The three ways Wichita State basketball has revitalized its offense in the past month
For the first two months of the season, the Wichita State men’s basketball team looked like five players trying to accomplish their own individual goals on the court.
The past four weeks, however, the Shockers are finally starting to play like a team with all five players working together to pull in the same direction. An offense that was about as enjoyable as a trip to the dentist’s office has suddenly morphed into an aesthetically pleasing attack filled with fast breaks and paint points.
WSU head coach Isaac Brown was able to retool the talent on his roster through the transfer portal, but the Shockers learned that chemistry and system knowledge are two things that can’t be patched up through the portal.
Since a rocky 0-3 start in American Athletic Conference play, when frustration mounted in the locker room and in the fan base, Wichita State has won five of its last eight games entering a week where it hosts two straight games at Koch Arena, starting with Wednesday’s 7 p.m. tip-off against UCF (13-9, 4-6 AAC) streaming on ESPN+.
“There was definitely a little bit of frustration at the beginning of the season because we were losing games knowing it was all on us,” WSU point guard Craig Porter said. “We had a lot of those games won, so it was tough mentally. But after Christmas break, we all kind of figured out a way to get on a clean slate and I feel like we’re really starting to come together right now.”
During the Shockers’ 5-3 stretch in its last eight games, all five wins have come against teams below them in the AAC standings. But WSU has also played well against top-tier teams, holding leads down the stretch against Tulane and Houston.
The run is reminiscent of the 2018-19 WSU team, which similarly featured an almost all-new cast that rallied from a 1-6 start in conference play by winning nine of its final 11 regular-season games — with all nine wins against bottom-half teams — to eventually reach the NIT semifinals.
These Shockers still have a ways to go before that kind of run — a 2-0 week at home would be a good start — but they do seem to be gelling at the right time.
“I feel like we are starting to put something together,” WSU guard Jaron Pierre said. “This is our first year together. As the season goes, your chemistry gets stronger. I feel like it’s getting better and better every game and by next year, we’ll be a way better team.”
Here’s a closer look at the three main factors that have sparked the mid-season turnaround of Wichita State’s offense.
The Shockers are looking to run
In this past Sunday’s win at Tulsa, Craig Porter pulled down a defensive rebound and without a dribble — or hesitation — spun and heaved a full-court pass that hit a streaking James Rojas in stride for a lay-up.
Just before halftime of the same game, Porter kick-started a fast break with a pass ahead to Jaykwon Walton, who immediately whipped a bounce pass through a narrow window past a defender to a cutting Jaron Pierre for another lay-in.
In the opening minutes of the game, Porter hit Rojas and Kenny Pohto in transition with over-the-top passes — once even after a Tulsa made shot — for easy baskets.
These were plays the Shockers of November and December couldn’t fathom making. Porter admits that back then, he probably would have just strolled up the court and prepared WSU for the slog that was its half-court offense.
“It’s been a big emphasis from the coaches to start looking to run in transition,” Porter said. “I feel like it’s my duty to look up the floor and find whoever is open.”
Giving Porter the green light to be aggressive in transition has unlocked WSU’s fast break.
Even when Porter doesn’t make the assist pass, like when he passed ahead to Walton, who then assisted Pierre’s basket, WSU’s senior point guard is routinely making things happen for the Shockers in transition. He finished with seven assists against Tulsa and had four other hockey assist passes, meaning passes that led to assist passes.
“Craig is a great PG and he sees everything on the floor, so I know if I run the court he’s going to find me,” Rojas said. “We used to get a stop and then we would slow it down and run a set. But now we’ve been getting out in transition and getting a lot of easy buckets because of those passes from Craig.”
Porter’s influence on the tempo has been evident in the number of possessions WSU is seeing in games lately. The Shockers were playing at one of the slowest paces in the country through 15 games, but during their last eight games their games feature an average of 70.9 possessions, which would rank No. 53 on the season.
“I feel like a big reason why the offense is starting to pick up is because we’re starting to get out in transition and run the floor,” Pierre said. “That’s where you find those easy baskets and we’re scoring them more often.”
The numbers also back up this claim: WSU is averaging 13.1 fast break points per game in its last eight, which would rank 25th in the country for the season, a major uptick from the 8.3 fast break points it was scoring through the first 15 games, per cbbanalytics.com.
