How Wichita State’s defense provided the blueprint for slowing Cade Cunningham down
Cade Cunningham made the headlines by hitting the game-winning three-pointer in Oklahoma State’s 67-64 victory over Wichita State at Koch Arena on Saturday, but WSU may have given the rest of college basketball the blueprint for how to play team defense on the projected No. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.
The 6-foot-8 freshman entered averaging 20.2 points per game on 49.3% shooting, but finished Saturday with a season-low 10 points on a season-worst 36.3% shooting. WSU limited him to a season-low 11 shots and was the first team to prevent him from shooting a free throw on top of forcing him into four turnovers.
After talking with WSU interim coach Isaac Brown and watching film, here’s how the Shockers pulled off the most effective job against the superstar of any team so far during OSU’s undefeated 6-0 start.
1. Dexter Dennis is an outstanding 1-on-1 defender
Before you get to any of the details of WSU’s game plan, none of them would have mattered if the Shockers didn’t have a defender who could go head-to-head with Cunningham.
Not many teams will have such a luxury, but WSU is one of them because it has 6-foot-5 junior wing Dexter Dennis, who proved again on Saturday why he is one of the best defenders in college basketball. While WSU also rotated Trey Wade and Ricky Council on Cunningham, Dennis spent the bulk of the game on the star player.
The physical abilities of Dennis were on full display against Cunningham, as Dennis proved he had the athleticism and explosion to stick with a sure-fire NBA prospect. Although he gave up three inches and 10 pounds, Dennis (6-5, 210) also proved he wasn’t going to allow Cunningham (6-8, 220) to bully him for baskets like he has so many defenders already this season.
But Dennis isn’t an elite defender just because of his physical abilities. He absorbs defensive scouting reports better than anyone on WSU, studies tendencies and obsesses over the details of whomever he’ll be defending. Executing those details during the game never show up in the box score, but they are what make Dennis a next-level defender.
Take for example an early possession in the first half when Cunningham drove to the middle of the floor and jump stopped, clearly looking to use his big frame to bump Dennis off and elevate for a short jumper. Not only did Dennis refuse to go backwards, he kept his right arm extended while defending. Why? Because that’s the shooting pocket that Cunningham needed free to fire his jumper.
Because Dennis kept his arm in this shooting space, Cunningham was never able to begin his shooting motion and instead was forced to pass out. That doesn’t show up in the box score, but the attention to detail by Dennis prevented an easy look for Cunningham.
Tyson Etienne, who is WSU’s leading scorer with a 19.7 scoring average through three games, can speak from experience — Dennis guards him every day in practice when they’re not on the same team.
“Dex is a great defender, so I know what he’s capable of doing,” Etienne said. “What you saw on the floor (Saturday) is something that happens every day around here. Cade Cunningham is a great player, but Dexter Dennis is also a great player so I’m not surprised by the performance (Dennis) had on the defensive end.”
2. WSU cut down the available space
Oklahoma State’s Mike Boynton does an excellent job at spacing the floor on offense, which has given Cunningham plenty of room to operate.
What WSU’s defense did better than any other team so far this season was cut down the available space for Cunningham. That meant any time Cunningham started to drive to the basket, WSU’s entire defense collapsed to the paint to form a wall against Cunningham.
Cunningham deserves credit for making the right basketball play throughout the game and kicking to the wide-open shooter, usually in the corner. This was the trade-off WSU was willing to live with — trading wide-open threes by OSU’s supporting cast in exchange for stopping Cunningham’s forays to the basket by telling help defenders to leave their man entirely on the perimeter to help in the paint. It was a winning trade-off for WSU, as OSU’s supporting cast made just 5 of 22 (22.7%) three-pointers.
Sometimes WSU didn’t even have to make that trade-off at all because of the excellent timing of its off-ball guards to help off their man and claw at the ball when Cunningham began his drive. No one was better at this for WSU than Alterique Gilbert, whose fifth-year smarts showed by his impeccable timing to clog up the exact spot where Cunningham wanted to go — often making him pick up his dribble and pass out.
When Cunningham is able to build up a head of steam moving toward the basket, he has been a devastating force for Oklahoma State. In the five games before Saturday, Cunningham was shooting 64.5% on shots six feet or less from the basket and generating 6.2 attempts per games — that’s better than eight points per game on just those shots.
