Arizona State Basketball: 2019-20 keys to beat Oregon in battle for 1st
By John Vaccaro
Win in the Paint
If there is one part of ASU’s offense that I don’t believe they take enough advantage of, it’s their ability to win in the lane. Remy Martin and Alonzo Verge have both done a great job this season of getting to the basket in big moments. Romello White has dominated a few opponents inside, both as a scorer and a rebounder. They even get to the free throw line with decent regularity. However, it feels like the Sun Devils just don’t emphasize these areas enough. That should change on Thursday night.
There aren’t many areas where Oregon’s defense isn’t great, but the one that stands out to me is their ability to get stops inside against opponents who are strong in the paint. They are a poor defensive rebounding team, ranking in the country’s bottom 75 teams in defensive rebounding percentage. We have also seen them struggle to stop strong post players.
Zeke Nnaji had a strong game against the Ducks in Eugene, scoring 11 points and snatching 14 rebounds. James Wiseman had 14 and 12 in just 22 minutes. Filip Petrusev had 22 and 15 against the Ducks. Oregon has no answer for Isaiah Stewart when they traveled to Washington and he scored nearly half of his team’s points with his incredible 25 and 19 performance. Onyeka Okongwu dropped 23 and 14 against the Ducks. Oscar da Silva had 27 and 15 in Oregon’s last loss.
To me, this all illustrates that Arizona State needs to get White involved in this game more than usual. He has done well in matchups against other teams who have struggled against strong post players during this season, particularly Creighton.
It also means that Arizona State should focus on attacking the offensive glass throughout this game. If ASU can create second-chance opportunities by grabbing offensive rebounds then it will give them chances to get clean looks at the basket that they otherwise might not be able to produce against a strong Oregon defense.
If Arizona State can consistently grab offensive boards and attack the basket, then they should cause a lot of problems for the Oregon defense and make it very difficult for Oregon’s offense to keep up on the road.