An in-depth look at the drastic change Wichita State basketball has made on defense
One way the Wichita State men’s basketball team plans on improving this season is by cranking up the pressure on defense.
The Shockers were relatively strong defensively in Paul Mills’ first season, but the head coach didn’t love how passive the style was. While WSU ranked in the top-half of the American Athletic Conference in defensive efficiency, the team finished No. 310 in the country in creating turnovers.
Preparing for the season opener on Monday at Western Kentucky, Mills wants WSU to be much more aggressive on defense this season.
“We’re not going to be the most offensively skilled team in the country, so we need to generate a lot defensively,” Mills said. “We need to limit (opponents) to one shot, then we need to generate some offense through our defense.”
So what changes will the Shockers employ this season to switch up their defense? Answers can be found in how WSU defended the pick and roll, the most popular play in college basketball, in its exhibition game last Sunday against Emporia State.
A reason why WSU didn’t force many turnovers last season was because its defensive coverage in the pick and roll wasn’t designed to. Mills utilized “drop” coverage with centers Quincy Ballard and Kenny Pohto, which meant the big man on the floor defending the screener would drop down from the level of the screen to the paint to protect the rim while the on-ball defender recovers over the screen.
The coverage hardly put pressure on the opposition, as opposing guards were practically encouraged to dribble freely into long jumpers at their convenience. It was a trade-off Mills was willing to take last season. Not any longer.
“You saw us last season be willing to give up that non-paint 2. Hey, if you want to take that 17, 18-footer, go for it,” Mills said. “But now, we’re not going to concede that. We’re not going to let teams be so comfortable.”
What WSU debuted last Sunday against Emporia State was a much more chaotic defensive style.
Instead of playing the passive “drop” coverage, WSU switched to a more aggressive “blitz” style. No longer was WSU’s center (now Ballard or Matej Bosnjak) hanging back in the paint; now the big man was racing out above the screen to trap the ball-handler until they picked up their dribble.
On the back end, WSU’s other three defenders identify the nearest passing targets and fly around in rotation to try to take away the easy passes. The object of the defense is to force the opposition to throw difficult skip passes, which allows WSU’s scrambling defense time to recover and, in the best case scenario, generate turnovers that lead to fast break opportunities.
“In order to be good defensively, you have to be able to have multiple pick-and-roll coverages,” Mills said. “We’re going to be a lot more aggressive this year. We were mostly a drop team last year and kept Quicny and Kenny around the rim. We’re not that this year. We’re going to be a lot more aggressive, especially with certain lineups on the floor.”
A more aggressive style makes sense given WSU’s upgrade in athleticism and defense in the starting lineup this season with point guard Justin Hill and forward Corey Washington.
But it’s also a risk with WSU’s frontcourt depth severely lacking to begin the season, as Zane Meeks (knee) is out indefinitely and Bosnjak (eligibility) is still awaiting clearance from the NCAA, which has left 6-foot-6 senior Ronnie DeGray III as the emergency backup.
Ballard averaged just 3.5 fouls per 40 minutes last season, an impressive mark for an elite shot-blocker, but he could see more foul trouble this season if asked to play the more aggressive style. Taking him further away from the rim also seems counter-intuitive for one of the nation’s best shot-blockers.
For those reasons, WSU could still keep Ballard in drop coverage, but the 6-foot-11 senior told The Eagle that he is excited to embrace the new challenges on defense.
“We’ve been practicing it all summer, so I feel like I can still make an impact (in the new way),” Ballard said. “Everyone knows I can block shots, so I’m not too worried about it. I’ve never really been a person who has been in foul trouble. The biggest thing for me is staying consistent with moving my feet and keeping my hands up and then making sure I’m the second jumper.”
One possession in the exhibition game showcased how Ballard could thrive in the new role. He can be an imposing figure with his combination of athleticism, height and length, which forced the ball handler to give the ball up when Ballard charged forward to trap him. After a help defender missed a gamble for a steal which put WSU at a disadvantage, Ballard tracked back to the rim to swat a shot off the backboard that could have been an easy layup.
Obviously the talent level will increase going forward, but Mills is confident Ballard can still wreak havoc at the rim in the new system.
“When you talk to NBA scouts who have questions about Quincy Ballard, nobody doubts his ability to finish things,” Mills said. “But he needs to be able to do more. Quincy has done a much better job with his mobility and he has the ability to get out there. If you’ve seen him run before, he can get out there and turn it on. So absolutely, we’re going to need him to be in different places on the court this season because his length can really be a problem.”
His teammates, particularly the guards who have to go against him in practice, have raved about Ballard’s ability to impact a game on the defensive end.
“Just the way he can move at that size with that length, just him having his hands up can really make the defense better,” Hill said. “I’ve been really impressed with how he can move on defense.”
“Quincy can affect the game in a lot of ways, especially being able to go up and defend the rim like he does,” WSU senior Xavier Bell said. “It definitely puts more of a sense of worry into those who are trying to challenge him or coming off a ball screen. It’s hard to see over a 7-footer with his hands up and is active like him. He’s going to be hard to play against.”
To pull off the more aggressive style, WSU will need all five defenders to communicate well and be locked into their assignments. Mills thought his team could have been even more aggressive in the exhibition and was disappointed how easily Emporia State penetrated the arc off the dribble.
No doubt WSU’s defense will be a work in progress to begin the season, but a center like Ballard has the ability to erase some of those mistakes and elevate an entire defense on his own.
“We’re going to try to generate some points through our defense and that’s going to come from being more aggressive and blitzing in the pick and roll,” Mills said. “But it’s not just about blitzing, it’s about the rotations afterward.
“And then there are things we want to do when the ball goes to the corner and some things we want to do when there’s a baseline drive that are going to be more aggressive than what we were doing a year ago.”
This story was originally published October 31, 2024 at 10:37 AM.
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