Scouting Report: Vanderbilt Commodores

The Vanderbilt Commodores enter this evening’s game with a 9-5 record, 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference. After escaping Fayetteville with a one-point win over the Razorbacks on Tuesday, the ‘Dores fell at home to South Carolina over the weekend. Coach Jerry Stackhouse has improved talent in his third season at the helm, but Vanderbilt still is a bottom five team in the league.

So far this season the Commodores have been much better on the defensive end than the first two years of Coach Stackhouse’s tenure. That has helped already match last season’s win total. However, they haven’t shot the ball as well as expected which led to some ugly performances against VCU, Temple, and Loyola Chicago. It is hard to imagine that they same team that scored 37 points at home against VCU also put up 75 at Arkansas, but that just shows how streaky this Vandy team can be.

As always, we’ve got a full scouting report to get you ready for tonight’s SEC road test at the very unique Memorial Gymnasium. You’ll find in-depth personnel tendencies, offensive and defensive breakdowns, and keys to the game right here. Let’s dive in and get to know more about the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Vanderbilt Commodores Personnel

Starters

#2 Scotty Pippen Jr.: 6’3″ 185 lbs, Junior Guard

18.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.8

Aggressive scoring guard. SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! Need to pick him up early when he is bringing it. Break his rhythm on the perimeter. Don’t let him dribble into a 3. Stay tight to him at all times. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. Get over ballscreens and handoffs. Chase off downscreens and flares. No help off him. Likes to drive it right. Get over and cut off the right hand drives. Will turn his drives into post moves and post up against smaller defenders. Have to physical with him. Take away the quick spin baseline. Be physical on his left shoulder. Give a hard contest to the turnaround jumper. Switch the post ballscreen. Aggressively help when he drives and make him give it up. Make him finish 2’s with you between him and the basket. No 3’s!

#3 Rodney Chatman: 6’1″ 215 lbs, Graduate Student Guard

4.2 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.6 apg

SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! Need to be there to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. 11 of 18 shots have been 3’s (5 games). Shooting a better percentage from 3 than 2. Get over the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase off downscreen and flares. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. Will handle the ball a lot to allow #2 Pippen Jr. to play off the ball. When you take away the catch-and-shoot he wants to drive it right. Get over and cut off the right hand drives. Get your hands up and make him finish over you. No catch-and-shoot 3’s for him.

#4 Jordan Wright: 6’6″ 215 lbs, Junior Guard/Forward

12.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.5 apg

Physical wing. Capable shooter. 18/56 from 3. No catch-and-shoot 3’s. Need to be there to give a hard contest to the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. Bounce back when you take away initial catch-and-shoot. You can hop under the ballscreens and handoffs to start, but do so with urgency to contest if he shoots. No right hand drives! He will drive it right hard and initiate contact. Be physical at the end of his drives. Will bring it up in transition some. Just get the ball stopped. Crashes the offensive glass hard. Averaging nearly 2 offensive rebounds per game. Box out!

#10 Myles Stute: 6’7″ 210 lbs, Sophomore Forward

8.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 0.4 apg

Stretch 4-man. Pick-and-pop. SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! Have to be tight to him at all times to take away the 3’s. 68 of 87 shots have been 3’s shooting 41.2%. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. Absolutely no help off of him. Get all the way out to take him away. Stay with him when he replaces to the perimeter. Get over the flare screens!!! They will flare in for him a lot. You should already be tight to not get flared in. Switch the flare screen if there is space. Switch when he ballscreens to take away the pick-and-pop 3’s. If he isn’t dribbling you aren’t close enough. Get up and pressure him on the perimeter. No 3’s!

#42 Quentin Millora-Brown: 6’10” 235 lbs, Senior Forward

5.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.6 apg

Post player. Ballscreens and rolls hard to the basket. Looking for it on the roll. Continue to give ground on the ballscreen to stay between him and the basket. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Be physical on his left shoulder and make him score it back into you. Get him off of the block. His percentages will go down the further off the block you make him catch it. Make him finish over you. Excellent offensive rebounder. Averaging 2.6 offensive rebounds per game. BOX OUT!!!

