NCAA Basketball: How era of “multi-guard” lineups have affected the sport

The NBA is a copycat league, but it isn’t as easy to mimic success as some would hope in NCAA Basketball.

When it comes to NCAA Basketball rosters, individual plays, or offensive philosophies, it is hard to replicate what’s worked. Many teams run into issues when they try to do this. They cannot copy or build a roster similar to the teams they are trying to mimic.

No team will be able to assemble the talent that Golden State had in 2018, so the scheme had to be different. Even if you went back to the Warriors of 2015, their style of play mixed with the perfect personnel and coach made them so unique it is almost impossible to copy them successfully.

Over the past decade, there has been a development in basketball, and it has been ‘sexy’ on all levels. Many teams are moving to three-guard and even four-guard lineups.

The first time I saw this lineup was in 2013 when Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse Orange were trying to improve their shooting woes during conference play. Boeheim and staff thought it would prevent teams from packing the paint and improve shooting. The experiment had its moments, but it didn’t work long-term statistically. Even so, that team did go to the National Championship before losing to Michigan.

A year later, the Phoenix Suns and Jeff Hornacek experimented with this lineup. The Suns played Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, and Isaiah Thomas 187 minutes together, and they had a record of 21-16.

This unorthodox lineup had many NBA defenses baffled and confused. It allowed the Suns to play a fast pace, run-and-gun style of play that teams haven’t seen before at the time. In the 37 games the three-point guards played together they had an offensive rating of 112.2 and a defensive rating of 110. Which was third and fifth in the NBA of three-player lineups that played 37 games.

Unfortunately, the Suns didn’t make the playoffs, but that was the beginning of a new transition of small ball that coaches like Mike D’Antoni wanted the NBA to embrace.

Over the next several years, some of the best NCAA Basketball programs in the country have used this lineup very well, like Kansas, Kentucky, and Villanova. The strategy worked so well Bill Self and John Calipari haven’t gone away from it and will start three to four guards at once.

Starting multiple guards at the same time brings massive advantages on both ends of the floor.

Pressure Makes Diamonds

With multiple guards on the floor, you never have to wait to run your offense. Even when teams apply full-court pressure your team will have the personnel to handle it. In close games when the shot clock is a big factor, having another guard on the floor will allow your team to have another creator or shot-maker on the floor, limiting turnovers or bad shot-selection.

The Oklahoma City Thunder had a historically clutch season. In the last five minutes, within five points, OKC was 29-13 (most wins in the NBA), first in offense, and second in defense. Lastly, the three-guard lineup was very efficient in crunch time, Chris Paul was 46 of 86 from the field, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was 27 of 47, and Dennis Schroder was 24 of 47.

The Need For Speed

Some things you can teach, but speed isn’t one of them. Speed in basketball is a must-have, especially on defense. The NBA and NCAA basketball have become three-point shooting leagues, meaning you will need to have players that can chase guys around screens, move their feet defensively without fouling, and can scramble around to close out on shooters. With two-way wings being on the premium in the NBA, having an extra guard on the floor that is around 6’4-6’6 is very similar in production

Playmaking

In the 2016-2017 NCAA Tournament, three of the four teams that made it to the Final Four started three guards at the same time (Oregon, South Carolina, and Gonzaga). In the Elite Eight, seven of the eight teams followed the trend. The only team that didn’t start multiple guards was UNC. However, they did play their third and fourth guard over 19 minutes per game.

Of the eight teams, six of them were in the top 76 in the country in assist/turnover ratio. Playing multiple guards will be a major tactic you will see coaches use in crunch time or against teams that like to apply ball pressure.

Uniqueness

Not all players are created equal or have the same skillsets as others despite playing the same position. The UVA Cavaliers in 2018-19 found a starting lineup with three guards with very contrasting styles. Ty Jerome is a big, pure point-guard, alongside Kyle Guy, a crafty spot-up shooter, and Kihei Clark, their best on-ball defender.

Although they play differently, they made it work and won a national championship. Head Coach Tony Bennett found a system that worked for all three guards and established common ground, which was team defense.

Sometimes in-game, things can be chaotic with foul trouble, personnel matchups, or individual bad play. Last year Arkansas played Texas A&M, and head coach Eric Musselman played five guards for the last 12 minutes in regulation.

Seems like a bad idea, right? Wrong. The Razorbacks outscored the Aggies 19-11, didn’t allow an offensive rebound, and was the most the five guards played together all season. The risk was worth the reward in this case.

Going forward, you will see three- and four-guard lineups on all levels of basketball starting from the grassroots to the pros. The advantages of the pace of play, limiting turnovers, defensive mobility, switchability, and playmaking will lead to more of these lineups. Until of course someone finds success doing something else and the rest follow.