Post passing prized by Wichita State guards, demanded by coaches

In high school, passing the ball to post players is either relatively simple or largely unnecessary.

“I never did it in high school, I learned when I got here,” Wichita State freshman guard Austin Reaves said. “I was the biggest kid on the team.”

In college, the task becomes more important, more demanding and more demanded. Wichita State’s post scoring continues to present a major threat and is more dangerous the more it is used.

“The biggest thing is, if you don’t do it, you’re going to hear about it the next day in film,” WSU guard Landry Shamet said. “They get on you big-time. You learn pretty quickly that you need to give it to those guys, and they deserve it.”

The Shockers (17-4, 7-1 Missouri Valley Conference) play Southern Illinois (11-10, 4-4) on Tuesday at Koch Arena and will try to keep its offensive roll going with plays that start by passing the ball to Shaq Morris, Darral Willis and Rauno Nurger and build from their scoring to three-point shooting threats.

Morris is coming off games of 17 and 24 points to set a career high. Willis averages 11.7 points and is shooting 54.7 percent. Nurger makes 58.8 percent of his shots, most of them banked in with his left hand.

“They throw it inside, and that’s always a start with them,” Indiana State coach Greg Lansing said after Saturday’s loss to the Shockers. “Even when they had Ronnie Baker and Fred VanVleet, they throw it inside as good as anybody in the country.”

Morris is the recent beneficiary of that plan. He consistently gets the ball in good position and the guards help with crisp passing that moves the defense. Reaves said that early in practices he rushed passes in his desire to get the ball to Morris. When the offense is working, the guards move the ball and give the big men time to get position.

“We’re really good at getting it inside and definitely our guards are getting way better at taking the time to play inside-out, which is huge for us,” Morris said.

That patience is needed to combat defenders who might play behind, or to the side, or in front of, a good post scorer. In high school, post defense often consists of a defender standing behind the scorer.

Then there’s the threat of help from behind the scorer and coming double teams. An offense that makes the defense scramble can create a good passing lane.

“You might have to reverse the ball a few times … to get a good post look,” Shamet said. “You can’t just stare it in. A lot of it comes from good reversals and not just the first pass below the free-throw line and then throw it in.”

When Morris gets his 6-foot-8 body in good position, he is hard to stop. His past two games are reviving hopes that he can provide a steady, sometimes dominant, post scorer. Putting up numbers against Evansville and Indiana State is one thing. Tougher challenges await, starting with SIU center Thik Bol, who averages 7.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. Also looming are Illinois State and Missouri State, teams with big men equally as talented as the Shockers.

“If he plays this way, it’s going to give us a great chance, no matter who we play,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “He’s going to have to do that now against some of the top post players in the league coming up. We’re going to see some guys that are putting up numbers … maybe more accomplished and maybe more veteran players. We’ll see how he does.”

It helps when the guards know the post men are willing passers. Morris set a career high with four assists against Indiana State. The Shockers are shooting 38.8 percent from three-point range, in part because the attention defense must pay to Morris, Willis and Nurger give the guards open shots.

“If you play them one-on-one, they are just going to kill, and if you double them, it's going to leave someone open,” Reaves said.

Morris’ production is always connected to his health and conditioning. His recent surge comes as he recovers from a thigh contusion that cost him two games in late December. Marshall returned him to the starting lineup against Evansville after a good run of practices showed his conditioning on the rise.

On Sunday, the Shockers took it light in practice. Marshall suggested Morris ride the stationary bike for 20 minutes while other starters shot baskets.

“Continue to work on his conditioning,” Marshall said. “That’s progress right there. Hopefully, he will fall in love with what’s happening and want it to continue.”

This story was originally published January 23, 2017 at 7:15 PM with the headline "Post passing prized by Wichita State guards, demanded by coaches."