Bench

#23 Jamaine Mann: 6’6″ 230 lbs, Sophomore Forward

6.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 0.1 apg

Big, strong wing/forward. Very physical. Non-shooter. Closeout short on the perimeter. Right hand driver. No right hand drives!!! You are closing out short to stay between him and the basket and take away the right hand drive. Will ballscreen and roll to the basket. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Good cutter off of the ball. Don’t get back cut. Help off of him but don’t lose sight. Excellent offensive rebounder. Box out!

#12 Trey Thomas: 5’11” 160 lbs, Sophomore Guard

6.1 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 1.1 apg

Backup point guard. Will handle it a lot when he is in there. SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! 63 of 83 shots have been 3’s. Need to be tight to take away the 3-point attempts. Get over the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase off downscreens and flares. Get all the way out and pick him up early. You can pressure him on the perimeter. Make him drive it and see if he can finish inside. No help off of him. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. No 3’s!

#0 Tyrin Lawrence: 6’4″ 195 lbs, Sophomore Guard

5.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.1 apg

Lefty. Willing shooter. 3/24 from deep this year. Just throw a hand up to contest when he shoots. You can start the game by closing out short. We will tighten up some if he makes one. Don’t let him attack your closeout. Wants to drive it left. No left hand drives!!! Help off of him when he doesn’t have it and then closeout short. Go under ballscreens and handoffs. Make him finish with you between him and the basket. No layups for him. No left hand drives!

#5 Shane Dezonie: 6’5″ 215 lbs, Freshman Guard

3.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.0 apg

Good shooter. No catch-and-shoot 3’s. 8/14 from 3. Much better from 3 than he is from 2. Chase him off downscreens and flares. Closeout to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s and then pressure him as much as you can without getting smoked right. 13 assists to 18 turnovers. Make him uncomfortable and see if he will turn it over. No catch-and-shoot 3’s.

#15 Terren Frank: 6’8″ 240 lbs, Sophomore Forward

2.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 0.3 apg

Backup forward. Willing shooter. 3/17 from 3. Will pick-and-pop. Just throw a hand up if he shoots. We will start switching the ballscreens that he sets if he makes one early. Right hand, left shoulder around the basket. Be physical with him inside. Really pressure him on the perimeter and make him uncomfortable. 4 assists to 10 turnovers. Box out.

Vanderbilt Commodores Offense

As they have each season under Coach Stackhouse, the Vanderbilt Commodores run some very unique actions offensively. They do things offensively that really nobody else in the country does which can make it hard to guard. There are a lot of ballscreens and usually four players on the floor at a time that are threats to shoot from deep.

Though the Commodores aren’t shooting a great percentage from 3, just 30.7%, they get up a bunch of attempts and can get hot in a hurry. We have to focus on taking them away from 3. Especially when #2 Pippen Jr. drives it we want to aggressively help, but then we have to rotate and recover with a bunch of urgency to get them off of the 3-point line. Do not let these guys get hot from beyond the arc, especially at home. Be willing to switch to take away the 3’s, don’t allow yourself to get flared in, and get over the ballscreens and handoffs.

Despite taking a lot of 3’s, Vandy also gets to the free throw line at a high rate. Per KenPom, 22.1% of their points come from the line which is 18th nationally. We must be ready to play without fouling and not give them easy points at the line.

We will see a lot of their actions on film here so you can get a feel for what to expect tonight. Again, they do things differently than any other team we will face. There will be a lot of flare screens that you need to be ready to get over the top of. They start many possessions with a unique staggered double out of the corner into a flare screen. Also, they will ballscreen the post some which we have to switch. The best way to prepare is just by seeing it all so let’s take a look at the film.

Staggered Double with Flare

This is certainly one of Vanderbilt’s favorite half-court actions. They will set a staggered double to the ball side corner and Iverson cut to the top of the key. While they can hit the cutter and just get into Motion from there, what they are really looking for is the flare screen off of the double. You can see that after #3 Chatman comes off of the double, they flare in for #10 Stute. Vandy will set more flare screens than any team we face all season. You cannot give this much space off of the #10 Stute and you have to get OVER the flare screens.

