my guy russ wood fielded a few questions for us on the bulls....covers usf for RunningTheBulls.com
what do these bulls run offensively? Who are the primary scoring targets?
Because they have so many new players in the program – only three players on the team played at least 450 minutes last season – they don’t always get into their sets smoothly. They want to get T.J. Lang and David Collins open on the perimeter and get them into a rhythm early as well as use their size inside. Freshman center Michael Durr is skilled and can score at the basket with either hand. Alexis Yetna, who sat out last season, seems to be adjusting to the speed of the game. I’ve seen him display a nice inside-outside game in practice and it showed up against Ohio. Freshman Mayan Kiir isn’t as skilled as Yetna and Durr but he is athletic and plays hard. He is a spark off the bench. Justin Brown provides bench scoring and is shooting it well from the perimeter this season.
what do the bulls run defensively?
USF’s defensive fingerprint is almost exclusively man. They only used a zone defense about 18 percent of their defensive possessions last season. When they played zone last season it was 2-3 and they had decent success with it. USF doesn’t press but they will apply some ball pressure in the back court off of a made basket or ATO.
seems like #4 and #10 screen alot out of some horns or even flex typ looks. Are they called for offensively?
USF runs a version of horns and has some set plays with flex cuts. Brian Gregory runs quite a few set plays each game. They also use ball screen and last season shot 40 percent in ball screen action. This year they have some bigs with good hands and in time I anticipate those guys getting passes when they roll to the basket and when the slip screens like Michael Durr did Friday afternoon. He didn’t score, but he was fouled and went to the line.
transition seems their best offense. How do they work vs zone? Being pressed?
It may have looked like it against Ohio because they were able to create some live ball turnovers and they were a much more athletic team than the Bobcats. Against Georgetown, however, USF won’t have a decided athletic advantage. Having said that, they are a long and athletic team. Their first two opponents played zone more (53.7 percent) than man defense. USF shot 50.9 percent against the zone in those two games but, due to turnovers, only scored .873 points per possession against zone defenses in their first two games.
They really haven’t been pressed yet. Austin Peay applied strong ball pressure but it wasn’t a press defense inasmuch as there was no trapping and so forth. Point guard Laquincy Rideau is steady with the ball and has only had three turnovers in the past two games.
can anyone shoot besides Lang?
LOL yes. David Collins made just over 40 percent from the perimeter last season on his way to American Athletic Conference all-rookie team honors. He is on the scouting report this season and teams are doing a good job of taking his shot away from him. He also had a lower back problem at the start of the season and that may be affecting his shot mechanics.
Sophomore small forward Justin Brown has been a spark off the bench and he is making 40 percent of his three-point attempts (6-of-15). He had an efficient 11 points on six shots against Ohio. Freshman point guard Xavier Castaneda isn’t on the floor to shoot threes but I wouldn’t leave him open for a catch-and-release three-pointer.
what do these bulls run offensively? Who are the primary scoring targets?
Because they have so many new players in the program – only three players on the team played at least 450 minutes last season – they don’t always get into their sets smoothly. They want to get T.J. Lang and David Collins open on the perimeter and get them into a rhythm early as well as use their size inside. Freshman center Michael Durr is skilled and can score at the basket with either hand. Alexis Yetna, who sat out last season, seems to be adjusting to the speed of the game. I’ve seen him display a nice inside-outside game in practice and it showed up against Ohio. Freshman Mayan Kiir isn’t as skilled as Yetna and Durr but he is athletic and plays hard. He is a spark off the bench. Justin Brown provides bench scoring and is shooting it well from the perimeter this season.
what do the bulls run defensively?
USF’s defensive fingerprint is almost exclusively man. They only used a zone defense about 18 percent of their defensive possessions last season. When they played zone last season it was 2-3 and they had decent success with it. USF doesn’t press but they will apply some ball pressure in the back court off of a made basket or ATO.
seems like #4 and #10 screen alot out of some horns or even flex typ looks. Are they called for offensively?
USF runs a version of horns and has some set plays with flex cuts. Brian Gregory runs quite a few set plays each game. They also use ball screen and last season shot 40 percent in ball screen action. This year they have some bigs with good hands and in time I anticipate those guys getting passes when they roll to the basket and when the slip screens like Michael Durr did Friday afternoon. He didn’t score, but he was fouled and went to the line.
transition seems their best offense. How do they work vs zone? Being pressed?
It may have looked like it against Ohio because they were able to create some live ball turnovers and they were a much more athletic team than the Bobcats. Against Georgetown, however, USF won’t have a decided athletic advantage. Having said that, they are a long and athletic team. Their first two opponents played zone more (53.7 percent) than man defense. USF shot 50.9 percent against the zone in those two games but, due to turnovers, only scored .873 points per possession against zone defenses in their first two games.
They really haven’t been pressed yet. Austin Peay applied strong ball pressure but it wasn’t a press defense inasmuch as there was no trapping and so forth. Point guard Laquincy Rideau is steady with the ball and has only had three turnovers in the past two games.
can anyone shoot besides Lang?
LOL yes. David Collins made just over 40 percent from the perimeter last season on his way to American Athletic Conference all-rookie team honors. He is on the scouting report this season and teams are doing a good job of taking his shot away from him. He also had a lower back problem at the start of the season and that may be affecting his shot mechanics.
Sophomore small forward Justin Brown has been a spark off the bench and he is making 40 percent of his three-point attempts (6-of-15). He had an efficient 11 points on six shots against Ohio. Freshman point guard Xavier Castaneda isn’t on the floor to shoot threes but I wouldn’t leave him open for a catch-and-release three-pointer.
