Scouting Report: Stonehill Skyhawks

You only get so many opportunities to put on a Kentucky uniform and run onto the Rupp Arena floor. Those opportunities should never be taken for granted. It is easy for those of us sitting at home to say that every game should be treated with the same respect.

However, human nature tends to take over during the course of a long season. Playing the Stonehill Skyhawks on Friday night simply isn’t as exciting, for anyone involved, as playing the #1 Kansas Jayhawks at the United Center in Chicago. That doesn’t mean you don’t prepare and compete hard, but it is admittedly different. In the span of 72 hours, the ‘Cats will likely play the best and worst teams on their schedule. Coming out with a similar intensity will require some real mental toughness.

The second of three Wildcat Challenge matchups will tip off tonight at 7:00 pm. EST on SEC Network+. Stonehill is in just their second season of playing Division I basketball, but the transition was relatively seamless in year one. The Skyhawks finished 14-17 overall but went 10-6 in the Northeast Conference to finish tied for second. They will enter Rupp Arena on Friday night with a 1-3 record so far this season with a ranking of 349 in KenPom. Coach Chris Kraus’ group lost 89-44 at George Washington, defeated Army 57-44, lost at UConn 107-67, and dropped one at Saint Joseph’s 100-56. This is a team that is going to shoot a lot of threes and switch up defensive looks to combat their lack of size. It could be a long season in Easton, Massachusetts.

As usual, we have prepared a full, in-depth scouting report for Kentucky’s latest opponent. We will take a deep dive into the Skyhawks’ personnel, break down their offensive and defensive schemes, and highlight the keys to the game for the ‘Cats. Let’s dive in and get to know more about the Stonehill Skyhawks.

Stonehill Skyhawks Personnel

Starters

#10 Tony Felder: 5’10” 165 lbs, Sophomore Point Guard

6.8 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 3.3 apg

Pass-first point guard. Willing shooter, but much more aggressive as a right-hand driver. No right-hand drives! You can hop underneath the ballscreens and handoffs. 4-19 from 3 this season. We will adjust if he makes a couple behind the ballscreen. Much more dangerous as a driver and facilitator. He is looking to make plays for others. The deeper he drives it the more he is driving to pass. Do not over-help when he drives it. We would rather make him finish than give up kick-out opportunities. Just 3-13 from 2. He is very undersized. Get your hands up and make him score over you. Get the ball stopped in transition. Do not over-help when he drives it. No right-hand drives. No layups.

#3 Jackson Benigni: 6’1″ 180 lbs, Senior Guard

9.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.5 apg

Shooter! No catch-and-shoot 3’s! 5-13 from 3 so far this season. Get over the ball the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase off of downscreens and get over the flares. Be willing to switch on the perimeter to get out and take away the 3s. You can get up and pressure him on the perimeter. Two assists compared to eight turnovers. He is not super comfortable bouncing it. When you take away the initial catch-and-shoot 3s he will look to drive it right. However, he is hunting catch-and-shoot 3s. Pressure him, make him bounce it, and then try to take it off of him. Find him in transition. No catch-and-shoot 3s!

#11 Shane O’Dell: 6’6″ 225 lbs, Junior Guard

10.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.3 apg

Most skilled offensive player. More of a driver than a shooter. No right-hand drives! He is looking to attack closeouts and get to the basket off of the dribble. Averaged 16.3 points per game in three seasons at the Division II level. He is a talented offensive player. You can hop underneath the ballscreens and handoffs. Go up through downscreens and go under the flares. We want to stay between him and the basket. Give a hard contest to all jump shots. Likes to drive it all the way to the rim going right and will be more aggressive shooting the pull-up going left. If you find yourself all the way out there against him then pressure him and see if he will turn it over. No right-hand drives. No uncontested jump shots. More shots than points for him.

#2 Max Zegarowski: 6’8″ 205 lbs, Graduate Student Forward

9.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.8 apg

Skilled 4-man. Shooter! No catch-and-shoot 3s! 20 of 33 shots have been 3s. Shooting 35% from 3 and just 38.5% from 2. You need to be tight to him at all times to take away the catch-and-shoot 3s. Switch if he ballscreens to take away the pick-and-pop 3s. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. Do not want to help too much off of him. Right hand, left shoulder around the basket. When he catches the ball in the post he is looking to face-up and shoot the jumper. Get into his space to take away the face-up jumpers. He is primarily in there to shoot catch-and-shoot 3s. Shot 64-156 from 3 last season. Your only job when guarding him is taking away his catch-and-shoot ATTEMPTS. No 3s!

#22 Pano Pavlidis: 6’8″ 205 lbs, Fifth Year Forward

3.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.5 apg

Plays as their 5-man. Will be on the perimeter a lot in ballscreen and handoff action. Looking to ballscreen and roll to the rim. Not necessarily looking for it on the roll. Just give ground and stay lower than him. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Very quick feet and will look to play “underneath” you. Don’t let him turn the corner. Stay down on the fakes. He is going to shot fake and pivot around to try and turn the corner and score around. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. No quick drop steps to the baseline. Will drive it right when he faces up. Plays very hard. Aggressive rebounder. Box him out! Make him score everything with you between him and the basket.

Bench

#5 Chas Stinson: 6’4″ 175 lbs, Sophomore Guard

6.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.0 apg

Backup guard. Capable shooter. Good right-hand driver. Good size on the perimeter. Need to play him straight up. Be there with your hands up to deter the initial catch-and-shoot then bounce back and guard against the right-hand drive. No right-hand drives. Get over the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase him off of downscreens and get over the flares. He will shot fake and pivot around at the end of his drives to come back and finish with his right hand. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. No uncontested catch-and-shoot 3s. No right-hand drives.

