Behind Enemy Lines: Marshall
WVSports.com takes you Behind Enemy Lines with HerdNation.com to get perspective on the West Virginia Round of 32 opponent Marshall.
Staff writer Sean Hammond sits down with WVSports.com to provide his insight into what Marshall does on both ends of the floor, what players to watch and what can be expected when the two Mountain State programs meet up.
1. What makes Jon Elmore a difficult match up to defend? What are his strengths and how does he get his points?
In the last few weeks Jon Elmore has gotten a lot of praise for his deep range. The second half show he put on against Western Kentucky and a few of the shots he made against Wichita State were great for his highlight reel. But what makes him so difficult to defend is his craftiness and his ability to get the ball into the paint. While he doesn’t have blow by speed, he is very good at shielding and leaning into defenders while penetrating to either create contact or separation at the last second to finish. He’s very good at getting to the foul line, where he shoots 82%. If you watch Dan D’Antoni’s analytics rant after the Pitt game last season, you’ll understand how Elmore gets his points. They’re either coming from behind the 3pt line, at the rim, or at the FT line.
2. What does Marshall do on the offensive end? When is this team at it's best? Who are the players to watch outside of Elmore?
Marshall’s offense starts as soon as the ball crosses half court. They want to spread you out and make you pick your poison. While the three point shot is always a threat, the goal is to open the paint for driving lanes and limit help defense. If someone helps on penetration, they’re usually leaving an open shooter from behind the arc or the dive man on the pick-n-roll. The team is at its best when Ajdin Penava is attacking and scoring. When the 5-man in Marshall’s offense is knocking down the three, it forces the opposing center to defend him tightly on the perimeter. This opens up his ability to drive. He and Elmore play off each other very well. When they’re clicking like they were in the second half vs Xavier, they can rip off a bunch of points pretty quickly. Also, you rarely see the shot clock get to single-digits.
3. Has Marshall gone against any teams that apply constant pressure this season? How do you feel they are equipped to handle that aspect? What are the weaknesses that can be exploited or what do they struggle with?
Probably the team who applied the most constant pressure to Marshall this season was Old Dominion. Marshall lost to them twice this season, so that doesn’t look good for Marshall when you consider that aspect of the matchup vs WVU. Marshall averaged 13 turnovers per game this season, which isn’t bad when you consider the amount of possessions they play per game. But a big reason they lost to ODU in Huntington was the 19 turnovers they had that night. Marshall’s pace puts a lot of stress on the opposing defense, but sometimes it looks like they’re playing “hurried” instead of fast.
When you look at Marshall’s roster and watch them play, it’s tough for most teams to matchup up with them. However, where they have an advantage on one end, they have a disadvantage on the other end. They lack the ability to match up physically with teams who have size. They’re very thin across the board and they start three players 6’3 or shorter. Second and third chance points will be there.
4. Is Marshall primarily a man or zone team on defense? They don't have a lot of size, but skilled players. Do they struggle to defend the post at times?
Marshall is a man defensive team. They’ve played some matchup zone, but they mostly play man. Marshall’s defensive gets a lot of negative press, and sometimes rightfully so, but according to defensive efficiency (points per possession), they’re an average defensive team in college basketball. Where they get so much negativity when it comes to their defense is when people see the final scores of their games and the opposition gets into the upper 70s-80s. While they do give up a lot of points, most people don’t consider the amount of possessions they defend due to the pace they play.
Marshall does struggle defending the post, but Coach D’Antoni has done a nice job of doubling the post and forcing kick outs. Penava is a good shot blocker when he’s coming from the weak side to swat a penetrating guard, but he’s a little too thin to hold his own one-on-one against a legit big man. Also, Penava is often in foul trouble and Coach D’Antoni gambles with him on the floor because of his offensive ability. When he does so, Penava has to play softer defensively. A killer for Marshall has been from put backs off of offensive rebounds.
5. Which player is the x-factor for Marshall? By that I mean when this player does things it usually ends in positive results for the Herd?
Most of my answers have revolved around Elmore and Penava, so I’ll use this question to talk about C.J. Burks. Burks is a very streaky scorer. He averages over 20 points per game, but has been cold in the last few games. If Burks is scoring at a high rate, it gives Marshall two capable guards to score behind the arc, at the rim, or at the FT line. They’re a very explosive team when Burks is rolling.
6. What are your keys to the game and how do you see this one playing out?
WVU will have the advantage on the boards and it’s going to be huge for Marshall to not turn the ball over a lot. If WVU gets 10-15 more FG attempts than Marshall, it will take an incredible night from behind the arc for Marshall to equalize that.
The thing that worries me most in this game is WVU’s depth vs Marshall’s. Marshall has only been playing seven players while going on this run and WVU can bring four to five off the bench. I think WVU will try to attack early and get them in foul trouble. Once you do that, Marshall will have to give up easy drives and uncontested layups. The game could get ugly in WVU’s favor if this happens. If Marshall can stay out of foul trouble, I think it will be a dog fight.
After the players interviews Coach Dan D'Antoni comes on at 15:10.
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After the players are interviewed there is a long break, you can skip ahead to 10:25 when Coach Huggins comes on
