Scouting Report: Ohio Bobcats

It is time for game number three of The Kentucky Classic. Tonight at 7:00 the Kentucky Wildcats will host the Ohio Bobcats in what will be the best test until at least December 11 at Notre Dame. The Bobcats were a NCAA Tournament team last season led by second round pick Jason Preston and even advanced to the Round of 32 with a #13 over #4 win against Virginia.

Ohio brings back several key contributors from the NCAA Tournament squad and landed an impact transfer from Xavier. This team is extremely skilled at all five positions on the floor. Every guy in their rotation can dribble, pass, and shoot. However, Kentucky has drastically improved in those categories as well. This would have been a terrible matchup last season. Now, the ‘Cats can just go out score them if it comes down to it.

This was a tough scouting report because the Ohio Bobcats can do so many different things well on the offensive end. You really just have to pick your poison and roll with your game plan. Then, you get the ball and try to score 90 points. Here is how we should play this evening against OU.

Ohio Bobcats Personnel

Starters

#1 Mark Sears: 6’1″ 185 lbs, Sophomore Point Guard

19.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.3 apg

Point Guard. Lefty. NO LEFT HAND DRIVES!!! He is 6/8 from 3 this season, but he is more of a driver than a shooter. Still need to be there to give a hard contest on the catch-and-shoot. Closeout with high hands and choppy feet to contest if he shoots, but then bounce back and guard the left hand drive. Stay between him and the basket. You can start the game by going under the ballscreens and handoffs. This will help us keep a guy on a guy. Do not over help when he drives it. If he gets a layup that is the fault of the on-ball defender. Do not want him kicking out for 3’s. Make him score over you. We are NOT helping in the post off of him (Sahvir can pick his spots to go double hard but we won’t rotate when it is kicked out).

#2 Miles Brown: 6’1″ 180 lbs, Junior Guard

7.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.7 apg

Good shooter. No catch and shoot 3’s! Need to be there to take away and give a hard contest to the catch and shoot 3’s. Very quick first step. Once you take away the catch and shoot be ready for him to drive it right. Need to have sound closeouts as opposed to flying by him. Need to be able to take away/contest the 3 without just getting blown by. Chase him off of downscreens and flares. Get over the ballscreens and handoffs.

#3 Ben Roderick: 6’5″ 205 lbs, Junior Guard/Forward

10.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.3 apg

Lefty. SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! 20 of his 31 shots have been 3’s. You have to be tight to him at all times to take away his attempts. Your only job when guarding him is to take him away from 3. Will attack closeouts going left, but we would rather him do that than get going from 3. If he isn’t dribbling you aren’t close enough. Absolutely no help or digging off of him. Chase him off of downscreens and flares. Need to switch if he ballscreens to take him away on the pick-and-pop. Find him in transition. Always the next most dangerous guy.

#5 Ben Vander Plas: 6’8″ 232 lbs, Redshirt Senior Forward

15.0 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 3.3 apg

Extremely skilled forward. Loves to pick-and-pop. Excellent shooter. SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! 20 of his 34 shots have been from 3. You must switch when he ballscreens to take him away on the pick-and-pop. Have to be tight to him at all times to take away his attempts. Excellent passer in the post. You CANNOT help when he is in the post. Stay on your man so he can’t kick it out. We will play 1-on-1 in the post, even against a switch. If you are switched on to him get around in front and try to make it hard for him to catch it inside. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Be physical on his left shoulder. Contest the turnaround jumper. We are taking him away from 3 and cutting off his assists from the post. Be physical! Box out!

#30 Jason Carter: 6’8″ 227 lbs, Redshirt Fifth Year Senior

15.3 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 3.0 apg

Extremely skilled forward. Will pick-and-pop. Very good shooter. Need to give a hard contest when he does pick-and-pop. Do your best to get there to take away the attempts, but at least give a hard contest even if it is late. Loves to shoot the turnaround jumper in the post. Give it a hard contest. Right hand, left shoulder in the post if he doesn’t shoot the turnaround. Excellent passer in the post. You CANNOT help when is in the post. Stay on your man so he can’t kick it out. We will play 1-on-1 in the post. We will “shadow”/drop when he sets the ballscreens so our 5-man will still be on him inside.

Bench

#15 Lunden McDay: 6’3″ 185 lbs, Junior Guard

6.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 0.3 apg

SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! Be tight to him at all times to take away the attempts. Shooting a better percentage from 3 than 2. Chase him off of downscreens and flares. Absolutely no help off of him. Find him in transition.

#11 Sam Towns: 6’9″ 190 lbs, Sophomore Forward

3.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.0 apg

Athletic, long backup forward. Wants to score inside with his right hand over his left shoulder. Be physical with him and get him off of the block. Very good offensive rebounder. BOX OUT!!! “Shadow”/drop when he sets ballscreens.

#23 AJ Clayton: 6’8″ 225 lbs, Freshman Forward

3.0 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 0.3 apg

Pick-and-pop 4-man. Have to switch when he ballscreens to take away the pick-and-pop. Be tight to him on the perimeter. No help off of him. SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! Switch to take away the attempts.

#22 Tommy Schmock: 5’11” 180 lbs, Senior Point Guard

2.7 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 2.7 apg

Backup point guard. Play him straight up. You can go under the ballscreens and handoffs when he is in there just like #1 Sears. Looking to drive it right. No right hand drives! He is driving to pass the deeper he takes it. Do not help on his drives. Stay between him and the basket.

