How Wichita State Shockers basketball used Tyson Etienne to jumpstart Morris Udeze
It’s still not without its flaws, but the Wichita State men’s basketball team may have discovered the way to get Morris Udeze back on track.
After Udeze ended last season with a strong finish, scoring a career-high 22 points in an NCAA Tournament loss against Drake, the 6-foot-8 junior center was stuck in a rut through this season’s first five games where he had more turnovers than field goals.
Udeze looked the closest he has to last season’s form in WSU’s 61-55 road win at Missouri this past Friday, where he tied his season-high with 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. He could have had more too, if not for five misses in eight attempts from the foul line.
“It feels good, man,” said Udeze afterward, clearly relieved. “It’s just a game at the end of the day, so I try to remember to have fun with it and keep my head up high. You’re not going to have a great game every time out there.
“I know I’ve been in a little bit of a slump lately, so it feels good to get back to what I do.”
So what changed in the Missouri game? Not only did Udeze do himself a favor by returning to basics and what made him good last season — like those big drop steps to finish off post moves near the rim and waiting in the dunker’s spot for a dump-off pass to slam — but WSU coach Isaac Brown and his staff were also creative in finding new ways using leading scorer Tyson Etienne and his shooting gravity to manipulate defenses and free up Udeze.
The Shockers (5-1) hope those ways are sustainable and will find out quickly when they travel for their second straight road game, this one a step up in competition when WSU takes on Oklahoma State (6-1) at Gallagher-Iba Arena at 7 p.m. Wednesday in a game available on streaming on ESPN+.
“I’m really pleased with the way Mo played,” Brown said after the Missouri win. “I knew he would get it going. He’s one of the best players in our league scoring with his back to the basket and we’ve got to do a better job of trying to get him the ball early in the game and get him going early. But tonight, he was great.”
WSU has drifted to a predominantly spread pick-and-roll offense and through five games, Udeze never looked very comfortable in his new role. There wasn’t much room for him to roll down the middle of the lane and when he did receive those slot passes from WSU’s guards on the short roll, Udeze’s hands and handles failed him in those tight spaces, leading to numerous fumbles in a variety of turnovers.
Down the stretch of the Missouri game, the WSU coaching staff may have found the tweak that will open the lane for Udeze and give him all the room he needs to finish with dunks.
The critical change involved moving Etienne off the ball as Udeze’s pick-and-roll partner and using the star player as a moving decoy. WSU knew Missouri (and every other opponent) would instruct the defender guarding Etienne to always stay attached and never leave the sharpshooter, so it became WSU’s goal to position Etienne on the court where his defender would be the one normally responsible for providing help to stop Udeze rolling down the lane.
With shooters spotted up in each corner, WSU would begin the play with Etienne under the basket, Udeze at the free throw line with point guard Craig Porter bringing the ball up. As soon as Udeze goes out to the three-point line and Porter makes his move to one side, Etienne darts out of the other side of the lane and sprints to the top of the key.
It put Missouri’s defense in a serious bind because the center had to help off on the screen to contain Porter’s drive, while the guard was still trailing Porter. Meanwhile, Etienne’s defender is sprinting out of the way and to the top of the key to follow Etienne. It would take a locked-in defense to have one of the corner defenders make the rotation in time to take away Udeze and Missouri was not up for the challenge, giving up wide-open rolls to Udeze three times in the final six minutes.
WSU even ran a wrinkle of the same action early in the game, using Etienne as a decoy screener on the ball for Porter, then having him loop around an Udeze back screen to clear out to the corner. It’s all a smoke-screen to try to put the defense behind the real play, which happens out front with Udeze setting the ball screen for Porter. Sure enough, Missouri’s defense was out of system and Porter had an open lane to the basket with Etienne’s defender unable to prevent the penetration that led to a kick-out Joe Pleasant corner three but could have easily been a lay-in for Porter.
Plays like these show how WSU’s coaching staff is getting creative using the shooting gravity of Etienne to his teammates’ advantage, making defenses pay for face-guarding him out to the perimeter.
“I felt like us guards were just being more aggressive coming off those ball screens and making their (center) help,” Porter said. “We know people are going to deny Tyson the rest of the year. That’s just how it is for the preseason Player of the Year. So we’ve got to make sure we find other people open looks.”
Another promising development early from the game was how active Udeze was as a screener.
Udeze seemed to be more diligent than usual in making sure he held the screen, instead of slipping it and letting the defender run through. He also didn’t let the ball stick when it was passed to him on the perimeter, as Udeze was decisive in rotating the ball to the other side of the floor and beginning the screening process all over again.
With Missouri starting the game with 7-foot-3, 300-pound Jordan Wilmore at center, Udeze used his quickness on the perimeter not to score, but to set up others to score. Because Mizzou had to play drop coverage with Wilmore, Udeze gave WSU an advantage by collapsing the defense every time he set a solid screen and then rolled to the basket.
On the first play of the game, Wilmore was late to step up, Udeze buried Etienne’s defender in a screen and WSU’s star was free to make his first shot of the game. On the second play, Udeze again set a good screen to give Porter an advantage going toward the basket and then rolled to force Missouri’s weak-side defender to pinch down and take away the pass. That screen and roll opened up the kick-back pass to Dexter Dennis on the wing, which he burned to give WSU a 6-0 lead immediately. An Udeze screen set up a third three-pointer shortly after.
Udeze hadn’t even taken a shot attempt, but had already made a huge impression on the game. WSU hopes it can replicate that moving forward.
“We need Mo’s production on the court,” Etienne said. “He’s a big part of our offense. He’s one of our more experienced guys and somebody we’re going to need buckets and rebounds from this season. I was happy to see him play the way he did (against Missouri). That’s a confidence-booster, for sure. I’m happy for him. He made the adjustments he needed to make and I’m proud of him for that.”
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