Why Gregg Marshall thinks Saturday’s VCU game could be a Dexter Dennis breakout game
It’s no secret that Wichita State sophomore Dexter Dennis has been in a slump for the last month.
Since scoring 36 combined points in WSU’s first two games of the season, Dennis has gone ice cold from the field. In his last eight games, Dennis has averaged 4.4 points, failed to reach double digits and shot 11 of 56 (19.6%) from the field and 5 of 37 (13.5%) on three-pointers.
Many thought the 6-foot-5 wing was capable of taking a leap that could generate some NBA Draft chatter after he averaged 9.9 points and drilled 43.8% of his threes during WSU’s 14-4 close to last season. He still could — the season is not even one-third of the way complete — but this wasn’t the start anyone was expecting.
WSU coach Gregg Marshall believes a great opportunity to end the funk is coming this weekend when the Shockers (9-1) host VCU (8-2) for an 11 a.m. tipoff at Koch Arena broadcast on ESPN2.
“He’s got to get something in transition and make something happen that’s easy,” Marshall said Monday on his radio show. “I keep telling him, ‘Don’t just be a three-point shooter. You’ve got so much more to your game than that.’ He’s got to get something easy and that hasn’t happened yet. This game on Saturday, there’s going to be broken floor play after broken floor play. You’re going to have to make unorthodox basketball plays because of the way they defend and the way they come at you and trap all over the floor. So (Dennis) will have those opportunities on Saturday, he’s just going to have to capitalize on them.”
VCU is known for its “Havoc” defense, which tries to force ball handlers into traps by employing a run-and-jump style defense. The Rams apply full-court pressure almost more (14th out of 353 teams, per Synergy’s logs) than any team in college basketball.
The results are effective, as VCU ranks second in the country in turnovers forced (20.2) and steals (10.7) per game. But teams who can crack VCU’s pressure are always left in advantageous situations — “opportunity basketball” is how Marshall phrases it.
This is where Dennis will have an opportunity to shine. He’s likely going to be an outlet near half-court for WSU breaking the press. If WSU is able to pass its way out of the double teams, Dennis should be able to catch and have a 2-on-1 or 3-on-2 advantage going to the basket. The catch is that Dennis won’t have long, maybe a second, to make a decision and try to capitalize before VCU’s scrambling defense recovers.
That’s why Marshall is having WSU practice 3-on-2 drills this entire week leading up to the VCU game. When WSU breaks the pressure, Dennis should have opportunities to pull up for a wide open look for three on the wing or to drive to the basket and perhaps unleash his athleticism for a highlight-reel dunk.
“He just needs to see the ball go through the basket a couple times,” Marshall said. “I’m going to encourage him to sprint and try to get a layup in transition. Get an easy one. That’s what needs to happen. Then the next jump shot might go down and his confidence will start brimming again. He’s so athletic, we need to get him out in transition and out in front of someone.”
Dennis has not been made available to the media since his slump and Marshall has said he is unsure what, if anything, happened to lead to the slump. The numbers show his shot selection is almost identical from last season; he’s just missing the same shots he made last season. Per Synergy, Dennis made 42% of his catch-and-shoot looks last season (he’s making 22% this season) and drilled 49% of his open catch-and-shoot attempts (he’s making 27% this season).
The significant drop-off in his accuracy on open looks could mean that Dennis is merely in a shooting slump and it’s only a matter of time before those shots start dropping for a player who connected on 40% of his threes last season. Regardless, WSU is 9-1 with arguably its most talented player currently a shell of what he could be on the offensive end.
That bodes well for the Shockers’ potential this season. Now they just have to figure out a way to get their star back to playing like a star.
“No one gives us more in practice, no one understands our system better and no one is more athletic and just deserves to see some good things happen to him,” Marshall said of Dennis. “But we need him to play better and play well. He hasn’t played up to his ability for awhile now and he knows it.
“Nobody is panicking. We just want him to get back to being that guy. He had a wonderful summer and wonderful fall and he was setting himself up. Whatever happened, he’s lost a little of bit of what I like to call verve, vigor and vitality and he needs to get it back.”
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