Rhode Island Basketball: 3 reasons why Rams fell to Wisconsin Badgers
Low post defense wasn’t good enough
It seemed like every time Micah Potter caught the ball in the low post on Wednesday, he had no problem getting the look he wanted. If you look at Potter’s starts, you will most likely think that Rhode Island defended him fairly well, but if you actually took the time to watch the game, you will probably agree with me when I say that, it felt like Potter scored way more than 13 points.
Makhel Mitchell and Makhi Mitchell had a difficult time disrupting Potter and forcing him to kick the ball out to a guard on the perimeter. This is because they continuously sat behind Potter as he was attempting to seal them off, and rarely tried to front him, and trust that the backside help would be present.
Also, when Potter finally received the ball after establishing low post position, the twin brothers could not stop themselves from biting on his pump fakes and allowing him to successfully complete the same up and under move.
If Potter had taken his time and converted a few more open layups that were available to him, he would have finished with 20 points easily. Nevertheless, Potter certainly didn’t have a lot of trouble getting clean looks all game long, and dictating where he wanted to go. By staying on their feet more often, and walling up when Potter attempted to put them at a disadvantage, the Mitchell twins would have forced Potter to work much harder, if he wanted to get high-percentage looks.
Brad Davison had a couple of post-up opportunities as well and even had his way a few times. Davison isn’t a spectacular athlete, and he isn’t able to get from one spot to another, as quickly as some of the premier guards in the country can, but he is definitely one of the more patient guards you will see (and one of the strongest guards as well), which is why he is a tough cover down on the left or right block.
Overall, Fatts Russell and Jeremy Sheppard didn’t do a terrible job of defending Davison, but part of the reason why he was able to get to the foul line 12 times, was because he was able to attack Russell and Sheppard and get them to reach in and commit fouls. Again, I know that Davison didn’t operate in the low post all game, but I think it’s fair to say that he did more than enough damage down there on Wednesday.
Rhode Island will be playing against a ton of talented big men in the foreseeable future, which is why it is crucial for Rhode Island’s big men to focus on staying disciplined, and smart when defending in the low post moving forward. This will help them avoid getting into foul trouble and giving opposing teams’ big men multiple chances to torch them.