Ohio Bobcats Offense

The Ohio Bobcats are one of the better offensive teams in the country. That is not an exaggeration. They rank highly, per KenPom, in nearly every offensive and shooting category. The stats translate to the eye test as well because they look very hard to guard on film.

With five players on the court at all times that can dribble, pass, and shoot they are a threat from everywhere. Their two big men, #5 Vander Plas and #30 Carter, are their most skilled guys. Both can hurt you in a variety of ways from the perimeter and on the block. This makes for hard matchups and difficult decisions on the defensive end.

The Bobcats are primarily a 4-around-1 motion team in terms of base offense that will stretch to 5-out quite a bit. However, they run a lot of set plays in the half court to get touches for their interior playmakers. Most possessions either feature a ballscreen on the perimeter for #1 Sears or some sort of diagonal screening action for #5 Vander Plas or #30 Carter.

Flex to Handoff

A lot of the half court set plays that the Bobcats run will be out of a Horns alignment like you see here. The ball gets entered to the right elbow and #1 Sears gets a backscreen looking for it at the rim. Once he doesn’t have anything they are into a flex action. #1 Sears sets the cross screen for the guard in the corner and then comes off of a downscreen. They go right into a dribble handoff allowing #1 Sears to turn the corner going left. We want to get under this handoff or switch it if there is space.

Horns Post Up

Ohio loves to just isolate either #5 Vander Plas or #30 Carter off of the block and let them go to work. This time they get to it out of their patented Horns alignment. After the initial elbow ballscreen, #30 Carters rolls down to the block and the ball is reversed to throw it inside. This is the shot he is so good at. You just have to give it a hard contest and make it as difficult as possible.

Diagonal Screen/Downscreen

This action, a diagonal screen for #5 Vander Plas is what the Ohio Bobcats do more than anything else. In this play they enter to the elbow and pass it to the wing to set up the diagonal screen into a downscreen. They almost never throw it to the guy coming off of the downscreen. Vander Plas just comes out as far as he needs to to get a catch. It takes him seven dribbles and a lot of patience but he gets to his left shoulder to score. DO NOT HELP and make him play one-on-one like this. However, be more physical on that left shoulder. Don’t let him turn the corner on you.

Shuffle to Post Up

Similar to the last play, here is another action they run to get #5 Vander Plas a catch inside off of a diagonal screen. It starts with an Iverson cut to the wing to set up the diagonal. Once he gets it inside he is allowed to get all the way to the midline once again before showing the ball and spinning back left. Do not let him crab all the way into the midline. Be physical on that left shoulder!

Vander Plas Pick-and-Pop

This what makes the Ohio Bobcats so hard to guard. More specifically, this is what makes #5 Vander Plas so hard to guard. Not only have we seen what he can do in the post, but he is also shooting 40% from beyond the arc on 20 attempts to begin the season. When we go under the ballscreens set for the point guards (#1 Sears or #22 Schmock) we should be able to stay tight to him. However, this is also why it is always okay to just switch when #5 Vander Plas sets the ballscreen. We have to take away the pick-and-pop!

Stacked Ballscreen Pick-and-Pop

This is the kind of thing that keeps you up at night as a coach. All five guys on Ohio can shoot the 3 at a high level. This stacked ballscreen makes it hard to go under like we want to do on #1 Sears. However, you can still easily switch this action to keep a guy on a guy and take away the pick-and-pop. As soon as he hits the screen, the defender guarding the point guard should just stay on #5 Vander Plas. The low defender on the left elbow should take the ball and the other defender around the top of the key can stay with #30 Carter on the pop. Just have a guy on a guy.

Staggered Ballscreen from Horns

This is another tough ballscreening action they will go to. From a Horns alignment, they cross screen at the elbows and bring #5 Vander Plas over to set the first screen with #3 Roderick setting the second one. This is really hard to guard because both ballscreeners are the Bobcats two best shooters. However, we have a plan for this and that is to SWITCH anytime these guys ballscreen.

So the point guard’s defender should take #5 Vander Plas, #25 in red should take #3, and ultimately #22 in red should have the ball after switching both and just continuing to pass him off. The biggest issue here though is the poor defense on #23 Clayton ahead of the play. All he wants to do is catch-and-shoot. Be tight to him at all times and especially tighten up as the ball is driven towards you. We cannot give this shot up!

Ohio Bobcats Defense

For as good as the Ohio Bobcats are offensively, they leave a little bit to be desired defensively. Their guards are small and they are undersized at the 4 and 5. Those guys are athletic and strong, but we should still have the advantage around the basket. They are a man-to-man team that does have the ability to switch a lot of screens due to their positional versatility. #1 Sears is pesky on the ball and is one of the better guards in the country at stealing the basketball. We need to be tight with it when he is around. Opponents are shooting 52.8% from 2-point range so far this season. We need to attack the basket and score inside to set up some kick-outs for 3’s.

Keys to the Game

• Take away the 3-point attempts. We have to stay tight at all times. Our defense is set up to take away the 3’s. Execute. They average over 31 attempts per game. Hold them to 23 or fewer.
• No help in the post. As good as they are, we cannot afford to help when #5 Vander Plas or #30 Carter have it in the post. They average a combined 6.3 assists per game. Hold them to no more than 4.
• Play without fouling. They are nearly automatic from the free throw line (83.3%). Our defense, going under/switching, should keep us from fouling. 10 or fewer free throw attempts.
• Score 90. They are really hard to guard, but we are too. We can alleviate a lot of pressure by going out and scoring 90.