In its first five conference games, Fresno State allowed opponents to hit 49.8% of their shots and average 71.2 points.
The Bulldogs tumbled to a 1-4 start in the Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball race.
But they have turned those numbers around — not through some quirk of scheduling with games against poor teams, not with a bunch of combination junk defenses, and not by flipping some imaginary switch.
An assist goes to assistant Jerry Wainwright, who handles much of the defensive scouting, planning and prep work in breaking down opponents and their tendencies.
“You don’t want to get Wainwright yelling, so that’s definitely motivation to get it right, guard Jonathan Wills said with a laugh.
But there is a lot that has gone into the turnaround.
“We just had to get back to attention to details in our defense, helping the on-ball defender and just being in the right spots as far as our principles, Wills said.
The mental preparation has taken a huge step up from when we started, guard Tyler Johnson said.
It really comes down to communication. I really feel that goes a long way, with beating players to their own spots with their own plays and knowing what they’re doing, point guard Steven Shepp said.
All of that has improved over the course of the season, and all could be needed again tonight when Fresno State (11-14, 3-6) travels to San Jose State for a Western Athletic Conference game at the Event Center.
The Spartans (7-16) are winless in the WAC at 0-8, but they have scored 75 or more points seven times — including an 83-81 overtime loss to Hawaii on Saturday — and have a backcourt that can cause Fresno State problems.
Guard James Kinney is third in the conference, averaging 16.3 points per game. Point guard Keith Shamburger had 12 assists in the loss to the Warriors. Add in D.J. Brown, who popped 33 points on Cal State Bakersfield in a non-conference game Jan. 23 and has averaged 13 points in three WAC games since, and the Bulldogs could have problems on the perimeter.
We’ll have our hands full with a team that can really score the basketball, coach Rodney Terry said.
The Bulldogs will continue to rely on the attention to detail, mental preparation and communication that has carried them through this stretch, working off the scouting reports prepared by the assistants: Wainwright, Michael Schwartz and Byron Jones.
We’ve really asked our guys to have a more vested interest in really understanding what we do, Terry said. Obviously, this time of year, everybody is going to know everybody’s tendencies. But to give yourself an advantage as a player, whether it’s early in the game or late in the game, you want as much information as you can have in terms of being prepared.
“Your defensive principles are your defensive principles no matter what. But if someone is trying to run a triangle or someone is running different actions — and to understand and to know who the main culprits are, who the guys we have to do a great job stopping and a great job containing — they’ve done a great job in terms of really understanding that and taking it to another level.”
In its latest four-game stretch, Fresno State has faced New Mexico State, the highest-scoring team in the WAC, and beaten Idaho, the best shooting team. It avenged its worst loss in conference play in taking out Utah State, second in the conference in shooting percentage, and held down Louisiana Tech, which is averaging 70.6 points per game in WAC play.
New Mexico State, averaging 77.5 points, was held to 60. Idaho hit 38.5% of its shots and scored 55 points, 14.8 under its average. Utah State scored 54 against the Bulldogs, 12.8 under its average. Louisiana Tech shot 38.8% and only got to 59.
“Early in the year, guys are still trying to figure out what you’re trying to do, let alone trying to figure out what the opponents are doing, Terry said.
But they’re learning to watch tape in a different way, where they’re really watching the game within the game and not just watching guys shoot 3s or guys dunk the basketball. They’re understanding what goes into stopping a particular action or guarding a guy and what his particular tendencies are.”
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/02/08/2715276/scouting-foes-key-to-fresno-state.html#storylink=cpy
Scouting Key To Team’s Defensive Plan
Fresno Bee, Robert Kuwada
http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/02/08/2715276/scouting-foes-key-to-fresno-state.html
In its first five conference games, Fresno State allowed opponents to hit 49.8% of their shots and average 71.2 points.
The Bulldogs tumbled to a 1-4 start in the Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball race.
But they have turned those numbers around — not through some quirk of scheduling with games against poor teams, not with a bunch of combination junk defenses, and not by flipping some imaginary switch.
An assist goes to assistant Jerry Wainwright, who handles much of the defensive scouting, planning and prep work in breaking down opponents and their tendencies.
“You don’t want to get Wainwright yelling, so that’s definitely motivation to get it right, guard Jonathan Wills said with a laugh.
But there is a lot that has gone into the turnaround.
We just had to get back to attention to details in our defense, helping the on-ball defender and just being in the right spots as far as our principles, Wills said.
The mental preparation has taken a huge step up from when we started, guard Tyler Johnson said.
It really comes down to communication. I really feel that goes a long way, with beating players to their own spots with their own plays and knowing what they’re doing, point guard Steven Shepp said.
All of that has improved over the course of the season, and all could be needed again tonight when Fresno State (11-14, 3-6) travels to San Jose State for a Western Athletic Conference game at the Event Center.
The Spartans (7-16) are winless in the WAC at 0-8, but they have scored 75 or more points seven times — including an 83-81 overtime loss to Hawaii on Saturday — and have a backcourt that can cause Fresno State problems.
Guard James Kinney is third in the conference, averaging 16.3 points per game. Point guard Keith Shamburger had 12 assists in the loss to the Warriors. Add in D.J. Brown, who popped 33 points on Cal State Bakersfield in a non-conference game Jan. 23 and has averaged 13 points in three WAC games since, and the Bulldogs could have problems on the perimeter.
We’ll have our hands full with a team that can really score the basketball, coach Rodney Terry said.
The Bulldogs will continue to rely on the attention to detail, mental preparation and communication that has carried them through this stretch, working off the scouting reports prepared by the assistants: Wainwright, Michael Schwartz and Byron Jones.
We’ve really asked our guys to have a more vested interest in really understanding what we do, Terry said. Obviously, this time of year, everybody is going to know everybody’s tendencies. But to give yourself an advantage as a player, whether it’s early in the game or late in the game, you want as much information as you can have in terms of being prepared.
“Your defensive principles are your defensive principles no matter what. But if someone is trying to run a triangle or someone is running different actions — and to understand and to know who the main culprits are, who the guys we have to do a great job stopping and a great job containing — they’ve done a great job in terms of really understanding that and taking it to another level.”
In its latest four-game stretch, Fresno State has faced New Mexico State, the highest-scoring team in the WAC, and beaten Idaho, the best shooting team. It avenged its worst loss in conference play in taking out Utah State, second in the conference in shooting percentage, and held down Louisiana Tech, which is averaging 70.6 points per game in WAC play.
New Mexico State, averaging 77.5 points, was held to 60. Idaho hit 38.5% of its shots and scored 55 points, 14.8 under its average. Utah State scored 54 against the Bulldogs, 12.8 under its average. Louisiana Tech shot 38.8% and only got to 59.
“Early in the year, guys are still trying to figure out what you’re trying to do, let alone trying to figure out what the opponents are doing, Terry said.
But they’re learning to watch tape in a different way, where they’re really watching the game within the game and not just watching guys shoot 3s or guys dunk the basketball. They’re understanding what goes into stopping a particular action or guarding a guy and what his particular tendencies are.”
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/02/08/2715276/scouting-foes-key-to-fresno-state.html#storylink=cpy