Just like the first clip, Vandy runs the same action against Arkansas. This time they show a little different wrinkle. Instead of coming off the double, #2 Pippen Jr. curls the first screen to allow #10 Stute to come off the downscreen. They didn’t get a shot off it so they are just into Motion. #42 Millora-Brown immediately comes to set a high middle ballscreen and they flare in for #10 Stute on the back side. Again, you have to be ready for a bunch of flare screens when guarding guys like #10 Stute, #12 Thomas, or even #4 Wright. Get OVER the flare screens!

Horns-Staggered Handoff

Vandy loves to get #2 Pippen Jr. coming off of handoffs. From this Horns alignment they set a staggered double for him to come off to his right. We want to chase him over the top of handoffs and switch if there is space at the end. Great job by the Arkansas big man getting out to bump him off the line. The rest of this play shows something that #2 Pippen Jr. loves to do. He will post up as much as anyone on their team. When he catches it inside he first wants to quick spin to the baseline. Then, if that is taken away, he will likely shoot this turnaround jumper. We have to give a hard contest to the jumper.

This is good defense by Arkansas, but a better shot. Try and dig the ball out when he has it inside. If you are guarding #3 Chatman you can stay here and dig as he moves away from the ball. We will rotate if it gets kicked out, but we want to make Pippen give it up.

X-Cuts to Staggered Handoff

Here is another action the Commodores will run to get #2 Pippen Jr. coming off a staggered double into a handoff. After the ball is entered the guards will “X-cut” to the blocks. When the ball is reversed to the big man at the top of the key, Pippen starts coming off the double into the handoff. This is pretty good defense by Arkansas, but just hard to guard action by Vandy. Arkansas gets over the handoff, has a good shadow to corral Pippen coming off, and stays between them and the basket. However, with #10 Stute on the wing you can’t come in to help as much to take away the roll. Be more physical on #15 Frank’s left shoulder when he catches it.

Diagonal Backscreen to Post Ballscreen

Of all the unique actions that Vanderbilt runs, the post ballscreen is probably the most uncommon. This starts out as a traditional diagonal backscreen set that would usually end with a screen-the-screen action. Instead, the 5-man comes down and sets a ballscreen for #4 Wright in the post. Anytime a ballscreen happens this close to the basket you have to switch it. Give a hard contest. They will run this for #2 Pippen Jr. as well.

Vanderbilt Commodores Defense

One area of improvement that has really helped the Vanderbilt Commodores this season has come on the defensive end. Coach Stackhouse’s group is forcing turnovers at an elite level which has led to a top 50 defense, per KenPom. The Commodores are turning opponents over at a 24.6% clip which is 14th best in the country.

Vandy is primarily a man-to-man team still, but they’ve turned up the pressure on the ball and in the passing lanes. We must be ready to drive the ball hard in a straight line and then make the next play as they bring help. As we do most games, we should have a clear advantage on the block and in the rebounding category. The Commodores are actually an above-average rebounding team, especially on the offensive glass, but we still have a significant advantage in that area.

Keys to the Game

• Take them away from 3. Stay tight to their shooters, get over the top of ballscreens/handoffs, and chase over the top of flare screens. Be ready to get flared in! Limit it 24 or fewer attempts and 7 makes or less.
• Make #2 Pippen Jr. give it up. Break his rhythm on the perimeter. Get over ballscreens/handoffs. Aggressively help when he drives and then recover/rotate. Dig the ball out when he posts. Make him a passer.
• Limit turnovers. Vandy is forcing 17 turnovers a game. We have to take care of the ball and not give them free possessions. Drive the ball hard and then make the next play as they bring help. 13 turnovers or less.
• Dominate the glass. This has to be a strength of ours every game. Vanderbilt is very good on the offensive glass, but we still have a significant advantage. Keep them at 8 or fewer offensive boards.