Wichita State is starting to share the sugar
It’s hard to rack up assists with such poor shooting percentages, but no one was envious of Wichita State’s ball movement and its off-ball attention to detail.
WSU was only assisting on a paltry 41.5% of its made baskets through 15 games, which would rank No. 359 in the country this season. As a result, the Shockers’ offense was lagging behind and failing to consistently crack 1 point per possession.
The last month has featured better ball movement, but more importantly, a drastic improvement on the necessary details to execute half-court offense — namely cutting and screening. As a result, WSU has generated higher-quality looks and produced more efficient offense.
“We’re definitely seeing progress,” WSU head coach Isaac Brown said. “The ball is moving and we’ve got guys cutting now. These guys are starting to figure it out.”
After ranking among the worst teams in sharing the basketball, WSU has assisted on 57% of its shots in the last eight games, which would rank No. 48 in the country this season, per cbbanalytics.com.
The Shockers have upped their efficiency to 1.09 points per possession in their last eight games, as they have gone from averaging 64.5 points per game through the first two months of the season to 76.8 points the last four weeks.
The increase in efficiency has also directly correlated with Brown tightening up his rotation. WSU had one of the most productive benches in the country with 23.4 bench points per game, but it translated to a 7-8 record. In WSU’s last eight games, Brown has leaned on all five of his starters — Craig Porter, Jaron Pierre, Jaykwon Walton, James Rojas and Kenny Pohto — nearly 30 minutes per game. As a result, WSU’s bench production has gone down to just 14.3 points per game during the stretch.
WSU is committed to playing inside-out
The three-point line has changed the way many teams play the game in today’s college basketball climate.
Not at Wichita State, where less is more for a program that has struggled to knock down shots beyond the arc for five straight seasons now. But for the first half of the season, WSU’s newcomers continued to chuck away — with the same results as their predecessors.
“Earlier in the season, we were relying way too much on 3-point shooting and going 1-on-1 to take shots,” WSU point guard Craig Porter said.
Teams often shoot more 3-pointers because they are looking for the highest-value shots on the court. WSU has managed to increase its efficiency by looking inward instead of outward.
The Shockers have managed to kick their addiction to 3-pointers (for the most part) and have committed themselves to playing inside-out, which has played a major role in WSU’s offensive turnaround.
“I feel like we all have a lot better chemistry now,” WSU center Kenny Pohto said. “Everybody knows each other better and better every day. Me and (James) Rojas have great chemistry right now on the high-low passes. You’re seeing that every game now and that’s really been helping us.”
WSU is actually running many of the same set plays it was earlier in the season, but the difference is that WSU’s guards are now looking to work the ball inside. Instead of the 1-on-1 moves and early outside jumpers from the first two months of the season, those have been replaced by entry passes into the post to either Pohto or Rojas.
The Shockers’ 3-point rate has decreased from 39.6% in the first two months of the season to 35.4% in the last month. In fact, less than 34% of WSU’s shots have been 3-pointers in its last five wins, while all three losses during that 8-game stretch have been in games where WSU’s 3-point rate has been north of 37%.
“Our big guys are the reason why we’re playing the way that we are right now,” WSU head coach Isaac Brown said. “We’re getting those guys touches in the post, so we don’t have to live and die by the 3-pointer anymore.”
Again, the numbers support Brown: Pohto is averaging 11.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists in his last 10 games compared to 5.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists before that, while Rojas has seen his averages go from 6.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists the first two months to 14.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists in WSU’s last eight games.
While Rojas and Pohto are fed the ball in the post often, Brown has also inverted WSU’s offense: using his bigs to handle the ball and facilitate the offense out front, while his guards screen and cut inside the arc. Rojas and Pohto have both proven proficient in reading these cuts and delivering on-time and accurate passes that make it easy for their teammates to finish.
Combine all of these factors together and it’s easy to see why WSU’s production in the paint has skyrocketed. The Shockers have averaged 36.3 points in the paint in their last eight games, which would rank 27th in the country, per cbbanalytics.com. Their foul rate is also top-40 in the country during that stretch, while their offensive rebounding has improved and the team is converting 59% of its second-chance opportunities, which would rank 28th in the country, per cbbanalytics.com.
“It all starts with our bigs down low,” Jaron Pierre said. “We are getting great shots because of them. Teams are starting to try to trap them and we’re just spacing it out and cutting. If you just get in their vision, they’re going to make the right play.”
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