#1 Austin Abrams: 6’4″ 191 lbs, Freshman Guard

4.0 ppg, 0.3 rpg, 0.7 apg

Backup guard. Good size and athleticism on the perimeter. Good shooter. 6 of 9 shots have been 3s. Play him straight up. Need to be there on the catch to give a hard contest to his catch-and-shoot 3s. Once you take away the initial catch-and-shoot you can bounce back and guard against the right-hand drive. Err on the side of taking him away from 3. Get over the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase him off of downscreens and get over the flares. Be willing to switch if there is too much space and switch out to take away the 3s. Find him in transition. No uncontested catch-and-shoot 3s.

#15 Louie Semona: 6’8″ 205 lbs, Freshman Forward

2.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.5 apg

Backup pick-and-pop 4-man. Half of his shots have been 3s. Need to be there on the catch to give a hard contest to his catch-and-shoot 3s. Be very willing to switch when he ballscreens to take away the pick-and-pop 3s. Not very comfortable handling it. You can get up and pressure him and try to make him turn it over. Two assists to seven turnovers on the season. Get up into him to take away the 3s and make him give it up. No uncontested catch-and-shoot 3s.

#21 Todd Brogna: 6’7″ 220 lbs, Freshman Forward

2.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.3 apg

Backup pick-and-pop 4-man. 9 of 12 shots have been 3s. Better from 3 than he is from 2. Shooting 33.3% from 3 and hasn’t made a 2 this season. He wants to play out on the perimeter and shoot catch-and-shoot 3s. Need to be tight to him to give a hard contest to his catch-and-shoot 3s. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven towards you. Don’t over-help on drives off of him. Be very willing to switch when he ballscreens to take away the pick-and-pop 3s. Get up and really pressure him on the perimeter. He doesn’t want to have to handle it. One assist to eight turnovers. Make him bounce it and try to take it off of him. No uncontested catch-and-shoot 3s.

#20 Nathan McGill: 6’4″ 190 lbs, Junior Guard

0.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.3 apg

Lefty. Backup guard. Play him straight up. Four of six shots have been 3s. Primarily in there to handle the ball and act as a facilitator. You can pick your spots to try and heat him up some. See if he will turn it over. When he drives it left he is more likely to go all the way to the rim, but if he is driving it right he is driving to pass. Don’t over-help on his right-hand drives. Stay down at the end of his drives and be ready for him to come back left to finish. Better passer than finisher. Don’t over help!

Stonehill Skyhawks Offense

Coach Kraus was able to lean on being a very good shooting team in his first season at the Division I level. Playing fast and making 3s helped to surprise some people in the NEC on the way to a 10-6 league record.

However, this Stonehill Skyhawks team doesn’t seem to be as accurate from beyond the arc. A four-game sample size isn’t sufficient for big-picture takeaways, but the Skyhawks are just 27.1% from deep while shooting even more than they did a year ago. That combination has them 358th out of 362 Division I teams in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency. Stonehill is going to run some 5-out Motion, set ballscreens for #10 Felder, and dial up several halfcourt set plays to try and scheme some open looks.

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The Stonehill Skyhawks will run a lot of 5-Out Motion in the half court. They don’t have anyone over 6’8″ and none of them are true, back-to-the-basket post presences so they like to spread it out, drive and kick, and shoot 3s. Possessions generally start with #10 Felder probing the defense looking to get a paint touch. We have to be cognizant that their 4s and 5s can shoot and do a good job of getting all the way out there to give it a hard contest.

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As part of the Skyhawks 5-Out look, they will get to some actions that are somewhat within the Princeton family. There is a lot of cutting off of elbow entries, guys coming together on the wings, and here it results in a Zoom action at the elbow. The guy scoring it here is #11 O’Dell who is Stonehill’s best offensive player. However, he is mostly a non-shooter from 3-point range. We need to be a bit more disciplined on our closeouts and not give up this right-hand driving angle.

Stonehill Skyhawks Defense

In order to combat a lack of size the Stonehill Skyhawks have gotten creative defensively this season. They have deployed a 3-2 Zone on nearly 25% of their possessions and it has been much more effective than their man-to-man.

Coach Kraus has gone to the zone even more in their two most recent games as well. Look for them to extend their defense full court some as well with some 2-2-1 back to their 3-2 zone. Their overall defensive philosophy is to protect the paint and force opponents to shoot a lot of 3s. So far this season just a tick under 50% of opponent’s shots have come from 3-point range. Below is a look at their 3-2 Zone defense.

You can see how they collapse in on the ball when it is driven and how wide they get to make passes from the slot to the corner very difficult. We need to drive it in the gaps and play off of two feet to find open shooters.

Keys to the Game

• Finish around the basket. This isn’t so much a key to beating the Stonehill Skyhawks as it is for our season in general. We shot nearly 65% from 2-point range against New Mexico State, 54.5% versus Texas A&M-Commerce, and then just 34.2% in our last game against Kansas. Get back to 60%+ in this one.
• Dominate the glass. Stonehill is not a good rebounding team on either end. However, there will be a lot of long rebounds as they shoot a lot of 3s. Defensive rebound at an 80%+ clip.
• Shoot it with confidence. Especially against their zone, there will be opportunities for open 3-point shots. Take them with confidence. Look to make 10+ 3s against the Skyhawks.
• Shoot 75% or better from the free throw line.