Micah Shrewsberry explains how he learned to coach offense

New Notre Dame basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry landed the Fighting Irish gig on the back an innovative offensive style at the college level. He turned Penn State inside-out, surrounding All-American point guard Jalen Pickett with a rotating cast shooters to kick out to as he did most of his work in the mid-post.

The result was perhaps the best shooting offense in the history of college basketball as they finished top 10 in the country in both three-point rate and three-point percentage. That means that the Nittany Lions shot the ball more than most other teams and also made a higher percentage than most other teams. They were voluminous and lethal; they had the most quantity and the most quality.

Normally, the teams with the highest shooting percentages don’t take as many shots. And normally, the teams who take the most threes don’t typically make the highest percentage. Because, again, normally, you have to sacrifice one for the other. But 2022-23 Penn State didn’t sacrifice either and was great at both.

Those numbers alone are why Penn State was good last year and why Shrewsberry is now a major program head coach. But he shared with Jon Rothstein recently that it was his work on the defensive side of the ball that led to discovery of his offensive vision.

“I think a lot of what I learned is in the six years when I was in the NBA,” Shrewsberry told Rothstein on his podcast. “I was working on the defensive side of the ball. And, you know, you get a chance to watch every team, right. Now sometimes, you only get to study your team. I’m watching every single team in the NBA, seeing the tings that worked, what didn’t work, what was really hard for us to guard. Now, you kind of take those things and morph it into your own team.”

He also emphasized freedom as a staple of his philosophy.

“You know, I let go of the rope a little bit. I don’t try to control everything that our guys do. You know, I want them to play with some freedom. I want them to have a purpose with how we’re trying to attack and what we’re trying to look for each and every possession. And then we try and come up with that formula each time.”

Of course, you’re not going to have a group of guys who can shoot a ton of threes and make them all every year. So don’t expect a repeat of the 2023 PSU club with the Irish next season. It could be a whole new ball club.

“I think that’s what our guys were best suited for last year, so how we played was different,” Shrewsberry said. “But I thought it was the best way for our team to play, so that’s what we’re going to do. Instead of trying to make them change and fit me, I changed to fit them. Maybe that looks completely different here at Notre Dame with new personnel. So you have to adjust, you have to adapt.”

Expect some adjusting and adapting in year one with Notre Dame for Micah Shrewsberry. It’s very likely you see a very different offensive product than he had at Penn State last season.