiency in a thesaurus, Northwestern St. would be one of its antonyms. But that's the way they play. They want to lure you into their style, make the game ugly and make it a contest of athletic prowess, not a basketball game. Defensively, if you can handle their ball pressure, you can drive by them and get any shot you want as they play basically no help defense, slowly rotating to any ball movement. While they are long and athletic, they don't look to put bodies on people when going for rebounds, creating 2nd chances.
The gameplan is pretty simple. Offensively, attack their pressure by getting the ball in the middle of the floor and getting numbers. In the half-court, we can't settle for jumpers. We need to drive and move the ball around. And we need to finish strong around the basket or at least draw fouls (and they will foul us). So free throw shooting needs to be on target. If we do that, there's no reason why we can't score at least 80 points. Defensively, make them hit 3s, stop dribble penetration, and gang rebound. And when we corral the rebound, let's be selective in the fast break. This would turn everyone's heads, but we could even release one of our guards as the Demons will often send all 5 guys to the boards. We can't get caught up in their style, which is easy to do. Let's take what they give us and play hard for 40 minutes.
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