‘That was a nasty move’: How Craig Porter saved Wichita State basketball in SMU OT win
For a hooper, in the purest form, there is not a more intoxicating feeling on a basketball court than pulling off a move that completely and utterly fools a defender.
It takes sleight of hand, it takes a flash of quickness, but most importantly, it takes artistry.
Wichita State point guard Craig Porter showed the brilliance of when those things align on Sunday afternoon, scoring arguably the most impressive basket of his career with a devastating hesitation dribble move to force overtime against SMU. The Shockers eventually won 91-89.
“It just came to me at the right moment,” Porter said of his handiwork.
Porter’s left-handed layup to tie the score with 2.6 seconds left in regulation was exhilarating considering the timing, but there are layers behind the play required to fully appreciate its excellence.
Before Porter could formulate the idea to drive to the basket on Sunday, his mind raced back to three weeks ago — the first meeting between the two teams in Dallas — when he had the ball in his hands in a nearly identical situation. WSU trailed by two in the final minute.
In that instance, Porter slowly dribbled until the SMU defender was inside the arc, then planted and stepped back to launch a 3-pointer. SMU’s Zach Nutall lunged and fouled him on the shot, as Porter made all three free throws for the game-winning play.
“I knew they were going to be on me more heavily on the three-point line,” Porter said. “I kind of knew they were going to hug that.”
Scouting reports detail Porter’s proclivity for step-back three-pointers, a tendency he was trusting SMU’s defenders would be aware of when he had the ball with WSU trailing by two in the final 10 seconds of regulation.
Just like he did in the first meeting, Porter set up his defender, this time Zhuric Phelps, by dribbling until their feet were inside the arc, then planting his foot to initiate the same step-back motion that he shoots from. An even closer inspection of the play shows Porter sold the move even further by raising his head, just like he does when he goes into his shooting form.
But the true brilliance of the play rests in the hesitation dribble Porter employed that left Phelps so thoroughly deceived — baiting him to jump into the air to contest a jump shot that never came — that all the SMU defender could do was turn and watch as Porter finished at the rim.
It takes quite a bit of skill to pull off a hesitation dribble without being whistled for palming the basketball. Porter said afterward that he actually improved this skill by spending time with former Shocker point guard Alterique Gilbert from the 2020-21 season.
“A lot of times we would just hang out and I would ask him different questions and talk to him about different moves,” Porter said. “He always told me, ‘Control the way you play. If you play at your own pace, then you can dictate a defender to do anything you want them to do.’”
Porter is far from flawless, as his six turnovers from Sunday suggest, but he is WSU’s best weapon when he operates at his own speed down the stretch.
“When the game is on the line, I don’t care if he’s 0-for-25, I’ve got to put the ball in his hands,” WSU head coach Isaac Brown said of Porter. “He’s the guy that’s won a championship and he’s our leader.”
While Porter pulled off a hesi move that would make a New York City point guard proud, the play wouldn’t be on the highlight-reel without the finish.
After discarding Phelps, Porter barreled toward the rim with the fresh memory of being called for a charge just a minute before. In fact, WSU was whistled for five charges in the game.
“They were taking a lot of charges,” Porter said. “We weren’t getting those block calls.”
Instead of leaping off one leg, which opens up an offensive player for being whistled for a charge, Porter jumped off two legs in the paint, which allowed him to slither past a defender at the rim and freely lay the ball off the glass for the game-tying bucket with 2.6 seconds left.
“That was a nasty move,” WSU teammate Jaykwon Walton said. “He got me off my feet with that one.”
Porter scored nine of WSU’s final 10 points in regulation, then scored six straight points in double overtime to help seal the victory.
The senior once again did a lot of heavy lifting to help the Shockers avoid another home loss, but his most impressive work came on the final play of regulation.
“It worked out exactly how I thought it would,” Porter said.
This story was originally published February 13, 2023 at 6:34 AM.
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