Stopping Travis McKie

Travis McKie entered the game with Florida State having recorded double-doubles in three of his past five games, and averaging 17.2 ppg on the season. But against FSU he shot 1-13. Several of these were open looks, but most of them were highly contested. Sixteen previous times in his career he’d attempted at least 13 shots and had never made fewer than 6.

So how did FSU stop him? I went to the video and found a couple of examples. This certainly isn’t exhaustive, but should give a good idea at how FSUs flexibility on defense can lead to victories.

The first look is from the very first possession of the game. The possession had begun with FSU in man-to-man defense, and FSU fouled. In this first image Wake is inbounding from the baseline, and McKie (circled) is the inbounder. Wake is in a double-stack, which is a set that head coach Jeff Bzdelik uses quite a bit, both on inbounds plays and in the flow of the game. FSU has Xavier Gibson guarding the pass, and four defenders face guarding the rest of Wake’s players.

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Wake inbounds to Ty Walker (circled) and CJ Harris goes down the lane in order to set a pick on Xavier Gibson.

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Harris sets the screen (circled) and McKie curls around it hoping for a little dive to the lane or even an alley-oop. The problem is that FSU is no longer in man-to-man defense and now is in a 2-3 zone. So when Harris sets the screen Bernard James just switches to defend the cutting McKie. Also, note that Michael Snaer has dropped into the lane. His size and ability to recover would pressure Chennault (#1) if Wake passed over the top for Chennault to get a 3-pt look.

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The pass goes to McKie (circled, left) who turns into a double-team he wasn’t expecting. Note that Deividas Dulkys sags into the lane for any potential loose ball situation. McKie kicks it to the corner for Chennault and Dulkys rotates to close out any shot.

Here it is at full speed:



 

Next up is a play from the 2nd half, with Florida State up 32-28. Tony Chennaul has the ball just beyond the timeline and Wake is running a wheel play to get the ball to Travis McKie (circled).

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Michael Snaer goes out to cover McKie (circled), and Snaer gets screened by Carson Desrosiers (#33). Bernard James, who had been guarding Desrosiers, needs to hedge McKie and slow him down in order to Snaer to catch back up. Desrosiers, like every basketball player over the age of 8, will either roll to the basket or pop to the left wing for a three. Since it’s Desrosiers, assume the roll.

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Snaer gets hung up on the excellent screen from Desrosiers, which leaves Bernard James one-on-one with one of the best scorers in the ACC. On most teams Luke Loucks would leave his man (#1 Tony Chennault) to step in front of McKie and McKie would kick to the shooter for the wide open three.

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But FSU isn’t most teams, and the reason is Bernard James. Here he defends McKie for 25′ and plays volleyball with his layup attempt.

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Here it is full speed:

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