But with Dennis guarding the ball and the help defense focused on walling off drives, Cunningham finished just 1 for 3 on shots six feet or less against WSU on Saturday.
3. Making Cunningham see double
Another staple of WSU’s defensive plan against Cunningham was the way it utilized its centers — telling them to disregard OSU’s post entirely to help off on Cunningham whenever OSU tried to target him in the low blocks.
The Cowboys have usually been stealing a basket per game by isolating Cunningham in the low post and allowing him to seal his defender and use his big frame to finish inside. But WSU did well to prevent OSU from funneling the ball to Cunningham where he wanted to catch it.
It’s important to remember that defense is all about what trade-offs defenses are willing to live with. So while WSU’s strategy was effective against limiting Cunningham, it doesn’t mean that the Shockers didn’t pay for it from time to time.
There was a possession early in the first half where OSU’s center set a back screen for Cunningham to cut to the basket. Like he was instructed, WSU center Morris Udeze stayed back in the paint to take away the option to throw to Cunningham. Meanwhile, OSU’s center stepped up to set a ball screen and because Udeze was concerned with Cunningham he was late to arrive with the help defense. OSU’s Isaac Likekele took advantage of Udeze being out of position and easily scored a basket.
WSU’s defense also showed a good feel for double-teaming Cunningham when appropriate. Because Cunningham is 6 foot 8 and can see over the defense, it would be hard for a team to double team him every time he came off a ball screen or touched the ball. More times than not, Cunningham will make the right play and feed a teammate for an easy basket.
But because the Shockers only double-teamed Cunningham when it was advantageous — like when WSU could use the sidelines as an extra defender — they were able to keep Cunningham guessing and even throw a careless pass that resulted in a turnover late in the game.
4. Cunningham takes over anyway
Entering the final two minutes of the game with the score tied at 60, WSU’s post defenders had done an excellent job of closing down space for Cunningham coming off of ball screens. That’s why Boynton deserves a lot of credit for making a crucial adjustment in crunch time to finally allow Cunningham the room to go downhill for the first time all game.
Instead of having a post set the high ball screen for Cunningham, Boynton sent an OSU guard to do the job, which put WSU sophomore guard Tyson Etienne in an unfamiliar situation trying to play supporting defense in a ball screen. Unsure, Etienne stayed back inside the three-point arc with his man setting the screen 10 feet away, which allowed Cunningham to dribble off the screen freely and build a head of steam toward the basket — the very thing that turns him into a devastating force.
Sure enough, Cunningham zoomed past the flat-footed Etienne and collapsed WSU’s defense. Udeze slid over and had his feet set for the charge when Cunningham ran into him, but the call never came. Instead, the whistle blew after Cunningham dumped it off to Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe who scored the go-ahead basket and was fouled in the process.
A minute later after WSU tied the game at 64 with 34 seconds remaining, it was clear OSU was going to put the ball in the hands of Cunningham and let him create in isolation without a ball screen. With the game on the line, Cunningham dribbled between his legs twice, sized up Dennis in front of him, took a jab step right and then pulled back and elevated for the game-winning shot.
“I knew that I was going to take the last shot,” Cunningham said. “I kinda struggled a little bit throughout the game, but the team kept us in it and kept my confidence high. I had full confidence in the shot and it went down.”
Dennis did everything possible for a defender in the situation. He swiveled his hips in anticipation to wall off the drive to the middle of the floor — where the percentages say Cunningham’s best chance of scoring the go-ahead basket would be — and then recognized Cunningham’s shot and exploded off the ground to contest. The replays show that Dennis contested the shot so well that he may have even tipped the ball on Cunningham’s release.
“We played him how we wanted to play him,” Gilbert said. “High contest, he just made a tough shot. He is one of the best players in the country and that shot is just something we have to live with.”
WSU played perhaps the best 40 minutes of defense against Cunningham that any team will put forth this season. But sometimes, it doesn’t matter how good of defense you play against a star player, they will still find a way, no matter how improbable, to succeed and that is why they are a star player.
“Cade Cunningham showed tonight why he’s a million dollar man,” Brown said. “He stepped up and made a big-time shot, what big-time players do. I thought Dexter defended it well, but that’s the reason why he’s the No. 1 pick in the draft. We did a good job on him all night and right there at the end, he just stepped up and made a big shot.”
This story was originally published December 13, 2020 at 3:27 PM with the headline "How Wichita State’s defense provided the blueprint for slowing Cade Cunningham down."
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